The Great Divide

Some days you just know are going to be good days.  I had been waiting all week for an item I bought on Ebay to arrive at our host's home.  The seller was supposed to have shipped it on Monday, in fact he emailed me that he would ship it on Monday.  If he had done that it would have been in Rawlins the day we arrived, but, of course, it was not.  I found out he did not ship it until Wednesday, which would mean it wouldn't arrive, if I was lucky, until Friday sometime via UPS.  Well, Friday was our departure date.  We needed to be in Ft. Collins, CO to do our drug screen test for Amazon.com before 4pm on Friday.  We decided we needed to leave by 10am at the latest to be sure we made it to Ft. Collins in time.

Around 9:50am there was no UPS, so I unhooked the electrical cord feeding power to the Newell, and went in to tell Ben that we were leaving, and to give him $10 to forward the box.  Just as Ben opened the front door I heard the UPS truck pull up.  Talk about timing!  5 minutes later we would have been a few miles down the road.  When things work out like that you just know it's a good day!

So, with my Ebay item in hand I jumped into the Newell, fired the DD up and we headed south to I-80, and then east toward Cheyenne.  Our plan was to drive I-80 to I-25 south and return to the Terry Bison Ranch that we overnighted at back in May, park the coach, and then drive the T'Bird south 37 miles to Ft. Collins and our drug screening appointment.

Our big obstacle today was the Continental Divide.  On our trip west back in may the drive from Cheyenne to Rock Springs kicked my butt....the climb up to Lincoln Summit from Cheyenne is around 30 miles, and a 3,000' foot elevation gain...that wasn't the hard part.  After the summit we hit a head wind all the way to Rock Springs...even though we were going downhill it felt like uphill because of the stiff headwind.

Fortunately, going west to east has been a whole different story for us.  We have had a tail wind most of the time since we left Vancouver, and the coach has climbed like a cheetah since we left Twin Falls, ID, plus our mpg has gone up about 1 mile per gallon conservatively.  Today was no different.  The climb out of Rawlins was gentle, and I rarely shifted down into 4th gear until the final 3 mile climb to Lincoln Summit when I was able to hold it in 3rd at 40 mph. From there it was literally all downhill to the Cheyenne junction with I-25.  We hit Terry Bison Ranch at 12:50pm....perfect!  That is the easiest 156 miles I have driven in a long time, and a total contrast to our run the opposite direction 4 months ago.

After plugging the coach in we jumped in the car and made the run down to Ft. Collins in 3o minutes....it's fun to drive 80 once in a while!  After parting with our urine samples we headed over to a Mexican restaurant we had spied on the way in called Zquila.  Of course we sat on the patio, and quickly ordered two pints of Fat Tire Ale to chase the fresh chips and even fresher salsa.  This is by far the best Mexican food we have had since we were in Vancouver, WA.

We arrived back at Terry Bison Ranch around 4:30 with big smiles on our faces.....what a great day of easy travel, and we scored some great Mexican food to boot!

Tomorrow will head up to Cheyenne to visit the capital and a couple of museums.

Thanks for stopping by!

Frontier Prison

Our "plan" for Thursday was to get on our bikes and ride over to the Carbon County Museum, and the now closed Wyoming Frontier Prison, but something in the high plains air is making TLE's eyes water, so we aborted the bike plan and instead decided to get the T'Bird washed.....the local Conoco has a quickie car wash so we headed there first and purchased the $8.00 wash, which includes spraying off the under carriage.  TLE and I made quuick work of it with a couple of micro fiber towels, and it was nice to get the girl all shined up and pretty again. 

From there we headed directly to the Carbon County Museum around 10am.  You never know what to expect from these local historical museums, but this one exceeded our expectations.  We spent at least an hour and a half examining all the exhibits, which really gave one a great overview of the history of Rawlins.  Originally this town was established by the Union Pacific railroad as a maintenance yard, as well as a water and fuel station.  Today the town is a county seat whose population has fluctuated dramatically over the years of boom and bust as they call it locally.  A few years ago the population was up to 16,000, but now sits around 9,300.  The museum tour is free, but they do accept donations.

We were to meet Ben and Mary-Pat at the Aspen House for lunch, so by the time we finished walking through the museum it was Noon, so instead of heading over the prison we headed down to Cedar Street to take a quick walk through the local thrift store before lunch.  TLE, as usual, found another paperback she needed....I don't know where all those books are being stored, but she finds a way to store them without cluttering the coach up.  I found a cool Eddie Bauer rain jacket for $9.00 and snapped that up.  I'm sure I'll be needing that in Campbellsville from time to time.

We arrived at Aspen House just as our hosts did.  This restaurant is located in a former home, and the dining areas are cozy.  We had a lovely lunch, and more great conversation.  Ben and Mary-Pat had to get back to their insurance office for a telephone conference by 2pm so we wrapped up lunch around 1:45pm going our separate ways......with us headed for the prison.  

