Thursday, June 24, 2010 – Drive to Curt Gowdy State Park, WY-Another Disappointment!

Packed up and got out early again, anxious to get to our next location. We had arranged to stop near Loveland and get some fresh Weed-free hay that had just been baled, for $7/bale (vs. At the feed store at $9.50/bale for last year’s cut). Took 15 bales and left a check for Denny as instructed. Continued through Ft. Collins, a quick stop at Wal-mart and Lowes for a few things, then headed up to Curt Gowdy State Park west of Cheyenne, WY. Arrived at the park, which is next to a reservoir, and discovered that a lot of what was on the website wasn’t exacty true. The fee for non-residents was $17/night, but not per campsite, PER VEHICLE! No senior discount at all, no reduced second vehicle fee, nothing so we ended up paying $34 for the night. No water at the campground except one spigot and hose to water the horses (though the water already in the tank was so dirty and rusty looking, I dumped it out before we put the horses in the corral and used our own tubs to be safe. Hubby had to mess with the spigot for 10 minutes before he could get it to work. The horse “camp” was nothing more than a parking lot with a couple of picnic tables and fire rings, no water, no electricity, nothing at all to justify the exorbitant rates. We had planned to spend the weekend, but at these prices and with such poor facilities, not to mention the trails seemed to be overwhelmed by cyclists, we just couldn’t see ourselves doing it. So we decided to pack up in the morning and move on to our next stop, Encampment River Campground on the other side of the Medicine Bow National Forest.