Stop #18: Jellystone Park, Larkspur, CO

Aaaand we're back at it! After an almost four month break it was time to head back to Colorado to continue our RV adventure. We figured that by mid-September most parks and campgrounds had decongested from the big summer crowds which we wanted to avoid, along with the scorching temperatures (which we didn't find ideal for hiking).

We left The Bahamas in mid September and spent two nights in Fort Lauderdale in order to get in a few doc appointments, play dates for our kids with their besties, and dinner with dear friends. We departed towards Denver early in the morning so we could have enough time to get to storage, check that all was good with the truck and the RV, and drive over to Jellystone Park in Larkspur.

Not gonna lie, we were worried about what we'd find. Whether the truck was ok (it's new but things happen when you leave vehicles exposed to the elements - we'd seen there had been hail and very hot temps while we were away), whether any critters had made our RV their home, or if anything had been stolen. We took a Lift over from the airport and asked our driver to stick around till after we started our truck.... just in case. lol

Everything looked good at first sight and the truck did start from the first go. There were no signs of chewed wires on the underbelly of the RV - we left it on the jacks with wheels raised to reduce the number of entry points which might have helped, but we knew that wouldn't be enough to keep critters from crawling in. Then it was time to look inside the RV... which worried us the most. On a good note, we didn't hear any noises when we went inside but we did immediately notice that moths had made their way in. There were dead ones on the floor and a ton of them in the shower (along with what seems like moth guts splattered around) which had died as they attempted to exit via the sky light. A gory scene, but we were very relived that was the extent of it. Let me tell you... we were ready to head to a hotel if there were any signs of mice!

Our RV at storage

Dead moths in our shower

Having checked that all was good, we headed over to family owned Ben's Brick Oven Pizza for lunch in our truck before hitching up. If you are ever in the Hudson area do check them out. Pizza's very yummy and this time we even got to meet Ben who chatted with us about how they make their pizza and how he got started with his restaurant. Once we were done, we returned to storage to hitch up and make our way to Larkspur... our shortest travel day to date at only 1 hr long.

We planned to stay in the Denver area for about a week with our main goal being to take care of a few more doctor appointments, stock up at Costco and the grocery store, and maybe get in a little bit of shopping at the outlet mall and the flagship REI store. Once again, we weren't able to find a campground we liked in Denver so we had to look further out and landed on Jellystone Park which is in Larkspur... a few minutes from Castlerock, and 40mins from Denver.

Jellystone Park is huge and very kid friendly - the large Yogi Bear saluting you at the entrance sets the tone upon your arrival. The park is clean and has a ton of amenities for families to enjoy together. The waterpark (which looks pretty neat) was closed for the season, but we still had all other amenities at our disposal including a heated pool & spa, an 18-hole mini golf, a mini bowling alley, a cafe & bar, a very nice playground, a gym, jump pad, basketball and pickle ball courts. The kids claimed it was the best campground ever (disclaimer: this changes often)!

Our site was spacious, with a concrete pad, picnic table, fire pit (gas tank not included), and beautiful mountain views. We had several deer sightings during our stay, a couple of times right outside of our RV which was awesome. The campground has a recreation center which offers activities (at this time of the year activities were on the weekend) including movie nights, gem mining, Bingo (which we participated in and won!), and arts and crafts. There's also a small ice-cream shop next to the playground that opens occasionally.

Yogi the Bear

Our site at Jellystone

Mini Golf was great

Pool and spa area

One of the cabin models

Kids playground

In addition to the RV sites, Jellystone Park also offers cabins in different sizes for rent. We weren't able to peek in any of these but they all looked pretty new and some even have hot tubs. They also offer golf carts for rent and boy they have a ton of them which made us think that this campground is probably jam-packed during the summer. Just imagining that made us think that it likely feels like Disney World during that time of year... so if you dislike crowds, you should avoid booking then. Now, there is one big downside to this park and that's that it's next to two railroads and very active ones at that. Our site was pretty far back (site 202 on Ranger Smith Dr for reference) and we still heard the trains load and clear, including in the middle of the night (Paul slept through most of it but I'm a light sleeper and got woken up every single time). However, if needing to stay in the Denver area again, we wouldn't hesitate to book here again.

It took us a couple of days to get things back in order, making the beds, cleaning everything, zapping a couple of left over moth survivors... but we settled in well and quickly adjusted right back to tiny living. We were able to get all our appointments in without having to drive all the way to Denver - lots of good options in Castlerock, Lone Tree, and Parker. We also had a Costco nearby, two Safeways, and the Outlets at Castle Rock just minutes away.

One of the big bonuses about driving around the US in our RV is getting to see family and friends along the way. This time around we were able to spend a day with a dear childhood friend and her family who live in the nearby Highlands Ranch area. We met at Red Rocks Amphitheater which was the only sight seeing we did during our entire stay. We first looked around the visitor center and museum which had interesting info about how the amphitheater was built and all the artists that had performed there since it was built. It's no doubt a very unique theatre and while we weren't there for a live performance, they happened to be doing a sound check during our visit for a show later that day which gave us a taste of what that would be like. We followed our visit with a late lunch at Maggiano's which more than satisfied our hungry stomachs - their 'family style' menu is no joke! Following lunch we visited at my friend's home, where we reminisced about our time growing up together in D.R..

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

With my childhood friend, Ana

Walking around Red Rocks

Trail back to the lot

Visiting with the Barringtons

Colorado sunset

We had a close friend from Miami Beach in town for work so we planned our trip to the flagship REI store around our dinner plans with her. The store is really big and while we were able to get hiking shoes for the kids and Paul, which was the main goal for the visit, we didn't have enough time to walk around all other departments. But then again, maybe that's a good thing! For dinner we went to True Food Kitchen which lived up to it's reviews. Their menu is seasonal, with fresh ingredients, and healthy options. Highly recommend when in Denver!

It was a busy week! Not one filled with adventure, but a productive one nonetheless. When living on the road you need a few stops like this, where you just get things done. This time it was extra special due to the people we got to see during our stay.