Longmont recently installed a 100% fiber optic internet system citywide, called NextLight. Where their equipment enters our house, the speed is 1 gigabyte/second (1,000 megabits/second). PC Magazine rated Longmont as having the fastest internet service of any city in the country.
How fast is 1 Gig? A two hour HD movie can be downloaded in about 32 SECONDS.
I connected a wireless router to their modem. Using the Ookla speed test app. , I'm getting upload and download speeds on my iPad of from 83 to 96 Mbps. Before NextLight we had 12 Mbps service from Century Link and thought that was fast. Actually, for our modest needs 12 Mbps works just fine. NextLight is $60/month vs $75 from Century Link. A win all around for us.
Walden
Last Saturday we drove along the Poudre River Road, (CO-14), with the intent of spending a few nights camping there. There are perhaps 10 FS campgrounds along the road as well as three State Parks. Except for a few tent sites, there we're no places to camp. None. So we continued on to Walden where we knew of a great boondocking site on the shore of Walden Reservoir. We've stayed there a number of times and its always just been us. As a town, Walden is pretty basic. Yelp says the best place to eat is at the bowling alley. We will save our money for other dining options.
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| Sunset |
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| Hundreds of White Pelicans |
North of Walden near the town of Cowdry, is the BLM North Sand Hills Recreation Management Area. It's a 1,450 acre area of sand dunes. The only place in CO where riding on the dunes is allowed.
Like a small version of the California Imperial sand dunes area.
North Sand Hills
Some stories I read about the area call it the special weekend place for Mad Max Wannabes. 😂
On weekends there was always a police presence. We were there on Sunday afternoon and everything seemed rather tame. Of course, people were probably sober by then.
There is a free 13 space campground, all pull-through sites, as well as unlimited disbursed camping. Pit toilets but no trash collection or water.
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We enjoyed a few hours of driving around and mostly just watching. It's a real family orientated camping area. When we first pulled in, there were three little kids on their little ATV's followed by dad driving his tricked out Jeep. There were, of course, a number of guys with serious sand-rails. An enjoyable day.
State Forest SP
Anticipating summer crowds, we had made reservations for a few days in the North Michigan campground. We had never been there before and are always interested in camping locations within a three hour drive from home. For future reference, the best sites are 208, 207, 206, 209, 246, 247, 248.
Our site, 207, was directly on the lake.
State Forest State Park
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| From our campsite |
There are hiking trails, mountain biking and ATV/Jeep trails throughout the park.
Tried fishing again. No luck although the women nearby caught her limit within a few hours. I need too get some salmon eggs for our next trip. Maybe that's the answer. Of course, I could have dozens of different baits and that would be the day the fish were biting on squirrel tails; the only thing I did not have.
We're back home planning our late August camping trip to the Buena Vista, Gunnison , Crested Butte area. Probably our favorite not-too-far-away place.
