Back Roads and Other Stories Go Hiking with Retirement RV Dream

November 29, 2021

I follow the “Back Roads and Other Stories” blog. Margie and Tony travel in a van for trips and they always find something interesting to see along the way.

I noticed on their blog that Margie and Tony were in Denver to help out their daughter. Since we are still in the Denver metro area, I reached out to see if they would like to get together.

Margie had noticed that we had several hiking trails near by and thought a hike would be fun. On Sunday, Margie and Tony came by around 2:00 PM and we proudly showed off our rig.

Margie and Tony proudly showed off their van. It always amazes me how much fits into a travel van. Margie and Tony have made updates to their van to personalize it. They have also made changes to make it more efficient for them. Their modifications looked professional and I would’ve never guessed that the van didn’t come that way. Their bathroom was in the back of the van, leaving most the body of the van for living.

Margie pulled out a couple of cute Christmas ornaments and gave them to me. I put them in my hoodie pocket and carried them with me on the hike

After seeing Margie’s and Tony’s van, we discussed hiking. We decided to hike along Stegosaurus Ridge. We took Nox with us. The weather was nice, but a bit windy. Once we were at the top of Stegosaurs Ridge, we were buffeted by strong winds. I lost my hat once and Bruce lost his hat once.

We turned around just after 4:00 PM to head back. It gets dark just before 5:00 PM right now, and we didn’t want to be on Stegosaurus Ridge in the dark.

Nox got tired and Bruce carried her. She started out as a sit up Nox in his arms, but she kept wanting to lean forward. Bruce is always concerned that she is going to fall when she leans forwards, so he started caring Nox like a baby. We call this carry position “baby Nox”.

Nox loved the wind and kept sticking her face around Bruce so she could get the wind in her face. She looked so happy. After a while, Bruce got tired of holding Nox and put her down to see if she was ready to walk again. Nox had recovered her second wind while being carried, and she was ready to go. (Yes, we should’ve brought Nox’s backpack. It would’ve made holding her a lot easier.)

The sunset was spectacular! As we hiked back, we started seeing the burnt orange to the north first. To the east, Denver lay in the shadows and we could the sun lit plain past Denver. The burnt orange and golds spread along the horizon. We made it down to the RV park in time to see the golden clouds in the west. It was also getting dark, so we timed our hike just right.

Margie and Tony had to get back to their daughter’s, as Margie had promised to make dinner. Margie and Tony invited us to stop by and see them if we ever came to their part of Canada. We said good-bye and they head out while we walked back to our RV.

Margie and Tony were great company and I hope to see them again during our travels!