November 7, 2024 • 19 mins
Read the full show notes and guide 👉 here
What happens when the open road meets the unpredictable nature of mountain travel? 🚐
🇺🇸 Join me, Alexandra, and my mother, Pam, as we share our story of navigating the winding roads of Colorado in our large RV.
🛣️From the infamous I-70 near Glenwood Springs, with its seemingly perpetual road closures, to the heart-pounding experience of maneuvering tight mountain passes, our journey to Paonia State Park is filled with challenges that test our nerves.
😳Our travels take a dramatic turn as we recount a nerve-racking encounter with a reckless truck driver on a narrow mountain road.
☎️With no cell service and little room to maneuver our hefty vehicle, we faced a tense situation that underscored the importance of patience and vigilance on these perilous paths.
🏔️Alongside our adventurous tales, we also highlight the beauty of Paonia and its surrounding areas, from the picturesque Maroon Bells to the charms of Crested Butte.
Tune in to experience the highs and lows of our RV lifestyle and the unforgettable moments that make it all worthwhile. 💙
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alexandra (00:00):
If it was nighttime, like I could just run around,
you know, naked like Bigfoot,and nobody would know.
Hi there, adventurers.
My name is Alexandra, andwelcome to Take it Before you
Kick it the podcast where wetalk about all of the
adventurous things that you canput on your bucket list and some
travel stories.
Now, today, I am joined by mymother, who lives full time in
this RV with me, and since we dolive this lifestyle, we do tend
(00:21):
to accumulate the travelstories very frequently.
So this one is going to beabout the infamous okay, maybe
not so infamous Paonia StatePark, and I say that because
I've never heard of this.
And, yeah, we're going to betalking about our crazy story
getting there, if it's big rigfriendly, why we chose it, what
we did, some more about thecampground and more.
(00:41):
So stay tuned and let's talkabout Paonia State Park.
Okay, so first things first.
This is my mother, pam, who isgoing to be joining me in
talking about Paonia State Park,and we are going to talk about
what happened when we were goingto Paonia State Park.
So normally my mom drivesforward and then I back the
thing in.
So she was driving, we werecoming from Glenwood Springs,
(01:03):
right, yeah, and what?
It was about a three hour drive.
We ended up sitting on thehighway for about two hours
extra because, let me tell you,i-70, near Glenwood Springs is
notorious for closing.
I feel like it's eitherGlenwood Springs or Eisenhower
yes, those are the two placeswhere it just closes, so we
waited there.
Pam (01:20):
It's either crazy traffic, or there's some kind of road
construction which you thinkthey'd be done by now, after a
decade, but alas, Nope, always.
Alexandra (01:28):
Road construction on I-70, the armpit road of
Colorado, so it's the only wayin and out of the mountains.
What was the saying?
It's called I-70 because you'reeither going seven or zero.
Yes, so anyway, why don't youtell us a little bit about this
drive?
Pam (01:44):
I'm always a little bit nervous driving the big rig.
You know you just have to be onit all the time.
You know, head on a swivel,looking at every mirror, making
sure you know exactly where youare.
And I like highways because youcan really tell what's going on
around you.
There's not a lot of guesswork.
When we got off to take thistiny little two-way road to
(02:05):
Paonia and I'm talking it'ssmall I would have been nervous
driving the truck on this, butwe are driving a big rig.
Curvy mountain roads, curvymountain roads and I'm just kind
of praying.
The whole time it startedraining, terrible conditions.
I was nervous.
Some of the things that peoplelike to do around fifth wheels
is pass them.
Alexandra (02:26):
Yes, everybody.
I don't know why is soimpatient on these mountain
roads, and I've never reallythought a ton about it until we
started fifth wheeling.
Pam (02:34):
Yes, I mean people are passing when they shouldn't.
They are and we're going thespeed limit of five under.
So it's not like we're going 20, you know, on a 60 mile an hour
road.
So you know, we think we figurewe're catching up.
I mean, if it is, you know,looking like we're going slower,
then you know we'll pull overput our flashers on, kind of go
(02:55):
to the side so that people canpass get the bugs off the
windshield, just let everybodypass so we can be the slowest
one on there.
Alexandra (03:01):
For those of you who don't know that that was the
term that our RV tutor.
We literally went to RV drivingschool and he said oh yeah, go
in the passing lane so you canget all the bugs off the
windshields Basically just aterm that he used for everybody
just passing you so we justwould get all the bugs off the
windshield.
But sometimes it wasn't safefor us to get the bugs off the
(03:21):
windshield there wasn't apassing lane.
Pam (03:22):
Well, there's no room, there's no room.
You clip on one side, mount onthe other, and it is a small
two-lane windy mountain road,and so tooling along doing our
own thing, and I see this truckwho is speeding in the opposite
lane and it's a double yellow ona turn.
Alexandra (03:40):
Well, and you have to think too, there were these
three cars already behind us andturn.
Well, and you have to think too, there were these three cars
already behind us and we kind ofslowed down and tried to let
them pass, but I think the threecars behind us just decided not
to, so we gave them the optiontoo.
And then this truck comes alongand decides to not pass one car
, or two cars, or three cars orus, but all of us at the same
(04:03):
time on a double yellow, on aturn.
