7/20/2023 Base Camp Established!

One of our “bucket list” entries has been to hit as many National Parks as possible. It just so happens we were hop-scotching in a southeasterly direction and wouldn’t you know it, Rocky Mountain National Park happened to be smack-dab in the middle of our  path. It being the middle of the summer season, we found it a great challenge to find an RV park with FHU’s and availability. Reservations have become more and more of a necessity, anywhere from weeks to a year in advance. Lady Luck found us space at another KOA (yuck) in Wellington, CO. This was the closest we could find to the NP and was still an hour’s drive away from the gate. We jumped on it for a few day’s respite while we hit Rocky Mountain National Park.

Our day came to visit the NP. This park is still plagued with entry limitations for whatever reasons they have. There is a limited timed-entry system you have to go on-line (recreation.gov) and get a permit for entry during a specific time frame. I am continually frustrated with all these on-line systems and searches that are messed up. I went on line and found they offer (2) types of passes, the Park Access and the Park Access+, the plus giving exclusive access to certain parts of the park, like the Bear Lake area. I clicked on the Park Access+ button, completed a purchase ($2), then upon arrival the ranger lady said I only had the non-plus Access Pass. I guess we didn’t want to see that section of the park…

Rocky Mountain National Park is overwhelmingly geared toward hiking trails, some miles and miles and miles. Entering from the Beaver Meadows gate outside of Estes Park, we found the bulk of “sight-seeing” along the (48) miles of park road to Grand Lake is best from Estes Park up to the Alpine visitor’s center (the 12,000+’ elevation level of the park). After that there are not many stops other than trailheads along the rest of the park road to Grand Lake. The mountain views were very nice, a touch of snow here and there. On this trip we got critter time with herds of deer, a small “herd” (5 or 6) of bull elk, a couple of bighorn sheep, a hungry marmot chowing down on some tundra grass, and another marmot sunning itself on a cliff edge. We left the flatland (relatively speaking since we were in an area of Colorado commonly referred to as being “mile high”) of Wellington with projected day’s temperatures in the 90’s. In the area of the Alpine visitor’s center we found the winds were blasting ice-cold air, air I might add was pretty thin for breathing.

National Park visit completed, it was southbound and down. We did an overnighter at the Las Vegas (New Mexico) Elk’s Lodge, then landed at “The Ranch”, the Escapees co-op park in the “bustling hub” of Lakewood, NM. It just so happened that The Ranch had a couple of lots for lease with no waiting list. We made the command decision to jump on one of the available lots and become official leaseholders to a location we can now call a “base camp” for our full-time RV lifestyle. At the risk of boring you (even more than I may have already), I’ll explain the Escapee co-op system. 

There are 11 parks of 19 that are considered SKP co-op parks, scattered in a Nike swoosh pattern from Washington to Florida. Co-ops are parks that make individual lots available for lease to members of Escapees RV Club. Most parks have waiting lists of prospective leaseholders, some of those lists are estimated to have wait times of several years. The individual parks establish a set dollar amount + a minor processing fee for members to be placed on the wait list. The processing fee is non-refundable, the rest is rolled over once the lease is established. The leases consist of a lease amount, plus yearly maintenance fees, and then are subject to additional assessments for specific park upgrades/expenses as may arise at any given time. Once you establish yourself as a leaseholder, there is no set term or term limit, you can remain a leaseholder as long as you abide by the all the rules, regulations, and by-laws established by the corporation. For example, a park may have a lot available for the lease “price” of $14K. That park may have yearly maintenance fees of $1,400. Assessments vary dependent on the improvements needed. Parks occasionally need to upgrade or repair water/electric/septic systems, interior roadwork, clubhouse/facililities repair or upgrade, etc. So, out of all of that, the maintenance fees are non-refundable. The initial lease “price”, plus any approved improvements a leaseholder may perform on their individual lot, plus any assessments that leaseholder has incurred during the life of their lease are all refundable upon the leaseholders termination of lease. In this example, the leaseholder’s bottom line: it costs $116 per month to maintain the lease on the lot (add in the metered power usage, of course). You can see the savings opportunity of being a leaseholder when using the lot as a base stop for several months out of the year, particularly since we are currently encountering an average of about $50 per night in RV park rates.

We are still going to continue the full-time lifestyle despite holding the lease here. Things will just slow down a little for us as we spend a little more time here off and on over time. That also translates to these blog posts may become a bit sporadic. Or shorter. Or both. Time will tell. I’ll leave you with the “before” photos of our newly leased RV lot. Our improvements, particularly to the casita TBD. Until next post…

8/27/2022 A Stop In Montrose, CO

From Glenwood Springs we made it to Montrose for a short respite from driving. We did a couple of nights at the Montrose Elk’s Lodge, then hit the KOA for another week. Our focus was on re-experiencing the area of Montrose for a possible landing site for us, but we did get to squeeze in some sights for fun.

