Friday 9-5-25 Ryan Campground in Medicine Bow National Forest

 

Ryan Campground

 

We spent the night at Saratoga Lake Campground. It took a bit before it cooled off but it did get down into the 40's. It was a great place to spend the night. But today we moved on to the mountains. 

Larry woke up at his normal time and I crawled out of bed at 7:30. We had another quick breakfast. We didn't have far to go so we weren't in any hurry. But when it's time to go we get excited so after breakfast we put everything away and secured. We were on the road by 8:30. On the way out we stopped at the dumpster and got rid of our trash and cans.

We drove through Saratoga and stopped at the Forest Service Office. Larry went in and asked if they had a flyer on when the campgrounds were closing. The website indicated Sunday would be the last day. They didn't have a flyer but the lady said all the campgrounds would be open until the first snow. The only thing that closed on Sunday was reservations, everything would now be first come, first serve. 

We traveled up a mountain for 30 miles to the first campground we were going to checkout. The campground was called Silver Lake. It had some hiking trail and we really wanted to stay there. But the first-come-first-serve we're very unlevel. Sunday all the sites are going to be first-come-first-serve. Ryan Campground was 10 miles back. We had no problem finding a site we liked. In fact we saw two sites, one by the bathroom and the site we decided on #15.

Ryan Campground is located in the Medicine Bow National Forest. The campground has three loops (Columbine loop 1-16, Alpine Loop 17-34 and Group Loop 35-49). We're in the Columbine loop for a couple of nights. It cost $20 dollars a night, there are no hook-ups. It has a vault toilet in each loop. The campground road is dirt but not too dusty because speed limit it 10mph. 

Ryan Campground was originally a Civilian Conservation Camp (CCC). In 1942 the U.S. Army remodeled it for use as a P.O.W. prison camp for Italian and German soldiers. The prisoners helped harvest lumber and received a small stipend for the daily effort. After the war some of the prisoners wanted to stay. It was used from 1942-1946 as the P.O.W. Camp.

We arrived at Ryan Campground at 10:20 and setup camp for a couple of nights. Then I walked down and paid. There is no Verizon service and AT&T is very slow so Larry setup the Starlink. He was amazed at how fast the connection was. He said he never got that fast of speed at home. He's very happy with the Starlink. 

After he setup Starlink we had lunch. Then we went for a walk around the campground and walked the Moose Trail. The trail was a .75 mile loop. Carroll Creek ran along side of the trail. We crossed over a small bridge and saw a cool bench made of logs. The trail started at the entrance of the campground and exited at the group campground. We walked around the group campground and took the trail through the P.O.W. camp to the RV loops. We had a very nice walk.

 

Larry crossing over Carroll Creek via bridge

 

Carroll Creek

 

Cool bench on the trail

 

Plaque in memory of the men of the P.O.W. camp

 

Camp fire ring in the group campground

 

Larry spent the rest of the afternoon doing research on where to go next. Due to the current levels of smoke our plans are changing. While Larry did research I took a nap. He called the National Forest offices in South Fork, Co. and Laramie, Wy. to find out when their campgrounds close. As with our current campground the website said they would all close Sundy but the ladies on the phone said they would be open until at least the end of the month and probably longer. All of the ladies he talked to we very friendly. 

For dinner Larry barbecued sausages. After dinner I went for a walk around the three loops. I had walked about two miles when Larry joined me. We walked another mile. We walked to the snow mobile parking lot and around the loops. We had a great three mile hike. By the end of the day I had done 13,500 steps.  

 

Sunset at Ryan Campground

    

Thursday 9-4-25 New State, Hot Springs and Saratoga Lake

 

Wyoming Welcome Sign

We are very excited because today we left Colorado and went to Wyoming. 

 

We spent five days in Silverthorne, CO waiting on a part for the Minnie. Now, the Minnie is fixed and it's time to move on. We decided to go north to Wyoming.

 

Larry woke up at 6:00 and I crawled out of bed at 7:30. We had a quick breakfast. We took our time getting ready because we wanted to do a couple of errands before leaving Silverthorne. We were on the road by 8:30 to start our errands. First we stopped at Target about .7 mile away to buy items we were getting low on. After grocery shopping I put the groceries away. Second we stopped in Mountain Dirty Motor Sports to get propane. They opened at 9:00 and we were there a few minutes after. The gentleman, who helped us was very friendly and fast. He didn't have any problems filling the Minnie's tank. Larry told him he was very good because we have had other people over the years who struggled filling the tank. He was very surprised. We went inside to pay for the propane. While I waited to pay Larry walked around. He said the store had a lot of nice stuff for motorcycles and snowmobiles. It was a very nice store. 

