Scenic driving through the Rockies

Not far down the road from our campsite on Lake Granby, we found an awesome playground and skate park at Winter Park, a skiing town on highway 40.

We had a lengthy play and scoot session before continuing on and going over the first of three mountain passes we would cross today.

What has surprised us is how high everything is here in Colorado - not just the mountain passes, where you expect to be at altitude, but the valleys as well.

We drove a fork of the "Top of the Rockies National Scenic Byway" (the 91 from Copper Mountain over the Fremont Pass) and thought that perhaps it should be termed a historic byway more than a scenic one with the effects of mining in the area quite apparent.

We drove through Leadville which is situated at 3,094 metres above sea level and so claims the title of the highest incorporated city in North America, and then took the 82 west, finding a campsite at Lakeview Campground near Twin Lakes.

Not seeing the fire ban posters that were apparently en route we soon had a visit from the campground host who doused out the flames of our campfire with water and gave us a serve while accepting that we'd made an honest mistake.

The next morning we sheepishly drove out of the campground and took Bessie over the Independence Pass before arriving in Aspen.

There's a feeling we have every time we drive into a 'nice' place; a beautiful town where the homes range from sweet to sensational and the lawns and gardens are immaculate. We feel like 'undesirables' and whether it's real or imagined we feel like every local is saying 'skedaddle' with their eyes.

The abominable parking in most ski towns adds another dimension.

Aspen was one such place, yet despite our misgivings about soiling the scenery with our gas-guzzling behemoth we parked Bessie for an hour or so and let the kids loose at a fantastic playground a block back from the main street.

We continued up the 82 north then took the interstate west, driving into an unexpectedly grand landscape, with mesas and cliffs gracing either side of the road and the Colorado River winding along beside.

We found a campsite at the James M. Robb Colorado River State Park (Island Acres), not far from Grand Junction.

Nath and Indy took a river rat down to the Colorado River flowing past our campsite and had a leisurely float along it, gazing up at the cliffs either side.