We have toured the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Park, it’s been about 7 years ago, but we wanted to do a re-visit. Since the KOA is only a few miles from the N.P., we left Woodrow Wilson to guard Rosie and drove on up the mountain. Most of the views were familiar to us, but it was still awe-inspiring to see the majestic mountains, canyons, and rock faces contrasted with the Gunnison River. It is not a large N.P., but the South rim (the side we were on) access was the closest for us. The North rim required another hour+ driving (one-way) to get there and we would have been looking at the same features, only from the opposite side.

After my previous bicycling run-in with the deadly chain link fence, it has become obvious that Murphy has sure been keeping a close eye on me here lately. During this stay I developed some severe tooth pain in my back molar. With the weekend approaching quickly, I made the command decision to try to get in to see a local dentist. I lucked out with the Montrose Family Dental office. A quick in-n-out and I was good to go, abscessed gum diagnosed and scrip in hand for the anti-biotics. (While I had to wait a day or two for the drugs to kick in, it was pretty convenient that I still had an ample supply of Vicodin & Percocet for the pain…)

Before lift-off we really wanted to go hike the Box Cañon Falls trail in Ouray. We had been waiting for a break in the rainy weather, and by-golly we got it the last weekend of our stay. It was a short half-hour drive to Ouray and the “trail head”, so we left Woody at home again. They charge a $5 per head fee to “hike” up and see the falls, but we quickly found out it was not really a hike. A very short trail took us to the bottom of the falls with a steel structure stairway. The falls are kind of obstructed from a full frontal view, mostly encased in rock face with just a portion visible from the viewing areas. And the whole area is pretty much a very large slot canyon. But it was still spectacular to see and very loud in that “echo”-friendly canyon. A steep side trail takes you up to a bridge above, crossing the canyon but unable to see the actual falls. It does give a view of Cañon Creek, the source for the falls. There are also some great overviews of the town of Ouray and surrounding mountains.

Well, I’m trying to keep my posts a little more up-to-date and short, so that catches us up for now. Our next stop is going to be Colorado City, near Pueblo, as we wind our way towards Texas. Until next post…

8/19/2022 Grand Junction & Glenwood Springs, CO

The Elk’s Lodge in Grand Junction was our next landing spot. The lodge itself is an old historical type building with a very cool lodge meeting room. They had electrical hookups in the parking lot for a few RV’s, but otherwise it was a dry RV spot.

We found the Grand Mesa National Scenic Byway just outside of town, so the roadtrip was on. We got some scenic views of the valley floor as well as a curious Bambi who stared us down while I took pictures. The loop was about 63 miles in length.

A walk down Main St. (just around the corner from the Elk’s Lodge) showed off some of the local art work scattered along the street. We also noted this area of Grand Junction, besides being near the police station, was home to numerous homeless folks. Not a great selling point for any possibility of landing here when we retire the full-time life.

A couple of days and it was onward and upward, more like eastbound and down, to the town of Glenwood Springs and our stay at Glenwood Canyon Resort. This was a very nice RV resort right on the Colorado River in a tight little canyon with great mountain views and a whitewater rafting business run right out the back of the resort.

Jeanne found the Hanging Lake Trail in her list of things to do. The trail requires a $12 permit per person to hike to the lake and they regulate how many hikers are on the trail at any time, a preservation effort by local government. We hit the trail bright and early one day with very little hiker congestion. The trail, a little over a mile to the lake, gains a lung-busting 1,100 feet in elevation, going straight up the mountain. Once we got to the top, we found the beautiful lake and a side trail further up the mountain to another waterfall with a feature called the Spouting Rock. Spouting Rock was directly below the waterfall and is a large volume of water spurting out of the rock creating a secondary waterfall. We relaxed in the serenity, had some snacks and recharged our batteries (so to speak), then enjoyed the all-down-hill return hike to the Jeep.

On another day we fired up the bicycles and headed out on the bike trail that runs next to the RV park. It follows the river east to the Hanging Lake Trail area and west into Glenwood Springs. Again, we enjoyed some scenic views in both directions, then I had a little “run-in” with a local chain link fence. It bit me pretty good and unbeknownst to me I lost my cell phone in the confrontation. But the good people of Colorado, at least one good samaritan, saved me by turning it in to the front desk of the Spa of the Rockies, a large mineral springs resort for which the aforementioned chain link fence was providing security.

