We had stayed at the Cedar Rail RV park in Raton, NM our second night of the vacation (remember the triple rainbow?), but this time we had a nice back in spot with a spectacular mountain and valley view. The reason the view was so nice was because just behind the spot is a "cliff" that drops off about 30 feet. I decided to clean the rear RV windows, and that was quite a challenge. I tried spraying water and using a squeegee, but that left an ugly mess. I ended up using a damp micro fiber cloth and that did a nice job with twice over the window.
The next day was occupied with researching a rescue of a Standard Schnauzer reported to be at a kill shelter in Midland, TX. The report did not have enough information, and even though I called SPCA and other shelters and in nearby towns we never found the dog. Since that was going on and since the day was cloudy and damp, we decided to take a vacation from our vacation and just laze around.
One "job" I did perform was to try to scrub out the black water tank (sewage). Whenever we empty it, the indicator never shows it as empty. This is most often due to paper or other material on the float in the tank. The RV has a separate hose connection to spray inside the tank, but when we tried to use it, we discovered that it leaked inside the walls of the RV and could not be used. I ran a garden hose into the bathroom so we could repeatedly fill and empty the tank to move all the material out. We would let it soak, then empty, then power spray what could be reached through the toilet. Hopefully, it will get the guage working properly. We need to take the RV back to the dealer to get the leak in the wall fixed.
The RV next to us had a hummingbird feeder, and there were normally about 6 hummingbirds there all day long. As we watched out the back window, we could see them in the bushes/trees along the cliff behind us. At one point, one bird would repeatedly fly straight up, then dive 75' straight at the ground, pulling up at the last minute to avoid the ground. On our last morning there, there were at least 20 hummingbirds fighting for a spot at the feeder (see posted videos).
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Great Sand Dunes Natioinal Park
Monday started as early as we could reasonably get around. We got up at 6am and were on the road by about 7:20. We wanted to get to the Great Sand Dunes National Park before the sun made it impossible to spend any time on the dunes with the dogs. The roads were two lane and very curvy, so we were limited in our speed. Once again, there was almost no traffic in either direction. A very nice scenic drive through canyons, plains, and eroded hills covered in grass and topped with trees.
We arrived about 10am, and the heat wasn't too bad yet, maybe 80 degrees. We had purchased boots for
the dogs to try to protect them from the heat. The boots have a rubber sole and "socks" that went up their ankles. In addition, there are velcro straps that tighten the boots around the heal of their feet. We brought out the water spraybottle and bottle of water with bowl, then headed out towards the dunes.
The first thing encountered was the stream that brings sand from the mountains and high side of the dunes (mountain side) out onto the plains. From there, the wind blows the sand back towards the mountains, creating the dunes. No new sand is entering the system, so the dunes are not growing, but constantly shift. The tallest dune is over 900' tall.It became obvious that we were at high elevation (over 8000') so we were not going to be climbing the big dunes. We also found that the boots soles were too thin to protect the dogs feet from the heat. We went to the first ridge with no problems, but the dogs were doing a very funny thing. They walked behind us in our shadows!
On the way back in, we were watching the dogs boots to see if they came off, and Annie lost one. We couldn't find it, even after searching for 10 minutes. It had disappeared under the sand as her foot went under and came up without the boot. Then Zoe lost one. I pulled off the remaining three boots from Annie and began carrying her to keep her feet cool. Since we were at elevation, that didn't last long, and I "ran" her back to the stream to get her feet into the water. Terri hurried as fast as she could. When we got there, it was easy to convince Annie to lay down in the shallow stream to cool off. Zoe took more convincing. We then took the dogs to the outdoor showers to rinse the sand out of their fur and feet for the ride.
We passed over the Continental Divide at North Cochetopa Pass at 10,135' elevation, and made our way to the Cedar Rail RV park in Raton, NM.
We arrived about 10am, and the heat wasn't too bad yet, maybe 80 degrees. We had purchased boots for
the dogs to try to protect them from the heat. The boots have a rubber sole and "socks" that went up their ankles. In addition, there are velcro straps that tighten the boots around the heal of their feet. We brought out the water spraybottle and bottle of water with bowl, then headed out towards the dunes.
The first thing encountered was the stream that brings sand from the mountains and high side of the dunes (mountain side) out onto the plains. From there, the wind blows the sand back towards the mountains, creating the dunes. No new sand is entering the system, so the dunes are not growing, but constantly shift. The tallest dune is over 900' tall.It became obvious that we were at high elevation (over 8000') so we were not going to be climbing the big dunes. We also found that the boots soles were too thin to protect the dogs feet from the heat. We went to the first ridge with no problems, but the dogs were doing a very funny thing. They walked behind us in our shadows!
On the way back in, we were watching the dogs boots to see if they came off, and Annie lost one. We couldn't find it, even after searching for 10 minutes. It had disappeared under the sand as her foot went under and came up without the boot. Then Zoe lost one. I pulled off the remaining three boots from Annie and began carrying her to keep her feet cool. Since we were at elevation, that didn't last long, and I "ran" her back to the stream to get her feet into the water. Terri hurried as fast as she could. When we got there, it was easy to convince Annie to lay down in the shallow stream to cool off. Zoe took more convincing. We then took the dogs to the outdoor showers to rinse the sand out of their fur and feet for the ride.
We passed over the Continental Divide at North Cochetopa Pass at 10,135' elevation, and made our way to the Cedar Rail RV park in Raton, NM.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Photos posted
We are in Palo Durro Canyon State Park in Texas, but there is no cell or internet at the bottom. We are at the visitor center now and I thought I would post photos. More later.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
We had to drive 60 miles back west to the park, and took the South Rim Road and stopped at all the overlook trails. The temps started in the high 70's and ended near 90. The elevation is over 8200 feet, so short hikes are GOOD. We had lunch in the truck at the High Point because the tables were full. We also went down to the river level using the East Portal road, in 1st gear almost all the way down a 16% grade (normal highway maximum grade is 6%).
This was one of the best national parks we have ever seen. It is a spectacular collection of views of sheer cliffs, pinnacles, canyons, and panoramas. I shot and assembled some of the most complex multi-photo panorama shots because everything was so close and so large it would not fit in the wide angle lens. One photo of the Painted Wall has two rows of five photos assembled as one panorama (2300 foot vertical cliff, highest in Colorado). We recommend this park for everyone, but it is not a place to hike and explore for many days.
"The rocks that make up the cliffs of Black Canyon are some of the oldest in North America, dating to 1.7 billion years. The cliff walls are 40 feet apart at the river and rise 1750 feet to the rim at the Black Canyon Narrows. The river falls 480feet in this two mile section of the canyon, grinding and scouring the rocks in the relentless effort to cut even deeper. the river and the elements have been at work sculpting this magnificent gorge, season after season, age after age, so that 2 million years later we can wonder at the marvels of nature."
31 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
As a point of odd interest, we spotted the Hymer RV from Germany (seen at Canyonlands - The Needles) twice today. When we got back to town we were at 3/4 of a tank of fuel, so time to fill up!
This was one of the best national parks we have ever seen. It is a spectacular collection of views of sheer cliffs, pinnacles, canyons, and panoramas. I shot and assembled some of the most complex multi-photo panorama shots because everything was so close and so large it would not fit in the wide angle lens. One photo of the Painted Wall has two rows of five photos assembled as one panorama (2300 foot vertical cliff, highest in Colorado). We recommend this park for everyone, but it is not a place to hike and explore for many days.
"The rocks that make up the cliffs of Black Canyon are some of the oldest in North America, dating to 1.7 billion years. The cliff walls are 40 feet apart at the river and rise 1750 feet to the rim at the Black Canyon Narrows. The river falls 480feet in this two mile section of the canyon, grinding and scouring the rocks in the relentless effort to cut even deeper. the river and the elements have been at work sculpting this magnificent gorge, season after season, age after age, so that 2 million years later we can wonder at the marvels of nature."
31 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
As a point of odd interest, we spotted the Hymer RV from Germany (seen at Canyonlands - The Needles) twice today. When we got back to town we were at 3/4 of a tank of fuel, so time to fill up!
Lessons Relearned
We had a very relaxed drive to Gunnison, CO. The KOA campground there was intended to be our base for visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but it turns out it is about 60 miles past the park entrance. Since the RV was too long to take to the park we decided to camp and then backtrack with only the truck.
Along the way we had a close up view of a black bear as it ran across the road in front of us. A very big animal. It headed down hill to the river, past an RV campground. We also saw a herd of bighorn sheep, probably a dozen or so, right on the road.
We had not filled the fuel tank before we left, and for various reasons (excuses) we passed up opportunities to fill up. The warning light came on that indicated we only had six gallons of diesel left, but since we only need to drive 40 miles and as that was enough fuel to drive 70 miles, as since we had no real choice we kept going.
At one point as she was driving, Terri complained about how the truck was shifting gears. I felt it was due to the steep up/down grades and how the tow-haul setting on the truck worked. Within two miles, the truck completely lost power. Terri had the pedal floored, and we were going about 10mph. Then the check engine light came on. Luckily there was a very big turn out and we stopped to assess our situation. I used my PPE gadget to read the diagnostic code, but as always we were out of cell phone signal to translate the code into English. This time it made no real difference, as it was 0087 that I remembered as low fuel pressure from earlier in our trip. I reset the code.
As we were trying to figure out what to do, a tow truck driver pulled up and asked if we needed help. He suggested that we should back up in the pull out and give it a try, and he would follow us and make sure we were OK. The truck seemed "normal" so we kept going. We made it to the KOA, set up the RV, and then went out to fill the tank. It took over 30 gallons, indicating we still had four gallons.
Early on the trip we "learned" the lesson of managing our fuel to not run low. Given the hills we were climbing, the braking and accelerating we were doing, six gallons of fuel sloshing around in a 34 gallon tank was just not enough for a reliable fuel flow.
The Gunnison KOA is very nice. All the sites are grass covered. We are in a double wide pull through so there is a lot of room to sit outside with the puppies. They also have a large fenced in dog walk area for the dogs to fun around in. The temperature is cooler than we thought it might be. Currently 56 with an expected high of 86.
Along the way we had a close up view of a black bear as it ran across the road in front of us. A very big animal. It headed down hill to the river, past an RV campground. We also saw a herd of bighorn sheep, probably a dozen or so, right on the road.
We had not filled the fuel tank before we left, and for various reasons (excuses) we passed up opportunities to fill up. The warning light came on that indicated we only had six gallons of diesel left, but since we only need to drive 40 miles and as that was enough fuel to drive 70 miles, as since we had no real choice we kept going.
