Chattahochee, FL

Hey, we are back in Florida! It was another long driving day as we headed through Jackson, MS and turned south on US 89 to Mobile, AL where we picked up Interstate 10. We stopped for fuel in Marianna, FL and are now tucked in for the night in the Chattahoochee KOA. This is a nice KOA, if a little soggy. While we saw little rain, it did rain here a good bit before our arrival just before dark. That’s OK. We don’t plan much in the way of outdoor activity other than dog walks, and will be on our way in the morning.

Our space is of a sufficient size to set up a little camp and stay awhile, and it is nicely wooded. That is good for shade in the summer, but plays havoc with satellite reception. It would be nice to stay for a bit, but we are so close to home.

It is going to be great to be back in a bed Nia can’t get up on. Three in a queen is a bit crowded.

Vicksburg, MS

We altered our plans and stopped driving a little earlier. Getting all the way to Jackson would have been quite a drive, and the reviews of the campgrounds there were not very good. We elected to stop in Vicksburg, just over the bridge crossing the Big Muddy. This is an area we hope to spend more time in, so we thought it would be good to check out this campground. It was rated highly by the Trailer Life directory put out by Good Sam.

I am becoming disenchanted with the ratings of Woodall's and now Trailer Life. While we are traveling a compressed schedule that keeps us near the Interstates, we have yet to find a commercial campground on this trip that anyone would want to spend more than a night in. In some cases we were a little wary of the security of our surroundings. I say that, but there were no problems. It was just a feeling. My point is that these are not resorts by any stretch, and they just do not allow you to comfortably set up for a stay beyond overnight.

The Magnolia RV Park here is a good example. Friendly staff handled our reservation and checked us in with little fuss. These are good things, so they get points for that. Unfortunately the layout of the sites themselves, while they sound good in the review, have not been updated for the size of today's RVs. I can understand the expense of such capital improvements causing pause when considering improvements, but they should be more accurately described in the review books. It would appear that the reviewer's conspire with the parks to make them sound particularly attractive to capture the park's payment to be included in the review book. In our case the site is perhaps as long as described, but the distance separating the sites is not adequate for setting up a table or chairs to sit outside. Once the slides are out there is perhaps ten feet between the coaches. I suspect I will hear the neighbor snoring tonight, even over our air conditioner. ( Oh yes, we are now back in the humidity and warmer temps. Yeah!)

Of more importance is the narrow access roads between the rows of sites. It will be very difficult to depart in the morning if the camper in the site in front of us has not departed, since his VW toad is right up against the access road. We can probably make it, but the guy to our right hasn't a chance in hell of getting past our mirror and the VW. We spoke to the couple on our right to coordinate leaving in the morning so that we leave before they must be on the road. If we did not do that they would be held captive by our departure, or they would take off my mirror trying to leave.

This is not the first park like this on our current trip. You just got lucky that I had time to rant before getting DISH Network sorted out in time for DWTS. It is Monday, right? Oh, and don't get me started on the neighbors dog and the pile of @#*! it left for me while trying to get the utilities set up.

Where is my whine, er, wine!

Southlake, TX

Ah, the best campground in Texas. Heck, maybe the best anywhere.

Nia loves the big fenced backyard, and plenty of other dogs to bark with.

We are parked in Chris’ backyard with just enough power coming from the garage to keep the batteries up as we run the lights and furnace at night. The temperatures have been mild, so we have not needed the air conditioning. We have everything we need in the motorhome so there is no sense in messing up a clean guest room. Chris’ son Jack likes to spend time in what he calls the Choo Choo, so we have prepared some evening meals there. We were happy to get here Thursday afternoon to spend time with Lisa before she heads to Paris to spend a week with friends. Hope you are having a good time, Lisa!

The weekend is a family weekend, and it started off Thursday with Barbara, Chris and myself going to a matinee showing of Rush. This is a Ron Howard film documenting the Formula One competition between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda back in the seventies. These two drivers pushed each other to the edge in high stakes motor sports and the pursuit of the world championship. This is a very well done film, so if you get the chance go see it.