Pam (04:06):
Now, the other thing the rig doesn't do is stop quickly.
And so I see him and I thinkhe's going to merge in.
He's going to merge in, he'sgoing to merge in.
So I am slowing as safely as Ican.
I'm kind of don't want to, youknow, burn out the brakes.
But I'm aware of him, I knowhow fast he's going.
I mean, this guy is flying, andthen he almost gets to the
(04:27):
point where he can pass us andwe're almost stopped.
At this point I mean, we'rejust watching this unfold.
Alexandra (04:34):
I mean I yelled at you.
I said he's trying past threecars and us Slow down, slow down
, slow down.
He's being reckless.
I don't know what to do.
Pam (04:42):
This Porsche, beautiful Porsche, comes around the corner
I want to cry.
Sees him coming right at himand there's nowhere for anybody
to go.
So there's so many ways that wecould have crashed here, but
miraculously- we didn't.
Alexandra (04:55):
Honestly, I think it was because of the Porsche's
defensing driving skills andunfortunately he was the one
that got the front because hedidn't want to get on a head on
collision with this dude doing90.
So, then he started coming intoour lane.
So then we thought, oh my gosh,now he's going to head-on
collision with us because ofthis stupid truck.
(05:16):
And then he swerved about,missed our bumper head-on by
about two feet and just wentinto a ditch on the other side.
This poor guy who's doingeverything right, and the truck
kept going Kept going, saw thisPorsche crash and absolutely hit
and run, flew out of there asfast as he possibly could.
(05:39):
And then we're faced with thedilemma we have no service, we
can't stop because we're huge.
So what do we do?
So here I am trying to liketext 911 on their satellite,
which I've never had to call 911via satellite before.
But I really had a tough timegetting 911 on the phone.
I mean, luckily, I don't thinkthat the Porsche was in a
(06:03):
situation where he would havegotten hurt.
I think he just did someinvoluntary off-roading in a car
that was not made foroff-roading.
Pam (06:11):
Yeah.
So whoever you are, you're arock star.
Alexandra (06:14):
Yeah, whoever you are the person in the Porsche,
you're a rock star.
Whoever you are the person inthe Porsche, you're a rock star.
I am so sorry that there areterrible people in this world.
And to that guy in the truckyou know who you are and shame
on you.
Pam (06:25):
Luckily, the cars behind took care of the Porsche and we
just kept trying to call 9-1-1.
Alexandra (06:31):
Kept trying to call 9-1-1 and then finally there was
some construction, because youknow we're in Colorado on a
mountain road, so therefore wehave to have construction.
And we finally stopped and youknow they were holding us for a
bit and I said, hey, do you havea satellite phone?
There's a Porsche that justcrashed in a ditch over there
and we're not sure what to do.
Can you call 911 and just makesure that they're okay?
And they did call 911.
(06:52):
So luckily we did get help, butI just don't know if it was
fast enough.
It was really a trickysituation where we couldn't
really stop and see if he wasokay.
Pam (07:01):
Because then we're blocking one entire lane of traffic
Right.
Alexandra (07:03):
So then we're creating more danger just by
stopping.
Pam (07:07):
It was terrible it was such a terrible.
Alexandra (07:09):
We have so much guilt , moral dilemma, I mean, even
though we were going slow and wetried our best to prevent this.
I think it's a good reminderfor everybody.
When you are being veryimpatient on mountain roads,
someone else's life is not worthyou getting up five minutes
earlier, like that's not theirproblem that you didn't get up
five minutes earlier, or thatyou're an impatient driver and
(07:31):
that Porsche is now gonna haveto pay for all of his own
damages for something that wasthat dude's fault.
Pam (07:37):
Don't be in a rush.
Don't pass on a double yellow.
Maybe just not pass on two lanewindy roads, I don't know.
Alexandra (07:43):
Yeah, or just wait, don't pass three cars and a
massive fifth wheel that aregoing the speed limit.
It's not like we were goingslow and, as I said, we tried to
let those cars over and theywere even like no, you're fine,
you're going the speed limit,I'm not going to pass you.
And still that car overtook allof us at the same time and
caused an accident.
So I don't know what more wecould have done, but I don't
know why I feel so guilty aboutit.
Pam (08:04):
But I'm just mad for him.
Alexandra (08:07):
Yeah, I'm mad for the Porsche, so I need justice for
the Porsche, I know.
So anyway, we ended up gettingto Paonia.
There are three campsites atPaonia and we'll talk about
those a little bit later, butthe one that we were at was kind
of on the outskirts of Paoniaand that was the Anthracite
campsite.
And if you don't know thegeography of this, if you
started going on this road it'scalled Keebler Pass you would
(08:30):
take this pass to Crested Butte.
However, there is a lengthlimit and they don't really put
enough signs for the anthracitecampsite, so we missed it.
And then we thought, ohgoodness, now we're forced to go
on Keebler Pass and we won'tfit.
So we ended up going into adifferent RV park and they were
super confusing, and then we gotstuck and had to like back out
(08:53):
onto the road and then ended uppulling through through and they
were super mad at us.
Anyway, the whole journey toPaonia was very, very stressful,
especially for a big rig.
So that was lovely, it wasgreat, it was so fun.
