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One of our main reasons on moving to Colorado Springs was for the easy access to the Great Outdoors, and after being here for over a week and not venturing out, I was getting pretty restless. So, when I got the invite from my new friends Scott and James to join their local club for a weekend of wheeling, I did not even think twice, packed my Jeep and threw in the dog. We were finally headed up into the Mountains! Buena Vista, West on HWY 24 till it dead ends, turn Left onto HWY 285 and then it is only a few minutes to The Gunsmoke Truck Stop, the local meeting place.
The drive into the depths of the Rocky Mountains was absolutely the most amazing drive. After the curvy assent to 9,000 ft, the land starts to flatten out again and there are wide-open fields and large lakes with these amazing mountain peaks that looked as if they had been set down on the flat ground. As I continued my drive the land started to change from the golden fields back to the rugged mountain terrain with large rocks and pine trees. When I made the last curve on 285 I could start to see the makings of a small town.
I waited at The Gunsmoke Truck Stop for Scott to come show me the rest of the way to the campsite. When he pulled up next to me, his Jeep made mine look like a stocker, a feeling that I would get use to over the course of the weekend. Even more of a reason to put my RE lift on, sooner rather than later. I followed him up to the campsite and met the rest of the group and got all settled in with my little tent. As soon as Jackie, our Yellow Lab, jumped out of the Jeep she turned into a Chocolate Lab and later she would become a Black Lab due to bacon grease and tree sap. Right now in Colorado there is a High Fire Danger so camp fires are not allowed but we made the best of it with a very bright lantern. Thanks to James and his nifty Red Bull concoction I was able to stay up until 3:30 AM and keep most of the camp awake with me. It also made for a great morning!!! Thanks James!
Thanks to Scott and his great cooking the bacon and eggs did help me off to a better start. We all started to get the Rigs ready and piled in to get the day going. My Jeep had Nana, Kimmy, Jackie, and I so it was called the girls Jeep. Even though it got named the girls Jeep it was hanging pretty well with the big boys. When we got to the trail-head I was not sure what to expect. I have driven a lot of the trails out east, been to Moab and learned to off-road in the sand in Washington State, but what was Colorado wheeling going to be like? Why is this place considered one of the best places for Off-Roading? I?ll tell you why?. It is simply AWESOME!!
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