Denny – Thursday. I think I know why Brigham Young would get so frustrated with members of the wagon trains that wouldn’t get up and be ready when it was time to pull out in the mornings. I found myself disappointed we didn’t get out of the trailer to explore historic sites earlier because I was slow to get moving this morning! I’m sure I would have been one of those pioneers Brigham raised his eyebrows at had he been here today.
What a fabulous day to view historic forts and locations in the area! Everyone should be so lucky to have Kevin as their personal guide. We followed the South Platte River to where it met Crow Creek. I absolutely loved the river bottoms. I could just picture the wagons parked among the trees, cattle and oxen grazing on the lush grass, the image was just perfect. What a beautiful place.
Then we visited Ft. Vasquez and Ft. St. Vrain’s, two of the four forts along the South Platte. Convenience, Ft. Lupton, were the other two. The Battalion went by all of these forts but none of then were active in 1847.
We were once again—vagabonds looking for a place to lay our weary heads and ended up in a Pet Smart Parking lot. We got there after they were closed and were gone before they opened. It’s actually pretty hard to find places to park an RV. The days of Wal-Mart letting you park overnight are things of the past it seems. The Battalion would look for places with good wood and water. We look for places that don't have "No Overnight Parking" signs.