The matinee let out in time to get Jack from pre-school and head for the Pumpkin Patch. This was a terrific pumpkin patch. The pumpkins were spread out nicely to distribute the crowd, and there were plenty of things to entertain the kids. We could not pass up the kettle corn, hot cider and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Saturday offered up plenty of college football to watch, but we also made time to get Jack to the park for some exercise and then a haircut. At just over three and a half he is still not sure about getting his hair washed by the stylist. Sure, stylist. These Texas lads are well groomed, don’t you know.

Sunday, as you can imagine, offered up more football of the NFL persuasion, but more importantly it offered the chance to drive to Plano and Trader Joe’s. Granted it has been a while, but those of you that have followed our travels for any time know that Trader Joe’s plays a critical role in our routing.

We will be on the road again in the morning as we try to sprint back to Orlando to attend to Barbara’s mom whom we suspect is getting lonely despite the best efforts of our friend Nancy and the Visiting Angels group. We hope to make it home Wednesday after stops in Jackson, MS and somewhere in the Tallahassee area.

Porter, OK

Another driving day is done. We pretty much headed straight south from Osceola, IA to the town of Porter, OK, which is just a bit north of Muskogee. The driving was uneventful with only moderate winds to combat. We are staying overnight at Hidden Valley RV Park. This facility is primarily filled with long-term tenants, and while the laundry and restroom facility is nice there is not much more to recommend the place for more than just a quick overnight stay. The sites at this time are pretty soggy and we have to be careful not to track mud into the coach, but we do get to fill in another state on our states visited map!

We are just barely visible in farthest row facing the trees

Nia got a bath this evening, and is keeping her distance from Barbara who is the groomer. She is sort of giving Barbara the canine version of the cold shoulder, but we wanted her to be at her best when she meets Jack tomorrow. Barbara is making me take a shower in the morning; probably for the same reason.

Osceola, IA

On the road again!

Finally, all of the issues have been addressed. But, didn’t I say that two weeks ago? In this case the slides seem to work without spewing hydraulic fluid, and I am assured that the leak in the BR slide has been identified and corrected.

Winnebago removed the new slide seals that were installed two weeks ago because they found voids in the sealant. There were a few other small adjustments made by the technician that is most experienced with slides. Hopefully this does it.

The windshield wiper shaft on the driver side was loose because the mount behind the front cap had become un-bonded from the fiberglass. They were going to try an inexpensive fix, but that did not work. They had to remove the front of the coach to get access to the bracket, sand down the old glue, and then bond a new bracket in place. That became a several hour project and was the reason we did not leave for Dallas at noon. While they were in there they found brackets connecting the front cap to the coach structure that had begun breaking loose. That was fixed and the brackets modified to use larger, stronger bolts.

So, hydraulics fixed, slide seal fixed (we hope), trim piece re-installed, windshield wiper fixed, and the patio awning motor was replaced. Did I leave anything out? It is getting hard to keep track on this trip.

Rather than stay one more night, we drove off in a misty rain and headed for Osceola, IA and the Lakeside Casino’s campground to get a jump on the long drive to Dallas. The winds were strong out of the west, but Barbara handled it very well. We pulled in after sunset, something we really do not like to do. There are no maps of the campground and no assigned spaces. We paid and entered the dark campground to find it pretty crowded, and very dark. We eventually shoehorned our way into a space that we barely fit in. I almost dread waking in the morning to see what we need to thread our way out of in the morning. I also hope no camper spends to much time drinking in the casino and tries to squeeze by us to get on the road.

We plan an early departure for Muskogee, OK. That will position us to reach Chris and Lisa’s home in Texas at a reasonable hour the following afternoon.

Sorry, no pictures today. You already know what cold and wet looks like, right?

