Our next big trip is well into the future. We're planning on traveling up to Tom, Jr's in Upstate New York in late August for one of my granddaughter's wedding reception. Then we're planning on heading on up into Canada. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is probably as far up as we'll get. In preparation, we applied for our passport cards (don't need full blown passports) a couple of weeks ago. Progress on Pumpkin's bed remake is ongoing...slow, but ongoing. We've got the mattresses ready and Joyce has the center cushion that goes between the mattresses made and covered. We're engineering a seat backrest for the cushion where I'll sit/lounge and watch TV or movies. We're on hold right now awaiting some straps I ordered.
Joyce has made a "sock" from a canvas fabric that fits over the forward end of the center cushion. When the straps come in, she'll sew four of them underneath the top section of the sock. These will create a four strap back support that will attach to the ceiling, probably to the rear shade valance. The straps will get a canvas covering which will form a kind of hammock shaped back for my chair. In the meantime, we hope to make a few shorter trips before August and who knows, we may wind up in Idaho again in June.
I've spent the last several weeks ripping out the power sofa and making new built-in beds in Lil Pumpkin. The original bed was made from the fold-down power sofa with cushions over the wheel-wells to extend the bed length. The tabletop was intended to go between the wheel-wells with a cushion on top of it to make the entire area a big roughly queen-size bed. The problem with that design was it required one to crawl to the center and end of to bed to get up. At our age, this presented a doubly problematic...well, problem. We don't crawl well and we have to get up often throughout the night. My initial addressing of this problem worked reasonably well, but still had its drawbacks. I took out the tabletop, which allowed us to get up at night a little easier. Without the tabletop, we effectively had twin beds with an open aisle between where the table top had been. The beds were just a little narrow, however, so I added a wider piece of plywood to each wheel-well. The cushions required widening to match the wider bed base. I managed this by adding a length of large swimming "noodle" between the cushion and the wall. The large noodle was almost the exact diameter as the thickness of the cushion. We then laid a 2" thick memory foam mattress topper and there it was. Nice comfy twin beds. Well, mostly. We used the new beds on our 46 day long trip out west in 2014 and again in 2015. But, there were still issues. The sections of cushions just didn't mate well with the folded down sofa and even with the memory foam topper, were a little uncomfortable. Then, getting up at night, the topper would tend to crawl off the edge of the bed. And there was the daily making of the bed at night and unmaking in the morning to raise the sofa back up. There had to be a better way... I got this idea back last fall of removing the sofa-bed and building separate twin beds. It has been a slow project due to weather and lots of interruptions, but I'm getting there.
I started by removing the sofa. A few nuts and bolts, unplug a wiring cable and a few grunts (with help) and out it came. Then I removed the seat belts to clear the area better. And, in this photo, you see the partition I made which will establish the separation between the interior and the storage area accessible through the rear doors. Visible ahead of the partition are the wheel-wells mentioned previously. The photos below show the area behind the partition for rear-accessed storage.
One consideration I had was to make a storage area for my Tailgater Dish TV antenna (yes, we have satellite TV available on our trips). The Tailgater, although relatively small, presented a small problem in that it was a hair taller than the wheel-wells which set the level for the beds.
The photos above show the general size of the Tailgater and the box I made to store it in for our previous trips. This proved unsatisfactory because it made an uncomfortable seat for meals and sitting at the table. So, we put the original seat back in and I started castings about for a better way. The new bed construction opened a new possibility. With the partition in place, I constructed two identical (almost) bases for the beds. They were constructed from 3/4" thick framing sandwiched by 1/8" plywood. That made them light and relatively stiff and strong. I still had to construct support in the rear (head of the bed) yet, but this photo shows how the beds fit in.
You'll also see a false floor section under the plastic storage box. The studs sticking up through the floor, which were used to bolt in the sofa and seat belts, presented some obstacles. I decided to make these false floors which would give me some storage for seldom used stuff (spare water hose, extension cord, etc.) underneath and a smooth surface above where the storage box and lawn chairs can slide in without obstruction. I couldn't run the false floor all the way across the cargo section because it would be too low for the Tailgater to fit. So, I made it with a space between for the Tailgater.