Pam (09:07):
Yeah, so we finally get turned around.
Leave the angry second campsitepeople.
We got, we found the spot, buteven then it was still a tricky
turn to get in there.
It was just a solid, terribleturn with not a lot of leeway.
Alexandra (09:22):
Yeah, not a lot of leeway, and I think it's hard
because it goes from the asphaltto the dirt on a hill.
Getting in was okay, butgetting out you have to really
gun it and then you're on thismountain road.
So, anyway, that was my biggestcomplaint about Paonia.
We're going to go into whyPaonia is cool.
However, getting into Paonia,wow, and it was just in the
(09:47):
middle of nowhere.
But let's talk about why weactually chose Paonia.
Oh for the coolest place ever,Maroon bells which this was
still far away, and we actuallybooked this because we wanted to
hike to maroon bells and thenwe realized it was like a two
and a half hour drive.
However, we still did it.
We did maroon bells, we didkeebler pass, we did crested
butte there are so many amazinglocations here that and the area
(10:10):
itself is just stunning yes,it's just wooded and mountains
and you just are in the middleof nowhere.
I do have to say if I were to dothis again, I would do this
during fall, because KeeblerPass in the fall it is a sea of
aspens.
I bet it's one of the best inColorado.
Pam (10:29):
Yes, but I would probably stay at the KOA.
Alexandra (10:30):
Yeah, I would definitely stay at the KOA.
Pam (10:32):
And we'll tell you why we love them in a minute.
Alexandra (10:34):
So, yes, that is why we chose Paonia.
We did also choose it topaddleboard.
However, nobody told us thatthe reservoir actually gets too
low for recreational use atabout July and August-ish area.
So that was not accessible andneither was kind of any of
Paonia State Park.
So we actually ended up goingfor Paonia, but we stayed for
(10:56):
the rest of it.
Yes, okay.
So now let's talk about all ofthe campsites.
In Paonia.
There are three campsites andwe went around all of them.
The Spruce and the Haw's Appleare small, I mean, they're
definitely for very small rigsor tent camping, tent vans, tiny
trailers, yes, tiny trailers.
And so the Spruce Campgroundhas six campsites and it's
(11:17):
surrounded by spruce trees andbabbling brooks.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
Yeah, it is gorgeous Now to getclose, I'd probably recommend
sites eight, nine or 13.
Definitely recommended those.
And then, if you went a littlebit further, there was the Hawes
Opel.
This has seven campsites andit's one of the most popular
with water skiers because it'sright on the water and has
direct access to the water.
Not in late summer, early fall,definitely not.
(11:41):
That thing was dry as a bonewhen we were there.
However, if you do have a smallenough tent or RV, I would try
to snag site two.
This was my favorite justbecause it was semi-isolated and
had a good view of the water,or what was left of it.
And then there is ours, whichis the anthracite campsite.
Again, this is way further down.
I feel like the spruce and thehawse apple was kind of in the
(12:03):
same area.
You do have a big rig.
Don't make the mistake and turninto the hawse apple and spruce
.
Oh gosh, you'll never get out.
You'll never get out.
Those campsites were so tight.
And again, if you make onemistake, there's not a lot of
(12:26):
room for error at Paonia, youknow.
You just kind of have to knowwhat you're doing.
So I would definitely recommenddoing a Google map.
You know, see a satellite abovebefore, just so you can tell
where you're going.
But if you are at theanthracite, we found that site
23 is not directly on the river,but we couldn't really see the
river anyway.
But that one had all the shade.
That was the one in the middle.
Pam (12:38):
Right in the middle.
I mean we actually booked this.
Well, we're smarter now, but webooked it because it was on the
river, but you couldn't see theriver because they had a big
fence.
Alexandra (12:47):
Well, and they also had a lot of shrubbery.
Pam (12:50):
Yeah, so there's no way to get down to the river?
Alexandra (12:52):
I could see the river if I climbed up on the top of
the rig.
Pam (12:54):
Oh yeah, so I guess technically it was a river spot.
Alexandra (12:57):
It was, but you just couldn't really see it.
Pam (13:00):
Not all campsites have showers or water.
Alexandra (13:04):
And it was kind of confusing because it said no
portable drinking water.
So I was like, okay, but Iguess that is no water at all.
I don't know why.
I was just being a stupid RVer.
Don't be a stupid RVer like me.
Lesson learned we were kind ofmore noobs at this point, oh
yeah, but I kind of figured theywould at least have a sink with
(13:25):
a toilet in there.
But no, it was just one ofthose vault toilets that's kind
of like a glorified porta potty,and we had no water, no sewer,
and we were there for two weeks,two weeks.
So, as you can tell, we werevery, very stinky RVers and this
led us to go around to othercampsites and say please take
(13:46):
pity on us, which is why nexttime we will be staying at the
KOA, because we went into theKOA after we hiked Maroon Bells
and we said, hey, listen, we'reKOA members, can we pay to use
your shower?
And they let us use theirshower.
Pam (13:59):
Just for free.
They just took pity on us.
They probably just wanted us toget out of their office so it
wouldn't smell.
Alexandra (14:05):
I'm not sure that's their policy, but I really,
really, really do appreciate,but huge thumbs up to KOA.
