BOYD LAKE STATE PARK – Our First Visit
After Mrs Ram returned from Massachusetts and before we headed to the Rockies, we regrouped at a hotel and then headed to Boyd Lake State Park. It is one of the few state campgrounds on the Front Range that allowed you to just stop in and get a site. Most others required online booking.
The Boyd Lake State Park campground is typical of many RV friendly facilities with drive-thru sites of pavement for your vehicle and grass/crushed stone with a picnic table and fire ring. Nearly every site had some shade and there were a handful of people that had set up tents.
We rented a tandem kayak for a few hours and explored the northern section of the lake. When we returned from our paddle the power was out and they could not complete the charge for our rental. Since we were planning on staying another night she said she could complete it when the power returned.
Of course obtaining that second night camping site was also thwarted by the lack of power. No stuffing a few dollars in an envelope here – everything is computerized. Someone thought about printing out the reservation list so they could assign sites to us one night campers. Then they realized that they needed power to print out the list. Apparently no one has considered installing Uninterruptible Power Supplies.
Lack of power also lead to sewage pump issues. Showers were closed the next morning and we had to stop by the beach.
We were happy to head out the next day to Rocky Mountain National Park.
BOYD LAKE STATE PARK – Our Second Visit
When we headed back from the Rockies planning to go to Cheyenne, we once again struggled for a place to stay in the Front Range. Walmarts would not let us park and there were not many options for campgrounds conveniently placed for us. We ended up back at Boyd State Park. Fortunately power was up and the sewage was fixed. We were lucky to get a site closer to the good bathrooms and showers between loop A and B.
Our neighbor, Jeff Deck, was an on the road carpenter. He had a converted shuttle bus for his RV and trailer for all of his stuff. We wished we could have a full size couch like he had in his RV. He invited us to dinner as he had extra food that he had not be able to cook in the forest. His last campsites had been very dry with stage 2 fire restrictions. Boyd did not have these restrictions and we could smell that pork roast cooking.
Rain came and chased us inside for a while. After the storm passed Jeff invited us to enjoy his campfire.
He had also invited Dave, a grad student studying forestry, who was in the campsite across from us. Dave was camping until the lease on his new apartment started at the beginning of the month. He was originally from Connecticut and noted that some here did not like him because he is from the East. Maybe that explains that woman at the Meeker Campground.
With Mrs Rams father’s health deteriorating again, our travels took us both back to Massachusetts, Mrs Ram by plane and Mr Ram by van. We bid Colorado adieu after over a month. Though we will miss the many beautiful places and people we met, we will not miss the allergies that we both suffered.