I found the antenna was the shortest lying on its side and the tapered corners let it fit perfectly in the space between the beds and the false floors on each side. That's about the extent of my progress to date. I have made a section to go between the bunks and form a cover which will convert into a seat when needed. And I have finished exposed surfaces with a cherry stain and polyurethane. Things are on hold while we wait on mattresses. Actually, mattress (singular). We gave Stephen a full-size inner spring mattress for his camp trailer and he is giving us his foam mattress that came in the trailer. The plan is to cut the foam mattress in two and make two mattresses for Pumpkin. While building the beds, I kept in mind the possibility of reverting back some day if and when we decide to sell Pumpkin. Another owner might prefer the original set up. So, with a couple of small exceptions, I have not made structural changes and have built the entire thing to easily be disassembled and the sofa bed reinstalled. Assembly and disassembly are a lot like a Chinese puzzle, but it works.
I finished (I hope) repairing all the bad links to photos. Google made some changes in online data storage and I took advantage of it. They offer unlimited storage (under certain conditions). The downside, for me anyway, is in trying to get organized, I broke a lot of links. 2016! Our travel plans for 2016 are rather ambitious. Joyce has some medical matters to attend to which will limit her travel abilities for a couple of months. Our dream is to go to Alaska. Climate conditions obviously dictate when that travel can be done. So, we're looking at a late June start and get back south by early September. That doesn't mean get home, just back south so the weather doesn't do such sneaky things to us. In the meantime, I'm still working on Lil Pumpkin getting the beds designed and built plus a few other modifications for comfort (Ditto's as well as ours). If the Alaska trip doesn't work out then we're thinking Nova Scotia. Like the Alaska trip, it requires an eye on the weather, but we'd prefer early fall timeframe.
As we left Flaming Gorge, we dropped down into Utah where we caught US Hwy 40 at Vernal and took it east across the state line into Colorado. We made a quick stop at Dinosaur National Monument to check out the new facility. We had been there in 1989, I think it was, and I was interested in what they had done to it. The bones still looked the same.
We camped at the Yampa River State Park. Another nice park and another nearly empty park. Running late in the season certainly has its advantages. Past Steamboat Springs, we took State Hwy 14 toward Walden, Co. Coming down on the east side of the mountains, we encountered a rancher and his cow hands moving his herd down from the upper pastures for the winter.
If you will notice, the yellow hoodie cowboy is a cowgirl. Since we weren't going anywhere soon, I struck a conversation with her. She is how I knew they were moving the herd to winter pastures. She was also how I knew they had another herd about the same size a mile or two down the road. Oh well, I always did enjoy staring at the rear ends of young heifers. Once we got through the black stampede, we drove on through Fort Collins and to Jackson Lake for the night.
Having completed our tour of Yellowstone, we headed out the south entrance of the park toward the Grand Tetons. My puny photos can't possibly do the Tetons justice and more professional ones are available all over the place, so I'll just post a few to show we were there because we were...there, that is.
The Tetons were hidden in the clouds when we first got there but began to clear as we drew alongside. We did not make any side road trips, but the view from afar was still breathtaking. Continuing on south on US Hwy 89 through Jackson and on to Thayne, Wy. where we stopped for the night at a private campground. It was just a plain campground, nothing fancy, but it slept good. We had an interesting camper next to us.
This is a Mercedes Unimog (I believe that's what it is called). The campers were a youngish couple and their little kid - looked to be about 2. The guy was busy checking out his vehicle while the woman sat and entertained the kid on a blanket spread on the ground. The kid kept escaping and mom would chase him down and then try to occupy him back on the blanket. She was not very successful. After all, the kid was 2. The following morning I hauled out the water hose and squeegee and was washing the windshield when the next door neighbor came out. I spoke with him and as it turned out, they were a German family and had brought their vehicle over by ship. They had landed in Canada and had worked their way across Canada and had turned south through the U.S. They, like us, had just finished Yellowstone. However, we were about to head east toward home. They were heading for Mexico! What a trip. That kid will be ready for school by the time they get back home. We continued on south on Hwy 89. It took a slight jog across the state line into Idaho then back into Wyoming and picked up US Hwy 30. Taking Hwy 30 on toward Kemmerer, Wy., we came upon Fossil Butte National Monument...never heard of it, so we decided to look around. It was an interesting side trip. Fossil Butte is an area "where some of the world's best preserved fossils are found". We toured the roads around the park then stopped at the visitors center.
Interesting, but I had forgotten to pack my geologists tools, so we headed on down to Manila, Ut. and the Flaming Gorge KOA for the night. Flaming Gorge KOA is a nice RV resort, but we were there one day before it officially closed for the season, so it was pretty empty. It was a relaxing stop.