 

 

 

Running errands

 

After paying we were back on the road. We drove to Kremmling, Co and stopped to top off the fresh water tank. The city has a water spicket on the side of building across the street from their park. It cost one quarter for 2.5 minutes. It cost us two quarter. It's a perfect place to get water because it's only a block off the highway. Kremmling Park is small but very pretty and well maintained. After getting water we were on the road go towards Walden. 

 

 

 

Kremmling water station

 

 

 

Filling the Minnie with water

 

 

Kremmling City Park

 

On the way to Walden we saw a couple of wildlife crossing bridges and four cowboys on horses, they along with two dogs were herding cattle. We saw a fox run across the highway right in front of us. We saw people hiking along the road and wondered why everytime we come down this highway we see hikers. A few miles down the road we saw a sign for the Continental Divide Trail. I guess they we were hiking this trail. We saw a lot of cattle and pronghorns. We also saw some more cowboys on horses herding their cattle. We also saw some Aspens turning colors for the fall. 

 

 

 

Landscape of Wyoming

 

 

 

 

Wildlife crossing bridge

 

 

When we got to Walden we stopped at their Tourist Information boards and had lunch. We shared a salad we bought at Target. It was rundown but the signs about the area were kept up. Larry read the signs while waiting for me to finish cleaning up from lunch. He said the signs told you where to find different wildlife during the winter in the area. 

 

After lunch we continued our adventure. Our next stop was in Saratoga at the Hobo Hot Springs. We were here last year and really enjoyed it. It's a city run hot springs and free to use, you can donate if you want to. It's open 24 hours 7 Days a week. The restrooms have a communal shower, the toilets have a wall between the stalls but no doors. They have a swimming pool at the main facility, which costs. There are three hot springs pools: one was 104 degrees, one at 108 and the lobster pot at 120. The temperature changes from day to day. One day the upper pool will be 108 and other days it will be 104. You have to be very careful going down the steps into the pools, due to moss they are very slippery. If you get too hot in the springs you can cool off in the river that is right behind the hot springs. 

 

We arrived at the Hobo Hot Springs at 1:45 and it wasn't busy at all. Last year we were there on a Saturday at 11:00 and it was busy. We used the upper pool and there were only three other guys in the pool. There was only one guy in the lower pool. We soaked about 15 minutes and took a shower. While Larry took a shower I went back to the Minnie to get my camera. I walked around and took pictures. There was only one family enjoying the river. We had another great time at Hobo Hot Springs.

 

 

 

Saratoga Pool and Hot Spring building

 

 

 

Lower pool

 

 

 

The river

 

 

 

Saratoga Pool

 

 

 

Shower house

 

 

 

 

Upper pool

 

After taking showers and having a little snack we decided we would stay at Saratoga Lake Campground, which was five miles from the Hobo Hot Springs. 

 

On the way we stopped by Maverick and filled the Minnie with gas. The road to the campground was very rough Larry only went 10 miles per hour. The actual campground road was very dusty. It has three loops, A and B loops have electric for $25 per night and the C loop has no power for $15 per night. We took a non-electric site, that was right on the lake. All the sites look over the lake. It's a small lake but very nice. There aren't too many trees but they did plant a few. It has vault toilets but they are clean. The electric loops have 20 sites a piece and are designed for RVs. The non-electric sites aren't really designed for RVs because there is a little drop off. We just pulled as far off the road as we could. Our site has a picnic table and fire ring. We didn't barbecue because there was a wind coming off the lake. The campground has a small playground for the kids.

 

 

 

Camping at Saratoga Lake 

 

 

Playground

 

 

 

Saratoga Lake

 

 

After dinner I walked around for an hour for 2 miles. I ended up doing 8,100 steps. While I was walking Larry started reading a new book. He didn't like it so he picked a different one. After Larry went to bed I read a little bit. 

 

We had a great day.    

  

 On the way to Walden we noticed it was smokey and we could smell the smoke. So while we having lunch Larry checked on where the smoke was and where it came from and how bad it was. It didn't look too good in the direction we were going. We won't be going to Canada because the smoke was coming from their wildfires. Heavy smoke has spread into Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. We will have to make plans based on smoke. We may be back in Leadville or Breckenridge area.  

     

       

Wednesday 9-3-25 Minnie is Back , Reading & Silverthorne Library

 

Goodway Auto Repair

 

We didn't do too much today because the Minnie was in the shop. 