Forest City, IA Part Two

Yesterday was uneventful in that we drove all day and tucked in to a very nice campground in Waukee, IA that is just west of Des Moines. While a pretty campground, the Timberline Campground is geared to maximize the number of campers it can squeeze in during the summer months. Every small patch of grass is identified for a tent camper, even if it is immediately adjacent to the sewer dump facility, which could have considerable traffic of the odiferous type in the summer. While they do have some sites big enough for our 40’ coach, they do not all have full hook-ups (FHU). Many with FHU do not get satellite reception, so when we got there we had a choice: FHU or TV. We needed the hook-ups and took our chances on satellite reception. Yep, no go. We actually hung over both ends of the site a bit, and thankfully there were not many other campers and that did not become a problem overnight.

Driving up to Forrest City the next morning offered a bit of excitement. As Barbara was driving the interstate a piece of interior molding weighing about two pounds fell off and almost hit her.

A bit later I noticed a new sound. Investigation showed that the awning was starting to deploy. So there, along the side of Interstate 35, I am climbing on top of the coach and using zip ties to hold the awning snug to the coach. The roof is very slippery, so it was a trick to lean over to edge and pull the ties tight without sliding right over.

Finally we arrive once again at the Winnebago Factory in hopes of having them correct the two major things that they failed to do adequately when we were here two weeks ago. The two new problems may not be on the list if we are to leave Wednesday to visit with Lisa in Dallas before she leaves for Paris.

Ground Hog Day

Set up to watch the Patriots play the Saints

Russell, KS

The strong winds that were predicted for last night in Colorado Springs materialized right on schedule, and we listened to it blow through the pine trees all night. When we awoke it was still blowing pretty strong so we pushed our departure from nine to ten in hopes that the wind would calm down a bit as was forecast.

While waiting I checked the weather at North Platte, our next stop. Turns out they were under a high wind alert for the day. They were getting the wind that we had just suffered through. Gusts to seventy miles an hour would be way too much for the RV, so we adjusted our plan and took a more southerly route through Kansas, rather than Nebraska. It was a more comfortable and safer route, but it meant not getting to color in another state on our states visited map. Nebraska will just have to wait.

We pulled in to Russell, Kansas just after six and got settled in at the Triple J Campground. We stayed here last year when we visited my father’s parent’s graves in Great Bend, Kansas. We new it was not much, but we only needed a place to park for the night. It seems we never get here at a time that we can visit the Oil Patch Museum next door. It looks interesting, with lots of old oil drilling equipment in the yard.

One thing we did get to see is the reindeer. They are cooped up in what was once a miniature golf course. Kind of sad, really. They should have much more land to roam.

It is nice and quiet as I type this. Barbara has gone to bed, and there is just the faint sound of...MOOING from the field nearby. Yep, we are in Kansas.

Monument, CO

We spent the day in the mountains again. This time up Mt Herman Road to Woodland Park. We were foiled again due to government shutdown. Rampart Reservoir and the road back down to Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods was closed and blocked off. 

While on the subject of the shutdown, friends did get to see Mt Rushmore this week, but only by viewing it from the north. Steve said to share this with you.

Thank You Steve Fessler

Mt Herman Road is not a 4X4 trail, but a gravel road that a car COULD take when it is in better shape. The wash boarding will knock your teeth out today. I think it did loosen my exhaust system, since it now rattles. While not a technical off-road trail, it was fun and had magnificent views. As mentioned before, the Aspen are turning and the colors are wonderful.

I pulled all the service hook-ups except power this evening since the weather is supposed to get nasty overnight. I also added a bunch of fresh water for ballast since wind gusts tonight are called for 65 MPH. We’ll see.

We thought we would watch the AF Academy football game against San Diego State. We are close to the stadium and can hear the PA system, but it is too cold to go sit in the stands. Turns out we can’t get the game on TV either. ESPN is showing the Rutgers game here. Bummer.

Tomorrow we head east towards Forest City, IA. I know, we have been there already, but Winnebago did not fix two major problems when we were there and we need to have them addressed Monday. On the positive side, we get more of Sally’s good pie.