At one point as she was driving, Terri complained about how the truck was shifting gears. I felt it was due to the steep up/down grades and how the tow-haul setting on the truck worked. Within two miles, the truck completely lost power. Terri had the pedal floored, and we were going about 10mph. Then the check engine light came on. Luckily there was a very big turn out and we stopped to assess our situation. I used my PPE gadget to read the diagnostic code, but as always we were out of cell phone signal to translate the code into English. This time it made no real difference, as it was 0087 that I remembered as low fuel pressure from earlier in our trip. I reset the code.
As we were trying to figure out what to do, a tow truck driver pulled up and asked if we needed help. He suggested that we should back up in the pull out and give it a try, and he would follow us and make sure we were OK. The truck seemed "normal" so we kept going. We made it to the KOA, set up the RV, and then went out to fill the tank. It took over 30 gallons, indicating we still had four gallons.
Early on the trip we "learned" the lesson of managing our fuel to not run low. Given the hills we were climbing, the braking and accelerating we were doing, six gallons of fuel sloshing around in a 34 gallon tank was just not enough for a reliable fuel flow.
The Gunnison KOA is very nice. All the sites are grass covered. We are in a double wide pull through so there is a lot of room to sit outside with the puppies. They also have a large fenced in dog walk area for the dogs to fun around in. The temperature is cooler than we thought it might be. Currently 56 with an expected high of 86.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Colorado National Monument
The high temp for the day is predicted to be over 100, so we got out fairly early to take the Rim Rock Drive (23 miles one way). Terri did the driving and I got to look at the scenery. Spectacular. Large panoramic views of the valley, steep cliff canyons, pillars/monuments, switchback roads with drops of a thousand feet just one foot past the road edge, tunnels. There were a half dozen or so bicycles making the 2000 foot climb along the road.
We took the Canyon Rim Trail from the visitor center to the Book Cliffs View and back. Then Otto's Trail (John Otto promoted the area to become a park), Coke Ovens Trail, and at the Red Canyon overlook. Temps started about 77 and ended at 90.
We took highways back to the RV to wait for cooler weather this evening. 101 and rising now. The dogs wanted to be walked, but their feet couldn't stand the heat of the asphalt roads in the sun, so only stayed in the shady corner of the dog walk gravel area.
20 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
We took the Canyon Rim Trail from the visitor center to the Book Cliffs View and back. Then Otto's Trail (John Otto promoted the area to become a park), Coke Ovens Trail, and at the Red Canyon overlook. Temps started about 77 and ended at 90.
We took highways back to the RV to wait for cooler weather this evening. 101 and rising now. The dogs wanted to be walked, but their feet couldn't stand the heat of the asphalt roads in the sun, so only stayed in the shady corner of the dog walk gravel area.
20 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Big Truck!
As we came back from Canyonlands Island in the Sky Grand View Point, we found a group of people gathered around our truck taking pictures. They were French, and had never seen a personal truck that big. We forget its size when we see so many at RV parks. So maybe our truck will be seen on some French blog too!
We encountered a European RV made by Hymer with German license plates. We asked, and it was shipped from Hamburg to Baltimore, MD. We thought that was unusual.
We encountered a European RV made by Hymer with German license plates. We asked, and it was shipped from Hamburg to Baltimore, MD. We thought that was unusual.
Canyonlands National Park - The Needles
The photos of yesterday's park visit start with a close up of the soil crust. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_crust
The rangers make a big deal about protecting it, but don't always say why. The Colorado Plateau is primarily sand, either loose or as sandstone. If nothing were present to hold the loose sand, then it would blow around and either bury plants or undermine the plant roots, both making it harder for plants to root and grow and survive. The crust is a combination of different microscopic structures that glue the sand together and keep it in place. Actually critical for life of the high desert.
The Needles section of Canyonlands was about 80 miles one way from our RV park. This time of year, they only get about 450 visitors a day (100K per year). Island in the Sky gets 200K and Arches gets 1 million. Much of the justification for the particular parks we picked for visits on this vacation was to visit the "less popular" places. The truck thermometer at 1pm was at 95 degrees, but Terri and I were sure the temp on the Pothole Point rocks was at least 105.
Terri wanted to get a pressed penny for the area. The parks visitor centers didn't have the machine, but we were told there was one in town. We found it and did a little more shopping, but wanted to get back to the RV to walk the dogs. By the time we got back to the RV, the truck reported 103 in the shade.
It was Terri's birthday, so we had a nice steak dinner at the RV.
20 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
The rangers make a big deal about protecting it, but don't always say why. The Colorado Plateau is primarily sand, either loose or as sandstone. If nothing were present to hold the loose sand, then it would blow around and either bury plants or undermine the plant roots, both making it harder for plants to root and grow and survive. The crust is a combination of different microscopic structures that glue the sand together and keep it in place. Actually critical for life of the high desert.
The Needles section of Canyonlands was about 80 miles one way from our RV park. This time of year, they only get about 450 visitors a day (100K per year). Island in the Sky gets 200K and Arches gets 1 million. Much of the justification for the particular parks we picked for visits on this vacation was to visit the "less popular" places. The truck thermometer at 1pm was at 95 degrees, but Terri and I were sure the temp on the Pothole Point rocks was at least 105.
Terri wanted to get a pressed penny for the area. The parks visitor centers didn't have the machine, but we were told there was one in town. We found it and did a little more shopping, but wanted to get back to the RV to walk the dogs. By the time we got back to the RV, the truck reported 103 in the shade.
It was Terri's birthday, so we had a nice steak dinner at the RV.
20 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Landscape Arch and Canyonlands Island in the Sky
We started the day yesterday at the Arches National Park Devils Garden Trailhead. This is at the end of the road farthest from the visitors center and took about 45 minutes to drive there. As we drove in, we saw a long line of class C (like a truck and camper integrated into one) lined up along the road and 75% of them were from RV rental companies. A lot of foreign travelers fly in to the US and tour in these RVs.
We had a nice walk to Landscape Arch as the day got hotter and hotter. By the time we took the side trails to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch, it was 95 degrees and uncomfortable. We drove back to the visitor center for lunch, but there were no picnic facilities. We sat in the truck with the engine and AC running, then went in to the center to buy our souvenirs. The temp in a black truck in an asphalt parking lot was reported at 118 degrees when we came out, and 98 after we got some air moving around the truck.
We then drove north to Canyonlands National Park. It is divided into three distinct areas that are not connected by roads. The easiest to access is Island in the Sky which is on top of a large mesa with canyons cut on three sides by the Green River and Colorado River. the other sections are Needles (basically hoodoos and fins) that we plan to see today and The Maze which is only 4wd and hiking accessible. As we entered the park, a rain storm lowered the temperature to 70 degrees. Nice! We rented the driving tour CD and completed our tour at 6:06. Unfortunately, the visitors center closed at 6 so it looked like we "bought" the CD for $10 instead of renting it for $5. A park ranger opened the door and was kind enough to take the return and give us our $5 refund. The CD isn't really useful outside the park.
The temp was back up to 92 degrees without the benefit of rain to keep things cool. Higher temps are predicted over the next week.
33 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
We had a nice walk to Landscape Arch as the day got hotter and hotter. By the time we took the side trails to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch, it was 95 degrees and uncomfortable. We drove back to the visitor center for lunch, but there were no picnic facilities. We sat in the truck with the engine and AC running, then went in to the center to buy our souvenirs. The temp in a black truck in an asphalt parking lot was reported at 118 degrees when we came out, and 98 after we got some air moving around the truck.
We then drove north to Canyonlands National Park. It is divided into three distinct areas that are not connected by roads. The easiest to access is Island in the Sky which is on top of a large mesa with canyons cut on three sides by the Green River and Colorado River. the other sections are Needles (basically hoodoos and fins) that we plan to see today and The Maze which is only 4wd and hiking accessible. As we entered the park, a rain storm lowered the temperature to 70 degrees. Nice! We rented the driving tour CD and completed our tour at 6:06. Unfortunately, the visitors center closed at 6 so it looked like we "bought" the CD for $10 instead of renting it for $5. A park ranger opened the door and was kind enough to take the return and give us our $5 refund. The CD isn't really useful outside the park.
The temp was back up to 92 degrees without the benefit of rain to keep things cool. Higher temps are predicted over the next week.
33 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Arches and Fiery Furnace
We rented a CD for a driving tour through the Arches National Park and took the tour.
I was able to get reservations for a ranger led tour called the Fiery Furnace. It is a section of the park with lots of closely spaced "fins" (tall, narrow rock cliffs separated by narrow canyons). Only two tours of 25 people per day. http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/fieryfurnacevideo.htm
54 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
I was able to get reservations for a ranger led tour called the Fiery Furnace. It is a section of the park with lots of closely spaced "fins" (tall, narrow rock cliffs separated by narrow canyons). Only two tours of 25 people per day. http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/fieryfurnacevideo.htm
54 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Capitol Reef - Grand Wash Trail
Today we decided to take the Grand Wash trail. We had to drive in over an unpaved road to the trail head. The trail follows a dry riverbed used to connect various wagon trails through Capitol Reef. It was a very easy 2.25 mile one way through shear cliffs. Quite a nice simple trail.
We hiked to the the end and had lunch. Then began the return. Both ends of the trail warn about flash floods, so of course the return trip had quite a nice thunder storm threaten. It ended up being only a mild sprinkle that cooled us off as we walked.
I found and saved two interesting rocks, very much like one I found yesterday. On the way back we stopped at a rock shop and they were identified as geodes. I have never found one before, and now have three. He said they had a nice blue interior.
14 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
We hiked to the the end and had lunch. Then began the return. Both ends of the trail warn about flash floods, so of course the return trip had quite a nice thunder storm threaten. It ended up being only a mild sprinkle that cooled us off as we walked.
I found and saved two interesting rocks, very much like one I found yesterday. On the way back we stopped at a rock shop and they were identified as geodes. I have never found one before, and now have three. He said they had a nice blue interior.
14 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Capitol Reef National Park
This became a national park in 1971. It's name was derived from two different characteristics. The use of the term "reef" is in reference to the nautical designation of anything that obstructs navigation as this 100 mile long ridge made it very hard to cross. The white Navajo sandstone "domes" look like those on state capitol buildings. The formation itself was formed deep underground as part of the large block uplift of Utah/Colorado/Arizona/New Mexico, then was exposed as the land above it eroded (one mile in depth).
We drove to the park and stopped at Panorama Point. It was directly across from Chimney Rock that we thought we may hike. After photos, we went to the visitor center and saw the welcome movie on the region. We decided to change our hike to the Cahab Canyon trail. It climbed from the road into a "hidden canyon". It appeared to include the moraine deposits of an ancient glacier, as large rounded basalt boulders where everywhere.
We had a nice "Western Cookout" at the RV park, but it was really just dinner served on a picnic table under a shelter roof. Terri and I both had BBQ ribs. We had hoped that there would be a larger crowd, but there was only one other family from California. Food was good but a little overpriced. We ordered muffins for the morning.
