Skip The Hotel & Make Memories
SEPT. 2021
My tent is my carry on.
Back in September 2021, my wife had just immigrated to the USA and we were heading to a mountain wedding in gorgeous Golden, Colorado.
We got lucky that Colorado generally offers renters SUVs due to the geographic conditions (but buyer beware on the details of your contract and know this might not work out the same for you). It might’ve been compact- and my tall bro-in-law could barely squeeze his knees into the front seat, but it was PERFECT. Carried 4 adults and luggage easily. Good on gas too.
Sometimes, the cheap “manager special” deal for a car rental is a great bet for a short 2-3 day in-n-out trip. Do check out the reality of those budget car rentals and airlines here.
Anyway, back to the point here on how we can live a thrifty life that lends to adventure, and incredibly vivid memories of our journey- not to mention the marriage of a childhood friend and her great husband!
Bear Creek Lake Park
After dropping our family off at their hotel, we grabbed a couple last minute needs at a local retail store (CLEARANCE BAAABY #dopetie) and then headed to Bear Creek Lake Park. Fascinating little slice of heaven nestled between a couple different highways and the mountains, it was surprisingly quiet even with all the cars zooming by. From the ladies at the day time entrance, to the maintenance and facilities staff- everyone (except our RV neighbors- more on that later) were really kind and accommodating. This place has a ton to offer!
We located our lot and proceeded to set up our tent (best to do this first thing, while there is day light), removed some red gravel to make our bed a bit more comfortable, but this might not be necessary if you have a thin air mattress (keep in mind light travel packing). Some people have purchased stuff from big box retailers then returned them before they head out.. we do not condone that and generally see this as stealing. Wouldn’t it be great though if there was a rental market for this kind of stuff? Oh wait! THERE IS.
The park has a really cool visitors center with a live bee colony and last minute items you may have forgotten in your toiletries bag (but do check this checklist to avoid unnecessary spending for light travel), along with firewood and marshmallows for your romantic evening with your loved one and the Kid Rock RV Groupies.. yeah, it was a long night.
We took pictures for this post, but it was also for reference where our site was since things looked a lot different at night and it gave us points of reference around the campground. That said, the night entrance to the park is even more convenient to the camping lots being an exit right on/off the freeway. GPS didn’t necessarily catch it, but some forward thinking allowed us to note where this was in the day- just to reiterate that point. So. Campgrounds can be old school; make sure to bring some paper money and coins. Some of the amenities may only accept physical currency.
Given the spread out ‘nature’ of Colorado, having a car is choice. Ubering back and forth- just to and from the airport- was about the same as renting a car except you have ZERO flexibility. We had to be a bit more careful while relying on my credit card collateral insurance policy (another way you can save a few dollars), but that choice (and generally not drinking alcohol, even though it was free) allowed us to experience Colorado much more deeply. Like literally deep. Deep into the mountains on a badass hike with Red Rock Amphitheater not far off in viewing distance.
Explain possible evening scenarios (might be worth checking local events to determine the crowd).
