Texas is Hot - Mountains are Cool

We've not had a long camper van trip since last fall, but we're ramping back up again with three big trips planned for the second half of 2023. First up is a ~5-week trip planned to depart the heat of north Texas, and saunter in the cool mountains of Colorado. Colorado is busy during summer, so I planned the trip over 6 months ago. We needed to be ready to reserve our selected campsites when they became available. I like boondocking, but I've found we can pack more adventure into a day if we already have a reserved campsite, and don't have to worry about getting to our evening site early enough to get a slot. 

 

We picked some popular sites that can be difficult to book, but our record was perfect in securing reservations. A few of the major prizes were Rocky Mountain National Park, Telluride Town Campground, and the tiny Silver Queen campground (only 5 total sites) next to the Maroon Bells near Aspen.  

 

Our route plan takes us up the east side of the Rockies to RMNP. Then we cross the park and work our way down to Leadville (or should I say UP to Leadville - at 10,152 feet above sea level, it's the highest incorporated city in North America). Then we'll take Independence Pass into Apsen to the Maroon Bells wilderness. After that we'll work our way down to Telluride, then the Million Dollar Highway to Durango. We'll visit friends in Pagosa Springs, before making our way through NM toward home. 

Summer 2023 Trip Plan

One change this time is that we are carrying a spare tire. We didn't have one for the first 2 years and 20,000 miles - and we never needed one. But a local Travato owner changed her tires and rims, and sold me a rim and tire (with 20K miles on it) for $100. We evaluated many spare location options and went with the roof. Story Link. 

Our departure lines up with our 2 year vaniversary date. Here are the total stats from our first two years:

Bebop and the Bebopabago are ready to go. And Elena & I are also ready to go exploring together.