Bob’s RV Adventures 2024. A Trip to Totality

I chose driving into total eclipse territory as the start of my 2024 RV season.

I had driven to Lapeer, where I stored my rig for the winter the previous weekend to reverse what I had done to prepare it for winter storage. I discovered the winterization video I watched had misinformed me as to the position my power switch should be in, though my camper batteries were fine the battery to turnover the engine was dead. The power switch on, opens van battery to receive a trickle charge from the shore power connection after the camper batteries are at full charge. My brother put the dead battery on his charger, and with the power switch in the correct position everything was fully charged when I returned.

I thought “the trip into totality” would be good to trial run before I headed out on longer ventures. If I was still in the Navy, we’d call it a “shakedown cruise.”

It would also be the first time my brother Gary would join me. I intended on him being the first to do so last year, but his dental appointments and a shoulder operation didn’t allow that to happen.

When I was in the service, I use to think about things I wanted to do with my, then, “little brother” after my discharge; by the time I got my head right and pretty much adjusted to civilian life, my brother was in his teens and into teen things, shortly after I was off again, this time to college.  So, none of the things I thought about ever happened; that is, until we entered retirement age. Though I would have never imagined it, it was as old farts we actually embarked on the very things I had hoped to do at a much younger age; camping, kayaking, XC skiing; I even got him to mountain bike around Grand Island in Lake Superior, for which I hope he has since forgiven me. It was not exactly the return to a bicycle seat one would choose after not perching on anything that narrow in at least 20 years.  

After bicycle fiasco which included snapping off his seat trying to make it more comfortable and introducing him to hammock camping, I owed him a little comfort. So, in my search for an RV, something that would sleep two, that didn’t involve spooning, was a strong consideration.

I promised to attend a birthday celebration for my friend Joanne that was supposed to be late Saturday afternoon, but due to restaurant delays, ended up being early evening, so my arrival in Lapeer wasn’t until around 9:30 that night. Which would leave RV prep to the morning.

After a light breakfast Sunday morning I filled the freshwater tank, we packed the camper and set off at 10:00 am. I decided to take US 23 rather than I-75 through Detroit. I expected more traffic after all the media hype forewarning hordes of eclipse chasers.

I had considered catching the event someplace near Cleveland, then Lima, Ohio where they had a big eclipse celebration planned but I learned some friends had actually found a room in Celina, Ohio. I thought if they found a room this late in the game perhaps the town wouldn’t be that crowded.   Googling it, found it to be a smaller town than the forementioned, it had a number of parks around it and a Walmart as a back-up of last resort.   It was also close to the center of the totality path across Ohio.

The path of totality

We arrived in Celina somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00 pm. Until we checked campgrounds only a packed fairground, opened to eclipse camping, showed any evidence of the multitudes the media had predicted.

The first park we checked out turned out to be just a day park, no camping. After that we decided to go to dinner and perhaps someone at the restaurant would have some info on campgrounds but found that not to be so. We had dinner at La Carreta a very good Mexican restaurant, with reasonable prices. Gary said it was the best chimichanga he’d ever had. I had a combination fajita that had everything from sizzling steak to shrimp, with all the usual Mexican trimmings, it was tasty, as well and more than I could eat. Along with it, I had the largest horchata I’d ever seen.

Good Mexican eats.

After dinner we went to check out the Walmart incase that would end up being where we’d be camping that night. My brother also wanted to pick up a towel. I was surprised not to see any RVs there. It wasn’t the best parking lot for camping, most I’ve stayed at had some out of the way part of the parking lot where you’d find RVs and truckers spending the night. This one was in the middle of a very long parking area servicing other establishments on both sides.

We left Walmart to check out the campgrounds in the area. After we found no vacancies at the state campground, we sat in their parking area and called the privately owned campgrounds listed and found them all full, except one, whom for $200.00 would have happily found space for us. Some of them had been booked for a year; before I even thought about the sun disappearing.

Before we headed back into town, I asked Waze to take us to the local Legion post. I suggested we have a beer and possibly get some local info. We pulled into a very nice Post 210. I don’t recall if I mentioned it to my brother, but I had an ulterior motive, a hope they might let us boondock in their lot. If I didn’t mention it, he must have had suspicions as it is very rare for me to just stop somewhere for a beer alone, rather than with a lunch, or dinner.

We were greeted in the parking lot by a woman we would soon learn was the post commander’s wife. She asked me if we were members, I told her I was and showed her my card. This allowed us to enter through the back door. It was too bad we were both full on Mexican food because they had quite a spread of food inside. She asked us where we were from and promised she wouldn’t hold it against us that we were from Michigan. We would find just the opposite later. I could not believe all the Michigan fans at the bar, most of them transplants from Michigan.

She asked us where we were staying, I told her of the campground situation and said we’d probably find ourselves in the Walmart parking lot. That’s when I heard what I had hoped for, she said she would check with her husband, but didn’t think there would be a problem with us staying in the post’s back lot. Not long after, her husband not only confirmed that but said he would open the bathrooms for our use. They were part of a large storage building with an open-air bar on the side that they used in the summer. We really lucked out, a place to stay, bathrooms, and $2.00 drafts, from a local brewery, in the main building. As I said it was a very nice post. A large main building with a pavilion in the rear and the open-air bar I mentioned before. The main building had a kitchen where you could order burgers, fries and other sandwiches, not to mention a daily special.

American legion Post 210

I joined the American Legion six years ago after the Lapeer post 16, did such a beautiful tribute to my dad at his memorial, but this was the first time I had ever entered a post.

Celina, correctly pronounced, as pointed out by locals, SA-LINE-NA, is such a friendly, hospitable place. When my brother was looking for a towel at Walmart a young woman came up to him and said, “I don’t work here, but can I help you find something?” When I forgot my leftover box at the Mexican restaurant our waiter ran out with it, catching us in the parking lot. The hospitality was doubly so at post 210. We even received some hugs when we left.

Gary’s first Camp in the RV

It was quite convenient only having to cross the parking lot from the bar to our beds, but I limited my liquid intake, knowing I had to navigate a ladder from my bed in the sky-bunk each time nature called.

It rained most of the night and I fell to sleep quite quickly listening to it pelt the roof of the camper.

Seeing a heavily clouded sky on an early morning trip to the restroom, was of some concern, but I was happy to find the skies clear and blue when we got up for the day. I made some camp coffee, fired up the generator, and microwaved some breakfast sandwiches to begin the day.

