Colorado Is a Hard Place to Leave

We said our final goodbyes to Colorado Springs and rolled out on September 13, 2015. Our first destination, Lake Pueblo State Park, is only about 45 miles south of Colorado Springs. Kristy's parents live in Pueblo so we had planned to spend a couple of weeks here, spending time with her mom and dad and kayaking around the reservoir. Our time in Pueblo stretched a little longer than planned when unforseen medical issues and the appointments that go with them required that we stay within driving distance of Colorado Springs. Plus, we decided we wanted to bring our kayaks along on our full-time RV adventures so we ordered a kayak/bike rack from RVKayaks.com and we were waiting for the rack to arrive.

Staying at Lake Pueblo ended up being super fun. Lake Pueblo offers hiking and mountain biking trails,  great kayaking, fishing, and a paved bike path that follows the Arkansas River into downtown Pueblo and beyond. Friends from Colorado Springs drove down to spend a day or even an overnight with us. Sitting with friends around the campfire watching a lunar eclipse was an experience not to be missed. While at the campground we rode the bike path to the downtown River Walk, lunched at Hopscotch Bakery, and brunched at a cute little restaurant at the Nature Center on the river. We loved kayaking and bird watching. From our kayaks Kristy spotted  a sweet little cluster of American avocets on a grassy sandbar. And several times as we paddled around we watched ospreys hover and then dive splashing into the water. Pueblo Lake has camping on both the north and south sides. We like the campground on the south side better because it's closer to the paved bike path, has easy access for the kayaks, and has newer bathrooms with showers.

 Although we were having a great time in Pueblo we were anxious to start our road tripping in earnest. From Lake Pueblo, it's only about an hour and a half drive to Lake Trinidad State Park so we headed south again. We had made reservations in advance which we realized was a mistake when we got to the campground and saw that our site was going to be our biggest parking challenge to date. The road through the upper part of Lake Trinidad campground is curvy and narrow, but we mustered our courage and gave it our best shot. After backing and forwarding and angling and rebacking and trying several different approaches, we gave up.  Admittedly, we were backing novices and we were just plain out of our league. We found a different site in the lower part of the campground and had no problems backing in. Then we encountered a new problem--our fifth-wheel hitch wouldn't release. Annette looked up information on a user's forum which gave us a strategy that saved us: Pinch the trailer brake and hold it, back up a tiny bit and kick on the emergency brake. It worked like a charm. We're grateful to knowledgeable RVers out there who share their expertise. (We've had to use this strategy a few times since when the ground that the truck is on is uneven and works every time). We  won't be making reservations for awhile so we can choose a site to match our backing skill level. After our ignominious beginning at this campground, we enjoyed kayaking and hiking at Trinidad Lake State Park and got a kick out of exploring the little town of Trinidad.      

I'd like to give a shout out to Ray at loveyourRV.com who posted a video on how to back a fifth-wheel. His video clicked for both of us and transformed our backing technique almost instantaneously. After watching Ray's video we improved by a factor of 10 and just felt less stressed out.