28.08.-03.09.2006: Denver - Frisco - Breckenridge - Copper Mountain - Leadville - Canyonlands NP We spent 3 hours driving around Denver looking for an antenna to get TV reception using a new computer card that Kirsten had bought in Germany. But of course, there was nothing compatible. So it looks like it was a waste of money! We also found out that digital TV hardly exists in the US, so we would only be able to get analog TV for which you need a huge antenna even if you only live in the suburbs of a city like Denver!! We finally drove out of Denver, heading west to the mountain and ski areas. We parked up at a Wal-mart in Frisco for the night. On Tuesday we caught a free shuttle bus to the ski area of Breckenridge. We wandered around the Tyrolean style village and stopped at a photo gallery - lots of photos of Alaska. Then we walked along the river where the town had obviously spent a lot of money on daily fresh flower baskets. It was quite pretty. On Wednesday we drove to Copper Mountain, another ski area and found a free RV parking area. We walked 1 mile into the village which was completely lacking in people !! It's obviously only a winter resort. That night we scared ourselves to death by watching "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise - gruesome! The next day we drove into Leadville, an old mining town and then went to a campground for the night. We worked on the computer and had our usual stressful time at a campground trying to get everything done. After leaving the campground on Friday, we drove over Independence Pass (over 12,000ft) and then drove down to Aspen. Helen wanted to see Aspen but it was just like any other town and only surrounded by small hills, not mountains. It was very disappointing - probably because we expected so much more! On Saturday we drove into Utah and parked up just outside Canyonlands National Park for the night. On Sunday we went to the visitor centre and watched a 15 minute video. Then we got info on walks etc. The last time we were here at the northern end of the park, it had just poured down with rain and so we didn't get to see or do much. In the afternoon we went for a 5 mile walk to the canyon rim. It was sunny and there was no forecast of thunderstorms or rain. We got great views into the canyon and on the way back we noticed a dark cloud approaching. We had left our skylights open in Winnie as it was supposed to be sunny all day for the next few days. When there were a few drops of rain we picked up our pace to try and get back to Winnie before the cloud did. But then the cloud bumped into another cloud and we got thunder and lightning! The rain started in earnest and just followed us. It felt like someone was standing above us just throwing down buckets of water on top of us. To our left and right it was sunny and dry! But we had to follow the path back to Winnie and the cloud was following us! We ran and ran and got wetter and wetter and kept thinking we would get back and find pools of water on the bed and floor in Winnie. Then it started to hail - and the hail bit into our faces and arms - we had no rain jackets or waterproofs with us. (Why? - because the forecast was for sun and we were only on a short walk!!!) Except for this one cloud, the sky was completely clear!! By the time we got back we were completely drenched!! Fortunately, Winnie was parked so that the skylights were facing against the rain direction and therefore stopped any water from getting in!! Besides being soaked to the bone, our boots were covered in sand from the path. We got changed into dry clothes, dried our hair (!) and then sorted our boots out. Shortly after we got back, the cloud had passed and we were in the sun again. We drove just outside the park to a free BLM camping area and hung all our clothes out on the bikes to get dry! We got our solar shower out so that we could get clean.