Our Eclipse campsite

In the late morning a guy showed up and set up a sound system and moved some picnic tables for a planned eclipse party. Not knowing how many might attend we moved the RV and reset our camp at the end of the lot. As it turned out the party only amounted to about 20 patrons. I think a lot of people just watched eclipse from home as that number doubled post eclipse. The guy that set up the soundtrack had put some thought into it as much of the music was sun or moon related. Everything from “Dark Side of the Moon” to “Here Comes the Sun.”

Don’t worry, he used the proper protection for the eclipse.

About 2:10 I thought I’d try my eclipse glasses and look up at the sun, I was surprised to find the moon had already begun to encroach on it.  As it advanced toward totality, the first thing I really noticed, was the drop in temperature. It became eerie as darkness began to envelop everything and a sunny afternoon transcended to midnight. I must say I was more awestruck than I expected, especially at totality when you could see sun flares escaping around the edges. I was totally drawn in, only snapped from that mesmerization when the cheers and applause of the eclipse partiers erupted behind me. I sat down in my camp chair and watched until full sunlight returned, that seemed to take longer than the lunar conquest to eliminate it.

It all begins.

Totality

In late afternoon Gary and I headed up to the main building and ordered some burger baskets for supper. We spent the rest of the evening making more friends and visiting with some we had met the day before. When the post commander came in, I asked him if we could stay another night as I really didn’t want to join everyone else heading home. He said that was no problem, bought us both beers and said we were welcome back anytime we were in the area. As I said friendly people. Though we were told it wasn’t necessary, we left the post a donation to thank them for their hospitality.

Gary didn’t have to be back until April 11^th, I wanted to take advantage of that and rather than drive straight back, come up with something to further our adventure.  I considered visiting some friends in Virginia but thought it would be rude to drop in without an invite and with so little notice. After some Googling I decided Niagara Falls, a place neither of us have been in decades, wouldn’t be too far and a better fit into our time frame. From there we’d take the Canadian route back to Michigan.

When we returned to the camper I pulled in my awning, we packed away everything that we had set up beneath it and went to bed or as my dad used to say, “hit the sack.”   All I had to do in the morning is pull down the sky-bunk and we’d make a quick exit, and that is exactly what we did. We stopped for breakfast at a Bob Evans then headed out to the northeast.

Before this story leaves Ohio there is a couple things I have to mention. Birds: Celina has an unusually high number of low-flying birds which I can only conclude is the reason for their unusually high amount of winged roadkill; I would say at least 90%. I saw everything from an owl to Canada geese, I think I even saw a pelican. Being on the edge of Grand Lake, which is about 4 times larger than the city, I assume explains it all.

Ohio roads signs: I saw signs on Ohio highway that I have never seen anywhere else. There are helpful signs telling you the distance between rest stops ahead. It took a couple for me to figure out the changing digital numbers indicated the number of open spaces there are for trucks. Then there are strange signs, some that to warn you of drug activity, therefore impaired drivers in addition are similar signs for distracted driving. Are they in the vein of the signs you see for slow children? I never did understand the signs warning of “variable speed limit ahead,” with no signs indicating what those speeds limits were.

Is that the number for the Impaired to call?

We crossed the state line into Pennsylvania at 2:57 pm and New York at 4:21 pm adding two more states to my RV’s history. Driving across New York state I was beginning to think my GPS, using Google maps, had tapped into an algorithm that indicated I was a wine drinker as it took us off the turnpike onto 2-lanes where vineyards lined both sides of the road all the way to Buffalo. I lost count of the wineries. In Seneca, NY named after the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois nation, I stopped at a Native American owned full-service gas station where gas was 50 cents cheaper per gallon than anything I’d seen anywhere else, the attendant told me the reason I was diverted through wine country was construction on I-90. It was a bit slower but more scenic and void of tolls.

I didn’t note what time we pulled into Niagara Falls, probably around 6:00 pm. We didn’t find any place to camp there so drove to the closest campground a nice HTR campground on Grand Island, about 10 miles away. We didn’t attempt to find a place to “boondock” as my brother was yearning a hot shower, and I hadn’t taken my hot water heater out of winter mode, thinking April might yet have some freezing temperatures in store.

HTR is a premium campground, more expensive than I’m accustomed to. It has RV and tent sites as well as cabins.  We camped at a tent site. The hosts told us the campground normally didn’t open until May but had opened early to take advantage of the eclipse’s draw.  They assigned us a campsite and said we could pay when the office staff arrived in the morning.

After checking out our site we drove to a nearby eatery the camp hosts recommended. When we returned, we found a young couple in the next campsite trying to set up a tent under the illumination of their car’s headlights. I guess we should have offered assistance as when answering a nature call at 3:00 am, I found only an empty tent box at their campsite. Though it might be time consuming it is always wise to take a trial run setting a up new tent before you take to the woods, especially if there’s any chance you may be pitching that tent after sundown. In other words, avoid pitching a virgin tent at your campsite.

After enjoying hot showers, I nuked the remaining breakfast sandwich for my brother and some bacon for me along with some hardboiled eggs I had apparently placed a tad too close to the freezer compartment in my fridge. Though the taste wasn’t bad, microwave thawed, frozen hardboiled eggs are not the most appealing sight, not to mention texture.

We paid for our overnight and headed to the falls. We drove across and parked on Goat Island next to another RV, you could tell the couple in it held the small dogs with them in very high regard. It seemed they had tailored the interior of their rig more for canine comfort than their own. It had raised beds along the windows for the pooches’ on-the-road viewing. They told me about some additional boondock opportunities I was not aware of, like Pro Bass Shops, Cabela’s and Dick’s sport shops. I only had knowledge of Casinos, Walmart’s and Cracker Barrels.

Horseshoe Falls

Gary’s new friend.

Niagara Falls on Sibling Day 2024

We viewed everything we could on the American side then crossed and did the same on the Canadian side. Much of the views on the American side was obscured by a thick morning mist. I returned to the camper to get my coat as a mere flannel shirt was not nearly enough to keep me warm. Parking was more expensive on the Canadian side. We pulled up to a place that had an ATM type machine, but the money only went one way. Fortunately. before we saw how expensive it was before it sucked in our card info. We took turns running across the street to see and snap pictures of the falls, leaving one of us in the RV in case a parking cop should warrant our moving.

View from Canada.

