Denver

The flight from Anchorage to Denver was uneventful, and we touched down early. Rachel's connecting flight to Washington and Buffalo was at the gate next door so we left Brendan to farewell her, and went and collected the baggage.

Outside, we jumped on a free shuttle going to the Fairfield Inn as it was one of the hotels that the RV place picks up from. I always feel a bit awkward about hitching a ride if we aren't actually staying there, but the shuttle driver never seems to bat an eyelid, especially if they get a decent tip.

Across the road was a sports cafe that was serving breakfast, and we couldn't think of a better way of entertaining Brendan for a few hours than with free food, and the choice of Wimbledon or the World Cup on the big screen. Even availed ourselves of the free wi-fi, so we made good use of the time until the Road Bear RV pickup bus came along, and took us over to the depot for our RV check out.

It was about 12:30 by the time we signed 43 forms (what form am I signing, Radar?), and had a demonstration of our van's features. Pretty straight forward as most controls are identical to our caravan back home. Ventured onto the road tentatively, and pretty much across the road to Wal-Mart to stock up the van for the next few days with things that won't require electricity to prepare. Quote of the day had to come from the youngish girl who approached me in Wal-Mart with a clipboard in her hand. "Having a good day?" "Yes, thanks", I replied. "Can you tell me which cell phone provider you use?" "I'm sorry", I said, "I'm from overseas, and really can't help you with your survey.", I said. "But yes you can", she responded, "We're a national provider, and service all states".

Finally it was across the road to Arby's for lunch, and onto the highway in earnest about 2pm. Wound our way from highway to highway to interstate, across the border from Colorado into Wyoming, and through Cheyenne towards our destination for the night at Lander, stopping only for a driver change and pit stop at the Lincoln Memorial just outside of Laramie, and petrol at Rawlins.

The last hour was quite difficult as we were driving straight into the low sun, and we pulled into our RV park on the stroke of 9pm as the last vestige of the sun set behind the hills, wondering if the RV park would still be open, and had kept our booking. Not a problem, both the site and the owner were still waiting for us, and even a smile on her face which was lovely. Much better than many Australian parks we've stayed in where "you'd better be there before 6pm because we close".

It has been quite a long day, with an overnight flight, and a 6am arrival, followed by a 7 hour drive before we could even start to unpack all of our gear, make up our beds, and then think about dinner. I'm sure we were the last van to bed in the park around 11pm.