In Glacier NP it was much colder at night, down to 38 degrees. We ran the electric fireplace all night and then used the LP gas furnace twice in the morning. Here in Capitol Reef, it is only getting down to 60 degrees at night so we don't even need the fireplace. Highs in the 80's. Terri looked up Moab where we will go tomorrow and it is supposed to get over 100 every day.
32 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
We drove to the park and stopped at Panorama Point. It was directly across from Chimney Rock that we thought we may hike. After photos, we went to the visitor center and saw the welcome movie on the region. We decided to change our hike to the Cahab Canyon trail. It climbed from the road into a "hidden canyon". It appeared to include the moraine deposits of an ancient glacier, as large rounded basalt boulders where everywhere.
We had a nice "Western Cookout" at the RV park, but it was really just dinner served on a picnic table under a shelter roof. Terri and I both had BBQ ribs. We had hoped that there would be a larger crowd, but there was only one other family from California. Food was good but a little overpriced. We ordered muffins for the morning.
In Glacier NP it was much colder at night, down to 38 degrees. We ran the electric fireplace all night and then used the LP gas furnace twice in the morning. Here in Capitol Reef, it is only getting down to 60 degrees at night so we don't even need the fireplace. Highs in the 80's. Terri looked up Moab where we will go tomorrow and it is supposed to get over 100 every day.
32 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Friday, July 9, 2010
Glacier to Capitol Reef
July 5 - Glacier National Park
We decided to try the hike to Howe Lake. It required driving up an unpaved single lane narrow road through the burn area of 2003. We met a few cars coming the opposite direction and were able to get past each other, but we decided we would skip the hike as we felt spending several hours looking at burned trees with head high regrowth wouldn't be too scenic. We decided to take the Lake McDonald boat tour instead.
We turned around and made out way back to the Apgar Transport Center to pick up a shuttle bus. Our truck is pretty large to park in random spots along the Going to the Sun road or lodge parking lots that are generally full. We had 1.5 hours to kill before the tour, so we went to the Lake McDonald Lodge Bar to try some local drinks. I had "Moose Drool" brown ale and Terri tried a huckleberry daiquiri. It turned out that we "knew" the bar tender! We had met at the volunteer fire house car wash.
The boat tour used the historic DeSmit boat. We started in the bow, but were driven inside by yet another rain. Not really very much to see, and the beer may not have been such a good idea as there were no restroom facilities.
We took the shuttle back to the village area and did some shopping. It was 0.5 miles back to the transit center and we waited for about 1/2 hour with no shuttles, so we took a very nice paved path to get there. We drove out to Hungry Horse again to get diesel and more food supplies, then back to the RV.
July 6 - Drive to Arco, ID
We hitched up and started the long 408 mile drive to Arco, Idaho. The Montana scenery was extremly nice. We went through canyons, along large lakes, though broad rolling valleys with lots of cherry orchards. In Idaho we followed the Peaks to Craters Scenic Bypass that followed rivers cut through the weathered mountains. At Elk Creek Summit, I picked two sprigs of Sage (small shrub) that were very fragrant and we enjoyed them in the truck for several days. The road left the rivers in the Salmon River valley. 408 miles Not a single mile of interstate and we are getting 11.4 mpg so far for the entire trip.
July 7 - From Arco, ID
We wanted to see the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1) that was 18 miles outside Arco. The concept is to have uranium 238 absorb a neutron from U235 fission reaction and become Plutonium that can be used for fission reactions. Basically, create more fuel that it uses. This was the 1st reactor to create more energy than it consumed. It was designed to shut itself down in any situation, and even had a passive convection cooling system that did not require pumping (if not electricity is available). Of course, it used caustic liquid metal (Sodium/Potassium) that would burn on exposure to air or water, so not without some risk.
Back to the RV for lunch, then 25 miles in the opposite direction from Arco to Craters of the Moon NM. This is a section of a very large lava field formed by basalt erupting from an enormous crack (rift) every 2000 years. (Last one 2000 years ago.) We took several small trails to see various kinds of activity (cinder cones, spatter cones, rope lava, block lava, etc.). The "worst" form was A'a lava (Hawaiian for "hurts your feet", or as I spell it AHHHH, AHHHHH) that is sharp, jagged, and basically impassable. We took a ranger led tour of Indian Cave where a lava tube had collapsed. Lava tubes are long hollow tubes where the roof had cooled but hot liquid lava continued to flow. We learned the difference between a hot collapse where the roof was still flexible and just flattened out like a souffle that falls, and a cold collapse where it fractures into blocks. We had to scramble over rock falls to get out the far end, then travel over the lava fields back to the trail.
The entire valley of Craters of the Moon NM "points" at Yellowstone NP. The explanation was that the crust in the area has been moving west over a stationary "hot spot" that forms giant caldera every few million years. The expectation is that the rift will erupt in the next 100 years as it has been shown to do, and the Yellowstone will "explode" within the next 100,000 years as the geologic record shows it regularly does. See it now before it goes away!
The RV park in Arco included a breakfast in their cafe. Two large pancakes with two eggs cooked to order and coffee. The pancakes were wonderful, with some crispy parts on the outside. The cliff behind the town was covered with large numbers, obviously the work of the graduating classes from the high school. It appears to have started in 1922 or before. With all the good flat spaces taken, future years will have a harder job of it.
Every time we go to the store, I point at something interesting (scalloped potatos with garlic) and ask Terri "Do you need this?" Her answer is generally "Get it if you want it" or "I don't know." She decided to empty out all the cabinets and see what was in there, and merge similar items into the same cabinet. There was quite a pile of things on the counter, so I think we can probably survive for a while.
We continue to find things that are vibrating loose or moving while we travel. Terri spotted a small bolt on the floor in front of the TV and it took us 5 minutes to find that it fell out of the ceiling fan. Of course, other bolts were loose on other blades. There is a pull out pantry with three shelves to the right of the stove that appears to come open and allows the drawer handles across from it to rub the front panel of the pantry. We now have to pack pillows between them. The screws above the refrigerator continue to work them selves out, indicating to me that the slide they are in is flexing as we travel. That same flexing is what opens the freezer doors (my theory). We now put a bungee cord across them to keep the ice from dumping out.
July 8 - Travel to Torrey, UT
Once again we were treated to a day with almost no traffic for the 455 miles to Capitol Reef NP. We were generally going under the speed limit and we would never catch another vehicle and rarely have one come up from behind on us. The traffic in the other direction was just a light. We planned a 32 mile (each way) side trip to see the Golden Spike NHS where the Union and Central Pacific railroads joined track to create the first transcontinental railroad. This was the emblem chosen by Utah for their state quarter, really a huge thing in the opening of the west for settlement and trade. As we were there in the afternoon, we really couldn't leave the dogs in the truck, so we didn't get to see any movies or spend much time in the visitor center. We were there at exactly the right time to see two replica steam engines demonstrated. Very nice. The dogs were well behaved and popular.
Traffic in Salt Lake City was very heavy, worse than Denver. I guess that was to be expected as we were in Denver on a Sunday and Salt Lake City on a Thursday. We went through some passes at about 8400' elevation and arrived the Thousand Lake RV park (no lakes in sight, named after a nearby mountain). Beautiful views, nice wide sites, lush grass, lots of groups and families having a great time. We like our choice.
40 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
We decided to try the hike to Howe Lake. It required driving up an unpaved single lane narrow road through the burn area of 2003. We met a few cars coming the opposite direction and were able to get past each other, but we decided we would skip the hike as we felt spending several hours looking at burned trees with head high regrowth wouldn't be too scenic. We decided to take the Lake McDonald boat tour instead.
We turned around and made out way back to the Apgar Transport Center to pick up a shuttle bus. Our truck is pretty large to park in random spots along the Going to the Sun road or lodge parking lots that are generally full. We had 1.5 hours to kill before the tour, so we went to the Lake McDonald Lodge Bar to try some local drinks. I had "Moose Drool" brown ale and Terri tried a huckleberry daiquiri. It turned out that we "knew" the bar tender! We had met at the volunteer fire house car wash.
The boat tour used the historic DeSmit boat. We started in the bow, but were driven inside by yet another rain. Not really very much to see, and the beer may not have been such a good idea as there were no restroom facilities.
We took the shuttle back to the village area and did some shopping. It was 0.5 miles back to the transit center and we waited for about 1/2 hour with no shuttles, so we took a very nice paved path to get there. We drove out to Hungry Horse again to get diesel and more food supplies, then back to the RV.
July 6 - Drive to Arco, ID
We hitched up and started the long 408 mile drive to Arco, Idaho. The Montana scenery was extremly nice. We went through canyons, along large lakes, though broad rolling valleys with lots of cherry orchards. In Idaho we followed the Peaks to Craters Scenic Bypass that followed rivers cut through the weathered mountains. At Elk Creek Summit, I picked two sprigs of Sage (small shrub) that were very fragrant and we enjoyed them in the truck for several days. The road left the rivers in the Salmon River valley. 408 miles Not a single mile of interstate and we are getting 11.4 mpg so far for the entire trip.
July 7 - From Arco, ID
We wanted to see the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1) that was 18 miles outside Arco. The concept is to have uranium 238 absorb a neutron from U235 fission reaction and become Plutonium that can be used for fission reactions. Basically, create more fuel that it uses. This was the 1st reactor to create more energy than it consumed. It was designed to shut itself down in any situation, and even had a passive convection cooling system that did not require pumping (if not electricity is available). Of course, it used caustic liquid metal (Sodium/Potassium) that would burn on exposure to air or water, so not without some risk.
Back to the RV for lunch, then 25 miles in the opposite direction from Arco to Craters of the Moon NM. This is a section of a very large lava field formed by basalt erupting from an enormous crack (rift) every 2000 years. (Last one 2000 years ago.) We took several small trails to see various kinds of activity (cinder cones, spatter cones, rope lava, block lava, etc.). The "worst" form was A'a lava (Hawaiian for "hurts your feet", or as I spell it AHHHH, AHHHHH) that is sharp, jagged, and basically impassable. We took a ranger led tour of Indian Cave where a lava tube had collapsed. Lava tubes are long hollow tubes where the roof had cooled but hot liquid lava continued to flow. We learned the difference between a hot collapse where the roof was still flexible and just flattened out like a souffle that falls, and a cold collapse where it fractures into blocks. We had to scramble over rock falls to get out the far end, then travel over the lava fields back to the trail.
The entire valley of Craters of the Moon NM "points" at Yellowstone NP. The explanation was that the crust in the area has been moving west over a stationary "hot spot" that forms giant caldera every few million years. The expectation is that the rift will erupt in the next 100 years as it has been shown to do, and the Yellowstone will "explode" within the next 100,000 years as the geologic record shows it regularly does. See it now before it goes away!