We found another short adventure in downtown Glenwood Springs, the trail to Doc Holliday’s grave. It was a very short walk up the hill to the old Linwood Cemetery and the adjacent Potter’s Field (a cemetery for indigent and unknown folks commonly known as a pauper’s graveyard.) Besides Doc Holliday’s “gravesite”, Kid Curry was also buried, in the Potter’s Field. Kid Curry was associated with Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid & their Wild Bunch. And I say Doc Holliday’s “gravesite” because they are not all that sure where, exactly, he IS buried within the cemetery.

A few days in Glenwood Springs and it was off we went. Our next stop…(?)

Just Trying to Avoid the Left Coast Smoke

The Colorado Springs Elk’s Lodge is smack dab in the middle of town. They have a nice Lodge facility but limited RV hookups which need a little more attention than they get. With a no reservation system, we arrived and the hook up sites were full. Well, sorta full. Of the approximate 13 sites, one was used for parking two cars in, one space was taken by the lodge trailer (I think for their veteran’s program equipment), and the sites are so skinny it could be problematic with dueling slide-outs. The lodge seeks “donations” of $25/night for the hookups (W/30A), with a dump station on site. They have a large paved parking lot and allow dry campers to stay…but seek “donations” of $15/night for boondocking. A little overpriced in both instances.

This was a short stopoff for us. Being the big city town that Colorado Springs is, Jeanne was overwhelmed with joy to find Trader Joe’s & a Costco. We made good use of the opportunity to supply up. What little time for sightseeing we had, Jeanne found the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park about an hour’s drive away near Cañon City. We headed out there early  enough on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend that we had easy parking at the visitor’s center of the park. We paid the $30/person fee (Youch!) and wandered the park unencumbered by thick holiday crowds. Jeanne was a little apprehensive about walking the bridge over the Arkansas River (it does tend to shake, rattle, and roll a bit), but she mustered the courage and conquered the approximate quarter of a mile walk. The amusement park itself has various activities (some come with additional fees!), but none of them garnered our interest other than I took the aerial tram ride across the gorge, Jeanne took a pass on that. The views from the tram were a bit obstructed by the foggy/scratchy plastic windows. The park has zip lining across the gorge that was pretty popular, as was a bouncy thing-a-ma-jig, some type of bungee-bouncy-swing perched on the edge of the canyon, I think they call it the Sky Coaster. There are areas for small humans, including a carousel ride, playgrounds, and the park is extremely dog-friendly, K-9s everywhere! A couple of small stage areas are set for live bands (one was sound checking as we were leaving). The walk across the bridge provides great views of the Arkansas River 956’ below, where we watched white water rafting enthusiasts float downstream. There is also a train ride that follows the river, at river level, with viewing cars set up for folks to ogle the scenery.

We left the park as it became absolutely jam packed and the parking lot a nightmare of cars circling like sharks, waiting for that one rare opportunity to present itself. On our way back home, we took the very short side trip onto Skyline Drive. This is a one-way skinny paved road along the Dakota Ridge above Cañon City which provides good views of the valley and nearby mountains. There is also a walking trail along the ridge for those so motivated.

Since our arrival in Colorado Springs we managed to return to “life with smoke”. It seems the smoke from the currently burning left coast wildfires is off-and-on wafting it’s way over the nearby states, including Colorado, so here we go again, breathing labored and eyes afire. It has truly gotten old at this point. Our next stop was just a breather (oh when oh when will the puns stop?!?!?) at the Douglas KOA in Wyoming. Yes, we got rested. And yes, smoke still reigned.

We wanted to explore the Little Big Horn Battlefield (the site of Custer’s last stand for those of you hoodlums who ditched history classes) near the big city of Garryowen, MT. It is a National Monument run by National Parks Service and is really out in the middle of nowhere, not many choices for RV parks nearby. We found the 7th Ranch RV Camp just a couple of miles from the monument, so we called 7th Ranch home for the next couple of days.

The “battlefield” is actually 2 separate battlefields about 5 miles apart. From the visitor’s center/park gate a paved road travels the 5 miles from the area of Custer’s battlefield and his Last Stand Hill to the Major Reno-Captain Benteen battlefield. There is an audio tour available or you can do as we did and explore on your own. Points of interest are well marked and most have signs describing the sights before you. There is an Indian memorial, an Army memorial, and a National Veteran’s Cemetery on site. After the slaughter (Custer & his troups were severely outnumbered by the various Indian tribes involved), the army dead were allegedly buried where they fell. Some years later the officers were exhumed and transferred to other cemeteries around the country, Custer himself was moved to West Point. The remaining deceased were also exhumed and re-buried in a mass gravesite at the top of Last Stand Hill at the Army memorial. All original Army gravesites are marked by white marble headstones, a few with names, most with the generic “U.S. Soldier 7th Cavalry”. The Indian casualties are not accurately accounted for but estimated in the 60-100 range. They were immediately moved by surviving tribe members to traditional burial methods. There are a few red granite headstones scattered in and amongst the battlefields that depict the location where certain named Indians fell in battle. It was about a 3-hour excursion for us to cover both battlefields and other points.