I was surprised to find that Lapeer was only 3 hours and 54 minutes from Niagara Falls. I discovered nothing Google related worked in Canada. I had to switch to my RV’s Tom/Tom GPS.

We made stop at a Tim Horton’s to replenish Gary’s Coffee mug, a necessity, then headed north. Traffic was light and it was a smooth trip all the way back to Lapeer, including our border crossing. It had been a good trip and I was glad, rather than a straight route to Celina and back we made it more of a circle, with the inclusion of Niagara Falls.                                                                                                            

Bob’s RV Adventures and Thoughts from the Road (8.)

I pulled out of my Gopher Valley Campsite in The Twin Bridges State Park at noon heading east to visit my friends, Lani and John, in Quincy, Illinois. Quincy is just across the Mississippi which marks the border between Missouri and Illinois. Google told me It was a little over a 5-hour drive. Twin Bridges is not very far from the Missouri state line.

There was no fanfare when I crossed that line, no sign, no GPS welcome. I didn’t even realize I was in Missouri until I drove through a town I had seen on the map. It would be the first time I’d been in Missouri that I wasn’t on a Red Cross deployment. I’d been there at least 4 times under those circumstances. Maybe after that many times I had earned my residency and didn’t need to be welcomed.

I drove across much of Missouri in a heavy rain. The 2^nd half of that trip Google had put me on two lane country roads.

About half an hour from Quincy I stopped to get gas. Lani had suggested I fill up while still in Missouri as I’d find gas more expensive in Illinois. While I was pumping my gas it hit me that I didn’t have their address. I sent Lani a text and she got back to me quickly with the information I needed. In the end it would be her description of the house that found it for me as I didn’t see the house number in the dark.

I crossed the Mississippi at 7:30 pm, mid-bridge my GPS welcomed me to Illinois. Lani and John only live about 10 minutes from there. I found their street with no problem but passed their house as I didn’t see the address, but on the 2^nd pass, I saw the posted light and 3 story house Lani had described though it wasn’t until a ring of the doorbell brought friendly faces to the open door that I knew I had found the right place.

John and Lani’s

After hugs and handshakes, they gave me a tour of their beautiful home. It is three stories, has wood floors which John refinished himself, a gas fireplace on the main floor and a 2nd on the next floor in a large sitting room that leads to an enormous master bedroom. The house was built in 1893. I remember commenting, “These rooms look like some you’d see in a castle.”

I was impressed by the third floor, a former huge attic which is now John’s mancave/hobby room. It has his ham radio station, a recording studio, he also has a station where he and his grandson do podcasts, there’s a computer area, and shelves of his microphone and old radio collection which gives the room a museum like quality.

After the tour we sat down to wine and catch-up conversation which led to a late supper, with more wine and conversation after dinner.

John told me the forecast had predicted temperatures dipping below the 30s overnight so before I left my camper with what I would need for an overnight I switched on my water tank heaters to be safe.

I was nice to be in a warm room, and to have a hot shower in the morning that I didn’t have to go outside to get to. I woke up around 8:00 but didn’t get out of bed until I smelled coffee, after which I showered then joined Lani in the kitchen where she made me a delicious egg and bagel sandwich.

John is an accomplished musician, and plays with several jazz bands, he used play with the Legion band when he and Lani summered in Holland. I knew his instrument was the trombone but didn’t know he also played the keyboards until I saw his studio. I’m sure the trombone isn’t the only horn he can play.

 To me, Lani’s claim to fame will always be the feat of cresting a wave in the rough waters of Lake Superior, on our Apostle Island kayak/camping trip, and having nothing but air beneath her hull until she plunged into the next one. It would have terrified her if she had seen herself what I saw from the view I had.

We said our goodbyes and they sent me with greetings to take to mutual friends in Michigan. I must have left around 10:00 am. John suggested taking I-24 all the way across Illinois to 421 north in Indiana, it is the route he likes to take to Michigan which avoids the heavy truck traffic below Chicago. It is all two-lane roads, but they were all good. He also recommended a unique restaurant called the Whistle Stop in Molon, Indiana.

Most of the landscape on this route was farmland, cows and towns too small for a Walmart, believe it or not, I don’t remember seeing a Dollar General. I had come to the conclusion that a town had to have more than 2 exits to warrant a Walmart.

Some of the Whistle Stop Collection

RR Craine

The highlight was the Whistle Stop restaurant in Molon Indiana. It was indeed unique, the owner is no doubt a railroad buff. He as full-size train cars and other railroad related items outside and at least 4 different model trains running on tracks above, inside the restaurant. There is also a Railroad Museum and store, but it was not open when I was there. The owner would have loved the mile and a half long trains, pulled by 5 engines that I saw in New Mexico and Texas.

Ceiling trains

The food was good, the staff friendly and accommodating. When I asked the waitress if they had any horseradish to go with my open face prime rib sandwich, she offered to make me a horseradish sauce.

The Sun was sitting when I left the Whistle Stop. I was surprised when I asked Google to take me home and found that it was only 2.5 hours away.

Sunset as I left the Whistle Stop

Darkness fell pretty quickly after sunset. The most worrisome thing for me driving country roads in darkness is deer, especially when cars with these new bright lights prevent you from seeing anything until, they pass. As it was the only deer, I saw were those painted on the signs warning of a crossing ahead.

Lani related an experience she had when a deer smart enough to wait until their truck had passed but not thinking about the Airstream trailing behind. I guess that was a mess.

I can’t remember what time I got home; it would have been about 2.5 hours after sunset, probably sometime around 9 pm. When I entered the house, I was greeted by an array of blinking smart lights and it took at least 45 minutes for me and a very patient, and persistent, Amazon tech to stop the blinking and get lights back online. Consumers had notified me that there was a power outage while I was on the road, but normally those just turn all the smart lights on, and I only have to ask Alexa to turn them off.

I had a good night’s sleep and woke up Halloween morning, surprised to see a light snow on the ground. It was gone by 11:00 am, replaced by an even bigger surprise; between 12:30 and 4:00 pm a whiteout snow fell leaving about 3 inches of new snow and some very slippery roads.

Welcome back to Michigan.

When I drove into town to get my held mail there were three cars off the road in the gully on Old Allegan rd. west of my place. I avoided, the gully and drove around to come in from the east on my way back and learned later those 3 cars in the ditch had increased to 5. I didn’t doubt that, as some of the vehicles that passed me going that way were traveling way to fast.