The RV park in Arco included a breakfast in their cafe. Two large pancakes with two eggs cooked to order and coffee. The pancakes were wonderful, with some crispy parts on the outside. The cliff behind the town was covered with large numbers, obviously the work of the graduating classes from the high school. It appears to have started in 1922 or before. With all the good flat spaces taken, future years will have a harder job of it.
Every time we go to the store, I point at something interesting (scalloped potatos with garlic) and ask Terri "Do you need this?" Her answer is generally "Get it if you want it" or "I don't know." She decided to empty out all the cabinets and see what was in there, and merge similar items into the same cabinet. There was quite a pile of things on the counter, so I think we can probably survive for a while.
We continue to find things that are vibrating loose or moving while we travel. Terri spotted a small bolt on the floor in front of the TV and it took us 5 minutes to find that it fell out of the ceiling fan. Of course, other bolts were loose on other blades. There is a pull out pantry with three shelves to the right of the stove that appears to come open and allows the drawer handles across from it to rub the front panel of the pantry. We now have to pack pillows between them. The screws above the refrigerator continue to work them selves out, indicating to me that the slide they are in is flexing as we travel. That same flexing is what opens the freezer doors (my theory). We now put a bungee cord across them to keep the ice from dumping out.
July 8 - Travel to Torrey, UT
Once again we were treated to a day with almost no traffic for the 455 miles to Capitol Reef NP. We were generally going under the speed limit and we would never catch another vehicle and rarely have one come up from behind on us. The traffic in the other direction was just a light. We planned a 32 mile (each way) side trip to see the Golden Spike NHS where the Union and Central Pacific railroads joined track to create the first transcontinental railroad. This was the emblem chosen by Utah for their state quarter, really a huge thing in the opening of the west for settlement and trade. As we were there in the afternoon, we really couldn't leave the dogs in the truck, so we didn't get to see any movies or spend much time in the visitor center. We were there at exactly the right time to see two replica steam engines demonstrated. Very nice. The dogs were well behaved and popular.
Traffic in Salt Lake City was very heavy, worse than Denver. I guess that was to be expected as we were in Denver on a Sunday and Salt Lake City on a Thursday. We went through some passes at about 8400' elevation and arrived the Thousand Lake RV park (no lakes in sight, named after a nearby mountain). Beautiful views, nice wide sites, lush grass, lots of groups and families having a great time. We like our choice.
40 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Avalanche Lake
Terri and I drove to the Apgar Transit Center and took a shuttle bus to the Avalanche Creek stop. Our hike started on the Trail of Cedars trail, a wheelchair accessible .5 mile path with paved paths and boardwalks through an area of ferns and moss while strolling through a Western Red Cedar grove. The main trail we wanted to take split off to follow Avalanche Creek. It was advertised as a 2 mile (one way) trail with a rise in elevation of only 500 ft. It was a wonderful choice.
The day was partly cloudy, much improved over the past few days of scattered rain. We left the trail head at about 10:30am and arrived at Avalanche Lake about 12. The trail was damp and had many muddy spots. We left there at 12:30 and got back down in 50 minutes, just as it started to rain. Perfect timing.
We rode the shuttle back to the truck, and then drove west to explore what was out there. We were looking for a grocery store to pick up a few things but didn't find anything in the small town of Coram. We did find a nice store in Hungary Horse and picked up what we needed. From the parking lot, I saw a kettle corn stand (pop corn) and we went to pick some up. It was next to a volunteer fire department that was holding a car wash fund raiser, so I pulled the truck through and got a bad wash from two kids and an adult for which I volunteered to pay $20 and was completely happy with that.
There was a pot luck at the campground, but we decided to take a nap and grill some burgers.
28 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Still raining, so we will watch fireworks on TV. Happy 4th of July!
The day was partly cloudy, much improved over the past few days of scattered rain. We left the trail head at about 10:30am and arrived at Avalanche Lake about 12. The trail was damp and had many muddy spots. We left there at 12:30 and got back down in 50 minutes, just as it started to rain. Perfect timing.
We rode the shuttle back to the truck, and then drove west to explore what was out there. We were looking for a grocery store to pick up a few things but didn't find anything in the small town of Coram. We did find a nice store in Hungary Horse and picked up what we needed. From the parking lot, I saw a kettle corn stand (pop corn) and we went to pick some up. It was next to a volunteer fire department that was holding a car wash fund raiser, so I pulled the truck through and got a bad wash from two kids and an adult for which I volunteered to pay $20 and was completely happy with that.
There was a pot luck at the campground, but we decided to take a nap and grill some burgers.
28 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Still raining, so we will watch fireworks on TV. Happy 4th of July!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Going-to-the-Sun Road
Today we took our second Red Bus tour, this time from the west side of Glacier along the Going-to-the-Sun road. It was another rainy day, but that was OK. The park has a beauty that is independent, perhaps enhanced, by the weather.
38 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
The most amazing thing is that the road was just opened June 24th (10 days ago). The snow at Logan Pass is the last to be plowed. The road is under restoration and we probably could have driven the truck over it, but it was much nicer to just get to look out and enjoy it. We hope you enjoy the photos.
38 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
The most amazing thing is that the road was just opened June 24th (10 days ago). The snow at Logan Pass is the last to be plowed. The road is under restoration and we probably could have driven the truck over it, but it was much nicer to just get to look out and enjoy it. We hope you enjoy the photos.
Friday, July 2, 2010
East Glacier
Wednesday was a travel day from Billings MT to the East side of Glacier National Park at St. Mary. A fairly long drive of 378 miles. Another day of unbelieveably good traffic. We chose to travel back roads and stay closer to the mountains for better views than the interstate route. There were almost no cars in either direction. A very nice drive. The last 30 miles or so were on very tight turns on Rt.89 where it became obvious that by keeping the truck centered in the lane that the RV would go over the yellow center line by up to two feet. Good thing that there were few cars going the other way, but I couldn't accept the risk. On each turn marked at 35mph or less, I hugged the outer right edge of the road which often had quite a drop off (not a cliff). Good practice for trailer awareness.
Our major east side activity was the Red Bus tour for the International Peace Park route. US Glacier and Canada Waterton parks were the 1st in the world to try to promote peaceful cooperation between countries using national parks, a model followed by many countries now. To us, it was more of a way to see the sights without having to drive. The photos tell most of the story about what we saw.
47 new photos added at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Part of the story of the Red Bus tour is the history of it. Our driver/guide had a microphone and speaker and entertained us with stories about national parks where he worked, facts about the lodges of the park system, and the restoration process of the Red Buses. Turns out that Ford had to figure out how to rebuild 38 historic vehicles and spent about $225,000 each by the time they were done (tax write off). We were disappointed that the rain prevented pulling back the canvas cover. We will be taking another Red Bus tour tomorrow (Saturday) over the Going to the Sun highway.
Friday started out as a very rainy day. We had considered getting up early and taking some short hikes in Glacier, but we slept in late instead. Left the RV park at about 10 am and headed down the same narrow Rt. 89 we used to get there on Wed. We planned to take Rt 49 to save some miles, but a sign at the junction said that the maximum overall length was 21 feet. Since our truck is 20 feet long and our trailer is well over 1 foot long, we decided that the turns were too tight and proceeded to take the long way down to Browning.
We arrived at the North American RV Park in Coram and had to set up in the rain. We had a back in site with a dog leg left guarded by boulders and obstacles on both sides. We took it very slow, but made it in on only one attempt with a planned "pull forward adjustment" on the dog leg. The hitch was temperamental in disconnecting so we waited for the rain to stop then basically started over on the un-hitching process. The ground was soft anyway, so raising up the front landing gear to reset the hitch allowed us to put down boards to prevent sinking into the soft earth. We walked the dogs between rains and plan to take it easy tonight. Some TV stations, excellent internet (to do Blogging). We will be here for 4 nights.
No new problems, but the vibrations of towing are taking their tolls. We lost a marker light from the rear fender of the truck, a light cover under the RV at the rear of the truck broke, screws in the RV need to be tightened, lost a light plastic step stool from the bed of the truck (stolen or blown out).
Our major east side activity was the Red Bus tour for the International Peace Park route. US Glacier and Canada Waterton parks were the 1st in the world to try to promote peaceful cooperation between countries using national parks, a model followed by many countries now. To us, it was more of a way to see the sights without having to drive. The photos tell most of the story about what we saw.
47 new photos added at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#
Part of the story of the Red Bus tour is the history of it. Our driver/guide had a microphone and speaker and entertained us with stories about national parks where he worked, facts about the lodges of the park system, and the restoration process of the Red Buses. Turns out that Ford had to figure out how to rebuild 38 historic vehicles and spent about $225,000 each by the time they were done (tax write off). We were disappointed that the rain prevented pulling back the canvas cover. We will be taking another Red Bus tour tomorrow (Saturday) over the Going to the Sun highway.
Friday started out as a very rainy day. We had considered getting up early and taking some short hikes in Glacier, but we slept in late instead. Left the RV park at about 10 am and headed down the same narrow Rt. 89 we used to get there on Wed. We planned to take Rt 49 to save some miles, but a sign at the junction said that the maximum overall length was 21 feet. Since our truck is 20 feet long and our trailer is well over 1 foot long, we decided that the turns were too tight and proceeded to take the long way down to Browning.
We arrived at the North American RV Park in Coram and had to set up in the rain. We had a back in site with a dog leg left guarded by boulders and obstacles on both sides. We took it very slow, but made it in on only one attempt with a planned "pull forward adjustment" on the dog leg. The hitch was temperamental in disconnecting so we waited for the rain to stop then basically started over on the un-hitching process. The ground was soft anyway, so raising up the front landing gear to reset the hitch allowed us to put down boards to prevent sinking into the soft earth. We walked the dogs between rains and plan to take it easy tonight. Some TV stations, excellent internet (to do Blogging). We will be here for 4 nights.
No new problems, but the vibrations of towing are taking their tolls. We lost a marker light from the rear fender of the truck, a light cover under the RV at the rear of the truck broke, screws in the RV need to be tightened, lost a light plastic step stool from the bed of the truck (stolen or blown out).
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Montana - The Detour State
Today was a nice drive. Both the transmission and the fuel filter seemed to behave themselves. We are still keeping our fingers crossed.
Yesterday's drive was a hot one. The truck measured the exterior temp as 99 degrees. Hotter in Montana than in Austin! Today was mostly cloudy and that kept the temp down with a high of about 74 degrees (plus we are still going north and higher in elevation.
We had no less than 5 detours today. Some roads were completely gone, and the detour used mud covered side roads. Some detours had wonderful roads. In addition, we had several construction zones where traffic would have to wait on one side for 15 minutes while a "pilot" car led vehicles from the other side for a single line of traffic. These side trips were limited to 30 mph. I guess they only get a few months to fix the roads without ice.
The country side in Montana seemed more green and prosperous. Lots of cattle, sheep, crops. The roads seemed to follow long valleys instead of going up and down hills. Large centralized ranch operations with big buildings and lots of cars for people working there.
