May 31, 1982 Day 1
9:00am
Leave Dan’s house in Bergenfield.
Everything is packed “securely” by Jeff. Dan forgot the BB gun – Shit, No goffers.
PS – the weather stinks.
9:35pm
We got ripped off in New Carlisle, Ohio (gas at $1.47/gallon). Missed a tornado by 5 minutes
(No-where’s ville)
10:10pm
There’s a tornado watch in the state of Ohio. It just started raining and there’s some heavy-duty lightning in front of us.
June 1, 1982 Day 2
7:35am
“Toto – we’re in Kansas”
12:05pm
Note – Kansas is soggy, but the weather is good.
We decided to stay at a campground East of the Rocky Mountain National Park tonight and go to Denver tomorrow morning. This way, we can shower now and stay in one of the more primitive sites at the national park.
June 2, 1982 Day 3
8:10am
We’re leaving the campground in Stratton, Colorado. The storm last night was intense. We took some pictures of lightning streaks. A pounding rain drove its way through the walls of the tent. The three of us slept right through it and the thunder.
Next stop – Denver
9:30am
Still on the road to Denver. We just saw an Antelope and a couple of Jackrabbits – (there’re big!).
2:00pm
Arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park.
We drove around for a while, found a good campsite and set up camp. At about 4 o’clock, we went for a hike to the top of the mountain we are camped on. We got back at 6:30pm and had steak and potatoes for dinner, (“umm umm good”)
It rained during the night, but not as heavy as last night. We learned a lesson – don’t let any branches lean against the tent – it forms puddles.
June 3, 1982 Day 4
8:00am
Woke up at 7am and ate. We emptied the truck to go 4-wheeling and fishing. We’re going into town for some necessities -> (axe handle).
9:30pm
Dan Failed Us – No Fish!
By the way – on June 3rd @ 9:23pm Mountain Time: “Shit’s OK”
Trail Ridge Road opened today, and closed today. We caught it while it was open; “What a blizzard”. It would have been beautiful scenery if we could see more than 50 feet in front of us, but it was quite amazing in other ways.
Jeff and I, (Ray), went up the mountain following the brook near our campsite. When we hit the path leading to the mine, we decided to follow it. It was an old broken down log cabin. Above the mine, further up the mountain, we saw large holes or craters blasted in the ground. We don’t know what they’re for, (erosion prevention?, gold prospecting?). Also – question #2 -> Why are there patches of bark missing from the trees? (woodpeckers?).
We read books, wrote cards and went to sleep.
June 4, 1982 Day 5
7:15am
We’re leaving the park and heading for Bryce Canyon. We’re skipping Mt. Evans. The carburetor is leaking again, so we want an extra day to get it fixed. Also, we figured that Mt. Evans wouldn’t be much different from Trail Ridge Road, which we drove on yesterday.
June 19, 1982 Day 20 Up early and we’re off – Jewel Cave is cool. We took the scenic tour to get better pictures. The . . .
June 13, 1982 Day 14 11:30am Did some back-country off-roading through the Redwoods – good action shots of the Blazer doing a salmon imitation. Should . . .