After driving a Dodge Ram Promaster van for 4430 miles, my Subaru felt like driving a go-cart.

Speaking of my van; to anyone considering a B-class RV or building one I would give the Ram Promaster my highest recommendation for your chassis. I’m usually one that is more than glad to have someone else drive if they’re willing. I loved driving this vehicle. I don’t know if it is the tall comfortable captain’s chair or what, but I could drive this thing twice as far without getting tired, as any other vehicle I’ve ever driven. 8 hours of driving was no problem.  It has a very smooth ride and for the size of the vehicle, a remarkably tight turning radius. I’m getting about the same gas mileage as I do with Silverado pick-up. The only problem I’ve had with it is the blind spot warning system which is under warranty and they’re trying to figure out.

It was a great road trip; 4430 miles, 10 states, 11 if you count stepping into Utah at 4 Corners was much more country than I intended to cover when I started.

In the spirit of Charles Bronson

One of my favorite shows was Then Came Bronson that aired from1969 to 1970. He rode a Harley like the one I had at the time. Whenever someone asked Bronson where he was going, he’d say, “I don’t know, wherever I end up I guess.” Though the vehicle I took on this trip was much larger, I would say I traveled in that same spirit.

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Bob’s RV Adventure and Thoughts from the Road. (7)

Saturday, October 29th

I woke up this morning at Twin Bridges State Park in Fairland, Oklahoma. The day before my GPS took me a short tour of Oakey farmland, announcing I had arrived at my destination with only a field on each side of me, I arrived about 6:00 pm.  This time it was my vehicle’s navigation system that led me astray as I had let the battery on my phone die.

I backtracked and found I had driven right past the park. It’s called Twin Bridges State Park (never did see the bridges) but it contains a number of campgrounds each has its own name. It is on both sides of the road. accommodating any kind of camper including those who wish to rent a small cabin. There also a large building one could rent for events such as weddings, each campground also had a large pavilion.

Oklahoma has the same type of campsite registration that gave me problems in New Mexico, the hosts hated it. Every time I tried to log on to the website given on the sign at the entrance of the park, my phone took me to Mellissa McCarty’s Booking.com. The website for registering here was different but I got the same result. The host a at Oliver Lee State Park ended up giving me a free site someone had vacated early and the host at Bottomless Lake State Park let me pull into a tent spot, as you register for that with the old, put- your-money- in-an-envelope method. 

The host here just registered for me from her phone. The she put me in the Gopher Vally campground. It had cement slabs to park on, a covered picnic table and a grill on each site. She gave me a site not far from the bathroom/shower building. I’ve had the whole campground to myself.

Campsite at Gopher Valley campground, Twin Bridges

For me, there is nothing like waking on a cool morning in a warm sleeping bag, and if you don’t have to pack wet gear, rain pattering on the roof only adds to the experience. The only problem is pulling yourself out of that cozy cocoon and when you do, resisting the overwhelming temptation to crawl back in, which I did give into this morning.

My plans to camp at White Sands last Wednesday didn’t pan out, I discovered not every National Park is a campground, or has one. Fortunately, there was a nice gate attendant who gave me a brochure with a map and information on nearby campgrounds. I chose the closest state campground, which was Oliver Lee Memorial Campground. I was quite happy I did. My campsite had a beautiful view of a mountain I guess more accurately a mesa, and as I mentioned earlier the host gave me a free site.  I thought the place had a rather large restroom and when I went up to check it out, unlike described in the brochure, It had very nice showers which appeared to be quite new.

Campsite at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, New Mexico

View from Oliver Lee campsite.

Thursday morning, I used my microwave to heat up some quiche from the freezer of my refrigerator, toasted some naan and made some coffee for breakfast, then took advantage of the shower they weren’t supposed to have. When I returned to my RV I pulled in my awning, packed up and left thanking the host on my way out.

My destination for the day was Roswell. I had to go there to honor my Grandpa Ed who was an avid UFO enthusiast.

When I was young his good friend Jim Fitzgerald who was editor of our local paper at the time would often kid my grandpa about UFOs in his Around the Town column. Some laughed but many others trusted my grandfather to keep their secret and would confide in him things that they had seen that they would never reveal publicly. In my early teens I’d walk down to my grandfathers after supper, and we would talk about UFOs among other things until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.

I remember one time a professor who was writing a book on UFOs came to talk to my grandfather, He asked if my grandfather to encourage people who told him about having a UFO experience to contact him.

Mountains of one type or another had been a constant for a week; as I got closer to Roswell they seem to melt into mesas, plateaus, and hills.

Roswell, New Mexico

The first place I went in Roswell was the UFO Museum and International Center for UFO studies. They have a lot of reading material and pictures on the walls from sightings around the world but the subject getting the most attention is the 1947 incident where an unidentified craft crashed outside of Roswell. The number of signed written statements of what people saw and how they were hushed and threatened at the time makes one think. You do leave the place questioning your skepticism, perhaps a believer. It felt like my grandpa was there with me.

There were less shops using the UFO theme than I expected, I had to laugh at a cannabis store called “Spaced Out.”

When I decided to go to Roswell, I planned to camp at the Bottomless Lake State Campground I had located in my road atlas.   From the I headed 16 miles east through the desert on 380 to Bottomless Lake rd. which circles around above the lake then down to the campground. I thought as I drove across the expanse of desert, there couldn’t be a better place to watch the sky.

 As I mentioned earlier the host let me camp in the tent area to avoid the online registration hassle. So, I set up in the parking spot in front of the tent site he had assigned me.

Bottomless Lake State Campground.

The so-called bottomless lake appeared to a manmade lake, and I doubt it lived up to its name.

I was only there a few seconds and a squadron of stealth flies appeared from nowhere in my camper. I think there was about six of them. For the next 3 days using my dad’s “magazine-swat” and mom’s “dish-towel fly-herding” methods, I gradually reduced their numbers. I think there is only one left now. He seems determined to take up residency in Michigan. I thought maybe they were on a revenge mission to bug me for my windshield insect elimination.

I took advantage of the campground’s wireless to use my computer and the hot showers in the morning.

It was quite cool that morning and I felt sorry for those who actually spent the night in tents. I could understand 20 years of people shaking their heads at my hammock camping.

Where?

I drove back to Roswell and picked up a postcard and an alien figure from the “Invasion Station”, exchanged photographer duties with a couple outside, then spent the rest of the day driving northeast across three states.

