With record heat in the forecast, we decided to get started as early as possible. By 7:15, we were on the road heading west along I-70.
The terrain looked flat, but we were steadily gaining altitude. Shortly after we crossed into Colorado, the GPS reported 5,200 feet. Eventually the wheat fields gave way to grasslands used for grazing cattle.
By the time we reached the small town of Limon, Colorado we were ready to take a break. At our turnoff, we pulled into a sorry-looking Flying J, kicked on the generator and got the big air conditioner cranked up. It was only 10:00 AM and hopefully the hottest part of the drive was behind us. No such luck. Despite the altitude, the air was hot and continued to warm the longer we sat there. We stayed there about 90 minutes, taking advantage of the Wi-Fi connection to update the computers. Eventually we fueled the coach and headed southwest along highway 24 towards Colorado Springs.
This part of the drive was along a two-lane road over the same type of country — low rolling hills and grasslands. We also continued to gain altitude and topped 6,000 feet in places. The combination of altitude, heat and hills had the coach running a little warmer than normal. It was not alarming, but it was concerning. Also of concern was the wind, which seemed to gust at the most inopportune times.
Colorado Springs is a good sized town and Jeanne did some expert navigation. Our destination was about 15 miles south of town and into the foothills. When we finally arrived, it was really hot and I let the coach idle to cool before shutting it down. Our campsite was at 6,670 feet and it was 101 degrees in the shade. After a lot of back and forth maneuvering, we settled in and set up. One task I was not looking forward to was scrubbing two days of baked-on bugs off the front of the coach.
We stayed at the coach the rest of the afternoon and evening. A lot of ground was covered in the last three days and we were tired. Suffering from altitude headaches, we got to bed early.