It was difficult to leave Ashton this morning. We have had such a wonderful time and those babies are such a treat. We love 'em all. But, we have to get home sometime this month. The postal service is holding our mail until the 28th. After that, they'll start returning to sender. We headed back up to Yellowstone through the west entrance. When we came to Ashton, we just cut across the park and didn't do much sight seeing. So, since we're here... We entered the park and drove on down to Old Faithful. Had a short wait, but watched her spout off at about 5:15 pm. Actually, I almost missed the show, but here's proof we were there.
We had no reservations anywhere, so I checked with a Ranger at the info desk at Old Faithful Visitor Center. He said about our only choice was Lewis Lake campground, which was great because we were heading that way (south) in the morning, anyway. We arrived at the campground just at dusk and went looking for a site. Actually, there were plenty open sites, but we needed a level one to make things easier. We latched onto site B-14. By then it was dark...deep forest dark...lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Well, there were bears shi, uh, hiding in those woods, anyway. Joyce fixed some dinner while I walked Ditto and shortly after that, we hit the sack. No bears had accosted Ditto or me. We had decided to tour the park again rather than head south for the Grand Tetons right away and it had been a long day, our first day back on the road.
We just about froze Monday night. The furnace quit on us in the middle of the night and being a National Park, there was no electrical power available to run our electric heater. When I got up, it was 32 degrees. The furnace would not light and the cooktop wouldn't even stay lit. Something was wrong with the gas, probably the regulator. Joyce was really upset and I wasn't far behind. If I couldn't get the gas to work, our vacation was over. But, as the morning sun started warming things up, the cooktop lit and stayed on. Eventually, the furnace did, too. I guess there was moisture in the propane regulator that froze up and when thawed out, everything worked normally. Maybe we can finish our vacation after all. We visited Yellowstone in July of 2014. It was not a pretty sight. I think half of China was there along with Los Angeles and portions of the rest of the world. The crowds and traffic made it totally "unfun", so we just scooted on out the other side. This time, being the early part of October, the scene was totally different. Oh, half the crowd was still Chinese (or, at least Oriental), but we could see actual gaps in the traffic flow. Nowhere did we have to jockey for parking. Heck, it was nearly empty! Except for the occasional roadblock.
We visited Yellowstone in 1970, too. I took a photo then of Joyce and the boys sitting on a bench in front of the Yellowstone Lower Falls (Dusty is in the photo, but not yet visible). Joyce couldn't make the walk to the same spot this time, but I did. While there, I got a fellow visitor to take my photo on that same bench...45 years later. How cool is that?
We had planned on leaving today. But, the Kerr siblings decided it was a perfect time to give Millie a surprize birthday party. Actually, her birthday isn't until Wednesday, but what the heck? We were here. Joyce and I needed to do some stocking up for our continued trip, so we borrowed Kensey's little Kia sedan, a 5-speed stick shift. I hadn't driven a stick in several years, but it came back quickly...except for the narrow footwell and my big fat Crocs. I had a little trouble fitting both feet down there at the same time. We went to St. Anthony for groceries, but the one and only grocery was closed, Sunday, you know. So, we went on to Rexburg. We found an Albertson's and both took a cart. When we checked out, I remembered I was driving a small Kia. I wasn't real sure we could get it all in. But, we did and headed back. While at the store, Joyce had picked up a single long-stem rose for Millie. Now why didn't I think of that? We got home and unloaded the car and Joyce had me present the rose to Millie. I felt a little, uh, like I was stealing since it was Joyce that had bought the rose. To manage the surprize party, we had to get Millie out of the house so the girls could decorate. Sky, Millie, Joyce and I - oh, and baby Pennie went for a drive. The "reason" was so Sky could show us where he worked. He extended the trip by running up into the foothills where he had done his student teaching at an outdoor classroom camp. The drive was amazing. The rolling hills of farmland, horse ranches and hay fields in the most wide open land I've seen. In the near distance, the open range land and pine forests. Another great drive.
We came back home to a houseful of excited kids and sisters and surprised Millie. We had ice cream and brownies and popped balloons between our bodies in a most interesting and maybe a little vulgar way.
Grandma Joyce did some babysitting during the melee'.
It was fun, but the evening was passing and Joyce and I were heading out in the morning. Goodnight all.
