This past summer my wife and I headed west for a month with our dog and our JKU. I have been meaning to put together a trip report for a while now, so here it goes. Our trip encompassed the last two weeks of August, and the first two weeks of September in 2019. I had two main locations on my mind; the alpine loop and moab. I have wanted to visit Colorado for a while now, and it's simply a crime to head out west in a jeep without visiting moab. Our thoughts were that we would do moab on the tail end of the trip, to avoid the heat as much as we could. Inevitably it would be hot, but we would try to minimize that as much as possible. Along the way we planned to visit as many national parks as possible. I definetely tend to leave my trips a bit unstructured, as I beleive sticking to an agenda takes the fun away. The initial plan was for my wife to fly out and meet me along the way, spend about a week with me, and then head back to work. She just graduated nursing school, and we did not expect her to be able to take the time away. Ultimately, the timing ended up working out perfectly. She was still on the job hunt, and we decided it was foolish not to just pump the brakes on the search, so she could come along for the entire ride. I am blessed to get some good time away from work at times, and it was exciting to know she would be coming along this time. Most of my extended trips have been with a core group of guy friends. The reason I mention this is, she pretty much planned this entire trip, on the fly, from the passenger seat and it was one hell of a trip!
We took our time on the way out and headed south from Massachusetts to Maryland first. We stopped in to visit some friends, and then quickly turned west. For those who haven't made the trip out west yet, the plains portion can be brutal, but it's beautiful in it's own way. The excitement to get to Colorado was just so high, all I wanted to see on the horizon were mountains.
As we crossed into Colorado I had to take the stereo typical sign picture. We entered in the SW corner of the state, as our plan was to head to ourway, and I wanted to get off 70 as soon as possible. The drive along 400 and 50 proved to be scenic, and a very welcomed change of pace through farmland opposed to a major highway.
We were excited to hit Colorado to say the least! Our sights were set of Great Sand Dunes National Park. However, we were tired and needed to call it a day. We found John Martin State Park / Reservoir on the map and headed there for camp. I was surprised upon arrival. The terrain was not what I envisioned in Colorado. There was no snow, no mountains in the distance. If you told me I was still in Kansas, I would beleive you. However, this place was unbeleivably beautiful. I suppose that the fact that we had the place all to ourselves added to it. Only one vehicle was within eyesight, a sprinter van in the distance. As I type this I wish I had driven over to say hi and learn about thier adventure, meeting people is one of my favorite aspects of traveling. However, the quiet was nice. I read reports of great fishing in the reservoir, but the wind was too strong to break out the fly rod.
We set up camp and enjoyed a quiet evening and likely one of the best showing of stars I have seen.
One of the things I wanted to try to learn on this trip is night photography. I have never tried it, and I figured I would have plenty of time. The stars at John Martin State Park were absolutely INSANE! This is the best I could muster.
We took our time on the way out and headed south from Massachusetts to Maryland first. We stopped in to visit some friends, and then quickly turned west. For those who haven't made the trip out west yet, the plains portion can be brutal, but it's beautiful in it's own way. The excitement to get to Colorado was just so high, all I wanted to see on the horizon were mountains.
As we crossed into Colorado I had to take the stereo typical sign picture. We entered in the SW corner of the state, as our plan was to head to ourway, and I wanted to get off 70 as soon as possible. The drive along 400 and 50 proved to be scenic, and a very welcomed change of pace through farmland opposed to a major highway.
We were excited to hit Colorado to say the least! Our sights were set of Great Sand Dunes National Park. However, we were tired and needed to call it a day. We found John Martin State Park / Reservoir on the map and headed there for camp. I was surprised upon arrival. The terrain was not what I envisioned in Colorado. There was no snow, no mountains in the distance. If you told me I was still in Kansas, I would beleive you. However, this place was unbeleivably beautiful. I suppose that the fact that we had the place all to ourselves added to it. Only one vehicle was within eyesight, a sprinter van in the distance. As I type this I wish I had driven over to say hi and learn about thier adventure, meeting people is one of my favorite aspects of traveling. However, the quiet was nice. I read reports of great fishing in the reservoir, but the wind was too strong to break out the fly rod.
We set up camp and enjoyed a quiet evening and likely one of the best showing of stars I have seen.
One of the things I wanted to try to learn on this trip is night photography. I have never tried it, and I figured I would have plenty of time. The stars at John Martin State Park were absolutely INSANE! This is the best I could muster.
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