Driving across New Mexico made it quite evident that it doesn’t believe in spending money on rest stops, neither did Arizona, you can drive 100 miles without seeing one, but it seemed like every time I gave up and stopped at a gas station shortly after hitting the road again, I’d see one of those rare blue signs saying, “Rest Stop 1 mile.”

I mailed my last post card just before my 2:41 pm crossing into to Texas. There seemed to be as many wind turbines east of Amarillo as I saw in Iowa. Seeing lines of them with the slow turn of their blades in synch is mesmerizing. It was like a stark finger snap, to see one not turning which pops you out of the spell. It’s strange but I never saw one not turning in Iowa.

When I was driving the northern route west, I saw quite a migration of RVs driving east with a healthy share of those behemoth bus type, most towing another vehicle, some towing an enclosed trailer almost as long as the bus. What really amazed me was the almost semi sized 5^th wheels. I figured the migration would drive far enough east to make a right turn and head for their winter haven in Florida, on my southern route east there was an equal migration heading west, probably to Arizona.

I don’t mean to dwell on rest stops, but the situation seemed quite the opposite in Texas, the first one I saw had a huge building, covered picnic tables and a playground for those asking, “Are we there yet.”

As I crossed the panhandle, I asked Google to find me a campground, but it kept trying to send me back to a KOA in Amarillo or campground 30 miles or more out of my way, it was the same story locating a Walmart.

At 6:37 pm as I was driving into a beautiful full moon, and my GPS took me by surprise welcoming me to Oklahoma. I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was on the map. It was my first time in that state.

Driving into Oklahoma

Shortly after crossing the state line, I saw a sign for an RV park in a town too small to remember its name. It was like the kind you see by gas stations that I usually avoid. I would end up doing the same with this one. When I entered it looked like the trailers there had been there awhile, and I didn’t see any RV that looked like they were overnighters, so I got back on I-40 and continued to head east. I asked Google again to find me a Walmart, their parking lots had been more inviting than the place I had just left.

This time Google came through and told me there was a Walmart superstore just 41 miles further in Elk City. I pulled in at 7:19 pm. They had quite a large parking lot and I notice there was BoonDockers at both ends, by the way if you’re not an RVer Boondocking is camping where there is no cost.

I decided to go to the end with the least light. There was one trucker, a 5th wheel and another RV there. I would find another trucker, 2 additional 5^th wheels, an RV bus with a car in tow, a regular pickup and trailer, another RV like mine and van when in the morning. I put the sun blocker over my windshield and hung the magnetic fastened curtains on the windows that didn’t have shades. I had also pulled in next to the trucker’s semi-trailer to help block the parking lot lights.

I went into Walmart as I was in need of a few groceries including milk, what was left of the half gallon I brought from home had either soured or churned to butter from road vibration, I was really didn’t want to smell it to find out which.

I didn’t get Walmart’s wireless to work for me in that parking lot, I couldn’t seem to get passed the privacy agreement, which was never an issue at the last Walmart camp, so I was forced to use my phone hotspot which was surely closing in on my data limit. I did have an unlimited plan, but with my home internet I found myself paying for data I never used except on Red Cross deployments. I may have to reconsider that now that I’ll be on the road more.

I slept well as I have every night after a long day of driving. I decided I’d let someone else make my breakfast again, so I went to a place I’d never heard of called Huddle House, just outside Walmart’s parking lot. It was a breakfast/lunch place about the size of a Waffle house but instead of specializing in waffles their thing seemed to be “Golden Hashbrowns.” I had my brother’s standard breakfast Three eggs hash browns sausage patties and coffee, plus biscuits and gravy minus one egg. Huddle House appears to be a franchise, if they had them in Michigan I would go there again, but not in place of any of my favorite mom & pop places.

From Elk city I would drive east to Midwest City to catch I-35 up to I-44 on which I would spend most of the day driving to Twin Bridges. It rained most of the day so there was much else one could.

I had noticed that Quincy, Illinois, where my two friends, Lani and John, live wasn’t that far out of my way north. I haven’t seen them since before Covid. I didn’t have their phone numbers as they had been lost last year when my contact list mysteriously disappeared from my phone. I emailed Lani hoping she was one of us who still checks emails. I told her I’d be near and asked if I could stop by for a visit. About an hour later I received a call from Lani saying they would be happy to see me, and I could spend the night inside a house that didn’t have wheels if I wanted to.

That’s where I will start the next and final Chapter of this adventure.

New friends in the desert.

Bob’s RV Adventure and Thoughts from the Road (6.)

Bobs RV Adventure (6)

I ended up altering my original plan up to the cliff dwellings; I thought it would be wise to top off my gas tank, my range indicator seemed to have plenty of miles in most cases, but even 100 miles can be worrisome in unfamiliar territory. My friend Janet and I found that on a recent trip to the outback of Michigan’s U.P. Had we not doubled back to get gas we would have surely run out, in addition to getting the hell shook out of us on the unrelenting washboard surfaced roads.

A few miles from my campsite at Railroad Canyon I had to accelerate for the first time since I started my descent from Emory Point, but only a short distance and I was coasting again.

A few miles farther I experienced my first rain on the road since I left home and it turned into one of those carwash force rains, with a little thunder and lightning thrown in. It continued about half the way to gas station in Bayard. A much lighter sprinkle would occur, on and off, all day.

It was funny, when I debugged my windshield that morning, I was thinking what a job it was going to be removing the eight-state bug collection I was seeing on the rest of the vehicle. I was really surprised that there was not a bug to seen when I got to the gas station, carwash force was indeed an accurate description of the morning’s rain.

I was happy to have made a detour in my plans, and to fuel up, not only because I found the climb to be much more than I imagined, but it offered me a chance to talk to a local who gave me a more direct route, up Hwy 15, to the Cliffs.

Hwy 15, I kind of chuckle calling it a highway as it more resembled a county road. For a short distance it was like 152 but soon got much narrower, still paved but no painted lines on the road. It had all the curves that 152 had, adding quite a few hairpins. Unlike 152 it had a lot of pine trees more like driving through a forest.

For quite a few miles both sides of the road were scorched, in the forest portion, and the smell of a recent fire was in the air. I’m certain it was a prescribed burn as only the underbrush had been eliminated.

At 7440 feet and still climbing. That’s not steam but a cloud behind my rig.

View from 7440 feet.