Goodway Auto Repair opens at 9:00 am and closes 6:00 pm. When it opened Larry went over and talked to William and asked him when they were going to start the work on the Minnie. He said they had to do a couple of oil changes before. They came over at 11:30 to get the Minnie. We put a little pack together and put things down. 

We knew the work was going to take all day so we walked over to the Silverthorne Library and read off our E-Readers. It's a small beautiful library. It has tables for you to work on your computer or read. They have an area setup with four computers for public use. There was a table setup to play chess and checkers. They have a beautiful deck that looks over Blue River. They have a cute little Fairy Land for children, where they can play in the sand and set up their little figurines and houses. We started reading sitting at a table indoors until it got too cold. Then we went outside on the deck. The deck had a couple of tables and ten chairs. You can move the chairs anywhere you want to. You can sit in the chair and read. The library is about a half mile away from Goodway Auto Repair. We arrived about 12:15 pm and left at 4:30.

 

 

Silverthorne Library

  

Chess Board

 

Checker Board and cards

On the way back we stopped and had a Italian Sub at Independent Sub. After dinner we went back to the shop to see how they were coming on the Minnie. While we were walking back we received a voice mail with an update on the Minnie. It said the new timing cover wasn't the correct one, however, the old cover was actually in good shape and they could reuse it. The gasket had failed and they had a new one. We showed up a couple of minutes later. The mechanic and office guys (William and George) stayed after the shop closed at 6:00. George left about 7:30, he worked with us all day. The owner even hung around until the work was done. The work was completed at 8:30 so Larry just parked the Minnie back where we have been. 

It was a long four days of waiting but if we had to be broken down this auto repair place in Silverthorne was a great place to be. We had access to lots of restaurants, parks, library, rec center, pinball machines and places to walk. 

I started reading A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Larry finished his book. I ended up doing 5,200 steps.    

We are not sure where we are going next, but then again we seldom know where we are going next.  

Tuesday 9-2-25 Waiting, Pinball & Walking

 

Silverthorne

 

We're still waiting for parts. We woke up to 48 degree very nice. The high was 73 degrees.

We spent most of the day reading.

Larry walked to Goodway Auto Repair office when they opened up at 9:00 to see what's happening and to ask them to replace a hose on the pump. The gentleman who's helping us said they would pull the Minnie in first thing tomorrow. So tomorrow we'll have to find something to do all day.

About dinnertime we walked over to the food court, which is .3 mile. We walked around to the different restaurants to see what each had to offer. We decided on Independent Deli and shared an Italian Sub. It was very good. We walked next door to Playgarten to play some pinball. They had two pinball machines upstairs, which were Toy Story 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They had two downstairs, which were Godzilla and Ghost-busters. The machines upstairs said it cost one quarter but it wouldn't take our quarters. We had to buy a token, which was a dollar. I played Toy Story, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghost-buster once. But we played Godzilla six times because we kept matching, which gave us a free game. One time I earned a replay. Larry played Godzilla a couple of times. We spent $5.00 dollars and had a great time.

 

Italian Sub

 

Playing Toy Story 4

 

Teenage  Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Ghost Busters

 

Larry playing Godzilla

 

Afterwards we walked around town. We walked to multiple places, Target, the Blue River Trail by the Recreation Center, the Library, police station and Rainbow Park. We spent some time watching people play beach volleyball, soccer, skateboarding and other family activities at Rainbow Park. On the way home we stopped by Summit Scoop and shared a scoop of It Just Became Serious (caramel, chocolate hunks, cashews, vanilla ice cream and more). It was very good. Then we went home.

 

Mural on the parking garage

 

An eagle on the other end of the garage

  

Bear with a trout in it's mouth

 

 

Silverthorne Library

 

Skateboarding at Rainbow Park

 

It Just Became Serious

 

We spent the rest of the evening reading. I ended up doing 8,500 steps.      

Monday 9-1-25 Labor Day & Silverthorne

 

Happy Labor Day

 

Happy Labor Day. I hope everyone enjoyed themself.

We woke up to the temperature of 44 degrees, a little warmer. It got up to 77 degrees, here in Silverthorne, CO. 

We spent the day hanging around the Minnie. Larry continued working on the Lithium battery trying to figure out why it quit working. He setup the solar panels and took the battery out of it's box. He disconnected all the cables and components that were connected to it. Then he charged it all day. Then he charged our other battery.  

While the Lithium battery was charging he went back through his notes and read some online stuff about Lithium batteries. Most of this was reviewing what he might have forgotten in the past two years.