We arrived at the St. Mary KOA and got a nice roomy pull through sight. Dogs have been walked a couple of times and we are fixing turkey cutlets for dinner. Tomorrow should be spectacular.
Yesterday's drive was a hot one. The truck measured the exterior temp as 99 degrees. Hotter in Montana than in Austin! Today was mostly cloudy and that kept the temp down with a high of about 74 degrees (plus we are still going north and higher in elevation.
We had no less than 5 detours today. Some roads were completely gone, and the detour used mud covered side roads. Some detours had wonderful roads. In addition, we had several construction zones where traffic would have to wait on one side for 15 minutes while a "pilot" car led vehicles from the other side for a single line of traffic. These side trips were limited to 30 mph. I guess they only get a few months to fix the roads without ice.
The country side in Montana seemed more green and prosperous. Lots of cattle, sheep, crops. The roads seemed to follow long valleys instead of going up and down hills. Large centralized ranch operations with big buildings and lots of cars for people working there.
We arrived at the St. Mary KOA and got a nice roomy pull through sight. Dogs have been walked a couple of times and we are fixing turkey cutlets for dinner. Tomorrow should be spectacular.
Wyoming
Yesterday we got the RV closed up and hitched in 20 minutes. It turned out to be a really good thing that the campsite behind us had been emptied, because after the RV was hitched to the truck there was not enough room to pull out. I had to back it up into the other site in order to make the truck turn onto the road. That is one of the disadvantages of having a bigger rig.
We pulled out before 8 and went through the town of Estes Park to go east on highway 34. Another spectacular drive through the Big Thompson River canyon. The walls were rocky and covered with trees, and the river crashed over rocks as it wound into and out of sunlight and shadows.
It was a long drive day of 541 miles. Nothing much to see along the way. Rolling hills with sparse grass and vegitation. Almost no evidence of people in some long stretches, no buildings or cattle. Just the highway. Mile after mile. When there were structures, they were set into the south side of the hills so the winter winds would blow over them. Not my idea of paradise.
I noticed we were going right past the Little Bighorn National Historic site where Custer was wiped out by the Indians he was chasing. We had visited there before and I thought we could stop and get our parks passport book stamped and get a vinyl sticker for the RV and count it as a visit. Even with the stop we could still get to Billings by 7pm.
The roads in Wyoming were better than the rough roads of Colorado. The horrible front/back rocking of the rig was minimal, but there were plenty of repaired cracks that would vibrate the rig up and down and make a constant racket. Many miles of road were single lane and drive with one wheel on the shoulder as they were grinding up the previous asphalt and putting down new in the other lane.
Terri's part of the drive convinced her that the truck was handling the hills very nicely. Better than she remembered from any other drive. She wondered if the trouble code reset had improved more than just fixing the transmission self protection mode problem. The new rule is not to think that what we just fixed was the last problem we would have with the truck. (Ominous organ music indicating pending doom.)
We stopped at one paved parking area along the way for lunch. When Terri opened up the RV to get lunch out of the frig she found that the freezer door had opened and all the ice and ice cube trays had been dumped onto the floor. The frig has a nasty habbit of being a sealed box with two doors each for the freezer and frig parts. When one door is closed, the air pressure often opens the other just a bit. We need to be more careful, but no harm done. We bought ice at the campground in Billings.
Terri had been driving about 67mph (speed limit of 75). I decided to push up to 72mph and try to get there sooner. The Little Bighorn site was open till 9pm but it is always nice to set up the RV and relax. A couple of days ago with Terri driving, the truck acted like it was shifting up and down changing the engine speed as we climbed hills. It did that for me too, and I dropped it into manual shift mode to prevent it. But it continued without actually shifting. Odd. (Organ music begins to build.) I continued to be bored by the landscape and decided to set the cruise control to 75. Everything was running well, but on steep hills we could hear a knocking sound from the engine for a few seconds. (Organ music continues quietly with the stars of the show unaware of the problem.)
At the instant we crossed into Montana, the engine began knocking badly and lost power and the check engine light came on indicating a problem. I pulled over with a "what now" look on my face. I used my little PPE computer to read the code, but cell phone coverage again prevented me from finding out what 0087 meant. As if by magic, cell phone coverage went to 4 bars and I could see that it meant low fuel pressure. When I had prepared to the truck for the trip, I had not had the fuel filter changed because it still had 30% life. The truck dashboard computer said it had 16% life left, but it seemed by the loss of power and other problems noted that it may be on its last bit of useful life.
We immediately began driving slower (less fuel needs to go through the filter) and cancelled our planned stop at Little Big Horn. We had no real problems getting into Hardin MT where we filled up with diesel and found an auto parts store where I bought a new fuel filter and wrench. No obvious place to take the truck to have the fuel filter changed, but the worst case was now much better as I had one in our posession if we actually broke down. Terri drove since she likes to go slow.
As we entered the town of Billings MT where we were going to stay, I spotted a billboard that indicated lube jobs for semis and RVs at the 1st exit. We pulled into a huge building (RV attached), and three guys were able to do one guys work (no other customers and they were bored). Terri walked the dogs and in 10 minutes we had a clean filter. I paid them for one of their filters and kept the auto parts one as a spare for the trip. (Organ switches to "Take me out to the ball game. Home Run! Wait, didn't I say earlier not to assume fixing the current problem was the last problem.)
The KOA campground we stayed at is the 1st in the nation. EXCELLENT facilities. I had a buffalo burger and Terri had a cheeseburger at the campground grill so we didn't have to figure out what to cook. So far, that is the only meal we have purchased in 5 days.
We pulled out before 8 and went through the town of Estes Park to go east on highway 34. Another spectacular drive through the Big Thompson River canyon. The walls were rocky and covered with trees, and the river crashed over rocks as it wound into and out of sunlight and shadows.
It was a long drive day of 541 miles. Nothing much to see along the way. Rolling hills with sparse grass and vegitation. Almost no evidence of people in some long stretches, no buildings or cattle. Just the highway. Mile after mile. When there were structures, they were set into the south side of the hills so the winter winds would blow over them. Not my idea of paradise.
I noticed we were going right past the Little Bighorn National Historic site where Custer was wiped out by the Indians he was chasing. We had visited there before and I thought we could stop and get our parks passport book stamped and get a vinyl sticker for the RV and count it as a visit. Even with the stop we could still get to Billings by 7pm.
The roads in Wyoming were better than the rough roads of Colorado. The horrible front/back rocking of the rig was minimal, but there were plenty of repaired cracks that would vibrate the rig up and down and make a constant racket. Many miles of road were single lane and drive with one wheel on the shoulder as they were grinding up the previous asphalt and putting down new in the other lane.
Terri's part of the drive convinced her that the truck was handling the hills very nicely. Better than she remembered from any other drive. She wondered if the trouble code reset had improved more than just fixing the transmission self protection mode problem. The new rule is not to think that what we just fixed was the last problem we would have with the truck. (Ominous organ music indicating pending doom.)
We stopped at one paved parking area along the way for lunch. When Terri opened up the RV to get lunch out of the frig she found that the freezer door had opened and all the ice and ice cube trays had been dumped onto the floor. The frig has a nasty habbit of being a sealed box with two doors each for the freezer and frig parts. When one door is closed, the air pressure often opens the other just a bit. We need to be more careful, but no harm done. We bought ice at the campground in Billings.
Terri had been driving about 67mph (speed limit of 75). I decided to push up to 72mph and try to get there sooner. The Little Bighorn site was open till 9pm but it is always nice to set up the RV and relax. A couple of days ago with Terri driving, the truck acted like it was shifting up and down changing the engine speed as we climbed hills. It did that for me too, and I dropped it into manual shift mode to prevent it. But it continued without actually shifting. Odd. (Organ music begins to build.) I continued to be bored by the landscape and decided to set the cruise control to 75. Everything was running well, but on steep hills we could hear a knocking sound from the engine for a few seconds. (Organ music continues quietly with the stars of the show unaware of the problem.)
At the instant we crossed into Montana, the engine began knocking badly and lost power and the check engine light came on indicating a problem. I pulled over with a "what now" look on my face. I used my little PPE computer to read the code, but cell phone coverage again prevented me from finding out what 0087 meant. As if by magic, cell phone coverage went to 4 bars and I could see that it meant low fuel pressure. When I had prepared to the truck for the trip, I had not had the fuel filter changed because it still had 30% life. The truck dashboard computer said it had 16% life left, but it seemed by the loss of power and other problems noted that it may be on its last bit of useful life.
We immediately began driving slower (less fuel needs to go through the filter) and cancelled our planned stop at Little Big Horn. We had no real problems getting into Hardin MT where we filled up with diesel and found an auto parts store where I bought a new fuel filter and wrench. No obvious place to take the truck to have the fuel filter changed, but the worst case was now much better as I had one in our posession if we actually broke down. Terri drove since she likes to go slow.
As we entered the town of Billings MT where we were going to stay, I spotted a billboard that indicated lube jobs for semis and RVs at the 1st exit. We pulled into a huge building (RV attached), and three guys were able to do one guys work (no other customers and they were bored). Terri walked the dogs and in 10 minutes we had a clean filter. I paid them for one of their filters and kept the auto parts one as a spare for the trip. (Organ switches to "Take me out to the ball game. Home Run! Wait, didn't I say earlier not to assume fixing the current problem was the last problem.)
The KOA campground we stayed at is the 1st in the nation. EXCELLENT facilities. I had a buffalo burger and Terri had a cheeseburger at the campground grill so we didn't have to figure out what to cook. So far, that is the only meal we have purchased in 5 days.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Trouble in Paradise
We left at 8:30 and had to travel all of 1/4 mile to make it to Colorado. Interstate 25 is the worst road we have ever encountered in our RV (though Terri refused to let me call it the worst road in America). There was a lot of construction and patch on patch on patch on the road surface. Even the new sections were very bumpy and bounced the RV both up and down as well as forward and back. One bump bounced one of our wheel chocks out of the truck bed. The speed limit was 75, but we went about 67 to limit the pain and suffering.
We decided that if it was uncomfortable for us in our plush leather seats with lumbar support, imagine what all this vibration and bouncing felt like for the dogs. We pulled out Garmin and found the location of the next Walmart (in Pueblo). We bought the dogs a nice coushy pad for their truck cage as well as items we needed in the RV. I also stopped at a Lowes (hardware and home repair) and got the metric bolts I needed to repair the mud flap. We topped off the fuel tank with 10 gallons or so and got back on the road.
The driving for the day was supposed to be about 280 miles, but it seemed like it was taking much too long. The traffic was not bad till we got into Denver/Boulder, but even then not too bad. Terri commented that it was like a holiday weekend where everyone is trying to get home. We wanted to fill up the fuel tank, but all the stations in Boulder were on the wrong side of the street, and with the traffic we didn't want to do a lot of left turns. Our last town before Estes Park (a town, not a park) was Lyons, and the only station there had dozens of cars, RVs, trailers with boats, and there was no place to get in. We still had over 1/2 a tank so we pushed on to Estes Park.
