Wednesday, May 29, 2024
This morning after breakfast, Jane took a stroll around the campground to visit the Nature Center. She also walked past an open field full of prairie dogs that were hyperactively popping up out of their holes, dashing about, and keeping an alert eye on her.
—— Campground Prairie Dogs ——
Following Jane’s walk, we broke camp and departed the campground around 10 am. After winding through city streets and traffic lights, we finally entered crowded I-25 heading north, our route for almost all of the remainder of our 230-mile journey.
In Berthoud, we made a planned stop at a large Love’s service station to lighten our load at their RV dump station. While I was performing this task, Jane ran into Subway and purchased sandwiches and chips. We moved the RV into a designated parking area and had an early lunch while wondering how we could already be hungry after last night’s large feast.
After lunch, we continued north on I-25. As we passed by, we reminisced about locations that we had visited on our previous trip out here two years ago: Loveland, Rocky Mountain National Park, Fort Collins, a bison ranch, and Cheyenne. In Wyoming, the speed limit increased to 80 mph and traffic became sparse. We pleasantly rolled through high plains occasionally accented with mesas or short mountains while intermittent light rain fell and the wind occasionally gusted strongly.
We exited the interstate, and via a maze of frontage roads, arrived at the Douglas KOA Journey campground. A friendly local staff woman led us to our large flat full-hookup pull-through site. This is a huge and nice campground but currently largely empty.
Douglas is known as “Jackalope City” because in 1934, local taxidermists Ralph and Doug Herrick created the first jackalope by combining a jackrabbit and deer antlers. They celebrate Jackalope Days in June here. Jane and I were on the lookout for jackalopes during our stay but never saw any. Later, we learned that they shed their antlers in the fall and are indistinguishable from rabbits this time of year. Sigh.
At the hearty recommendation of our ebullient local campground staff woman, we decided to visit nearby Ayres Natural Bridge Park. The 10-mile trip there lead us through scenic rural Wyoming. Unlike previous natural bridges that we saw in Arches National Park and elsewhere, this one had water running underneath it, the North Platte River. It is one of only three natural arches in the U.S. that has this feature. The river provided moisture for lush vegetation and a large grassy picnic area. The effect was very relaxing. We enjoyed climbing on top of the natural bridge and sitting on a nearby bench taking in the view of the bridge, stream, plants, birds, and red rock canyon. We spotted unique swift nests on the side of the red rock wall along the river.
—— Ayres Natural Bridge Park ——
On the road back to Douglas, a large herd of bison was grazing in a pasture near a pond. We pulled over into a turn-out with a marker for the Oregon Trail to observe them. The large adult bison were shaggy, still shedding their winter coats. Among them were lots of smaller youths with fresh reddish hair. We watched in amazement as they grazed unperturbed by our gawking. At the same time, we noted an unusual large bird in the pasture on the opposite side of the road. We took pictures and later indentified it as a red-crowned crane.
————— Roadside Bison —————
—— Red-crowned Crane ——
In Douglas, we found the recommended Derby Club for dinner. The interior decor had a horse racing flavor and there was a separate room with casino games. The staff were very friendly. Jane and I order beers and a walleye dinner with a garden salad. This was the first time either of us had eaten walleye and we enjoyed it along with a spicy sauce provided on the side.
————— The Derby Club —————
After dinner, Jane drove across town to a car wash. She did the washing while I kept an eye on the timer on her behalf. Afterwards, we wandered around Douglas in the car before heading back to the RV where we chilled out until bedtime.