After the battery was charged he re-connected all the cables and components. He then charged all of our devices, which were, two cell phones, tablet, computer, my Kindle and his E-Reader. Everything worked out perfect. It bothers him that he did not figure out what caused the problem.

I spent the day reading.

 

  

Have fun reading

 

After dinner we went on a walk around town. We walked for an hour and a half for 2.3 miles. We walked the hike and bike trail along the Blue River. On the way to the trail we passed a cute couple made of tin leaning on fence. Silverthorne had flowers hanging from shops and restaurants and in planters around town. The ones in the planters are real, I actually touched a mum to make sure. They were very pretty. We walked on a bridge, that went over Blue River. We saw a gentleman fly fishing. The river was very nice. Along the trail they had posts, that were decorated very nice. People painted them and some even had knitted flowers and eyes on them. We walked to the National Forest building, which was right across from Target. It was .7 miles from Goodway Auto Repair. Then we turned around and walked the other directions to the Outlet Mall. We walked around the mall. There were some vacant spots but very nice. We walked through a food court and stopped at the ice cream store and bought two scoops of ice cream, blueberry cheese cake and coconut walnut bliss. The ice cream was very good. Then we walked around and checked out the rest of the food court. We went upstairs and found a couple of pinball machines (Toy Story and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). We didn't have any quarters so we didn't play them. We were very surprised to see it was only one quarter a game because everywhere we play pinball it's three or four quarters. Then we went back to the Minnie. We had a great walk.

 

The tin couple

 

Flowers around town

 

 

Fly fishing in Blue River

 

Performing Arts Center

 

Mountain lion statue on Blue River Trail

 

Cool clock on the trail

 

Larry waiting to go through the pedestrian walkway to the other side of the road

 

 

Our dessert
 

By the end of the night we had done 6,200 steps. I'm not playing any games because we're conserving power.        

Sunday 8-31-25 Camping at Goodway Auto Repair & Silverthorne Recreation Center

 

Sunny Day

 

We woke up to a brisk morning with the temperature in the 30's. We slept great and very comfortable. 

Larry got up at 6:00 and did some reading. I crawled out of bed at 7:30. We had a lite breakfast. Then we put things away because we wanted to do a few errands in town. Before leaving we put water in the radiator of the Minnie. 

The repair shop can't work on the Minie until Wednesday due to a part they're waiting on. Target was about a half mile away. We could of walked there but we were going to get quite a bit of water, we bought eight gallons and few other items. Before leaving Target Larry again added water to the radiator. Next stop was to dump station. We don't have access to a public bathroom so we have to use ours. We had not dumped the tank since leaving home. We wanted to be on the safe side. It cost $3 for RVs and $5 for busses. Third stop was at a farming supply store to see if they could fill the Minnie with Propane. While they advertised selling bulk propane they could not fill an RV. After adding more water to the radiator we went to Advanced Auto Parts to get some connectors for the refrigerator. 

We are getting low on propane which we use for the refrigerator, heating and cooking. We will have to conserve a bit. There is a place nearby that can fill RV's but they are closed until Tuesday. 

Final stop was at Maverick to fill the Minnie with gas. We'll be using the generator a little and it runs on the Minnie's gas tank.

When we got back to the Minnie Larry setup the solar panels to charge the batteries. He hoped to charge the Lithium battery. He's trying to find out why happened to it the other day.

We spent the day reading. I started a new book called The Huntress by Kate Quinn. It's a post World War II story. So far it's good. Larry started a book.

 

              

Enjoying a good book

 

After dinner we walked over to the Silverthorne Recreation Center to take a shower. It's .7 mile away. The facility is beautiful. A lady helped us. She said because it's twilight it will cost us $7 instead of $8. She also said if we used the facility an hour before it closes it's $7 and you can use everything, such as the pool, workout area, shoot hoops and more. The bathrooms had men and women showers and family rooms with a toilet, sink, shower and seat in the same room. We both took a family room. The reviews said if someone else was taking a shower at the same time as you we will lose the hot water. We did lose it a little bit but the temperature wasn't too cold. As we were leaving we checked out the pool area. It was beautiful. It had a lap pool, a small pool with a slide, a spa pool and a pool with a wave slide and a sea turtle on top. It was very nice.

Silverthorne is a small town. It comes alive at nighttime. It has restaurants, shops and a walking path along the river and a bike trail along the river. There's a couple of nice bridges, that goes over the river. We had a very nice walk to the recreation center and back.

By the end of the day I had done 5,000 steps. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!