From the megalopolis of Garryowen it was off to another breather stopover in White Sulphur Springs, MT, at the Conestoga Campground and RV Park. Our purpose and aim was and has been to check out some properties all around Montana for a possible landing zone for when we decide to come off the road. From here it was on to the Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman, MT for a longer respite while checking out lots for sale.

In all our running around in the Bozeman area we did manage to squeeze in a hike up the mountain. Jeanne found a mundane sounding “College M” hike, a trail up to the big white “M” created out of painted rocks to designate MSU. There are basically 2 trails up; the shortest, most direct route a little over a half mile one way, the other “easier” trail about a mile and a half that zig-zags up to the “M”. Jeanne, feeling her oats, chose the short route for our uphill trudge. That decision was second-guessed most of the way up, it was WAYYYY steep, lots of gravel and rock face climbing, and she nearly gave up several times. But bless her soul, she muscled up and completed the climb. It turned out to be more than a  600 foot elevation gain in that short half-mile. Enjoying the views while we caught our breath, we were treated to a solo paraglider buzzing the mountain face. Breathing back to relative normalcy, we chose the safer, longer trail back down to the trailhead. All told it was a little more than 2 miles round trip for this “mundane” hike. Well worth the effort…

Of course, with Montana taking pride in their craft beer industry, Bozeman had no shortage of adult beverage dispensaries. Over the course of our 5 day stay (yeah, no, we are not quite ready for the 12-step shuffle) we forced ourselves to test the waters with a little sampling at MAP Brewing Co., Outlaw Brewing Co., and the Bozeman Brewing Co. They all had worthy endeavors.

So here we sit, at the end of our Bozeman experience, contemplating the fate of the world, throwing darts at the map of the U.S. trying to figure out what state we want to “live in” next. Stay tuned…

Chasing Down That Cooler Weather

One last stop off before we left Michigan was to check out Pere Marquette Park in Muskegon. We let Woody lead us out onto the jetty for a clear view of the lighthouse, beach, and open “ocean” that is Lake Michigan. It was a nice, clear day, not a lot of beach goers in the morning, and we got to watch the ferry “Lake Express” head out to sea with a load of passengers. It was nice to see the crystal clear quality of the water…

Michigan behind us, it was off to our next stop, West Lake Park near Davenport, IA. West Lake Park is a county park with a couple of campground areas, one with FHU’s and the other with W/E, all surrounded by several small lakes. Unfortunately for us, as usual, the park was in the middle of some type of restoration and the lakes were dry for the most part. So much for the anticipated scenery! We still tried to make the best of it. They have a hiking/biking trail around the park which we attempted on our bikes, only to find they do not mark the trails and trying to follow the map on the park’s information pamphlet was an ugly endeavor. 

We stumbled upon the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport next to the Mississippi River. We walked the area of the market, it being the modestly sized market it was, and it was a typical farmer’s market with the various booths of produce, crafts, wineries, etc. It also had a small stage area with a live band for entertainment.

Stompbox Brewery was our lunch stop of choice while walking the downtown area. They had some pretty good adult sodas (aka: beer) and holy moly what a lunch! I had a polish sausage and Jeanne had a veggie burger and both were humungous! After completing that gluttonous orgy, we had to walk it off in a big way. Nearby we checked out the Skybridge. Skybridge is an elevated walkway over the main drag, River Dr. At night it is supposedly lit up in spectacular fashion. But we chose to see it in daylight and we were treated to some cool views overlooking this part of downtown and the mighty Mississip. 

Continuing our post-lunch-walkoff, we ventured down to the LeClaire Park & Bandshell. This is a large park area for music venues and we just happened upon a practice session gearing up for the current yearly event titled “Riverfront Pops”. It is a music festival featuring the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, each year they perform a musical homage to a particular musician, and this year they are playing Mick Jagger tunes. Orchestra does Stones, quite a concept. We watched part of the practice session, then mosied further down the river area to a small parking lot area where a band called “Squonk” was playing for a small crowd. Their music was something similar to Woodstock fare.

