Wild West day 3

We survived Kansas only to endure East Colorado. However, following along the Arkansas River all the way to Pueblo was somewhat better than feed lot after feed lot.  We stopped for lunch in Las Animas CO. before we got to Pueblo. Joyce learned all about the history of Bent’s Fort, and the surrounding area.  Interesting thing about that town is they converted to reversed osmosis water softening for their city water because their water was so hard. Then all their water pipes collapsed because the filtered water cleansed the system and all their old water pipes collapsed because they were only held together with years of mineral deposits.   Once we arrived at Pueblo, we decided we were so close to the Royal Gorge that we would head on up there. It's still there in case you were wondering. However, it about burned up in a big fire in June of 2013. Consequently, access to the bridge was blocked. Supposedly they will reopen in August. We couldn't wait that long so we took the freebie road (dirt path) to the edge of the gorge. Neither Joyce nor I were fit to traverse the rock strewn path out to the "good" view point, but rocks are rocks and water is water. I managed a few photos to satisfy my photographer's urge. Then there was a fire... Sadly, it will take several years for the area to recover. In the meantime, the tourist industry is suffering and there may be a lot of places go out of business. The commercial area leading up to the gorge might look like a ghost town soon. Anyway, when we left the gorge we started looking for a home - for the night. In contrast to the impact of the fire, all the campgrounds close by were full except for "tent" sites (no elect.). It was still early, though, so we looked up a few campgrounds up by Pikes Peak, which is our victim for tomorrow. The first one we called said he had space so we took it. It was about 40-50 miles away, though. We took a nice county road up through open range country to get there. It was a pleasant drive with only an occasional car truck to share the road with. Arriving at Cripple Creek, tired but relaxed, we found the Eagles Landing RV Park. It was not pretty, but served the purpose well enough. It seems a big part of the campers here are here for the long haul. Many even have large propane tanks sitting out beside the camper.  The campground is open year round. Can you imagine spending winter months here? Tomorrow we're heading up Pikes Peak. After that, we should be able to find nicer Federal parks. We have to prepare for "dry" camping though as we have to trade convenience for beauty.

Wild West day 2

We got away from Fall River Lake right at 11 am, the precise time I plugged into my trip planner. We went straight through Wichita instead of taking the bypass around it. Wasn't bad at all. Of course, it was after lunch but before rush hour. From there it was pretty much Kansas, feed lot after feed lot and rolling hills gradually flattening out as we approached Dodge City. Made a brief stop at Walmart in Pratt to get a new road atlas. Our old one soaked up a bit of water some weeks back and was a little unruly. When I returned to the RV, I decided to rest a bit. An hour later, after I woke up, we continued on west to Dodge City. Dodge City was somewhat a disappointment back in the eighties when we were there last and it has not improved a bit. Just another tourist trap like so many other used to be historical sites. We continued on to Garden City and just the other side is Deerfield where we have stopped for the night. We're in a private campground, Deerfield Beach Campground. It's a Passport America campground where we get 1/2 off and that part was good. The campground itself, not so much. Seems this part of Kansas has had only about 1 inch of rain since last year. Consequently, the local wheat crop has failed and the usual crop harvest followers aren't following. It's just all dried up, including the campground's pride, their fishing lake (thus "Deerfield Beach") and campers, too. The comparison with last night's campground just ain't fair...apples to oranges.  Or maybe apples to prunes. If you look waaay back to the back of the park you can see several dead trees.  This green one here in the foreground and one up by the entrance are all that have survived. Our next door neighbor came riding in on his motorcycle.  Another younger fellow (turned out to be the motorcyclist son) came putting in on an ATV. He began working on it, revving up, shutting it down and then starting it up and revving some more.  Oh boy, this could be a pleasant night.  But, in a while, the older man came dragging up with a trailer behind his pickup.  They loaded the 4-wheeler and were gone. Then came the poor little pooch.  He was so hungry but so timid. I was busy washing the bugs off the front of the RV and filling the water tank and he would come up fairly close, but would not come any closer. If I made a move toward him he'd go scooting off, only to circle back around and re-approach. I finally set out a bowl of water and he came to that...still not very close. Then I poured him a little pile of dog food on an old board lying on the ground. When I backed away he pounced. He was a cutie and if we had been heading home instead of the other direction, I would have been tempted to try to gain his confidence and take him home. But alas, we left him there.