So for them letting us usetheir shower.
We will endorse the.
Pam (14:13):
KOA.
It was glorious there, you go.
Alexandra (14:14):
We really reconnected to nature in Paonia.
Yep, we were one with nature Ithink the really the biggest
thing was just dishes.
It was just hard to do dishesWith bottled water.
With bottled water because weobviously got some water that we
just used just gallon jugs ofwater and it was kind of hot, so
we needed to like fill up theair conditionings with that and
(14:36):
everything else.
So it's just overall quiteinteresting.
Also in Paonia it rained somuch that we got a leak in the
roof.
Obviously, rvs get leaks,things happen but it was a
little rough and then it justwouldn't stop raining.
I obviously did get all thematerials but all of them said,
oh yeah, let it dry for 24 hours.
I'm like honey, how am Isupposed to let it dry for 24
(14:58):
hours if it won't stop raining?
Another thing that happened wasshe left because she had to go
to Loveland to get the tags forthe truck and I ended up staying
there with the animals alonewith no way out.
So there I was and there wasnobody in this campsite, and
when I say nobody I mean nobody.
So it was so weird just tothink that I was so alone in
(15:22):
this campsite.
It was kind of nice in a way.
I don't know, I just neverreally been that isolated before
and you couldn't go anywhereunless you hiked out.
No, no, yeah, I couldn't goanywhere.
And I had this thought becauseI was going to the, to the
little vault toilet,port-a-potty, and I was just
thinking to myself, wow, I couldjust walk from my rv through
(15:42):
this entire campsite naked andnobody would know.
Maybe maybe some cars drivingon that keebler pass for three
seconds, maybe, but if it wasnighttime, like I could just run
around, you know, naked likebigfoot and nobody would know.
So it was kind of fun to bethat isolated, but overall it
was just fun to see everything.
(16:04):
Let's talk about Maroon Bellsand Crested Butte.
Those were the two reasons whywe came, obviously Maroon Bells.
Pam (16:10):
Maroon Bells was phenomenal , absolutely worth the hype.
An amazing place to see waterand the trail is phenomenal.
Alexandra (16:18):
You do need a reservation.
We might do a whole episode onMaroon Bells because it was just
incredible, the hiking.
I honestly think that it doesneed to be on everyone's bucket
list.
One of the best views I've everseen in Colorado.
Pam (16:31):
Is that where we saw the?
Alexandra (16:32):
moose yes, we saw a moose there, stumbled upon a
moose.
That was a little scary, butyeah, that was incredible.
The other place that we went tois Crested Butte, and this is a
big ski area here in Colorado.
Cute little mountain town, very, very cute little mountain town
, and Keebler Pass I mean thatwas almost better than Crested
Butte.
Pam (16:49):
Yeah, we did it twice because it was so pretty, yeah,
that in the fall will be mybucket list.
Alexandra (16:55):
Yeah, stay tuned, because I'm going to do that
next fall.
I can't even imagine the fallcolors Absolutely amazing.
Oh, we totally forgot aboutmarble.
Pam (17:03):
Marble.
Marble is where marble is made.
Marble is marble, marble ismarble and you can dig for
marble.
Yeah, and it's the same marblethat was used in several
monuments in Washington.
Alexandra (17:18):
Yeah, washington DC, like the Washington Memorial,
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,all of those white marble
iconic landmarks that you see inDC, were actually they mined
for the marble here.
So that was kind of another funthing that you could do.
It was the town is small.
Pam (17:35):
Oh, it's so small, maybe a block long and well more than
that, but there wasn't muchthere.
There was a cute little marblemuseum.
That was adorable, but it wasjust.
The drive was nice and it waskind of nice.
Just, you could buy a piece ofmarble for a dollar, yeah, and
it actually takes you throughthe Gunnison National Forest.
Alexandra (17:53):
And was it McClure?
That was pretty.
Mcclure Pass, mcclure Pass, Ithink so.
I think it was.
But anyway, anywhere you go inhere is just stunning.
Yep just drive and roast, youwon't be disappointed.
Yeah, if you do go to Paonia, Iwould encourage you to get out
of Paonia and actually just godrive everywhere, because these
mountain passes are amazing.
But just good luck parking yourrig first, yes, and then again
(18:15):
we did leave.
It was a little tight gettingaround the loop of the
anthracite campsite.
As I said, forget it for theother two if you have a larger
rig.
Yeah, no, but yeah, getting outof there was a little tough.
It was like we had to get arunning, start up the dirt road
with our massive fifth wheel andthen make a left turn onto a
mountain pass road.
Yeah, she just said is anyonecoming?
(18:37):
And I said, if they are,they're just going to have to
see us because we can't stop,and if we stop we'll roll
backwards and knock it up thehill.
And we did make it.
And then we actually wentthrough the town of Paonia and
that was a tight road.
It's tiny.
It's tiny.
That place is so tiny.
We joke said our favorite signin the RV is when it says road
(18:59):
narrows and we all just roll oureyes.
Yes, but once we were out ofthere we were totally fine.
So anyway, what do you think ofPaonia State Park?
Would you add this to yourRVing bucket list?
Would you park your RV here?
Would you tent camp here?
Where would you go?