The Dallas County Fairgrounds became our next short stop in Adel, IA. The campgrounds for the fair were nice enough, we got FHU’s with 50A service albeit parked right under a thick tree, so much for satellite service. We only stayed a couple of days, quickly toured (read “drove through”) the megalopolis of Adel, then continued on our merry way.

A couple of quick stops at some KOA’s was on our agenda. We have been running into issues finding places to stay lately, lots of full RV parks and whatnot. We overnighted at the Grand Island KOA, then parked for a couple more days at the Ogallala KOA, both in the barren state of Nebraska. At Ogallala we at least had to check out their “world famous” Boot Hill. This was a disappointing re-creation of what once was. Apparently the graveyard basically burnt down years ago; most of the “residents” had already been relocated to another cemetery; and all the wooden grave markers are re-created versions of the originals.

The Boulder County Fairgrounds campground in Longmont, CO provided us with a good base to do a couple of days of exploring. It was a small campground with W/E and a dump station on site, and for $15 per night, just about the right price. They run a farmer’s market which was very convenient for campers such as we to check out. And nearby we found the Left Hand Brewing Co. as well as Oskar Blues Brewery to go visit. Left Hand was OK, but Oskar did not disappoint since it is one of my favorite breweries.

We took a day drive out to Nederland, CO in search of a brewery our son Chad recommended we hunt down, Knotted Root Brewing Co. The drive was very scenic through the mountains and we happened upon Boulder Falls. This is a small waterfall area tucked back just off the highway, popular tourist stop. After gawking at the waterfall, we continued out to Nederland. It is what I would call a small hippy town (throwback to the 60’s), kinda reminded me of my working days in the river town of Monte Rio, CA., but even smaller. But Dorothy, we are not in Kansas any more. In fact, we are in Colorado now, as evidenced by the massive proliferation of marijuana shops. There must have been at least 3 different shops we passed while driving around town. As a matter of fact in just about EVERY tiny little town we drove through here in this area there were numerous pot shops in each town. Dope smokers rejoice! (Lots of sarcasm here…). We found Knotted Root, sampled some of their fare (underwhelming) with a deli sandwich, then returned home to prepare for another travel day.

Next stop was the KOA in Central City, CO, in the mountains outside Denver. It was a nerve racking drive, what with the altitude and grades, constant worry over frying either my transmission or my brakes. But we survived and arrived. This was a very nice KOA, but along with that it was pricy as well.

First order of business was to go ‘splorin’ the big city of Central City. This was a big mining area back in the days. We parked “downtown” and walked the area, gawking at the old buildings and quaint layout of the town.

Another suggestion from Chad was to hunt down the town of Frisco and a local brewery, Outer Range Brewing Co. It was about an hour’s drive from Central City, further up into the mountains with some pretty steep grades along the way (glad we were Jeepin’ it!). We tested some of Outer Range’s brews with our lunch, their Ledges Imperial IPA was outstanding as was my Ahi Poke lunch. I’m not one for eating fish bait, but this raw tuna was pretty tasty.

Now Central City is a small town alright, but it is a little bigger than what we had covered in our walkabout previously. I suggested we return and cover a little more ground in the Jeep, and Jeanne agreed. Holy moly Billy Batson! We got caught up in some of the one-way streets and ended up a very short distance away through the hills at another megalopolis called Black Hawk. Black Hawk is even smaller than Central City, but it is a virtual mini-Vegas. Wall-to-wall casinos, most of which are of the very large sized variety. There was a small area of town that looked to be newly constructed/renovated buildings with the outward appearance of being residential but me thinks they were soon-to-be little stores & shops. Well, twist our arms, we just HAD to test the waters in the casinos at the Pai Gow tables, it has been a while since our last transgressions. It was a good time had by all (both of us hit straight flushes within about 15 minutes of each other)! And this time we managed to avoid donating it all back to the house…

Our time in Central City expired, it was onward and upward, actually downward as in down the mountain. We managed to get off the mountains without frying either transmission or brakes again, and made our next stop at the Colorado Springs Elk’s Lodge so as to regroup and plot out our next course of action. Until next post…

9/24/2015  South Colorado

We left heading for Durango, CO. Trying to keep to short travel days, we overnighted at the Walmart in Cortez, CO. I have to say I still find myself dismayed at many of my fellow RV travelers as far as manners when staying for free at some of the business establishments. This Walmart appeared to be a very popular overnight stop for RV’s and big rig trucks. We really try to adhere to the unwritten code – when staying at a business for free, no jacks down, no slides out, no setting up chairs, BBQ’s, and any other camping equipment. In other words, be “turn key ready”. Here, there were about a dozen RV’s or trailers parked for overnight and out of the (7) that had pop-outs, (5) of them had extended. (4) of the units put down their jacks. And (1) unit, out of Canada, extended it’s jacks, popped out all (3) slides, set out (2) reclining camp chairs with folding table, and had the BBQ set up. I just had to shake my head…the only thing missing was a campfire…Well, we stuck to the code and even donated to the local Walmart economy by making a grocery run inside the store.