Wild West day 1

The "wild" part began with trying to meet our self-imposed deadline of high noon. Didn't happen. But, 1 pm wasn't too bad. However, we left without eating lunch so we decided to stop at the Subway in Forsyth. Can you believe it? They were out of bread! How can you make a subway sandwich without bread? You can't, so we left. We stopped, very hungry, at the El Taco in Ozark and had a couple of burritos. Worked out well. We had more gas to get us down the road. And down the road we went. We headed out from Springfield (James River Fwy) and west on I-44. Not being "Interstate" travelers, we jumped off and took Hwy 96 toward Carthage. Once into Kansas (oh boy, oh boy), we worked our way over to, of all places, Oswego...Kansas, not New York. Took US 169 north and caught US 400. Down the road a piece and we stopped for the night at Fall River Lake. It's a Corp lake. We stayed at Dam Site below the dam. No, no, the park name was Dam Site Campground and it was very nice. Here's the scene from very near our camp site. There had apparently been recent rains because the dam had several floodgates open and the roar was near deafening.  Well, maybe not that bad, but it was loud...and wet.  It was almost like been in the mist below Niagara Falls.  Well, maybe not that bad, either, but it was wet. And here we are, parked for our first night on the road to our big adventure.  Joyce is pretty happy except the roastin’ ear corn is not ready yet.  Too early in the year. We were the only campers at this campground except for the camp host. Really nice park...even for Kansas.

Close, but no gold ring

Well, to day is the 10th, but we're still home.  Had a little family business to tend to.  So, it's tomorrow...probably.  We have most everything loaded except for the stuff we need here in the house tonight.  In the morning I'll load the Dish receiver and Verizon data modem (gotta have Internet and TV on the trip!!!).  We need to load our meds, too.  At our age we don't go anywhere without them (sigh).

Besides the aforementioned, about all that's left to load is us and Ditto.  Sure looking forward to this little jaunt.  Our first stop for pleasure after enduring Kansas is planned to be Pike's Peak.  If we still were driving old Pumpkin and towing the Jeep, I would have parked at the bottom and driven the Jeep up.  But, with Lil Pumpkin, we're going all the way.

Time Is Getting Short

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Here it is, Wednesday, June 4 (happy birthday to my OLDER sister).  Granted, it is nearly 1 am and we have all day, but it still means less than a week to be ready...IF we leave on June 10.

Progress report:  I designed and Joyce sewed up some bug screens for the front door windows.  They're a simple design, made like a kind of sock that slips over the top of the door and slides down below the bottom of the window - on both sides of the door.  So, it is effectively a double layer screen, a layer on either side.  Hopefully, that will reduce the need to seal the screen with magnets or whatever.

Joyce has been busy making fitted table clothes, doodad pouches, and other useful storage items.  I spent 3 hours downloading and installing the latest map for my GPS.

As mentioned in my last post, I made a custom dining table because the one that came with the RV did double duty as a part of the large bed and consequently it was large and made it very difficult to move around when set up.  Plus, we modified the large bed area into two single beds so it is easier to get up at night if you get my gist.  Anyway, after a couple of tries at using 3rd party tables, I gave up and made one.

The above shot shows the "mechanism" from the bottom.  It allows a pretty versatile range of movement and repositions easily.  It mounts on the original pedestal.

Then, today I put a couple of tarps over Porkchop (boat, for those unfamiliar) and parked it down by the green shed along with the cargo trailer we bought for our ill-fated move to Ft. Smith.  We wanted to park the pickup under the boat port while we are gone.  The Mercury will go in the garage.  I also cleaned out the majority of the center bay so when Nixa Hardware delivers 2 tons of stove pellets Thursday or Friday, there is a place to stack it.  We'll have about half of the bags stacked on the front porch so we don't have to lug them so far.  But, it's only the 4th of June and predicted to hit near ninety this afternoon.  So, we probably won't need them soon.

Even with the heat, I hope to mow later today.  It has to be done before we leave on our western trip because otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive in the driveway when we get back.

Well, it is 1:30 am and I'm going to bed.

It's Memorial Day!