I don’t know if having climbed one side of the mountain had given me more confidence, but I was enjoying the scenery much more climbing 15. It was also more in your face.

Beautiful.

Almost above the clouds.

I had also learned there were plenty of campsites, so I didn’t have that worry.

In addition to the scenery, I saw both a buck and a doe on my way up. I would see a small herd on my way down, but unlike those two, far off the road. The deer seem to have much larger ears than our Michigan deer, is that so they can hear what’s coming around the curve?

I reached the cliffs, at 2 pm, and was met by a staff person. She told me it was about a mile climb to the dwellings, and it would take about 2 hours if I did the whole trail that circled around the far side of the cliffs and back to the starting point. Noticing how much cooler it was at the increased altitude I went back to my RV and changed into some warmer clothing before I began my trek up to the dwellings.

Looking up at the Dwellings

You cross a small wooden bridge which starts your upward climb, looking up to the face of dwelling the climb seems quite daunting, but they have steps cut into the rock in a switchback to make it somewhat easier. Though I thought the distance between some of the steps would be difficult for people with shorter legs. There is also some ladder climbing if you want to see everything.

Getting closer

At the face.

Amazing !

It is fascinating thinking how the Mogollon culture, who were hunter and gathers as well as farmers lived in these dwellings and even more so is the thought that what I was standing in was inhabited by that culture between the late 1270s and 1300.

Inside

The tallest ladder.

Looking back across the face

I did end up doing the whole trail. a very short hike compared to a number of guys I saw who were backpacking up and over the mountains.

The hike back down.

There is also a bookstore at the beginning of the trail, which was not open, and a small museum up the road, sporting artifacts and tools found in and around the dwellings. I toured that as well.

I had seen a number of campsites on my way up to the cliffs so I knew I had a choice as to where I’d could camp for the night.

Coasting down the mountain I was amazed that I hadn’t notice just how much of a climb It was making, perhaps because I was paying more attention to the scenery. I think I only hit the gas pedal once or twice until Silver City came into view.

I do recommend experiencing this area. What I saw on the drive up 15 was awesome and as worthy to see as the Grand Canyon.

I ended staying at the Cherry Creek Campground not too far before you come out of the forest. It was larger than the Railroad Campground, having about six sites. There was another RV similar to mine camped at the far end. They were still there when I left in the morning.

Silver City wasn’t too far away so I decided I’d let someone else prepare my breakfast for me and ended up at a Denny’s.

Denny’s had a good internet signal, not having any kind of signal for my two days in the mountains I spent quite a while in their parking lot catching up, uploading pictures and sending out some of the things I had written. I also reviewed my map and decided my next camp would be at White Sands.

Bob’s RV Adventures and Thoughts from the Road (5.)

I woke up about 7:30 in Camp Walmart. Went into the store used their facilities, purchased some more of their lunchbox pies and then to the attached McDonalds for coffee but ended up getting a couple breakfast burritos as well.

 After finishing my breakfast, I went to a nearby store and purchased a Halloween card for my Granddaughter and a birthday card for a friend whose birthday is on Halloween. I left cards for both on my kitchen counter at home because this adventure started out as a trip to visit my cousin for a couple days and back. I had no idea I’d catch the gypsy spirit.

My plan for the day was to go to the closest Costco the Google found me in Albuquerque, like Grand Rapids they have two. I wanted to get some of the allergy/sinus medicine they have there that usually works for me, and I knew gas would be cheaper.

I don’t know what it is but something in Arizona and New Mexico has been playing havoc with my sinuses. I thought people came out here to avoid that.

I picked up my medication, Some Duke’s smoked sausages to snack on and found at $3.00 a gallon gas was indeed cheaper, in fact the cheapest I had found since I left South Haven, Michigan.

I had decided the night before my next opportunity would be the Gila, (pronounced Heela), National Forest and the Gila Cliff Dwellings in the Mogollon Mountains.

I didn’t understand why google told me the National Forest was only two and a half miles away and the Dwellings were over five, when they looked so close on the map. I would learn the extra three or so was a vertical climb.

So close but yet so far.

Google told me to take a right off 25 and take 152. I found 152 would be much more fun on a motorcycle curve after curve after curve and the further you climbed the mountain the more curves there were and as they grew more abundant the closer together, they became.

According to google this road was supposed to take me Gila National Forest and a place to camp, taking a look later I think she confused 152 with 52. I did get to Gila National Forest, but I think the wrong side and I did find a place to camp but that was only with the kindness of strangers at the top of the mountain.

I drove on and on with no signs giving me the confidence I was heading for a campground. The only signs I saw were no passing signs, speed limit signs, (coming down the mountain), curve signs, signs giving credit to those who kept the roadsides clean, and many signs warning to watch for roaming cattle.

Signs

But where are they?

I never saw one cow but did see some cow pies indicating the signs were warranted. I wondered how they ever found these cattle in the terrain they were in when they needed to bring them in.

 Shortly after turning on 152, I saw my first road runner that wasn’t a cartoon. I’m sure the scenery was beautiful with a valley or gorge deep below, but I only got quick glimpse as anticipating the next curve dominated my attention.

I faithfully followed Google until she said, “you have arrived at your destination” and there was nothing around me except a small shack with a barking dog a few yards up the road.  Driving about a half a mile farther I saw a sign saying Kingston Campground, which was no more than a picnic table and a firepit with barely enough room to park an RV; more like one of those roadside picnic spots in Michigan that they name after dead highway commissioners or politicians.

At this point I turned off my GPS and consulted a map.  I notice if I took 152 to 61 there was a state campground, by this time there was no signal for google anyhow.  So, up-up the mountain I went.  A ranger told me a few days earlier you can camp anywhere on federal land as long as it well off the roadway, but in this case, you had a cliff on your left and the side of the mountain on your right.

 At the very top of the mountain there was a small sign that said “scenic overlook” with a narrow one lane road to the top. When you arrived you saw a large sign that said, “Emory Pass” and indeed, a scenic overlook where you could see the miles of valley you had been circling, seemingly forever.

View from Emory Pass

There was a woman and her son there taking pictures and I asked them if there were any campgrounds near, thinking they would direct me to the one to which I was headed, instead they said yes, there are two small ones just down the road, I can’t remember the name of the first one but the second, which they liked, was called Railroad Canyon State Campground, none of these are even on the campground map..