Next morning it was “up and at ‘em”, onward to Durango, CO where we chose to stay at the Lightner Creek Campground. This campground was just outside of town and right on the creek. Quite a bit overpriced at $47 per night, since the pool was closed, the bathrooms at our end of the campground were closed, and there was otherwise nothing to do within the campground. 

During our short (2) day stay we were advised by locals that we should take the “Million Dollar Highway”, a scenic loop up through Silverton, Ouray, over to Telluride, and back to Durango. So off we went, it was close to a couple hundred miles of highways and took us all day. The highway takes you up over the 10,000 foot elevation and through some colorful canyons where the fall colors were starting to pop out. We came upon Silverton, which was plopped right in the valley floor between mountains. Like most nearby towns, Silverton is an old mining town and there are a lot of abandoned mining structures at the end of town. We stopped in town and walked among the old style buildings and even found a BBQ joint called “Thee Pitts Again” which was featured on “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” on the Food Channel, (we did not indulge ourselves). 

Just a bit further and outside of town we came upon the viewing point for the old mines. It would have been interesting to see all this in action in their heyday.

Next stop on our tour was the megalopolis of Ouray, CO. This was another small old mining town settled into the floor of a valley surrounded by huge mountains. The scenery and colors during the whole ride was pretty cool and these small towns evoke thoughts of days gone by, make that WAY gone by.

Keeping to the loop, we came upon Telluride, CO, and as usual, we fell into a big to-do. This was the big weekend for Telluride, their Blues ‘n Brews festival. And, oh my, not one parking spot was available for miles and miles, town was jam packed, and needless to say we were unable to stop and enjoy the festival.

So it was back to Durango, after a long day of driving, and time to get ready to move on. Our next stop, another Walmart in Trinidad, CO, then on to the Oasis RV Park in lovely downtown Amarillo, TX. We spent (3) days in Amarillo doing laundry, grocery shopping, getting mail sent to us, and otherwise taking care of some business matters while we could make use of the office FAX at the RV park. During our shopping outing, we did manage to locate a helpful tome at Barnes and Noble, “Wordpress for Dummies”. Hopefully, I will be able to fumble through it and avoid some of the tech issues such as I recently had with losing photos from several blog posts. Some say, “a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”, we’ll certainly see about that. Until next time…

4/10/2015 One More Trip to Red Bay

P.O.D. gone, dental work finished, Jeep serviced, taxes done, and we bid adieu to the hectic life in Santa Rosa. It is getting frustrating having our short stays at our former home being consumed by “business” and having to snub so many friends, so once again I have to apologize to all those who we were unable to touch bases with. And so, on toward Red Bay. In the 2 1/2 years we have been on the road, it certainly feels like we have not been able to settle into being actual “recreational wanderers”. Something always comes up, we have appointments we have to get to or places to go, plans change every week and twice on Sundays, and now it looks like this Red Bay road trip is the last “must do” for now. Yee-haw! Let’s do it!

First stop was Sparks, NV at the Sparks Marina RV Park. I dreaded the drive over Hwy. 80 through Truckee and into Reno, but we quickly found that the California drought reached up into the Sierra’s in a big way, not a lot of snow anywhere to be seen except the man-made variety at ski resorts like Borreal. After donating to the local economy at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, we decided to hookup with Hwy. 50 eastbound for a while. We chose to take a roundabout way to catch 50 out of Ely, NV, so we went south and stopped at Walker Lake Sportsman’s Campground for a few nights. It was a National Recreation Area, so the sites were dry-camping at $3 night with the Access Pass. The area was a big nothing; the lake, though it had water, has been steadily shrinking over the past hundred years and has seen the demise of the fish population due to the minerals/salts/and whatever else that are continually increasing in the water content. And don’t blink if you do not want to miss the “town” of Walker Lake. Hawthorne is not much better. In Hawthorne they had at least one RV “park”, Whiskey Flats. It was not particularly pleasing to look at as we drove by it and I would stay at the Sportsman’s Campground over Whiskey Flats any day.

