After Grey Reef, we turned the wheels south again to Lathrop through Labor Day weekend. I think I mentioned earlier how lucky we are at times to get the last spot available….. Yeah!
We are taking this opportunity to see friends, chat and catch up (sorry we didn’t see everyone); restock; & revisit. We will be back through again, down the road.
Returning to Lathrop was an eye-opener! When we were here before, this seemed such a beautiful camping spot, and lovely with the two lakes and all the birds. Even though we got baked in the heat, snowed on in April, rained on in May, and blown away most of the time – we returned realizing just how different Lathrop is from where we just came from in N.E. Wyoming.
The N.E. of WY held us captive with it’s wide open spaces, crystal clear waters; and the rambling Tongue, N Platte, and Clarke’s Fork rivers. The sampling of moon-lit nights reflected on the water, and colorful painted sun-rises that spilled over into streams as an up-turned rainbow captured our imaginations.
We’ve come to the conclusion that WY is THE most Wild-erness state in the lower 48… where cowboy hats and attire are real everyday wear; where guns are displayed on hips or in a back window of almost every truck (an erie sight for us!). The local attitudes are often aloof – almost saying “just move on”. But when we settle in as RV spectators, spend some money at their businesses, ask directions, buy ice and ice cream, spend time learning the local lore – they open up. Some are friendly right from the git-go, pleasant and helpful; and then again, some never warm up.
Yet the marvels of N.E. WY, with its Big Horn Mountain Ranges tug at both Patti & I; some campgrounds, and some cities/towns tug also. (No worries, neither Patti or I want to live in this wild-erness state on a full-time basis). It’s too bad the smoke from all the fires cut a lot of our gypsying short in this most alluring part of the state.
So now, back at Lathrop in Walsenburg, CO, it seems like a suburban campground. It’s not a bad campground, by any means, it’s just not the Wilds of Wyoming. The staff and hosts are friendly, helpful and run a nice clean ship. Everything works great and it is a well maintained campground. As one of the Rangers put it – it’s a pass-through campground, a pit stop on the way to somewhere else. Yet it is so nice to make this our home-base to visit friends and the surrounding areas. Spoiler alert; we heard the prices to all Colorado State Parks are going up… Write letters of protest!
As luck would have it – I needed to get an adjustment on my back while I was in Trinidad. Right after the holiday weekend, I went to Pro-Rehab and Eric Clark. Thank you both for helping with my back, especially on such short notice. So our stay was a little more prolonged than anticipated, that’s ok it gives us time to catch-up, relax and heal.
Now we travel down to Abiquiu via Alamosa – and take in some soaks at Ojo Caliente.
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