The Railroad Canyon campground is really in a small canyon.  You descend a little road into the campground it has mountain walls on all sides except for the entrance. I found it to be a pleasant place a little campground with 3 marked campsites and an outhouse Each marked site had a steel firepit with grill and a picnic table. The campsites were large and there was plenty of room for camping outside the designated sites. The outhouse was well maintained and clean.

The woman who directed me there said there were some people in the campground, but I found no one. I picked a site next to the creek, I never figured out the railroad part of the name.

 I picked a campsite nest to a small stream found some firewood someone had left, built a fire and grilled the pan on which I would make a sandwich for my supper.

I had the campground to myself the whole night. I never heard it, but it appeared to have rained during the night, if so, it was the first rain I’ve experienced this trip, unlike the monsoon season seems to be happening back home.

Campsite at Railroad Canyon.

I woke up still the lone camper, my only company being a woodpecker in the tree above my campsite.

I washed up, (having onboard hot water on tap is nice), got dressed and prepared a breakfast of oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, (not from an instant packet), some strong camp coffee and a toasted cinnamon raison bagel.

After cleaning up after breakfast, I did a little camper house cleaning, then cleaned the bug carnage from my windshield with my new windshield sponge and set down with the map to plan my day.

Bob’s RV Adventures and Thoughts from the Road (5.)

Heading East

Got up early on Sunday grateful that no bump in the night woke and asked me to move. I didn’t feel like breaking out the camp coffee pot and making a morning brew, so I walked up to the little shop in Grand Canyon Village but found that nothing in that area would open for another hour or so. Rather than walk back to my RV I hiked out to the Mather Point look-out then west along the rim.

My morning hike from Mather’s Point.

My morning Hike from Mathers Point

Shadows.

This time the canyon was lit and shadowed by a rising sun doing it equal justice to the sun that was sinking when I arrived the day before. Once again, I took too many photos but also shot some videos, panning the canyon.

After I picked up my souvenir decal from the park store and picked up my coffee, I returned to my RV to change out of the PJ top still had on and put together some breakfast to go with the coffee.

I was surprised by how fast the RV lot was filling. By the time I was leaving it was about full.

RVs fill the lot.

One thing that disappointed me about the park was the amount of litter. I know there are some idiots out there who think there are people paid to clean up after them, but how can’t you have reverence for such a wonderful gift nature has given us. The litterers are no doubt cut from the same lot as those who think you can pet a buffalo in Yellowstone, at least in that case they sometimes get their due. I was embarrassed and cleaned up the trash in the bathroom that morning before I left.

The tourist magazines around the world must suggest fall is the best time to visit, there were twice as many foreigners in the park. I fact it was a young lady from Germany that took the picture I posted earlier for me and the guy she was with was from Italy. The occupants of both rental campers that shared the parking lot with me had foreign accents.

I talked to a couple planning their itinerary on the big map in the Grand Canyon Village area. They had mentioned going to Tuba City; I told them it was a mess when I went through traffic was backed up for about a half mile in the direction they would be heading. There was a state fair on one side of the highway and 10 X 10 craft tents as far as you could see on the other. I said unless they were going there for those events, I would avoid the area. They thanked me for the heads up and in what I considered a fair return they told me about the Arizona meteor crater that they planned to see. I remembered seeing it first in my Jr high science book and in magazines but really did think about where it was. Now thanks to them it would be the next spontaneous opportunity on my itinerary. A chance to see one of the Seven Wonders of the world!

It is in the desert just a mile or so off I-40 on the southern route east I planned to take.

I got there just as a group of about 20 was getting ready to start their tour. The guide knew her stuff and presented it in a very interesting and sometimes humorous manner.

The impact crater.

The crater was formed when a meteor was approximately 150 feet wide weighing several hundred thousand tons hit the earth over 50,000 years ago. The crater is 550 feet deep and almost a mile wide. The site also sports a museum with a theater, a snack bar and of course a souvenir store. It’s a must if you’re in the area.

A big hole.

I left there hoping to make it to the Petrified Forest National Park to camp for the night. Unfortunately, I found the gate is only open from 8 am too 5 pm and I arrived at 5:20.

It was clear that my next campsite would be in New Mexico and once again I’d be arriving after dark.

It was nice traveling with the sun at my back for a change and seeing the tall shadow of my RV in front of me rather than the glare of the setting sun.

I crossed the border at 7:15 pm and pulled into a rest stop/information center hoping to get a map showing campgrounds but it like the Petrified Forest, was closed I considered boondocking there, they had large parking area, but I had a gut feeling that wasn’t a good idea, I’m sure the guys standing around and old car in lot and the fact I was alone fueled that feeling. I stayed just long enough to make myself a snack for supper then headed toward Gallup it was the first town large enough to warrant a Walmart.

 I pulled into a dark empty parking lot when there wasn’t a Walmart to be seen and asked Google the location of the nearest one, of course it was on the opposite side of the seedy looking part of the city I was on.

 Every street Google directed me to turn on was closed for one reason or another. Finally, it gave up on the more direct routes and took me in a big circle bringing me to a more promising looking side of town and a large Walmart.

I saw where the overnighters were, at the far end of the parking lot and pulled in between the semis and a large RV with a Subaru in tow, put up my window blockers and settled in for the night. I was happy to see this Walmart had an attached McDonalds, I would be able to get coffee in the morning, the previous one didn’t have that option.

Another spontaneous opportunity

Before I went to bed’ I looked at the New Mexico page in my road atlas, in tiny letters printed in red the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument caught my I eye presenting another opportunity I was strongly considering.

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Bob’s RV Adventures and from the Road (4)

I woke up at 6:30 Friday morning shaved and shower and packed all my stuff back in the RV by 7:30. I didn’t intend to get up quite that early, but in anticipation of another leg in my unfolding journey I woke up at 6:00. I had planned to have breakfast with Bev Dempsey about 8:15 say our goodbyes and hit the road. First, I had to get my propane tank filled as it was down to a quarter tank.

Thursday, my friend Chuck who is younger than I, but more well-traveled commented on one of my posts that if I hadn’t seen Garden of the Gods I should do so before I leave Colorado Springs, so I added that to my itinerary and I was glad I did as the rock formations were amazing. I ended up hiking around the rocks and taking too many pictures. There were rock climbers on some of them.

Gardens of the Gods first view.

Hiking in.

Amazing formations.

A climber.

I left Gardens of the Gods at noon, having stayed as long as I did, making it to Arizona by evening was doubtful, but it was well worth the stop. Thanks Chuck.