The road (Rt. 36) through the Roosevelt National Forest was spectacular. Most of the way the speed limit was 45mph due too the road wrapping itself along the sides of the mountains and rocks. The truck seemed to have no problem pulling the RV and we never had to pull over to let any lines of cars backed up behind us go around us. As we were pulling forward from a stop sign headed up hill, we heard (and felt) a violent "klunk". (Dramatic pause for effect.) We had no idea what it was, but it was from the truck. It seemed to be running OK so I attributed it to a "bad shift" from the automatic transmission (6 speed Allison) and we proceeded on our way.
We had no problems making the turns and keeping our speed up, but the engine seemed to be revving much faster (3K rpm). The gauge for the transmission oil temperature which normally reads about 180 degrees was now up to 250 and rising. When I tried to switch to manual gear shifting to downshift and use the engine to brake going down hill, I noticed that the engine was ignoring the upper gears. That is not good. We pulled off onto a wide spot and pulled out the owners manual. It said that if the transmission overheats it will force itself into a self protection mode, but it would light a warning light on the dashboard if it did that. We had no such light, but we did have the check engine light on. This check engine light had been on since Austin, and was due to the reprogramming of the fuel mixture for more power (discussed in a much earlier blog entry).
I pulled out again and confirmed that we only got to 2nd gear, then pulled into a "slow vehicle" pull out to have lunch and let the rig cool down. Exploring the owners manual did not lead to any new knowledge, and we began to fret about what to do. It was only 7 more miles to the campground, and I knew we could get there going slow. That would allow us to unhitch the trailer and get the truck looked at. We are members of several travel services that would get us into a repair shop. I decided to read the diagnostic codes to see if there was anything other than the air mixture warning. The code 0700 came up, and we tried to get to the web site that would tell us what that meant, but the cell service was bad enough that we never could connect. I reset the code to turn the check engine light off, and when the transmission had cooled down to 190 degrees I tried again.
Boy were we lucky. The transmission returned to normal operation! When we got better cell service, I found that the diagnostic trouble code was indeed for the transmissioin control. Resetting the code apparently took the transmission out of self protection mode. So the bad shift did cause the problem. I need to remember not to push the pedal so hard climbing hills.
The area around the town of Estes Park is beautiful. Our campground is ringed by tree covered mountains and has a very nice stream making a pleasent background roar. Lots of kids and families having a great time. We set up our chairs on the side of the stream and watched hummingbirds, swallows, and hawks all do their various activities. We played the minature golf course. I grilled chicken for dinner and we had to move the picnic table under the RV awning due to rain. It was very nice listening to the stream and the rain. With no TV stations, we watched the DVD "Invictus" about Nelson Mandella and the South African Rugby World Cup, on the same day as our daughter Julie watched a soccer World Cup match in South Africa.
We slept with the furnace off, and it was 57 in the trailer when we woke up, 43 outside. We used the electric fireplace to warm things up. Today is to be spent exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. We also need to fill the fuel tank with the local 20% overpriced diesel for the long drive tomorrow.
We decided that if it was uncomfortable for us in our plush leather seats with lumbar support, imagine what all this vibration and bouncing felt like for the dogs. We pulled out Garmin and found the location of the next Walmart (in Pueblo). We bought the dogs a nice coushy pad for their truck cage as well as items we needed in the RV. I also stopped at a Lowes (hardware and home repair) and got the metric bolts I needed to repair the mud flap. We topped off the fuel tank with 10 gallons or so and got back on the road.
The driving for the day was supposed to be about 280 miles, but it seemed like it was taking much too long. The traffic was not bad till we got into Denver/Boulder, but even then not too bad. Terri commented that it was like a holiday weekend where everyone is trying to get home. We wanted to fill up the fuel tank, but all the stations in Boulder were on the wrong side of the street, and with the traffic we didn't want to do a lot of left turns. Our last town before Estes Park (a town, not a park) was Lyons, and the only station there had dozens of cars, RVs, trailers with boats, and there was no place to get in. We still had over 1/2 a tank so we pushed on to Estes Park.
The road (Rt. 36) through the Roosevelt National Forest was spectacular. Most of the way the speed limit was 45mph due too the road wrapping itself along the sides of the mountains and rocks. The truck seemed to have no problem pulling the RV and we never had to pull over to let any lines of cars backed up behind us go around us. As we were pulling forward from a stop sign headed up hill, we heard (and felt) a violent "klunk". (Dramatic pause for effect.) We had no idea what it was, but it was from the truck. It seemed to be running OK so I attributed it to a "bad shift" from the automatic transmission (6 speed Allison) and we proceeded on our way.
We had no problems making the turns and keeping our speed up, but the engine seemed to be revving much faster (3K rpm). The gauge for the transmission oil temperature which normally reads about 180 degrees was now up to 250 and rising. When I tried to switch to manual gear shifting to downshift and use the engine to brake going down hill, I noticed that the engine was ignoring the upper gears. That is not good. We pulled off onto a wide spot and pulled out the owners manual. It said that if the transmission overheats it will force itself into a self protection mode, but it would light a warning light on the dashboard if it did that. We had no such light, but we did have the check engine light on. This check engine light had been on since Austin, and was due to the reprogramming of the fuel mixture for more power (discussed in a much earlier blog entry).
I pulled out again and confirmed that we only got to 2nd gear, then pulled into a "slow vehicle" pull out to have lunch and let the rig cool down. Exploring the owners manual did not lead to any new knowledge, and we began to fret about what to do. It was only 7 more miles to the campground, and I knew we could get there going slow. That would allow us to unhitch the trailer and get the truck looked at. We are members of several travel services that would get us into a repair shop. I decided to read the diagnostic codes to see if there was anything other than the air mixture warning. The code 0700 came up, and we tried to get to the web site that would tell us what that meant, but the cell service was bad enough that we never could connect. I reset the code to turn the check engine light off, and when the transmission had cooled down to 190 degrees I tried again.
Boy were we lucky. The transmission returned to normal operation! When we got better cell service, I found that the diagnostic trouble code was indeed for the transmissioin control. Resetting the code apparently took the transmission out of self protection mode. So the bad shift did cause the problem. I need to remember not to push the pedal so hard climbing hills.
The area around the town of Estes Park is beautiful. Our campground is ringed by tree covered mountains and has a very nice stream making a pleasent background roar. Lots of kids and families having a great time. We set up our chairs on the side of the stream and watched hummingbirds, swallows, and hawks all do their various activities. We played the minature golf course. I grilled chicken for dinner and we had to move the picnic table under the RV awning due to rain. It was very nice listening to the stream and the rain. With no TV stations, we watched the DVD "Invictus" about Nelson Mandella and the South African Rugby World Cup, on the same day as our daughter Julie watched a soccer World Cup match in South Africa.
We slept with the furnace off, and it was 57 in the trailer when we woke up, 43 outside. We used the electric fireplace to warm things up. Today is to be spent exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. We also need to fill the fuel tank with the local 20% overpriced diesel for the long drive tomorrow.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Getting High
We started our trip at 2pm on Friday with Terri Driving. Tom still had phone meetings to participate in and IBM mail to process. Aren't cell phones wonderfull? I was able to jail break my iphone (allows loading apps from places other than the Apple app store) and use MyWi to have laptop access to the internet using the iPhone unlimited data plan. No need to get a special wireless card and pay extra.
We had reservations at the Abilene KOA which was inserted as Day 0 to shorten the distance we needed to drive on Saturday by 200 miles or so. We encountered very little traffic and arrived around 6pm. We didn't unhitch from the truck as we wanted to make it easier to leave in the morning. Up at 6:15 and on the road Saturday morning at 8am (The target was 7am. We need to get faster.)
Our Garmin Nuvi decided that we should travel the back roads towards Raton, NM. Many of them were four lane and some were two lane. Every one of them was absolutely deserted. We were able to travel at 70mph (the posted speed limit) for almost all the way. The "worst" road was a two lane road out of Amarillo where it was quite a good shortcut but I was uncomfortable doing 70 and probably averaged 60. Back on four lane roads, we went through a very nice "downpour". It was not just a rain, it was a lightning filled heavy rain that did a very nice job cleaning bugs off of the windshield and cooled the 94 degree day into a 62 degree day in 15 minutes. Terri drove the last leg and encountered a little bit more traffic. This gave her the chance to drive on the right shoulder to "drive friendly" and make it easier for people to pass (not that passing got them very much farther along as there were cars in front of us).
The 510 mile trip lived up to it's predicted negative expectations. The 5th wheel trailer pulled very easily and tracked behind the truck perfectly. That is their reputation. The problem is the forward/backward pull that the trailer exerts on the truck. It makes it hard to drink coffee, read the newspaper, etc. Not much that can be done to improve this except the change the king pin (the peg that connects the trailer to the hitch in the bed of the truck) with one that has shock absorbers. That is an expensive fix that we will try to avoid. The dogs seemed to ignore the motion and traveled well.
We are starting to realize that we need to manage our diesel fuel purchases with some diligence. We have a 34 gallon fuel tank which at 9mpg (mountain mileage) only really allows 270 miles between fill ups with some minimum safety margin. We plan to only go 230 to 250 miles, so I have to look on the Garmin and iPhone to see where diesel is available along the route. We expected to get 11mpg as it appeared that we were traveling on level ground, but we only got 9mpg. In reality, we climbed over 6000' in elevation and that probably cuts into our mileage. Hopefully, we will get it back on our return decedent to Austin.
We are currently in Raton, NM at 7888' elevation. Much harder to climb stairs! When we got to the park, they had lost our reservations. Their computer lost three reservations yesterday and four today. They say it has never happened before. Lucky us. In reality, it was not a problem. We were assigned a suitable spot that allowed us to remain hitched. We also lucked out for dinner. The RV park sponsored a pot luck barbecue and we were treated to a wonderful "RV experience" of getting to know other people on their travels.
While the dinner was being prepared, a localized thunder storm passed through. Very heavy rain and some lighting hitting the mountain behind us. We moved the party inside the recreation/office building as it got pretty windy and cool, but by the time we had gone through the buffet line we ended up sitting outside to eat. As the storm passed and the sun came out, we were treated to a triple rainbow.
We plan to stay in this same RV park in 3 weeks on our way home. Pretty views of the valley from this mountain pass.
Our first equipment problem happened today. The rear mud flap on the driver's side broke free. It is missing a bolt at the bottom of the fender and the bolt holding the inside top ripped through the flap. I was able to repair the top hole with a fender washer but I don't have a suitable bolt to tie down the bottom so I removed the flap. We can try to pick up a bolt along the trip.