The Frontier Prison opened in 1901, and was closed in 1981.  Over their history they processed over 13,000 prisoners and executed 14 using hanging until 1930, and then a gas chamber was installed.  Two women were among the executed.  Back in October of 1912 they had a mass escape of 28 prisoners over two days.  All were recaptured with 3 being shot to death in gun battles 30 miles south of Rawlins.  The price to tour the prison is $8.00 per adult, unless you are a "senior" in which case it is $7.  Gallen, a nice young man in his 20's who really knew his stuff.  The tour lasts about an hour and you get to see everything.  The original cells were so small.....I think my closet at our home in Ontario is bigger than those cells.  The ceilings were under 7'.....that along would have discouraged me from ever doing anything that would land me there.  For it's first 28 years there was no heating......now, it gets cold here in the winter.....often below zero.  Additionally, there were no hot showers until the 60's.....wow!

The Gas Chamber....no, TLE did not go in, but I did...lol!

 The prison had its own water tower

The exercise yard

Our tour ended at 3:30 and we headed "home" for the afternoon.  I did some insurance work, then took a nice hour nap.  Then it was time to put the T'Bird back in the trailer so our wash job would not be spoiled by the night's dew.  By the time our hosts arrived home we were all buttoned up again and ready for Friday's departure.  Ben grilled some great steaks, and we contributed a nice bottle of Coppola Pinot Noir 2010.  Before we knew it 11pm had arrived.  The time just flies when we get talking.  

We'll be departing around 10am on Friday headed toward Ft. Collins.  We'll probably stop again at Terry Bison Ranch, and then drive 30 miles south in the 'Bird to Ft. Collins to get our Amazon.com drug screening done at LapCorp, and then return to Terry Bison Ranch for 2 days, and then south to Denver for about a week.  

Thanks for stopping by!

High Plains Drifting...

The temperature got down to around 39 last night.....wow, is Fall far behind?  I got up and immediately turned on all three gas heaters to take the chill off the coach.  The next thing I started to do was to turn on the hot water and fill our coffee cups like I do every day to preheat them so the coffee will stay hotter longer, BUT there was no hot water.  It was windy yesterday afternoon, and it must have blown out the pilot light on the water heater.....darn, I hate it when that happens!

Next, since we were going to leave in about 90 minutes I turned on the generator so I could turn on the block heater.  Next I put the percolator on the burner and got the coffee going....it takes about 15 minutes start to finish to perk the coffee, and like always, it came out great.

Our destination for the day was Rawlins, WY, about 111 miles to the east on I-80.  We are going to spend a couple of days with dear friends from our college days whom we haven't seen in 30 years.  Elaine and I had been friends for over 3 years when we bumped into each other at a party that included Ben and Mary-Pat.  That was the night the romantic flame was lit, and they were witnesses of the beginning of our romance which is still going strong 41 years later.  Ben and Mary-Pat moved from to Rawlins, WY after college, and became State Farm Agents, and have been at it ever since for over 35 years now.  It has been a wonderful day of reconnecting, and endless conversation.

We got into town around 11:30am and pulled in at the local Sinclair gas station to unload the T-Bird and drive over to our friend's home to scope out the layout and be sure we would fit.  They live on a very wide street and the neighborhood is very RV friendly, so we headed back to the Sinclair station to get the coach, and then called Ben.  Ben met us minutes later and showed us where to plug in.  He said he would return at 1pm to pick us up for lunch.  While he was gone I ran the electric cord up his driveway and we had power! Then I opened up the trailer and got it ready to use, dialed in the satellite dish, and before you know it Ben and Mary-Pat were pulling in the driveway to pick us up.  We went to a local restaurant run by a neighbor called Coco's, and the food was great!  I had a Roast Beef Pannini......mmmmmm good!

Later on we tagged along with them to a retirement party being held for a long time friend of theirs held at the restored Rawlins Train Station......I didn't get a picture, but I will tomorrow.  The town did a great job of restoration.  We returned home and sat in their living room for a few hours talking as if 30 years had not passed.  And why not?  That is what this 7 month journey has been about, and in every single case it has gone the same.  In the next 3 weeks we will be reconnecting with 4 more college friends, and we are excited to see them again after so many years.

The temperature will get down to 35 tonight......brrrr!

Thanks for stopping by!