Would you go to Maroon Bells orCrested Butte or Marble, or is
(19:20):
it all just kind of too far awayfrom Paonia and you would just
go somewhere else?
Don't forget to let me know.
I do have an entire Paoniastate guide.
If you are interested in goingto Paonia, I have everything,
all of the information here,including where it is hookups of
everything and more on thatguide, and I will link that in
the show notes.
Guys, thank you so much forlistening and I just wish you
all of the many good travelswith your RV and camping
(19:41):
experiences and adventures.
We will see you next time.
Keep adventuring.
If it was nighttime, like I could just run around,
you know, naked like Bigfoot,and nobody would know.
Hi there, adventurers.
My name is Alexandra, andwelcome to Take it Before you
Kick it the podcast where wetalk about all of the
adventurous things that you canput on your bucket list and some
travel stories.
Now, today, I am joined by mymother, who lives full time in
this RV with me, and since we dolive this lifestyle, we do tend
(00:21):
to accumulate the travelstories very frequently.
So this one is going to beabout the infamous okay, maybe
not so infamous Paonia StatePark, and I say that because
I've never heard of this.
And, yeah, we're going to betalking about our crazy story
getting there, if it's big rigfriendly, why we chose it, what
we did, some more about thecampground and more.
(00:41):
So stay tuned and let's talkabout Paonia State Park.
Okay, so first things first.
This is my mother, pam, who isgoing to be joining me in
talking about Paonia State Park,and we are going to talk about
what happened when we were goingto Paonia State Park.
So normally my mom drivesforward and then I back the
thing in.
So she was driving, we werecoming from Glenwood Springs,
(01:03):
right, yeah, and what?
It was about a three hour drive.
We ended up sitting on thehighway for about two hours
extra because, let me tell you,i-70, near Glenwood Springs is
notorious for closing.
I feel like it's eitherGlenwood Springs or Eisenhower
yes, those are the two placeswhere it just closes, so we
waited there.
Pam (01:20):
It's either crazy traffic, or there's some kind of road
construction which you thinkthey'd be done by now, after a
decade, but alas, Nope, always.
Alexandra (01:28):
Road construction on I-70, the armpit road of
Colorado, so it's the only wayin and out of the mountains.
What was the saying?
It's called I-70 because you'reeither going seven or zero.
Yes, so anyway, why don't youtell us a little bit about this
drive?
Pam (01:44):
I'm always a little bit nervous driving the big rig.
You know you just have to be onit all the time.
You know, head on a swivel,looking at every mirror, making
sure you know exactly where youare.
And I like highways because youcan really tell what's going on
around you.
There's not a lot of guesswork.
When we got off to take thistiny little two-way road to
(02:05):
Paonia and I'm talking it'ssmall I would have been nervous
driving the truck on this, butwe are driving a big rig.
Curvy mountain roads, curvymountain roads and I'm just kind
of praying.
The whole time it startedraining, terrible conditions.
I was nervous.
Some of the things that peoplelike to do around fifth wheels
is pass them.
Alexandra (02:26):
Yes, everybody.
I don't know why is soimpatient on these mountain
roads, and I've never reallythought a ton about it until we
started fifth wheeling.
Pam (02:34):
Yes, I mean people are passing when they shouldn't.
They are and we're going thespeed limit of five under.
So it's not like we're going 20, you know, on a 60 mile an hour
road.
So you know, we think we figurewe're catching up.
I mean, if it is, you know,looking like we're going slower,
then you know we'll pull overput our flashers on, kind of go
(02:55):
to the side so that people canpass get the bugs off the
windshield, just let everybodypass so we can be the slowest
one on there.
Alexandra (03:01):
For those of you who don't know that that was the
term that our RV tutor.
We literally went to RV drivingschool and he said oh yeah, go
in the passing lane so you canget all the bugs off the
windshields Basically just aterm that he used for everybody
just passing you so we justwould get all the bugs off the
windshield.
But sometimes it wasn't safefor us to get the bugs off the
(03:21):
windshield there wasn't apassing lane.
Pam (03:22):
Well, there's no room, there's no room.
You clip on one side, mount onthe other, and it is a small
two-lane windy mountain road,and so tooling along doing our
own thing, and I see this truckwho is speeding in the opposite
lane and it's a double yellow ona turn.
Alexandra (03:40):
Well, and you have to think too, there were these
three cars already behind us andturn.
Well, and you have to think too, there were these three cars
already behind us and we kind ofslowed down and tried to let
them pass, but I think the threecars behind us just decided not
to, so we gave them the optiontoo.
And then this truck comes alongand decides to not pass one car
, or two cars, or three cars orus, but all of us at the same
(04:03):
time on a double yellow, on aturn.
Pam (04:06):
Now, the other thing the rig doesn't do is stop quickly.
And so I see him and I thinkhe's going to merge in.
He's going to merge in, he'sgoing to merge in.
So I am slowing as safely as Ican.
I'm kind of don't want to, youknow, burn out the brakes.
But I'm aware of him, I knowhow fast he's going.
I mean, this guy is flying, andthen he almost gets to the
(04:27):
point where he can pass us andwe're almost stopped.
At this point I mean, we'rejust watching this unfold.