We had reservations at the Abilene KOA which was inserted as Day 0 to shorten the distance we needed to drive on Saturday by 200 miles or so. We encountered very little traffic and arrived around 6pm. We didn't unhitch from the truck as we wanted to make it easier to leave in the morning. Up at 6:15 and on the road Saturday morning at 8am (The target was 7am. We need to get faster.)
Our Garmin Nuvi decided that we should travel the back roads towards Raton, NM. Many of them were four lane and some were two lane. Every one of them was absolutely deserted. We were able to travel at 70mph (the posted speed limit) for almost all the way. The "worst" road was a two lane road out of Amarillo where it was quite a good shortcut but I was uncomfortable doing 70 and probably averaged 60. Back on four lane roads, we went through a very nice "downpour". It was not just a rain, it was a lightning filled heavy rain that did a very nice job cleaning bugs off of the windshield and cooled the 94 degree day into a 62 degree day in 15 minutes. Terri drove the last leg and encountered a little bit more traffic. This gave her the chance to drive on the right shoulder to "drive friendly" and make it easier for people to pass (not that passing got them very much farther along as there were cars in front of us).
The 510 mile trip lived up to it's predicted negative expectations. The 5th wheel trailer pulled very easily and tracked behind the truck perfectly. That is their reputation. The problem is the forward/backward pull that the trailer exerts on the truck. It makes it hard to drink coffee, read the newspaper, etc. Not much that can be done to improve this except the change the king pin (the peg that connects the trailer to the hitch in the bed of the truck) with one that has shock absorbers. That is an expensive fix that we will try to avoid. The dogs seemed to ignore the motion and traveled well.
We are starting to realize that we need to manage our diesel fuel purchases with some diligence. We have a 34 gallon fuel tank which at 9mpg (mountain mileage) only really allows 270 miles between fill ups with some minimum safety margin. We plan to only go 230 to 250 miles, so I have to look on the Garmin and iPhone to see where diesel is available along the route. We expected to get 11mpg as it appeared that we were traveling on level ground, but we only got 9mpg. In reality, we climbed over 6000' in elevation and that probably cuts into our mileage. Hopefully, we will get it back on our return decedent to Austin.
We are currently in Raton, NM at 7888' elevation. Much harder to climb stairs! When we got to the park, they had lost our reservations. Their computer lost three reservations yesterday and four today. They say it has never happened before. Lucky us. In reality, it was not a problem. We were assigned a suitable spot that allowed us to remain hitched. We also lucked out for dinner. The RV park sponsored a pot luck barbecue and we were treated to a wonderful "RV experience" of getting to know other people on their travels.
While the dinner was being prepared, a localized thunder storm passed through. Very heavy rain and some lighting hitting the mountain behind us. We moved the party inside the recreation/office building as it got pretty windy and cool, but by the time we had gone through the buffet line we ended up sitting outside to eat. As the storm passed and the sun came out, we were treated to a triple rainbow.
Our first equipment problem happened today. The rear mud flap on the driver's side broke free. It is missing a bolt at the bottom of the fender and the bolt holding the inside top ripped through the flap. I was able to repair the top hole with a fender washer but I don't have a suitable bolt to tie down the bottom so I removed the flap. We can try to pick up a bolt along the trip.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Preparing to Depart
We have spent a lot of time on our itinerary and getting reservations at RV parks. You can see how well Terri did in using Google Maps to document each driving day in our blog below (distance and times for each leg), but she has also prepared a 3 ring binder with all the routes and RV park and National Park info. It is broken up into weeks so it is easier to find what we are looking for.
We also bought a National Parks Passport binder to get dated stamps at each park we stop at. We bought a complete set of yearly stamps and they are in the binder waiting their visit. The Garmin has been updated with all the newest rest area locations, Walmart Stores, and more. The iPhones are up to date and have links to find diesel gas stations.
I finished installing Steady Fast RV stabilizer bars on our Montana 3400RL 5th wheel. They are used when parked, and are supposed to stiffen up the front landing gear and rear stabilizer scissor jacks. We are looking forward to seeing how well they perform in windy conditions and in minimizing vibrations as we walk around in the RV.
We got the oil and filter changed in the GMC Sierra. 12 quarts! Did not change the fuel filter as it still has 30% life in it and is fairly easy to take care of when travelling if necessary. We also had them replace the front end parts that appeared to be loose and worn. Upper and lower ball joints, idler arm, pitman arms, tie rod. Terri had complained about the play in the steering (178K miles on parts that should be good "indefinitely" with proper care), but it is much better now. The muffler had a broken clamp that had to be welded back on, and the rear air bag on the driver's side had a broken bracket that had to be repaired. We removed the Back Flip cover over the truck bed as it will be open most of the time anyway due to pulling the RV. Only 4 knobs to undo and it lifts off. Nice.
When we travel with dogs, they both stay in a metal cage in the rear seat. The stiff suspension of the truck makes the cage rattle and squeek. I came up with a simple way to get rid of most of the rattles. I hooked a bungee cord to one side and up over the top and down the other side. That takes out almost all the rattles, but leaves the squeeks as the doors slide against the sides. I think I have a solution for that too. I have some 1/2" foam insulation cord that I slit half way through. I used zip ties to attach it to specific points between the doors and sides where there was rubbing. Seemed to make a big difference with only the 1st two so I will continue with more. The dogs are groomed and will get a bath (Annie's 1st full bath in her 4 year life.)
We plan to get a vinyl sticker at each park to display on the RV exterior somewhere. Kind of like bragging about where we have been. Most RVers have been to many more places than we will have been on this trip, but you have to start somewhere. There are also vinyl US maps (like in the top right of our blog) that allow you to add states as you camp in them. (There is some argument about the "proper" use of this in RV circles. Some mark off the state if they drive through it. Some only if they camp in it. Some only if they both camp and have a destination in it where they spend more than just an overnight stay. We choose "camped".) The old style of these had solid colors for each state. The only ones we can find now use an icon that represents each state, mostly from what is on the license plate for the state. We prefer the older style, but will compromise on the new style if we don't run across one on our travels.
Right now our dining room table is getting filled up with things we are gathering to take. We plan to pick up the RV tonight and park it in front of our house to plug it in and chill the refigerator and load it up. We decided to leave Friday afternoon (before rush hour) and get 5 hours driving in instead of having a very long drive on Saturday.
It snowed in Glacier this week and will probably hit 100 degrees in Palo Duro Canyon, so we have to pack a wide variety of clothing and coats. All the laundry is done, so it should really come down to take the clothes we want on hangers from our closets and just rehang them in the RV. Nice to have lots of room! Lots of lists of things to turn off in the house and people to notify about things. Our son David has agreed to come by the house and water plants and check on things.
The excitement builds.
Tom
We also bought a National Parks Passport binder to get dated stamps at each park we stop at. We bought a complete set of yearly stamps and they are in the binder waiting their visit. The Garmin has been updated with all the newest rest area locations, Walmart Stores, and more. The iPhones are up to date and have links to find diesel gas stations.
I finished installing Steady Fast RV stabilizer bars on our Montana 3400RL 5th wheel. They are used when parked, and are supposed to stiffen up the front landing gear and rear stabilizer scissor jacks. We are looking forward to seeing how well they perform in windy conditions and in minimizing vibrations as we walk around in the RV.
We got the oil and filter changed in the GMC Sierra. 12 quarts! Did not change the fuel filter as it still has 30% life in it and is fairly easy to take care of when travelling if necessary. We also had them replace the front end parts that appeared to be loose and worn. Upper and lower ball joints, idler arm, pitman arms, tie rod. Terri had complained about the play in the steering (178K miles on parts that should be good "indefinitely" with proper care), but it is much better now. The muffler had a broken clamp that had to be welded back on, and the rear air bag on the driver's side had a broken bracket that had to be repaired. We removed the Back Flip cover over the truck bed as it will be open most of the time anyway due to pulling the RV. Only 4 knobs to undo and it lifts off. Nice.
When we travel with dogs, they both stay in a metal cage in the rear seat. The stiff suspension of the truck makes the cage rattle and squeek. I came up with a simple way to get rid of most of the rattles. I hooked a bungee cord to one side and up over the top and down the other side. That takes out almost all the rattles, but leaves the squeeks as the doors slide against the sides. I think I have a solution for that too. I have some 1/2" foam insulation cord that I slit half way through. I used zip ties to attach it to specific points between the doors and sides where there was rubbing. Seemed to make a big difference with only the 1st two so I will continue with more. The dogs are groomed and will get a bath (Annie's 1st full bath in her 4 year life.)
We plan to get a vinyl sticker at each park to display on the RV exterior somewhere. Kind of like bragging about where we have been. Most RVers have been to many more places than we will have been on this trip, but you have to start somewhere. There are also vinyl US maps (like in the top right of our blog) that allow you to add states as you camp in them. (There is some argument about the "proper" use of this in RV circles. Some mark off the state if they drive through it. Some only if they camp in it. Some only if they both camp and have a destination in it where they spend more than just an overnight stay. We choose "camped".) The old style of these had solid colors for each state. The only ones we can find now use an icon that represents each state, mostly from what is on the license plate for the state. We prefer the older style, but will compromise on the new style if we don't run across one on our travels.
Right now our dining room table is getting filled up with things we are gathering to take. We plan to pick up the RV tonight and park it in front of our house to plug it in and chill the refigerator and load it up. We decided to leave Friday afternoon (before rush hour) and get 5 hours driving in instead of having a very long drive on Saturday.
It snowed in Glacier this week and will probably hit 100 degrees in Palo Duro Canyon, so we have to pack a wide variety of clothing and coats. All the laundry is done, so it should really come down to take the clothes we want on hangers from our closets and just rehang them in the RV. Nice to have lots of room! Lots of lists of things to turn off in the house and people to notify about things. Our son David has agreed to come by the house and water plants and check on things.
The excitement builds.
Tom
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
1st Campground Back In Attempt
Terri and I decided to take the Memorial Day weekend and spend it in the RV in the Texas hill country. We got the last 50 amp site at the Oakwood RV Resort, and it was in "the forest" and required backing in. Terri drove the RV through Austin traffic on Friday (her first time) and nobody got hurt!
Our initial attempts (3 or so) to back into the spot (#21) ended in failure due trying to avoid a car parked in the adjacent site. It required the truck to be too close to a barb wire fence preventing the truck from straightening out the RV. Reversing the direction (by driving around the park roads) resulted in a much cleaner approach.
The site actually required a very precise placement of the RV. Trees on one side had to clear the big living room slide. On the back side, the electic/water post had to be positioned between the other living room slide and the kitchen slide. Very nice shady spot.
Our initial attempts (3 or so) to back into the spot (#21) ended in failure due trying to avoid a car parked in the adjacent site. It required the truck to be too close to a barb wire fence preventing the truck from straightening out the RV. Reversing the direction (by driving around the park roads) resulted in a much cleaner approach.
