SAN ISABEL NATIONAL FOREST - WHITESTAR (July 4, 2008) |
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Independence Day
Weekend 2008 sent us to back to WhiteStar, one of our top 5 campgrounds. It is located between Leadville and Buena
Vista on the shores of Twin Lakes Reservoir. This campground should be kept
a secret from the general camping population. We were in site 6, which is
the absolute best site in the campground.
The roads to WhiteStar are all paved, and we recommend taking US 24 west through Colorado Springs instead of I-70 through Leadville or US 285 to Buena Vista. It may be OK to take I-70 up if you know traffic will be light, but go home through Colorado Springs. Never take 285 through Fairplay as that route is too much back and forth.
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Site 6 is very long
and secluded. The Porta-bote parks nicely next to the Outback. A water
spigot (no threads) is available right next to this site. Before setting up
camp, stop at the dump station to fill your fresh water tank.
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The kids
brought their boats along again for this trip.
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Our stupid motor
would not start. At home it started on the 4th pull after sitting in
our basement all winter, but at 9,300 feet, it would not start. I tried
choke, no choke, half choke, but nothing worked. Twice it started only to
run for 10 seconds and die. We'll try again next year after the motor gets
an oil change and tune-up.
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Always creative,
Lea does some pencil sketches of the scenery. She has so many pencils at her
disposal but they all look the same to me.
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Here we are touring
the campground.
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Courtney chose the
menu for this trip. Look at those killer BLT's, strawberries, and chocolate
we had for lunch.
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Kendal and Lea play
backgammon in the Outback.
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We took an
afternoon trip to Leadville since it is only about 30 minutes from Whitestar.
On July 4, there is still snow in the mountains above 10,000 feet.
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Downtown Leadville
strives to maintain the old town look.
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The best fudge in
the nation is at Hundley's. We stocked up on plenty and even had some left
to take home.
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Hundley's sells
these cool candle pies that look and smell like the real thing.
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Grilled peppers and
chicken kabobs. Sweet! I basted everything with a Teriyaki sauce right
before removing the skewers from the grill.
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Courtney catches a
movie on her DVD player before going to sleep.
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On Sunday morning
we made fruit-filled campfire pies. The kids had fun with this activity and
the pies were pretty good.
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Lea sets Cameron's
pie iron into place for cooking. All you do is butter two slices of bread,
place one slice in the iron, add filling, top with the other slice of bread,
and then heat over hot coals. WhiteStar ranks as one of our top 5 camping destinations. We'll be back every chance we get.
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