Alexandra (04:34):
I mean I yelled at you.
I said he's trying past threecars and us Slow down, slow down
, slow down.
He's being reckless.
I don't know what to do.
Pam (04:42):
This Porsche, beautiful Porsche, comes around the corner
I want to cry.
Sees him coming right at himand there's nowhere for anybody
to go.
So there's so many ways that wecould have crashed here, but
miraculously- we didn't.
Alexandra (04:55):
Honestly, I think it was because of the Porsche's
defensing driving skills andunfortunately he was the one
that got the front because hedidn't want to get on a head on
collision with this dude doing90.
So, then he started coming intoour lane.
So then we thought, oh my gosh,now he's going to head-on
collision with us because ofthis stupid truck.
(05:16):
And then he swerved about,missed our bumper head-on by
about two feet and just wentinto a ditch on the other side.
This poor guy who's doingeverything right, and the truck
kept going Kept going, saw thisPorsche crash and absolutely hit
and run, flew out of there asfast as he possibly could.
(05:39):
And then we're faced with thedilemma we have no service, we
can't stop because we're huge.
So what do we do?
So here I am trying to liketext 911 on their satellite,
which I've never had to call 911via satellite before.
But I really had a tough timegetting 911 on the phone.
I mean, luckily, I don't thinkthat the Porsche was in a
(06:03):
situation where he would havegotten hurt.
I think he just did someinvoluntary off-roading in a car
that was not made foroff-roading.
Pam (06:11):
Yeah.
So whoever you are, you're arock star.
Alexandra (06:14):
Yeah, whoever you are the person in the Porsche,
you're a rock star.
Whoever you are the person inthe Porsche, you're a rock star.
I am so sorry that there areterrible people in this world.
And to that guy in the truckyou know who you are and shame
on you.
Pam (06:25):
Luckily, the cars behind took care of the Porsche and we
just kept trying to call 9-1-1.
Alexandra (06:31):
Kept trying to call 9-1-1 and then finally there was
some construction, because youknow we're in Colorado on a
mountain road, so therefore wehave to have construction.
And we finally stopped and youknow they were holding us for a
bit and I said, hey, do you havea satellite phone?
There's a Porsche that justcrashed in a ditch over there
and we're not sure what to do.
Can you call 911 and just makesure that they're okay?
And they did call 911.
(06:52):
So luckily we did get help, butI just don't know if it was
fast enough.
It was really a trickysituation where we couldn't
really stop and see if he wasokay.
Pam (07:01):
Because then we're blocking one entire lane of traffic
Right.
Alexandra (07:03):
So then we're creating more danger just by
stopping.
Pam (07:07):
It was terrible it was such a terrible.
Alexandra (07:09):
We have so much guilt , moral dilemma, I mean, even
though we were going slow and wetried our best to prevent this.
I think it's a good reminderfor everybody.
When you are being veryimpatient on mountain roads,
someone else's life is not worthyou getting up five minutes
earlier, like that's not theirproblem that you didn't get up
five minutes earlier, or thatyou're an impatient driver and
(07:31):
that Porsche is now gonna haveto pay for all of his own
damages for something that wasthat dude's fault.
Pam (07:37):
Don't be in a rush.
Don't pass on a double yellow.
Maybe just not pass on two lanewindy roads, I don't know.
Alexandra (07:43):
Yeah, or just wait, don't pass three cars and a
massive fifth wheel that aregoing the speed limit.
It's not like we were goingslow and, as I said, we tried to
let those cars over and theywere even like no, you're fine,
you're going the speed limit,I'm not going to pass you.
And still that car overtook allof us at the same time and
caused an accident.
So I don't know what more wecould have done, but I don't
know why I feel so guilty aboutit.
Pam (08:04):
But I'm just mad for him.
Alexandra (08:07):
Yeah, I'm mad for the Porsche, so I need justice for
the Porsche, I know.
So anyway, we ended up gettingto Paonia.
There are three campsites atPaonia and we'll talk about
those a little bit later, butthe one that we were at was kind
of on the outskirts of Paoniaand that was the Anthracite
campsite.
And if you don't know thegeography of this, if you
started going on this road it'scalled Keebler Pass you would
(08:30):
take this pass to Crested Butte.
However, there is a lengthlimit and they don't really put
enough signs for the anthracitecampsite, so we missed it.
And then we thought, ohgoodness, now we're forced to go
on Keebler Pass and we won'tfit.
So we ended up going into adifferent RV park and they were
super confusing, and then we gotstuck and had to like back out
(08:53):
onto the road and then ended uppulling through through and they
were super mad at us.
Anyway, the whole journey toPaonia was very, very stressful,
especially for a big rig.
So that was lovely, it wasgreat, it was so fun.
Pam (09:07):
Yeah, so we finally get turned around.
Leave the angry second campsitepeople.
We got, we found the spot, buteven then it was still a tricky
turn to get in there.
It was just a solid, terribleturn with not a lot of leeway.
Alexandra (09:22):
Yeah, not a lot of leeway, and I think it's hard
because it goes from the asphaltto the dirt on a hill.
Getting in was okay, butgetting out you have to really
gun it and then you're on thismountain road.
So, anyway, that was my biggestcomplaint about Paonia.
