Well this week started our annual fall pilgrimage to cooler climates as a relief from the hot summer and also in search of the turning colors of fall. For this year, we planned a three week-long trip. First out to Yellowstone, then down to Rocky Mountain National Park, and closing out with a stop at our favorite hamlet in Colorado – Breckenridge. We got off to a great start, despite the 90 degree temperatures and 25 mph winds driving across Nebraska on I-80. Arriving in Cheyenne to overnight, we seemed to have crossed to the other side of a cold front. The wind had shifted and died down quite a bit, the temperatures had dropped into the low 60s and the clouds and rain were moving in.
Waking up the next morning it was only 40 degrees, raining and cold which started us worrying about what the weather up in Yellowstone would be. Well, it was worse; it was snowing with an expected snowfall of 3″. The forecast for the rest of the week had temperatures dropping into the low 20s over night!! Now that is winter, not fall! Needless to say, we did not come prepared to endure weather of that nature, so we called an audible and regrouped. We canceled our plans to Yellowstone and moved all our other stops earlier. It did allow us to spend a weekend in Fort Collins CO, a new location for us.