Boreas Pass, CO

We did a lot of driving today. We traveled west towards Fairlplay, CO and passed through the high valley ranch lands to the small (really really small) town of Como. In Como we left Highway 285 taking the Boreas Pass Road. This is part of the Colorado Scenic Drive system and follows the old Colorado Southern Railroad bed that originally linked Fairplay and Leadville. The railroad closed in 1937, and the old rail bed was eventually converted to a gravel road that provides a shortcut between Como and Breckenridge as well as access to some historic sites. I should add that this road is usually closed in winter due to snow cover. While the road is pretty rough in places, you could make the trip in a passenger car, so if you are in the area give it a go.

We stopped at the summit for a picnic lunch. Boreas Pass is at an altitude of 11,497 feet along the Continental Divide. 

Rain falling on the west side of the pass ultimately runs to the Pacific, while rain on the east side works it's way towards the Atlantic. Not wanting to mess up either body of water I found a bush right in the middle.

We descended into Beckenridge, but we were so late in the afternoon by then that we continued on back towards Colorado Springs.

Tomorrow we plan to stay local and maybe take in a movie. Gravity is getting good reviews.

Colorado Springs, CO

Sunday was a travel day as we drove to Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy’s campground. The drive down was very nice. The winds had abated for the most part, and the view of the mountains entertained us through the entire drive. We enjoy this campground since it is very well managed, and there are enough trees to make it feel woodsy without getting in the way of the satellite reception. Actually, we had to move the coach around a bit to get reception, but we eventually got it set up. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect are the trains. There are about a half dozen each night, and they really like their whistle.

This morning we got off to a late start after a less than perfect night sleep. See above. The plan was to take an easy dirt road up into the mountains behind Colorado Springs to find a trail that leads to Mount Baldy. We tried Old Stage Road from behind the Broadmoor Hotel, but were stymied by a closure due to landslides from last month’s flooding rains. Not to be deterred, we took the opportunity to get Nia a nice walk and to enjoy the panoramic views of Colorado Springs and the prairie beyond.

We drove across town and picked up Gold Camp Road, which is another gravel road that would eventually get us to the trail. We got a little further, but eventually ran into the same problem of closure due to damage from the heavy rains. Luckily, there are plenty of alternatives. We decided to try a little harder trail out of Woodland Park. Woodland Park is about thirty minutes west into the mountains. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so we dropped into Sonic for a burger.

Pikes Peak in background

After lunch we headed out for the Schubarth Road trail that winds through forest and large boulders to a point overlooking the Academy from a vantage point 8,400’ above sea level.  We linked up with a young Air Force airman in a nice Ram Power Wagon. His truck was nicely outfitted, but pretty big for the parts of the trail that wound around the large boulders. Particularly on the return there was only about an inch on either side of the truck as he snuck through. We are much narrower and still felt challenged.

Air Force Academy below

It was a terrific day! I have no idea what we are doing tomorrow, but I am sure it will be great. We love this area.

Fort Collins, CO

Wow! What a Reuben! But, I am getting ahead of myself.

We drove down to Fort Collins today. The skies were clear and the snow was rapidly diminishing. There were a few inches on the hood and top of the jeep, but not much left on the ground. The wind has been blowing like stink all night and into the day and that helps get rid of the snow. It was a handful driving south on I-25 with the strong winds out of the west.

Our first stop was Horsetooth Reservoir in the foothills to the west of Fort Collins. It is a very picturesque lake, and the county has built picnic areas along the eastern ridge overlooking the reservoir.

Looking east you see Fort Collins and the Colorado State University campus. If you look closely in the picture you can see a trail leading up from the base of the hill. 

This area was crisscrossed with trails and there were many hikers, runners, and mountain bikers out making the best of them. The west side of the reservoir bounds on the Landy State Park, which has a boat ramp to provide boat access to the lake. This community has done a great deal to make an outdoors life style pleasurable.