We're going to go into whyPaonia is cool.
However, getting into Paonia,wow, and it was just in the
(09:47):
middle of nowhere.
But let's talk about why weactually chose Paonia.
Oh for the coolest place ever,Maroon bells which this was
still far away, and we actuallybooked this because we wanted to
hike to maroon bells and thenwe realized it was like a two
and a half hour drive.
However, we still did it.
We did maroon bells, we didkeebler pass, we did crested
butte there are so many amazinglocations here that and the area
(10:10):
itself is just stunning yes,it's just wooded and mountains
and you just are in the middleof nowhere.
I do have to say if I were to dothis again, I would do this
during fall, because KeeblerPass in the fall it is a sea of
aspens.
I bet it's one of the best inColorado.
Pam (10:29):
Yes, but I would probably stay at the KOA.
Alexandra (10:30):
Yeah, I would definitely stay at the KOA.
Pam (10:32):
And we'll tell you why we love them in a minute.
Alexandra (10:34):
So, yes, that is why we chose Paonia.
We did also choose it topaddleboard.
However, nobody told us thatthe reservoir actually gets too
low for recreational use atabout July and August-ish area.
So that was not accessible andneither was kind of any of
Paonia State Park.
So we actually ended up goingfor Paonia, but we stayed for
(10:56):
the rest of it.
Yes, okay.
So now let's talk about all ofthe campsites.
In Paonia.
There are three campsites andwe went around all of them.
The Spruce and the Haw's Appleare small, I mean, they're
definitely for very small rigsor tent camping, tent vans, tiny
trailers, yes, tiny trailers.
And so the Spruce Campgroundhas six campsites and it's
(11:17):
surrounded by spruce trees andbabbling brooks.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
Yeah, it is gorgeous Now to getclose, I'd probably recommend
sites eight, nine or 13.
Definitely recommended those.
And then, if you went a littlebit further, there was the Hawes
Opel.
This has seven campsites andit's one of the most popular
with water skiers because it'sright on the water and has
direct access to the water.
Not in late summer, early fall,definitely not.
(11:41):
That thing was dry as a bonewhen we were there.
However, if you do have a smallenough tent or RV, I would try
to snag site two.
This was my favorite justbecause it was semi-isolated and
had a good view of the water,or what was left of it.
And then there is ours, whichis the anthracite campsite.
Again, this is way further down.
I feel like the spruce and thehawse apple was kind of in the
(12:03):
same area.
You do have a big rig.
Don't make the mistake and turninto the hawse apple and spruce
.
Oh gosh, you'll never get out.
You'll never get out.
Those campsites were so tight.
And again, if you make onemistake, there's not a lot of
(12:26):
room for error at Paonia, youknow.
You just kind of have to knowwhat you're doing.
So I would definitely recommenddoing a Google map.
You know, see a satellite abovebefore, just so you can tell
where you're going.
But if you are at theanthracite, we found that site
23 is not directly on the river,but we couldn't really see the
river anyway.
But that one had all the shade.
That was the one in the middle.
Pam (12:38):
Right in the middle.
I mean we actually booked this.
Well, we're smarter now, but webooked it because it was on the
river, but you couldn't see theriver because they had a big
fence.
Alexandra (12:47):
Well, and they also had a lot of shrubbery.
Pam (12:50):
Yeah, so there's no way to get down to the river?
Alexandra (12:52):
I could see the river if I climbed up on the top of
the rig.
Pam (12:54):
Oh yeah, so I guess technically it was a river spot.
Alexandra (12:57):
It was, but you just couldn't really see it.
Pam (13:00):
Not all campsites have showers or water.
Alexandra (13:04):
And it was kind of confusing because it said no
portable drinking water.
So I was like, okay, but Iguess that is no water at all.
I don't know why.
I was just being a stupid RVer.
Don't be a stupid RVer like me.
Lesson learned we were kind ofmore noobs at this point, oh
yeah, but I kind of figured theywould at least have a sink with
(13:25):
a toilet in there.
But no, it was just one ofthose vault toilets that's kind
of like a glorified porta potty,and we had no water, no sewer,
and we were there for two weeks,two weeks.
So, as you can tell, we werevery, very stinky RVers and this
led us to go around to othercampsites and say please take
(13:46):
pity on us, which is why nexttime we will be staying at the
KOA, because we went into theKOA after we hiked Maroon Bells
and we said, hey, listen, we'reKOA members, can we pay to use
your shower?
And they let us use theirshower.
Pam (13:59):
Just for free.
They just took pity on us.
They probably just wanted us toget out of their office so it
wouldn't smell.
Alexandra (14:05):
I'm not sure that's their policy, but I really,
really, really do appreciate,but huge thumbs up to KOA.
So for them letting us usetheir shower.
We will endorse the.
Pam (14:13):
KOA.
It was glorious there, you go.
Alexandra (14:14):
We really reconnected to nature in Paonia.
Yep, we were one with nature Ithink the really the biggest
thing was just dishes.
It was just hard to do dishesWith bottled water.
With bottled water because weobviously got some water that we
just used just gallon jugs ofwater and it was kind of hot, so
we needed to like fill up theair conditionings with that and
(14:36):
everything else.
So it's just overall quiteinteresting.