The site actually required a very precise placement of the RV. Trees on one side had to clear the big living room slide. On the back side, the electic/water post had to be positioned between the other living room slide and the kitchen slide. Very nice shady spot.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Austin to Glacier NP
Our first big trip is indeed a big trip. We plan to go on a loop route from Austin to Glacier National Park.
Our initial tendency was to try to fit too much in. We settled on a policy of "don't drive and see things in the same day", though there are a couple of exceptions below. We tried hard to find a couple of points where we could stay 3 or 4 nights with enough "to do" to justify longer stays. We had to cut off some nearby parks and monuments as we just didn't have enough days. Here is our working itinerary.
TOTALS FOR TRIP: 4203 MILES, 3 DAYS:3 HOURS
Drive to
Segment: 12621 Scofield
Distance: 217 miles, 4 Hrs:18 Min
Stay at
Drive to Cedar Rail RV Park,
Segment:
Distance: 510 miles, 9 Hrs:06 Min
Stay at Raton, Cedar Rail RV Park & Campground
At the top of
575-445-8500 Rhonda
Going North on I-25 - take NM exit 460 (same as CO exit 0 (Zero))
Cedar Rail is located on the East Side of I-25
Drive to Rocky Mountain NP
Segment:
Distance: 277 miles, 4 Hrs:48 Min
Stay
Site 98, water & Elec only
800-536-105
Sight See in Rocky Mountain NP (Page 125 AAA)
Stay in
Drive to
Segment: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO to
Distance: 541 miles Time: 8 hrs., 27mins
Stay
Site 130 – Water & Elec only
www.billingskoa.com
800-562-8546 (res), 406-252-3101 (info)
Off I-90 @ exit 450
Day 5 (June 30 – Wed)
Drive to St Mary MT
Segment:Billings , Montana Montana
Distance: 378 miles Time: 6 hrs., 40mins.
Stay StMary Glacier Park
Site given at check in – Full Hook-up, Pull Through
800-562-1504 (reservations), 406-732-4122 (Info)
Drive to St Mary MT
Segment:
Distance: 378 miles Time: 6 hrs., 40mins.
Stay St
Site given at check in – Full Hook-up, Pull Through
800-562-1504 (reservations), 406-732-4122 (Info)
Sight See Red Bus Tour Glacier NP (Page 97 AAA) 406-892-2525
Leave from St Mary Lodge at
Stay St
Drive to Coram MT
Segment: St. Mary MT TO Coram MT
Distance: 93:2 Miles, 1Hr, 49 Min
Tour West side of Glacier
Stay in Coram MT – North American RV Park 800-704-4266
10640 Hwy 2 East, Coram MT (Lisa)
With Good Sams Discount - $34.20/night - $146.38 total
DAY
Tour West side of Glacier
Red Bus Tour – Mountain Majesty
Leave from
Stay in Coram MT – North American RV Park 800-704-4266
Day 9 (July 4 – Sun)
Tour West side of Glacier
Fire Works in White Fish
Stay in Coram MT – North American RV Park 800-704-4266
Tour West side of Glacier
Stay in Coram MT – North American RV Park 800-704-4266
Drive to Arco ID (Crater of the Moon)
Segment: Coram MT,
Distance: 408 miles Time: 7 hrs, 24 min
Stay at
705
Office: (208) 527-3707
Cell: (208) 589-5119 Jackie)
$27/night including Good Sams
Breakfast included
Day 12 (July 7 – Wed)
Sight see Craters of the Moon (page 46 AAA)
Stay at
Day 13 (July 8 – Thurs)
Drive toTorrey UT
Stop to see GoldenSpike NM
Segment: Arco ID toTorrey UT
Distance: 455 miles Time: 7 hours 36 min
Stay inThousand Lakes
Thousandlakesrvpark.com
Torrey UT
800-355-8995
Day 14 (July 9 – Fri)
Sight see Capitol Reef (page 159 AAA)
Eat at the Torryey Grill Western Cookout,6:30 , 7:00 , 7:30
Stay inThousand Lakes
Drive to
Stop to see Golden
Segment: Arco ID to
Distance: 455 miles Time: 7 hours 36 min
Stay in
Thousandlakesrvpark.com
800-355-8995
Day 14 (July 9 – Fri)
Sight see Capitol Reef (page 159 AAA)
Eat at the Torryey Grill Western Cookout,
Stay in
Day 15 (July 10 – Sat)
Sight see Capitol Reef (page 159 AAA)
Stay inThousand Lakes
Sight see Capitol Reef (page 159 AAA)
Stay in
Day 16 (July 11 – Sun)
Drive toMoab
Segment:Torrey UT Moab
Distance 156 miles Time: 2 hours, 45 min
Stay InRiverside Oasis RV Park Inc 877-285-7757
1871 North Highway Moab
Drive to
Segment:
Distance 156 miles Time: 2 hours, 45 min
Stay In
Day 17 (July 12 – Mon)
Tom – Fiery Furnace Tour – Arches National Park4:00 pm
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,Moab
Tom – Fiery Furnace Tour – Arches National Park
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,
Day 18 (July 13 – Tues)
Sight See Arches NP (Page 152 AAA)
Segment:Moab Arches National Park , UT
Distance: 39.4 miles Time: 1 hr., 1mins.
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,Moab
Sight See Arches NP (Page 152 AAA)
Segment:
Distance: 39.4 miles Time: 1 hr., 1mins.
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,
Day 19 (July 14 – Wed)
Sight See Canyonlands NP (Page 158 AAA)
River Tour out ofGreen River ?
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,Moab
Sight See Canyonlands NP (Page 158 AAA)
River Tour out of
Stay at Riverside Oasis RV Park Inc,
Day 20 (July 15 – Thurs)
Drive toColorado Nat Monument Fruita , CO Grand Junction
Segment:Moab Colorado
Distance: 99.2 miles Time: 1 hr., 37mins.
Stay Monument
607 Hwy 340,Fruita CO
888-977-6777
Drive to
Segment:
Distance: 99.2 miles Time: 1 hr., 37mins.
607 Hwy 340,
888-977-6777
Day 21(July 16 – Fri)
Sight SeeColorado
Stay Monument
Sight See
Day 22 (July 17 – Sat)
Drive toGunnison , CO
Segment: Colorado National Monument, CO to Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park, CO
Distance: 137 miles Time: 2 hr., 33mins.
StayGunnison KOA
105 County Road Gunnison , CO 81230
800-562-1248
Drive to
Segment: Colorado National Monument, CO to Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park, CO
Distance: 137 miles Time: 2 hr., 33mins.
Stay
800-562-1248
Day 23 (July 18 – Sun)
Sight See Black Canyon Gunnison (Page 45 AAA)
StayGunnison KOA
Stay
Day 24 (July 19 – Mon)
Drive to Great Sand Dunes NP
Segment: Black Canyon of The Gunnison NP, CO toGreat Sand Dunes National Park
Distance: 148 miles Time: 3 hrs., 31mins.
Sight See Great Sand Dunes (Page 105 AAA)
Drive toRaton , NM
Segment: Great Sand Dunes toRaton , NM
Distance: 109 miles Time: 2 Hr, 23 Min
TOTAL DRIVE FORDAY : 257 miles 5 Hrs, 54 Min
Stay at Raton, Cedar Rail RV Park & Campground
At the top ofRaton Pass
Raton NM 87740
Going south on I-25 - take NM exit 460 (same as CO exit 0 (Zero))
This exit is shared with the truckers weigh station – watch for exit closely, resist urge to
Pull out to pass a semi, after you exit – follow blue signs for camping. Cedar Rail is located on the East
Side of I-25
If we are getting in late – call ahead & Rhonda will turn lots of lights on for us
Back in site with great view!
Drive to Great Sand Dunes NP
Segment: Black Canyon of The Gunnison NP, CO to
Distance: 148 miles Time: 3 hrs., 31mins.
Sight See Great Sand Dunes (Page 105 AAA)
Drive to
Segment: Great Sand Dunes to
Distance: 109 miles Time: 2 Hr, 23 Min
TOTAL DRIVE FOR
Stay at Raton, Cedar Rail RV Park & Campground
At the top of
Going south on I-25 - take NM exit 460 (same as CO exit 0 (Zero))
This exit is shared with the truckers weigh station – watch for exit closely, resist urge to
Pull out to pass a semi, after you exit – follow blue signs for camping. Cedar Rail is located on the East
Side of I-25
If we are getting in late – call ahead & Rhonda will turn lots of lights on for us
Back in site with great view!
Stay at Raton, Cedar Rail RV Park & Campground
Day 26 (July 21 – Wed)
Drive to Capulin Volcano NP
Segment: Cedar Rail RV to Capulin Volcano NP
Distance: 47 Miles, 57 Min
Drive to Palo Duro
Segment: Capulin Volcano NP toPalo Duro State Park
Distance: 225 miles Time: 4 Hrs, 36 Min
TOTAL DRIVE FORDAY : 272 MILES, 5 HRS , 34 MIN
Stay Palo Duro State Park 11450 Park Road Canyon , TX 79015 info@palodurocanyon.com
Loop Mesquite
$25/night – water & 50 amp elec (no sewer)
Park is open8:00 a.m. - 10:00 pm . If arriving after 5:00 , call 806-488-2227 for late arrival instructions.
CXL fee up until 7/18 is $5.00. After that – 1st night charge
Park entrance fees: $5/person/night – or buy Tx state Park Pass for $60 when you get to the park. The
Pass is good for 1 year.
Drive to Capulin Volcano NP
Segment: Cedar Rail RV to Capulin Volcano NP
Distance: 47 Miles, 57 Min
Drive to Palo Duro
Segment: Capulin Volcano NP to
Distance: 225 miles Time: 4 Hrs, 36 Min
TOTAL DRIVE FOR
$25/night – water & 50 amp elec (no sewer)
Park is open
CXL fee up until 7/18 is $5.00. After that – 1st night charge
Park entrance fees: $5/person/night – or buy Tx state Park Pass for $60 when you get to the park. The
Pass is good for 1 year.
Day 27 (July 22 – Thurs)
Stay in Palo Duro
SeeTEXAS
Eat at BIGTEXAN STATE
Stay in Palo Duro
See
Eat at BIG
Day 28 (July 23 – Fri)
Sight See Palo Duro (see play) ( Page 68 AAA)
Stay Palo Duro
Sight See Palo Duro (see play) ( Page 68 AAA)
Stay Palo Duro
Day 29 (July 24 – Sat)
Drive toAustin
Segment:Palo Duro Canyon State Park , TX Farms Drive , Austin 78727 , Texas
Distance: 487 miles Time: 8 hrs., 49mins.
Drive to
Segment:
Distance: 487 miles Time: 8 hrs., 49mins.
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