We drove through the small community of Laporte as we descended back to downtown Fort Collins. This is a college town, and as you would expect there were many young people walking the very attractive main streets of downtown. There are lots of funky eateries and drinking establishments.

After finding long waits at a couple of restaurants we found ourselves in The Pub where I managed to find what might be the very best Reuben sandwiches I have had; certainly the best since working in Manhattan. What made this one so good was the corned beef. It was full of the flavor of the corning spices, strong of clove. The Left Handed Sawtooth Ale was not bad either. Barbara enjoyed a bleu cheese burger and Denver Pale Ale. We were definitely happy campers driving back north.

We are beginning to feel cooped up in the motorhome without the ability to put out our slides. With them in there is very little room and we do not have access to all of our cabinets, so it is getting a little cluttered, too. Still there are ways to cope.

Off to the Air Force Academy in the morning.

Cheyenne, WY Day Two

Not much to tell. This was a burrow in and keep warm day. While we did not get as much snow here as was predicted, we did get several inches.

By late morning in was just flurries and as the afternoon went on the wind kicked up. We have the heater on, but it is still chilly. We are thankful that the slides can’t go out, in that there are fewer surfaces against the cold air. On the other hand it does leave us in a confined space.

We each made a nest and got a book out.

Around five we could hear the PA system of the high school nearby. They were having a football game. It is 28 degress and the winds are gusting to 35! I don't know who to feel more sorry for, the players or the spectators in the stands. Hardy folks out here, that is for sure.

 

Hopefully the wind will abate and we will have a nice drive in the jeep to Fort Collins tomorrow.

Cheyenne, WY

No pictures today, sorry. Internet is spares here, so reports might be delayed.

We got an early start to get to Cheyenne, WY before the weather got miserable. We expected a lot of rain and high winds as the afternoon progressed and were happy to find it much better on the road. The countryside on the way down was beautiful. Just prior to leaving South Dakota we went through the town of Hot Springs and found it to be a nice place to visit if we had more time. Wyoming has a population of less than 600,000 so towns and people were sparse.

Can’t say much for the campground we are in. We had planned on staying on Warren AFB here in Cheyenne. We called yesterday to see if they would be open considering the government shutdown. There was no answer and no call back, so as we drove south I called a commercial campground and booked space. It is a good thing we did, since this place is about the only campground in the area and it is filling up with people trying to get out of the weather for a day or two. There is already a large population of permanent tenants here, and it is in a somewhat rundown area.

It looks like six to eight inches of snow through tomorrow, so we are just happy to be tucked in somewhere. We will likely only leave the coach tomorrow to walk the dog, so we stocked up on popcorn and reading material. If it clears up as expected Saturday we will drive down to Fort Collins, CO to check things out there. We will do that in the jeep and leave the coach here. By Sunday the roads should be fine and we will be off. Where to? TBD, but I hope it is warmer.

Rapid City, SD Day Two

Well, today was the day to take the jeep in to the dealer. We wanted to see as much of the area as possible before leaving tomorrow, so we got a reasonably early start and headed to Custer State Park to do the Wildlife Loop Drive. On the way we stopped at the Jeep dealer to make sure the part was in. If it wasn’t we could spend more time in the park. Turns out it was in, so we knew we needed to be back by one o’clock

As we entered the park we stopped at the Game Lodge to see if they had anything we could give to the burrows if we came upon any. They did not, but it was good that we stopped since it turned out to be a very nice old inn. President Coolidge and his family evidently stayed there, so you can see how old, I mean rustic, it is. If you come this way by car it would be a beautiful spot to stay. They do have a nice campground in the meadow that would be where we would stay if we were to return by RV.

The Wildlife Loop lived up to its name. We did see more antelope, which might have been pronghorn sheep. I am not an expert on this. Barbara got a chance to photograph another solitary male buffalo, and later we found out why we were seeing so few bison. It turns out that last weekend was the annual buffalo roundup, and as we came over a rise we could see that there were hundreds of buffalo corralled in one area. We need to do some research on what this is all about, but buffalo burgers have to come from somewhere. It did not look like a winter holding area, but it might have been a way to be sure they get enough feed over the winter. They may have been for inspection and shots before being let out to the larger fenced area. Anyway, Barbara got an up close look and hundreds of buffalo, large and small.