911 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET

September 11 - We will never forget

When I opened the curtains covering the windshield I was greeted with the large flag a block away flying at half mast.  Sometimes it is easy to lose track of the days, and the date in this lifestyle, but the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the flag at half mast was it must be 9/11, and of course it was.  I remember that morning as if it were last week.  At the time Elaine was working in Cerritos, and usually left home around 4am.  I was awakened by a phone call from her telling me to turn on the TV.  I asked "what channel?".....she replied...."any channel".  When the screen came on I was stunned to say the least.  There was this incongruous picture of the World Trade center tower on fire.  Within minutes I witnessed a jet streaking toward the other tower, and stared numbly as it pierced the wall of the second tower, and saw fire exploding from the opposite side of the building.  Of course, in just a short time later thousands perished, and both buildings crashed to the ground, and our lives were forever changed.  Personally, I will never forget the bewilderment, the sadness, the anger......all the emotions I felt, and I know so many felt that day.  Of course there was the 3rd plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth in which the courageous passengers intervened causing it to crash in a field far from Washington D.C.  Heroes were to be seen everywhere.

Anyway, that is how our day began.  Since we are dry camping in the Rock Springs Walmart I made coffee using the Corningware percolator.   The cloud cover of the day before continued, but there were only sprinkles once and again during the day.  We had decided to ride our bikes over to the Historical Downtown area to visit a couple of thrift stores.....well, okay, we could only find one, the Episcopal Church Thrift Store, but it was a gold mine for us!      TLE found the mother lode of Nora Roberts books, which she collects, and I found 5 music CD's for $1.50 each (virtually brand new)....Best of the Supremes,  Tom Petty, Van Morrison,  Paul Simon, and a new one to me...Gary Moore - Power of the Blues.....I like it!  In addition I found a small vice that fastens itself to the work bench using suction.....perfect for my work bench in the trailer.  I've needed something like that....only $3.00.

On the way out to the downtown I stopped at an O'Reilley's automotive store for some electrical connectors, and on the way back we stopped at a local liquor store and finally found Dewar's White Label Scotch for under $40.  Ever since we left California we have been continually surprised at how relatively inexpensive liquor is in California considering that the State taxes everything to death....apparently they don't tax alcohol and tobacco to the extent most other states do.  The same bottle of Scotch in Washington is $51.....here we paid $38, but in California it costs $29.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying our purchases, doing a little insurance work, and reading.  The weather stayed cool, and we were rewarded with a spectacular sunset.

The pictures speak for themselves.....it was a pleasant day in Rock Springs, and we are glad we hung around for another day.  Tomorrow we are off for Rawlins, WY and a few days with old college friends.....Ben and Mary-Pat.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rain

View of the coach from Starbucks, and the rain.

Our last morning at Buckboard Crossing came with increasing cloud cover.  While TLE readied the interior of the coach for travel, I took care of dumping and flushing the black tank, and the other assorted things that needed to be put away such as the recliners, and other miscellaneous items.  Before we knew it we were ready to roll.  First Matt pulled his 47 foot beast out of his site......the owners of this park have large boulders placed on the corner each site to prevent thoughtless RV owners from driving/pulling their RV's across the grass, but in Matt's case it seemed like it would make it very difficult to pull out, but he was able to negotiate the turn with only one backup and no harm to the coach, or any of the plentiful wildlife around the park.  Next came my turn, and I had the same issue with my 62 feet, but it actually was easier than I anticipated.  Having four sets of eyes to watch each coach makes a big difference.  

We both quickly pulled up to the main road to load/attach our vehicles.  Matt and Connie flat tow their Ford Flex, and, of course, we had to load the 'Bird.  This was accomplished in short order and we headed back to SR530 to turn north to Green River where we would bid adieu and go our separate ways.  Matt and Connie heading back west on I-80 to Bear Lake for a few days, and we heading east toward Rawlins, WY, which was only 144 miles from our starting point.  

However, we decided to spend at least a day in Rock Springs and let the storm front pass that by this time had been delivering occasional sprinkles, and promised full fledged rain within a short time.  No point in driving in the rain, right?  So, we exited the Interstate at Dewar and headed up to the Super Walmart.  It was not even 11am when we arrived, so we found a great spot to park for the day/night.....in fact it was the same spot we parked in back in May when we came through westbound from Cheyenne to Coeur d'Alene.

After getting the coach level we headed into Walmart to do our bi-weekly big shopping.  In addition to the normal food basics we also purchased a small crockpot which will be used in Campbellsville, and a small toaster.  We got out of the store for under $200, and any day that happens is a good day.

We had both just had dry cereal for breakfast so we decided to walk across the street to the Starbucks for coffee and a small pastry.  We had no sooner walked in the door than the skies let loose with a torrent of rain.  We haven't seen that kind of rain since we were in Washington.  We sat there sipping coffee and enjoying the rainfall, and the fact that we were not in a hurry, and could just wait until it stopped raining, which it always does.  Once back at the coach we spent the rest of the afternoon reading and napping.

Around 4:30 we headed over to a local brewery we had found on Yelp called Bitter Creek Brewing for some good local brew and appetizers.  We both had a pint of a beer called BOB, and very yummy stout.  We added some Buffalo Wings, and a platter of artichoke-spinach dip with a baguette  sliced up.  Both appetizers were great, and we sat talking and enjoying the ambiance for a couple of hours before heading back to the coach.

