Another long drive today ... this time from Steamboat Lake State Park (near Steamboat Springs, Colorado) to Durango, Colorado. We hit a construction zone between Montrose and Ouray that required a 40 minute wait along the highway as huge trucks removed equally huge boulders that were formerly a part of a mountainside that was being removed to widen the road ... the delays in both directions of traffic snaked up the roads as far as the eye could see and beyond. We then wound our way the the three mountain passes, Red Mountain Pass, Molas Pass and Coalbank Pass before dipping down into Durango. I had hoped to stop and get some pictures of the snowy peaks, rushing water and bare timberlined mountains, but none of us really wanted to stop (Bambi just wanted to get to Durango before it rained again).
After a long drive, we were eager to return to the United Campground in Durango that we had found to be such a treat last year. Unfortunately, there is a time and place for good experiences and this was not the time or the place. Unlike our visit last year, which was early in the season and the campground was relatively empty ... this time the campground was completely subscribed ... everyone is cramped into the campground, cheek to jowl, and it feels again a bit like an RV "ghetto" or at least a crowded tenement. Last year we were delighted to discover cable TV at a campground ... this year the owners decided not to offer cable TV (a financial complaint with the cable company). Last year we had a good WIFI connection ... this year we are situated in the last campsite in the last row and cannot make a good WIFI connection (for that matter, not even a good cell connection ... more Internet "purgatory"). Even some of the magic is gone from the trolley ... it still runs out to our campground, but the tourist trolley that was free last year, now charges a dollar a ride ... certainly not a bank-breaker, but takes a bit of the fun out of the experience (might as well drive our car into town) ...
Bambi told us to get some dinner and to stop whining ... tomorrow will be better a day ...
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