Breckenridge!

Our trip to Breckenridge was filled with exciting moments. As we got closer to the Denver area, we began to see the snow-capped mountains which was a huge change from flatland Kansas. The scenery was just so beautiful to look at as we drove down the road.

Once we got through Denver, we started to climb the mountains. Again another first for us. It was crazy how Dash, who was clipping along in Kansas at 70 miles, hour suddenly struggled to go up the hills at 50 mph and sometimes, even less than that. As if the journey up the mountain wasn’t exciting enough, as they say what goes up must come down!

As we started down the mountain we learned how important the (engine) retarder was. It’s a cool little function, that Dash and most diesel engines have, that assists in downhill braking, so you don’t have to press the brake pedal. Don’t get me wrong, on the really steep hills like we were on, you still need to use the brakes, but the retarder makes it so that you aren’t standing on the brakes getting them all heated up. The most exciting part was when we went through a tunnel and there were signs that said ‘Truckers gear down 7 miles of downhill’. As we got further down the hill there were more warning signs that said ‘Truckers don’t be fooled there is still 4 more miles of downhill’. And then we saw this little beauty.

A runaway truck ramp, that went literally straight up the mountain! It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time!

Once we got down that mountain, it was just a short ride to our campground. We stayed at Tiger Run resort. It was very picturesque. Here are some things that we saw on our morning walks. We found a trail between some of the sites that went up into the mountain. Cole wanted to keep on going to the top, but I told him we needed to get back.

The cottonwood trees were in full bloom while we were there. Some days it looked like it was snowing!

This was my first time in Breckenridge. Ed had been there several decades ago and he didn’t even recognize the place. The place has grown up with resorts, villas and other housing. We had a great time checking out Main street and all the shops and restaurants.

We took a ride up to Hoosier Pass and explored that area of the Continental Divide.

We really enjoyed Breckenridge, but it was time to pack up and head to our next adventure.