Barbara got the biggest kick of the trip a few minutes later when we came across the wild burrows. Jeez, what beggars these guys are! While the lodge did not have anything, there were carrots at the general store down the road. Barbara made great friends with a few as she offered up an entire package of carrots.

We finished our beautiful drive and returned to the dealer at the appointed hour. While we were at it I had them do the usual service stuff, and while waiting the service writer came over and asked me to come speak with the technician. Now that is never good news, right? As it turns, out the tech was asking why it was I wanted to change the shift cable. He was under the jeep while it was on the lift. I explained that the problem was at the other end and he said he understood. I returned to the waiting area and a good magazine article. A little later the service writer returned and asked me to follow him. He said the tech wanted to show me something. While I expected the worst, he wanted to show me that he was able to repair the cable end in a way that made sense even if it was not what the manual called for, by using a  $2 part. Two-dollar part, or $52 part plus 1.5 hours of labor. Your choice.

Now we are home in our home away from home and Barbara and Nia just took a shower. That is a neat trick in an RV shower. Glad the door was closed.

We leave in the morning. Early. In fact aside from the electrical hook up I am disconnecting everything tonight. Why the hurry? Weather Bug says rain all day tomorrow, AND a Winter Weather Storm Watch starting tomorrow evening with high winds and six plus inches of SNOW! He are heading south to Cheyenne, WY, but the weather there may not be much better. It is just as far south as we can get in the time we have. Stay tuned!

Black Hills, SD

Hey, nothing broke today! Although that is not to say everything went without a hitch. As we were about to drive off to visit the Black Hills an official of the campground stopped by to tell us the campsites we and two other campers had selected when we arrived yesterday were so new that they had not yet been released to the campground by the contractor. We had to move. No problem. Since there were plenty of other spaces available it was a simple move because we do not have slides out or leveling jacks down. No hydraulics, remember?

Once underway we had a great time in the Black Hills. The only glitch was the government shutdown had all the National Parks closed. That included Mount Rushmore. Not only did they have the entrance to the park coned off, but they coned off every turnout on the highway that might have afforded a view of the sculpture. They must have run out of cones because we found one wide spot in the road where I took this zoomed in shot. 

All the closer we could get.

I found this confusing. If the park was closed because they had no money for the salaries, why were no fewer than eight rangers standing around talking at the park entrance. It looked like a shift change at a car wash.

We drove over to the Crazy Horse monument, which as a commercial attraction was not affected by the fiasco in Washington. They were getting a lot of extra business since the National Parks and monuments were closed. It is an impressive operation.

Decades into this huge effort. That blip near the end of his arm is a backhoe!

There is a very large visitor center that features hundreds of Native American art pieces as well as historical artifacts. Of course, there is a large gift shop and restaurant as well. While we were there the sixth generation grandson of Crazy Horse gave a talk and, along with his son, demonstrated native dances. Pretty cool.

In the little town of Custer we had lunch at a place that is obviously a local favorite. It was the Black Hills Burger & Bun Co., and as the name suggests we did indeed have burgers. They were excellent, and the fries (both regular and sweet potato) were as well. If you are in the area of Custer, SD drop in. You will like it.

We drove home through Custer State Park. This area is absolutely gorgeous and reminds me of the  Sierra Mountains. Just not as high, of course. The Aspen were turning colors and the low sun made them shine a bright yellow. Barbara got more pictures of wildlife. We saw more buffalo, pronghorn sheep, and bright white mountain goats.

Nia slept through much of this, but she will not be joining us tomorrow since we will be going to a wildlife loop through Custer State Park specifically to be up close with the animals. She gets her knickers in a twist if they get too close.