Road trip through beautiful Colorado - Summer 2020

[tikal]

I wanted to always post some pictures of our previous road trips but never get around to. After being at home for several months this was really needed to recharge and refresh. The 2004 Passat did the job fully loaded (and then some!) with excellent performance up and down the beautiful Colorado landscape. We started our camping near Colorado Springs, then headed to Black Canyon National Park, Ridgway State Park, Ouray, Million Dollar Highway (wow), Silverton, Glenwood Springs and Rocky Mountain National Park. We logged a total of 3,395 miles (5,432 Km), averaging 38.5 MPG plus many reinvigorating hikes! The rear cargo carrier resulted only in a 2.5% mileage penalty based on my previous extensive records of similar trips without the cargo carrier.

2020 Colorado Summer Road Trip

Total miles: 3,395 averaging 38.5 MPG

www.flickr.com

 

[joyjoy22]

It seems like you had fun on this expedition. The view looks amazing and it seems like your car is fully loaded with necessary stuff. Looking forward to seeing and reading more of your adventures once the pandemic is over.

 

[tikal]

Thanks for the feedback joyjoy22. Without the torque of the Passat TDI it would have been a less safe of a trip in my view. Some of the mountains there require as much low end torque as possible. Also I am of the opinion that a manual transmission is overall better in the mountains but I also agree that it requires more attention and at times is more challenging if you live mostly in flat land (we do).

 

[aja8888]

Nice pictures! Great to get away from the Texas HEAT!!

 

[RabbitGTI]

Fun. Thanks for posting.

 

[tikal]

You are welcome. Ah while I was at Rocky Mountain National Park Moraine campground I spotted a VW Eurovan TDI with European license plate. I had a nice chat with the owners, a couple from Spain doing research in Boulder and in this way they got a special permission to import it while they reside in the US. It was the four wheel drive version and probably a few years old! That is a sweet ride!!!

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Harrysalvatore1989]

I envy you. Great photos. I am planning to go on a trip too, but probably this trip will be next year

 

[tikal]

@MrFahrenheit99: I appreciate the feedback. Nice avatar!
@Harrysalvatore1989: I hope you make the trip a reality in 2021!

Certainly a road trip via camping is one of the ways to have a super vacation, put your TDI to work on the highway and do it relatively in a safer manner.

 

[BobM1]

Love your pics. We drove around the park early last year as they hadn't opened it up until the day we left. So we just took all the roads adjacent to the park and drove around it!

 

[Christofer67]

Thanks for sharing. What a nice trip you had! The views are just amazing! I'll put that on my wish list.