Oh dear!  It's Memorial Day already.  And our schedule has been moved up to (hopefully) June 10th departure date.  We're wrestling with trying to make connections in Idaho at Skyler's with Tom, Jr. and the NY residue.  It's getting tricky because they (New Yorkers) haven't nailed down their schedule yet.  Then add to that, Joyce just noticed her military ID card has expired.  Now we've got to take a day out to go to Springfield to get her a new one.  That's always so much fun.  My ID card does not expire.  Hers does.  I guess because wives can become non-wives frequently and no longer authorized the benefits.  However, after over 50 years of wedded bliss, one would think there is a good chance we'll not separate.  Hell, if for no other reason, it would just be too much trouble.

Anyway, Joyce is busy trying to get the house in order after moving back from Ft. Smith and trying to get clothes and kitchen stuff lined out for the trip.  I'm trying to get Lil Pumpkin ready while mowing and trying to get the garage and workshop cleaned up.  We ordered 2 tons of wood stove pellets and have to take delivery before we leave.  In the meantime, I've got to clear a spot in the center bay of the garage to stack it in.  That means moving all my "good" (to be interpreted "mostly scrap") lumber.  Plus, we still haven't unloaded our sofa.  It's still in the trailer along with a few other items we moved from Ft. Smith.

A couple of the things we have accomplished...I built a "box" to replace the passenger seat directly behind Joyce's front seat.  It will house my new Tailgater satellite TV antenna while on the road.  We'll be able to watch MSNBC and CNN while camping in the desert somewhere.  Anyway, I built that and I designed a bug screen for the rear doors so we can leave them open at night.  Since a lot of the campgrounds out west don't have electric power available for A/C.  Of course, a lot of the campgrounds will be in higher elevations where A/C is needed anyway.  But, Joyce sewed up the screen (hemmed and Velcro strips added) and it fits well.  Maybe when in Glacier National Park the only disturbance we'll incur from the monster north mosquitoes will be them whapping against the screen (fingers crossed).
 

Oh yes, a few more things I've accomplished in Lil Pumpkin.  I added a shelf in the wardrobe.  Joyce uses the wardrobe for added kitchen storage and she needed more shelving.  Then I added some edging to her shelves above the cooking area.  The edging sticks up above the shelf a 1/4" to help keep stuff from falling out and bombarding her when she opens the overhead cabinets.  Stuff does tend to move around while bouncing down the road.  I also added an expansion rod near the ceiling, across the area above the bed.  Joyce is going to make some special "saddle bags" to hang on some hangers to serve as catch-alls for bed time...eye glasses, Kindle, TV remote, etc.

Then the best thing is the dining table.  The original table was a large heavy tabletop that sat on a post in the middle between to two mid coach seats and virtually blocked access around it.  And, it stored way back under the sofa.  We tried a couple of folding tables, but neither was satisfactory.  Then my "inventive" mind went to work and I designed a table that utilizes the original table post and the plastic tabletop from one of the folding tables plus an old thick nylon (plastic) cutting board of Joyce's, some plywood and a few nuts and bolts.  We now have a table with some articulation that allows us to re-position it in several ways to gain access around it and to easily position it to eat from.  I'll try to post some photos of it later, but it will be hard to understand how it works without actually operating it.  Joyce still doesn't fully understand how it works. :)  Now we're waiting on a folding stadium seat.  It will go on the antenna "box" to replace the passenger seat we took out and that's where I'll sit for eating or, perhaps writing our blog.

Gettin' ready

The clock is counting down to our big super-duper out west trip. The timetable is currently departing June 15 and getting back...who knows when...probably about July 15, in time for the Thomas reunion.
Here's a few sights we hope to hit:

• Dinosaur National Monument
• Arches Bryce Canyon
• Zion
• Death Valley
• China Lake, Ca. - Joyce's insistence :)
• Monterrey, Ca. (probably not, but maybe)
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Redwoods
• Crater Lake
• Olympic Peninsula
• Whidbey Island, Wa.
• Grand Coulee Dam
• Glacier National Park
• Skyler, Millie and Rosie
• Little Big Horn
• Devil's Tower

Heading out without a single reservation, so obviously, plans can change. But, that's the plan.

Oh, here's our ride...