We watched the finales of Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef last night, and then called it an evening around 11.

After driving around the Historical Downtown area and have decided to spend another day here.  We'll get out the bikes and ride around town tomorrow (Tuesday0.  Every road seems to have a very wide bike lane.....our kind of town!  We'll spend one more night here and then travel the final 100 miles to Rawlins on Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!

I feel a change coming.....

Sunday broke with crystal clear blue skies from horizon to horizon, and not a breath of wind. First order of business on the docket was to take a 3 mile walk out to SR 530 and back.  As TLE and I were heading out we saw Matt and he asked if he could join us.  We had a pleasant walk and conversation.  Nice way to start the day.  After we got back Matt started in washing his 47 foot Newell coach, and I settled in outside watching golf, and the NFL, and occasionally glancing over to gauge Matt's progress.  It was a nice cool day for that job, for sure.  Even still he worked on and off on the washing and drying most of the day, taking a break to join me for a while, and then back to the grindstone....:D  I'm going to wait until we get to Rawlins to tackle that job.

In between games I began to organize the trailer for departure on Monday, but I didn't work too hard at it since I knew we would not be leaving until mid morning at the earliest. Also, the black tank would need dumping before we would leave as well, and that would not be done until Monday morning, just before we leave.  We will be dry camping for at least a week, so the tanks need to be EMPTY!  I had left the gray tank valve open the 4 days we were in the Buckboard Marina RV Park.

The game of the day was the NBC Sunday Night game between Pittsburgh and Denver.  I really wanted to see how well Peyton Manning would do after a year off recuperating from his neck surgery.  Well, he played great....threw for 2 TD's to join the 400 TD club.  It was a great game to watch, and the announcers did their best to convey the drama.  Denver's hurry up offense, which comes hand in hand with Peyton Manning just wore Pittsburgh's defense down.

We hit the sack early...well, early for us....around 10:30.  I fell asleep watching a Seinfeld episode.  I used to watch Seinfeld between 10 and 11pm every night when we lived in Ontario, but it is on Channel 13 (KCOP) in L.A., and I don't that channel, however, TBS plays them every day, so I have just been recording them for watching later.  I think I've got around 40 now, so I am a happy guy.

We will head to Rock Springs, WY tomorrow (Monday) to do some shopping at the Super Walmart, and spend the evening, then on to Rawlins, WY and more old college friends.....yep, they are old, and so are we....lol!  It will nice to "change" our view again, even though we thoroughly enjoyed Flaming Gorge NRA, and we will return again.

Thanks for stopping by!

In 3 weeks

It's hard to believe that in 3 weeks (first of October) this RV Park will be empty and temperatures will plummet.  The camp host here says that in the winter the ice on the lake gets 2.5 feet thick, and the winter is brutal.  It is so nice right now.....high 70's with a balmy breeze......it's hard to believe this area will become so inhospitable to human life.

There won't be any pictures today as we stayed in camp all day.  I tuned up our friend's Jamis comfort bikes, and then took a shower and spent the rest of the day watching golf, and football (yes USC won over Syracuse!).  I took an occasional nap in my outdoor recliner as I watched the outdoor TV.....yeah, I got it out again.

Around 5:30pm we go together with our friends, Matt and Connie (the fellow Newell owners),  and BBQ'd chicken, roasted vegtables, and had a fresh salad.  A great dinner and conversation.  Afterwards we took a long walk down to the boat ramp.  You cannot believe how much wildlife there is right in this park in the early evening.  We counted 10 mule deer, and 4 prong horned antelope, and too many cottontail rabbits to count.  Oddly, there do not seem to be any coyotes in this area.  It would seem to be their ideal habitat, but there is no indication of any around that I have seen.

Elaine and I were talking tonight about how glad we are we were finally able to hookup with Matt and Connie.  We knew them very informally from two prior Newell mini rallies, but had never spent much time talking.  Whenever you make these plans to get together for 3, or 4 days you don't know how it's going to work out.  Maybe we'll have nothing in common except our Newell coaches, which, don't get me wrong, gives you plenty to talk about, but you always hope there will be other areas of common interest, values, etc.  Well, it couldn't have worked out better in that regard.  There is never a lag in the conversation, and we keep finding things in common, so it has been a great experience, and we are so happy we both made the effort to get together and broaden our relationship beyond "hello, how are you?".  I think we have officially passed beyond casual acquaintances to friends.

Today for the first time there was no wind in the afternoon from any direction.  Every day we have been here the wind starts around 1pm and goes until sunset....usualy around 15-17mph.....not bad, but not fun to be outside in, so I was able to stay outside all afternoon watching golf and football.

Well, that was our day.....thanks for stopping by!