Tolsons' Discovery Travels: Salida, CO

Sat 5 Sep 2013: We headed to Salida, CO this am and drove Rt 50 along the Arkansas River. It is a very pretty drive. We are now camped at the Heart of the Rockies RV Campground http://heartoftherockiescamp-rv.com/ in site 1A. Nice big site with full hookups.

We checked out the local roller blade team "Ark Valley High Rollers" http://arkvalleyhighrollers.com/ as they were competing at home this evening. We ate at the Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant http://fiestamexicanarestaurants.com/ in town tonight. Great Mexican food. We've eaten here back in 2009 when we were here with the Campbells, Halsteads and Coopers.

Sun 6 Sep 2013: Today we drove another "easy" 4-wheel drive trail - the Marshall Pass, Poncha Creek where we climbed up to 10,842. This route started on 285 south of Poncha Springs and went west to Sargents, which is south of the Monarch Pass. We drove up and over Monarch Pass and back to our campground. Beautiful sunny day, great friends, nice tail gate lunch among the aspen (not changed yet, but starting) and beautiful scenery!

O-Haver Lake Camping Ground; lots of people camping and fishing here

Our Aspen View for Our Tailgate Lunch

Chuck and I at the Continental Divide on Marshall Pass

This evening we ate at the Boathouse Cantina http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33630-d1234454-Reviews-Boathouse_Cantina-Salida_Colorado.html in old town Salida, which is right on the Arkansas River where we ate on the patio. Great food here!

Boathouse Cantina: We ate under the umbrellas

Mon 7 Sep 2013: Today we drove up east of Buena Vista and tried another "Easy" 4-wheel trail in our truck. It is called the "Fourmile Area" and started near the Trout Creek Pass off 24/285 and continued west to north of Buena Vista. It turned out to be a little more challenging than the trail we took yesterday. Terrain had more ups and downs; ruts and rocks. Not many aspen trees; more Ponderosa Pines and meadows. Here we are having our wilderness picnic lunch.