Stop #17: Peak RV Resort, Colorado Springs, CO
- Denisse Storti
- Jul 26, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 31, 2023
Our first leg of our RV trip was coming to an end. We set out in February not knowing if we would love it or hate it but now four months in we all love RV life and all agreed we should continue. However, we didn’t want to be out visiting national parks during the summer. We preferred to avoid the heat and the crowds and get back to it again in the early fall. Rather than storing our RV in Arizona, we thought it might be best to drive it over to Colorado hoping there the weather would be more forgiving. Closed storage is pricey so our RV would be out in the elements. We found a RV storage in the suburbs of Denver for a very decent price and decided that was the way to go.
From Page to Denver it’s a long 9 and a half hour drive so we knew we’d have to break that up. On the way out we did a quick detour to The Four Corners monument upon seeing the sign for it on the road. It was cool to stand where four states meet, but we did find the entry fee of $8pp to be a bit much for what it is. But we went, we saw, used our RV restroom, and continued driving. This long drive seemed like a good opportunity to use our Harvest Host membership a second time around. We looked for a place midway and landed on Jack-a-lope Acres in Ignacio, CO. How fun to pretend for one night that we lived on a farm?! But this was no ordinary farm, Jack-a-lope had a jumping pad, slides on a dirt hill (a kid’s dream), tires to jump on, and a playground. This was during their off season but they still allowed us to play, roam around, and say ‘hi!’ to the animals. The kids ended up filthy, indicative of all the fun they had. They claim it’s the ‘Best Harvest Host ever!’. Disclaimer: we’ve only stayed at two. But we truly all enjoyed our stay. We can only imagine how much more fun this place is when they’re open to the public (late May through Oct per what I saw on their site). Check out their website for all the activities they put together for visiting families.
The drive in Colorado was super scenic specially when we reached the mountains. Snow was melting and we could see small waterfalls sprouting from the mountain sides... right onto the sides of the road. We drove past Treasure Falls which we had seen when we were in South Fork for skiing only then it was completely frozen. We had to stop to see it flowing. Thankfully the parking lot (which is not that large and it's right on the side of a busy road) was not that full and we were able to drive in with our RV to take in the sight. You can hike closer to the waterfall but we didn't have the time to do so.
Before dropping off our RV at storage we needed a few days at a nearby campground in order to get it ready. Our goal was to remove most food from the pantry (we thought canned goods or jars are safe to stay), prep the fridge, organize all indoor/outdoor compartments, and deep clean the RV. While we did remove all perishables from the fridge, we did place spices, and other non perishable items in there and kept our batteries on so the fridge could somewhat work with solar while we were away. Things in there do not need refrigeration but figured that keeping it from being scorching hot would be best. This is all with the hopes rodents would not consider our RV as possible living quarters. Our biggest fear (or at least mine) is to live with these pests in such a small space.
Ideally we would've booked a campground in the Denver area but the ones we liked were all booked. We opted to book in nearby Colorado Springs instead. We booked at Peak RV Resort, a small campground with paved roads and gravel sites providing us a good setting to tidy things up. It was rainy and a bit cold (we got some hail too) most of the time while we were there, which was not ideal, but we still managed to get things done. This campground was on the noisy side too (close to a highway), nothing special really and with not many amenities other than bathrooms, laundry room, and an area with BBQ’s and picnic tables. The highlight of this place were the bunnies we kept seeing hopping around in between sites.
While our main goal while in Colorado Springs was to prep the RV for storage we did manage to fit in a bit of fun. We arrived a day before Mother’s Day and I chose to spend that day adventuring in nature as it's my favorite thing to do. We visited Garden of the Gods that day which was beautiful. It was only 20 mins from our campground so it seemed like a no brainer for that day. We weren’t the only ones to think so, as it was fairly crowded but we lucked out and found parking near the Perkins Central Garden trail. The sandstone rock formations here are stunning and the 1.5mi loop trail we did is along a paved walkway which made it very easy. We stopped various times for pictures with some of these beauties and to watch some folks climbing which you can do there with a permit. We followed with a wonderful lunch at a sushi restaurant which unlike many other restaurants we drove by that day, was pretty empty. I guess Sushi is not a popular choice for Mother’s Day! I can’t recall the name of it otherwise I’d share it.
My birthday was a few days later and on that day I chose to visit a climbing gym since we all had so much fun doing this in Tucson. We went to Gripstone Climbing & Fitness. The gym was clean and it had a lot options for us beginners. They have 17 auto belays, plus many more routes, and bouldering to choose from. We climbed till we could climb no more. Needless to say, my arms felt it the next day. A sign of a good workout.
A day before our flight out of Denver, we drove our RV and truck to storage. Turned out that while we thought our spot was confirmed, the owners missed the form we sent through and had not reserved it. Thankfully, when we called upon arriving there, they were able to squeeze us into an end spot (the last one they had!) - phew! We would've been in a jam if that hadn't worked out. Before leaving Peak RV Resort we emptied all the hoses fully, flushed the tanks as best as possible, and topped off our truck to avoid water getting in the diesel tank. We were as ready as we could be (for our first time doing this! lol), so we parked our home on wheels and our truck (unhitched so they could fit in the spot), and crossed our fingers as we left it behind. May it all be well when we return!
We had just wrapped up school for the year too, so we were more than ready for summer! I will write about our homeschool journey on a separate post because there's a lot to cover there. If you are in it you know what I'm talking about, and if you're considering it, you probably know too because the thought of it alone can be overwhelming. But I digress.... summer plans awaited.
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