So our next stop off we thought we would try Tonopah, NV. We found a Passport America participating RV park, Joy Land RV Park in the PA book, so we punched it in to our GPS and onward and eastward. Unfortunately, Tonopah is a seriously run down town, and Joy Land RV Park fits right in. We pulled into the driveway of the park and it was one of those “aw $hit we’re NOT staying HERE!” moments. They don’t happen very often, but they DO happen. And the worse part was once inside the driveway, there is not enough room to turn a rig with a toad around, so I had to stop and disconnect the Jeep so we could escape cleanly. Whew, we couldn’t get out fast enough.

Ely happened to be next in the queue. Our GPS kind of failed us here in one of its rare miscalculations and we ended up heading east out of town (wrong direction) on Hwy. 50. Once realized, I found a pull out I could use to disconnect the Jeep again. The highway was not quite wide enough to do a U-turn with the toad, but it was open and pretty deserted. Here was where I learned life lesson #947: NEVER operate a bus in reverse without a human standing behind and guiding you, even if it appears wide open. I began a 3-point U-turn with no cars in sight. I crossed to the other shoulder, then reversed to the opposite shoulder. Jeanne was sitting in the Jeep, and I thought, being pretty much the smartest human being in the world (“a legend in my own mind”), “what could go wrong, it is wide open”. So as my rear tires crossed onto the shoulder, they found a dip that was just deep enough to allow the bottom of my rear cap to scrape the gravel shoulder that was sloping up from the dip. Fiberglass does not hold up to the planet Earth very well. Bent my electrical plug for the toad, tore my tow bar cover, and pretty much ruined my day/week/month. One more thing for “the list” of fixes at Red Bay. 

In Ely, we stayed at the Pioneer Casino/Hotel/RV Park. The Pioneer has a mexican restaurant on site that was not bad eats. Ely also cannot be confused with a megalopolis, not a whole lot to see here. We did take a day trip to the Great Basin Nat’l Park. Most of the inner roads were still closed and the only other thing to check out was the cave tours, which we were disinclined to participate in.

Continuing eastbound, we did a one night stopover at a truck stop in front of the Denny’s in Salina, UT. On our way there, just west of Delta, UT, we encountered someone’s shoe tree off the side of the road. Maybe it belonged to Imelda Marcos…

We planned on stopping at the Arches and Canyonlands Nat’l Parks, but when we pulled into Moab, we discovered it was the end of Spring Break and the beginning of Jeep Safari Week. There were wall-to-wall people and Jeeps and no campsites to be had, paid or boondock. So, as I said “plans change every week and twice on Sundays”, we decided to keep going East and return to the south and southeast area of Utah possibly around Octoberish. But while cruising the area, what we did see, it looks to be a definite must-see area of the country.

Grand Junction, CO was our next break, at the Junction West RV Park. This was an OK park for a few nights, a gravel lot with hookups, small store, nice folks. While here we took the approximate 23 mile drive in the Colorado Nat’l Monument. This was very scenic with good view of the valley floor and lots of unique rock formations. Grand Junction also has a 20-some mile pedestrian/bike path along the Colorado River.

Montrose, CO we found a rare KOA that was reasonably priced ($29/night) right off the highway. We ventured up to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Park and found the south rim drive had spectacular views that in my opinion rival those of the Grand Canyon. WOW! And the weather in Montrose was running in the high 70’s while we were there, at the end of March no less!

Driving Hwy. 50 through the Rockies was not as bad as I had imagined. Minuscule amount of snow and no real drastic grades, even though we were up in the 10,000-11,000 foot levels, made for easy travels. After our stay in Montrose, we picked a spot on the Blue Mesa Reservoir for a couple of days at the Elk Creek campground, part of the Curecanti Nat’l Recreation Area, just outside of Gunnison, CO. At winter rates of $9/night for a lakeview site with 50A service, it was a definite “go”. Our stay there was a bit on the icy side, the nights got into the 20’s and days not much above 50’s. And the wind was HUGE! I tried a little fishing early in the a.m.’s, but by 10:00 the wind kicked up white caps on the lake. The lake was good for kokanee salmon, rainbow, brown, brook, and mackinaw trout, among other bass and crappie types. I watched as all the fish in the lake broke surface and I heard them laughing at me as I tried my hardest using every lure at my disposal as well as several different baits…I think they are still laughing. Unbeknownst to us, we picked up a stowaway at this stop (more in a bit…).

