Westcliffe Fall Excursion - Sept. 20-23

   Fall is when I often head to Westcliffe for a few nights of dark-sky camping at the nearby Alvarado Campground. I plan to do that with my Miata, beginning Wednesday, 20 September. It's quiet there this time of year, no reservations required and lots of campsites to choose from, but a word of warning -- the easy road into the campground has a mile or so of washboardy gravel. I can fit my tent and comfy camp mattress into my 1999, and I eat and shower in town, so I don't pack any cooking stuff. 

   Not into Miata camping? There are lots of lodging options in town. It's a beautiful time to be in the Wet Valley (correction Wet Mountain Valley) in a Miata. There are lovely, lonesome drives out of the area, and the Mt. Princeton and Valley View hot springs are easily reachable. (The latter includes three miles of washboardy gravel road, and requires reservations; it's also clothing optional). Post-soak, I usually grab a dinner in Salida; I'll do that one night again, now that I know of riverside dining options, thanks to Gary and Mary Halcomb's New Mexico trip this past spring. This won't be a tightly choreographed drive event by any means, but my T-Mobile cellular works well from the campground, so it would be easy to share real-time ideas and plans, depending on weather and wishes. 

   I plan to stay three nights, heading out from the Edgewater Public Market after a PtoPMC board meeting -- probably departing around 2:30 pm on Wednesday, the 20th. If anyone 'down south' wants to join me, we can arrange a more southerly meetup -- just give me a shout, and we can negotiate the route to Westcliffe. I can deal with I-25, or 285, or any better variant you know of.

 rick robinson, 1999 blue Anniversary Edition, frroogle@gmail.com, 720-939-3733

RSVP: Not required

Meet around 2:15-2:30 pm: Edgewater Public Market, 5505 W 20th Ave, Edgewater, CO 80214, USA. Free parking. Look for the blue 1999 Miata, hopefully front row, give me a call 720-939-3733 if you can't find me. Restrooms and food inside food court.

Driver’s Meeting 2:45 pm: Meet fellow members, agree on route, sign the waiver.

Departure 3:00 pm: Route to be negotiated/agreed on at the driver's meeting -- I-25, 285, or a variant of the two. I'm flexible! Left alone I'll probably do 285.

Directions to Alvarado Campground: From Westcliffe, CO, take State Route 69 south 3 miles to the campground sign (County Road 140). Turn right and go 1.8 miles to the stop sign. Continue straight through the stop sign for 2.8 miles until you hit another stop sign (RD 141). Turn left onto RD 141 and continue 2.1 miles to campground. (Note: RD 141 becomes dirt/gravel after 0.4 miles.)

Weather dress: Forecast weather is mostly sunny and breezy, from lows of ~40 F to highs of 55-60 F at the campground, and 65-70 F in town and valley. Should be nice topdown days, but when the sun goes down, it will get chilly -- hat-and-gloves chilly in the campground. They've had some rain recently, which is good news for gravel dust.

Contact: My email's frroogle@gmail.com, phone/text 720-939-3733