We enjoyed a quiet evening at our free boondocking spot in the Cavalryman Steakhouse Restaurant parking lot in Laramie WY. Thanks to the Escapees Day’s End Directory for turning us on to this spot!  In the morning (Wednesday), we woke up to a herd of pronghorn antelope in the open field next to us.

The Cavalryman is located alongside US-287 just south of I-80 in Laramie.  We did a GPS check and saw that we could just continue south on US-287 to Fort Collins and then get on I-25 in order to reach Colorado Springs.  We’ve been to Fort Collins before, but had never been on this stretch of road… it was a good choice.  It’s a much more relaxed and scenic route to get between Laramie and Fort Collins as opposed to going east on I-80 to Cheyenne and then south on I-25.  And it’s 20 miles shorter.

There was a little traffic and road construction with detours to negotiate once we reached Fort Collins, but I’d take this route again.

We set our sights on the Elks Lodge in Westminster CO and plugged in the address on our GPS.  We’ve heard about this lodge a few times from other Elks members and Alpiner’s.  The Gidden’s and the Foster’s recently stayed here.  We got on I-25 at Fort Collins and headed south into the dreaded Denver traffic.

So, 125 miles later – we pulled into the parking lot and the first thing we see is another Alpine!

We went into the lodge and asked about parking.  Wow! What a nice facility with huge, beautifully-decorated dining room(s).  The nice bartender called the camp host, who came down from her site in the RV park to greet us in her golf cart.  Julie gave us a ride back to our Coach and set us up in site H for the night.  Only $12 for 30 Amp power.

We got set up in our site right next to the other Alpine.  The owner wasn’t in, so I left a card in his door handle.

We went back into the lodge for a nice lunch.  Again, nice!  What a difference this lodge is over our not not-so-good experience in Cody WY that I wrote about HERE.

After lunch, we took a walk through the RV Park and guess what we see?!?  Another Alpine!  And we know these guys… Jim & Sally Beswick.

We know Jim & Sally from the Quartzsite ‘Desert Rat Rally‘  we’ve attended over the past 2-3 years.  As a matter-of-fact, we even linked up with them again earlier this year at Fortuna de Oro RV Resort in Yuma and again at the Cocopah Casino.  (click on the links above in green-font to see those postings)

At first, they weren’t in their Coach – but we saw them come in a little later, and after hugs and greetings… we agreed to get-together for “Happy Hour” at 5 O’Clock…

We forgot to go back to the lodge for dinner we were having so much fun catching up.

We hung out at Jim & Sally’s Coach and enjoyed adult beverages along with good conversation late into the night.  We even met their neighbor Daniel, who owns the Class-C next door.  Again – we get to meet the nicest people in the RV community…  we might have talked Daniel into trading up to an Alpine Coach in the future.  Ya’ never know…

A little later into the evening, the owner of the Alpine Coach that we were parked next to, showed up.  He saw the card I left in his door and Stilla brought him up to Jim & Sally’s site when she went back to our Coach briefly to check on the grandson who was playing video games.  Meet Ray, (sorry, I never caught his last name), but he was a really nice guy that spent the rest of the evening with us.

And so, another Alpine Coach mini-rally comes to a close… I think as a general rule – that if there are more than two Alpine Coaches in one spot, we can call it a mini-rally.  What do you think?  If memory serves; I remember reading that Western RV only built around 1,700 of these fine Coaches between 1999 and 2009, so there aren’t a whole lot out here on the road.

See you next time Jim & Sally!  And hopefully, we get to see Ray again down the road sometime.  Nice to meet you Ray!

We’ll head on down to Colorado Springs today (Thursday) and get the grandson back to his mom, who’s looking forward to seeing him again.  I called ahead to the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs to make sure they have a spot for us.  We’ll decide how long to stay once we get there.  My Dad recently had some surgery to remove some skin cancer on his nose, so I’m sure he could use some help around the house.