This is where we parted company with good ol’ Hwy. 50. We dropped down southeast on some smaller but still scenic 2-lanes through the towns of Alamosa and Walsenburg to southbound Hwy. 25 into the bustling city of Raton, NM (sarcasm intended). Here we stayed at a “rustic” (read “needs work”) place called Summerlan RV Park. Very nice folks here, the park was OK for a night’s stopover. During our entire time on the road, we have kept our large bag of dried dog food on the floor of our front bathroom which we rarely use. Well, while trying to fall asleep we could hear “the dog’s” eating their dog food. The only problem was the dog food dishes were on the kitchen floor, the dogs were crated about 10’ away. I jumped out of bed and heard that sound emitting from the front bathroom. When I opened the door, I saw the telltale signs of a rodent, a small bit of the paper bag in shreds on the floor. And then I heard the little bugger crunching away from his protected position under the toilet (a big opening below the flush pedal the obvious access point to the food). That about put an end to any chance at a peaceful night’s sleep, I was awake all night listening as our unwanted guest scurried inside the walls.

The next morning we packed up and continued on our way. We landed in Amarillo, TX, and stayed at the Oasis RV Resort on the west end of town. First order of business was to pick up some simple, old fashioned, mouse traps. For $1.39 I got 4 Tomcat traps. That night, while still hearing our stowaway scoot within the walls, worrying about what he may be gnawing through at any given time, I resorted to my good ol’ standby rodent cure—a dab of peanut butter on the bait holder of the trap. I placed the trap at the foot of the front bathroom toilet and let nature take it’s course. I was awake most of the night listening to the little prowler have his way within my walls, but long after I passed out asleep, Jeanne woke me near sunrise because she heard a noise. I got up, checked the trap, and voila! stowaway captured, sentenced, and executed. CAUTION: GRAPHIC PHOTO TO FOLLOW, PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED. DEPICTS CRUEL BUT EFFECTIVE METHOD OF EXECUTION. I think my stowaway was a vole, a version of a field mouse. The operative word here is “was”.

Being critter free, it was time to relax. Our first order of business was to hit up The Big Texan Steak Ranch for, what else, a steak dinner. They actually offer a 72 oz. steak dinner where if you eat the whole meal, sides included, within one hour, it is FREE! But I will tell you, 72 oz. of beef is a rather large and intimidating slab of meat. We of course opted for a smaller version for our repast. Very good meal and a reasonable price, I think we paid around $60 for dinner + a pitcher of beer.

Just down the street from our park we stopped off to check out the Cadillac Ranch. This is an example of a good old fashioned acid-trip-gone-wild. Some “arteest” planted a group of Caddies nose down and the public is invited to bring their own spray paint and have their way with the Caddies. It is quite the spectacle for all the highway traffic passing by on Hwy. 40.

Our trek continued to the area of Checotah, OK where we overnighted at the Checotah/Lake Eufaula KOA. This park was right on the lake, which appeared a little swampy around the edges, maybe due to recent rains and minor flooding (sorry, California). But, again, we were in no-man’s-land, nothing exciting to see.

The Graceland RV Park was up next, we had been there before and during an Elvis Week no less. So this time, it was just another overnighter. We managed to find Marlowe’s BBQ restaurant and partook in some pretty good pulled pork. 

We rolled into Red Bay, AL, the next day. Yippee-Kayay! We were almost to the end of our must-do/must-go list, just gotta hunker down now and get things done. The estimate from Norris, (I call him the Walmart Greeter of Tiffin) was initially 4-6 weeks before we could get in. Norris is actually the first contact with Tiffin you get while at the service center, he comes to your rig and assesses whether you need a full bay, or maybe can get all your work done in one of the express bays. Folks who choose the express bay get their choice, 1 tech for 6 hours or 2 techs for 3 hours. But then you leave. The campground was full, as usual, upon our initial arrival. In that case, you have a choice of 2 off site campgrounds (subject to availability), the RV dealer across the street has limited spaces for overflow, several water and power only sites behind the service bays, or dry-camping behind the service bays near the RV wash area. We chose to dry-camp on site, but before closing time they got us a water and electric spot. The following morning, after Norris’ visit, we got an assigned site with full hookups. And at this time Norris revised the wait time to 3-4 weeks which was what we had our first time here. I did some time management juggling and got set up for the MH engine service, as well as the accident claim body repair and paint, during my down time waiting for a bay spot. Bay Diesel, here in Red Bay, did my first service on the bus and they are recommended by Tiffin. I was happy with their service that first time, and they get the nod this time as well.  Norris recommended we go to Custom Paint and Auto Body for our accident claim work, and he called them for us. Austin, son of the owner, showed up immediately and arranged to take care of the damage, they could get us in next week. And during the 2 or 3 day repair, he said they have 50A service outside the shop for full-timers like us to stay in the coach during work. Very accomodating. So, here we sit, appointments made, ready to pounce on a moment’s notice, hurry up and wait…