Also in Paonia it rained somuch that we got a leak in the
roof.
Obviously, rvs get leaks,things happen but it was a
little rough and then it justwouldn't stop raining.
I obviously did get all thematerials but all of them said,
oh yeah, let it dry for 24 hours.
I'm like honey, how am Isupposed to let it dry for 24
(14:58):
hours if it won't stop raining?
Another thing that happened wasshe left because she had to go
to Loveland to get the tags forthe truck and I ended up staying
there with the animals alonewith no way out.
So there I was and there wasnobody in this campsite, and
when I say nobody I mean nobody.
So it was so weird just tothink that I was so alone in
(15:22):
this campsite.
It was kind of nice in a way.
I don't know, I just neverreally been that isolated before
and you couldn't go anywhereunless you hiked out.
No, no, yeah, I couldn't goanywhere.
And I had this thought becauseI was going to the, to the
little vault toilet,port-a-potty, and I was just
thinking to myself, wow, I couldjust walk from my rv through
(15:42):
this entire campsite naked andnobody would know.
Maybe maybe some cars drivingon that keebler pass for three
seconds, maybe, but if it wasnighttime, like I could just run
around, you know, naked likebigfoot and nobody would know.
So it was kind of fun to bethat isolated, but overall it
was just fun to see everything.
(16:04):
Let's talk about Maroon Bellsand Crested Butte.
Those were the two reasons whywe came, obviously Maroon Bells.
Pam (16:10):
Maroon Bells was phenomenal , absolutely worth the hype.
An amazing place to see waterand the trail is phenomenal.
Alexandra (16:18):
You do need a reservation.
We might do a whole episode onMaroon Bells because it was just
incredible, the hiking.
I honestly think that it doesneed to be on everyone's bucket
list.
One of the best views I've everseen in Colorado.
Pam (16:31):
Is that where we saw the?
Alexandra (16:32):
moose yes, we saw a moose there, stumbled upon a
moose.
That was a little scary, butyeah, that was incredible.
The other place that we went tois Crested Butte, and this is a
big ski area here in Colorado.
Cute little mountain town, very, very cute little mountain town
, and Keebler Pass I mean thatwas almost better than Crested
Butte.
Pam (16:49):
Yeah, we did it twice because it was so pretty, yeah,
that in the fall will be mybucket list.
Alexandra (16:55):
Yeah, stay tuned, because I'm going to do that
next fall.
I can't even imagine the fallcolors Absolutely amazing.
Oh, we totally forgot aboutmarble.
Pam (17:03):
Marble.
Marble is where marble is made.
Marble is marble, marble ismarble and you can dig for
marble.
Yeah, and it's the same marblethat was used in several
monuments in Washington.
Alexandra (17:18):
Yeah, washington DC, like the Washington Memorial,
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,all of those white marble
iconic landmarks that you see inDC, were actually they mined
for the marble here.
So that was kind of another funthing that you could do.
It was the town is small.
Pam (17:35):
Oh, it's so small, maybe a block long and well more than
that, but there wasn't muchthere.
There was a cute little marblemuseum.
That was adorable, but it wasjust.
The drive was nice and it waskind of nice.
Just, you could buy a piece ofmarble for a dollar, yeah, and
it actually takes you throughthe Gunnison National Forest.
Alexandra (17:53):
And was it McClure?
That was pretty.
Mcclure Pass, mcclure Pass, Ithink so.
I think it was.
But anyway, anywhere you go inhere is just stunning.
Yep just drive and roast, youwon't be disappointed.
Yeah, if you do go to Paonia, Iwould encourage you to get out
of Paonia and actually just godrive everywhere, because these
mountain passes are amazing.
But just good luck parking yourrig first, yes, and then again
(18:15):
we did leave.
It was a little tight gettingaround the loop of the
anthracite campsite.
As I said, forget it for theother two if you have a larger
rig.
Yeah, no, but yeah, getting outof there was a little tough.
It was like we had to get arunning, start up the dirt road
with our massive fifth wheel andthen make a left turn onto a
mountain pass road.
Yeah, she just said is anyonecoming?
(18:37):
And I said, if they are,they're just going to have to
see us because we can't stop,and if we stop we'll roll
backwards and knock it up thehill.
And we did make it.
And then we actually wentthrough the town of Paonia and
that was a tight road.
It's tiny.
It's tiny.
That place is so tiny.
We joke said our favorite signin the RV is when it says road
(18:59):
narrows and we all just roll oureyes.
Yes, but once we were out ofthere we were totally fine.
So anyway, what do you think ofPaonia State Park?
Would you add this to yourRVing bucket list?
Would you park your RV here?
Would you tent camp here?
Where would you go?
Would you go to Maroon Bells orCrested Butte or Marble, or is
(19:20):
it all just kind of too far awayfrom Paonia and you would just
go somewhere else?
Don't forget to let me know.
I do have an entire Paoniastate guide.
If you are interested in goingto Paonia, I have everything,
all of the information here,including where it is hookups of
everything and more on thatguide, and I will link that in
the show notes.
Guys, thank you so much forlistening and I just wish you
all of the many good travelswith your RV and camping
(19:41):
experiences and adventures.
We will see you next time.
Keep adventuring.
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