Off I went furthering my westward journey. I think Colorado and Rocky Mountains offers the most beautiful scenery I I’ve seen this far in my life with the mountain views and the season’s color you couldn’t ask for more. Though they don’t have the diversity in fall colors that we do, the contrast between the bright yellow birch leaves with the deep green pines make for a fantastic landscape and later in the afternoon when the angle of sun beams hits those leaves, they explode with an even brighter, magnificent, yellow. 

Heading West.

I had hoped the mountains would shield me as the sun sunk lower in the sky but no, once again I found myself driving into a sunset. If trying to see through the glare wasn’t bad enough I had another hazard that I didn’t have driving into the city, deer. 

It seems Colorado deer are more literate than those in Michigan, only few feet past a deer crossing sign, I had a deer coming down an embankment on my passengers’ side come to an abrupt stop beside my right fender and not 10 yards down the road another crossed roadway, at a slower pace, in front of me.

I was happy when the sun dipped behind a mountain not to be seen again.

I was starting to get a bit tired and it was clear, I wasn’t going to make it into Arizona that night, so I started looking for a place to camp.

What is it about seeing all kinds of campgrounds and RV parks when you’re not ready for one and nothing when you’ve made up your mind, you’re going to stop at the very next one you see.

I was just about to pass through Durango, and I’d seen nothing, but then a Walmart sign came into view. To end the campground search, I thought, why not. The Walmart sat down lower than the highway, I pulled down into their lot and saw five RVs two of them 3^rd wheels and pulled in between some trees and a trailer. It wasn’t a bad spot, and the loudest noise was a larger RV’s generator at times but didn’t notice it after I went to bed.

Boondocking at Walmart.

I never shop at Walmart so felt a little guilty and went inside and bought some sweet rolls for breakfast, a couple lunchbox size pies for deserts and a telescoping windshield brush.

I needed that brush to clean the aftermath of my crusade to reduce the population of insects between Michigan and the Grand Canyon. The size of my vehicle’s windshield makes it quite effective tool for insect eradication. I’m sure a bug would consider it a weapon of mass destruction.

I slept well that night, but the hours I drive I seem to have done that every night. I had a breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, bacon, some warmed up coffee and one of the sweet rolls I bought the night before, then continued on my westward quest. I don’t recall what time it was, but it’s rare I make an effort to leave anyplace early.

I saw the neatest sculpture on my way out of Durango, it was one of those, I should have got a picture of that moments. It was on the roof of an auto junkyard’s office. There was the actual body of some 50s era car lying belly up with 2 metal vultures sitting on each end appearing to be pulling innards from the middle of the vehicle.

About 20 miles out of Durango I thought I was going to witness a head-on when some idiot who couldn’t wait for the passing lane a quarter mile down the road whipped around me and the car in front of me Just barely missing a car coming from the opposite direction, it may have indeed happened if that car hadn’t move to the side of the road. Both me and the car in front of me were driving the speed limit.

At 11:38 am I clipped the corner of New Mexico and a little over 30 seconds later was in Arizona.

I turned around though and went back to see the 4 corners monument, where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet. There is a large cement circle with a plague where the 4 corners meet in the center there are flags of all states around the circle. There are small booths around the circle where Navajo crafts and souvenirs are sold. The whole thing is part of the 19 Navajo Nation 57 Navajo Parks & Recreation.

The Four Corners

I took a few pictures then moved on. It was hard to get one of the plaque because everyone wants to get a one with a limb in each state.

I was getting hungry and looked for a place to eat in Kayenta, AZ. But all I saw was fast food franchises. I cut through a mall parking lot to head out of town when I saw the Amigo Café on a street after the mall. I was glad I did.  I don’t know if you’d call it Mexican/Navajo or what but the food was great. Instead of tortes for their tacos and etc they used Navajo frybread.

On the final stretch into Grand Cayon National Park, Hwy 64, I couldn’t believe the number of RVs like mine coming out of the park. I hoped their exit was making room for me to camp and not because they couldn’t find a place to do the same.

I arrived in late afternoon; I was pleased that me newly acquired National Park service Lifetime Veterans card got me in free and cost me no more than an ID verification. I had a Silver Eagle Senior citizen card that I got free years ago, now the same thing cost $80. I lost mine somehow in the transition between cars. I called and asked if they could replace it and they said, sure, for $80. So, I went the Veteran’s route which cost me only a $5.00 handling fee.

I asked the ranger at the gate about camping, he said most likely all the campgrounds that weren’t closed were full but I could camp off on some of the roads off the main roads on federal land.

Know the first thing I mention about arrival at the rim of the canyon should be the awesome scenery, but to be honest that is not the first thing drew my attention. The first thing that I noticed was the lack of limitations on your movement. Unlike Tahquamenon Falls which had visited in September, there were very few barriers or fences and most of the ones that were there were around buildings. There were barriers to keep vehicles in the parking lot, but beyond those, walkers had free rein. There are rails for those who want to use them at look-out points but nothing to keep people from having access to the rocks and ledges.

Barrier Free

In a Darwinian since if someone wanted to enhance the intelligence of our future species, they are able to walk out to the very edge of a cliff, let their legs hang over the rim with nothing but air between them and the bottom of the canyon, hundreds of feet below.

I drove around the rim getting a different view from each access point. Again, taking too many pictures.

The tower and Canyon Sothern Rim.

Guess who on the southern rim

The canyon is awesome, much larger than you imagine it from pictures. It is impossible to capture what your eyes are seeing. The shadows casted by the sinking sun added to the experience.

Shadows in the Canyon

Some wildlife.

So many Awesome views

Sinking sun lighting the Cayon wall.

As darkness started to set in, I drove toward the village looking for one of the places the ranger said you could camp, I didn’t see any and ended up at parking lot 1, for RVs. I asked a young lady with a German accent preparing some food from the back of a camper van if we could spend the night there, she said she didn’t know, but didn’t see anything saying we couldn’t. There were several RV besides ours there, but when they started to clear out, I got worried. I asked two other young ladies about the same age as the first one I asked, and they didn’t know either, but we all made the decision we would give it try knowing we might hear a knock on the door in the middle of the night. In the end there was, one other RV like mine their two vans and a VW camper that spent the night and no one bothered us.

Bob’s RV Adventures and Thoughts from the Road (3.)

Continuing West

I woke up early Wednesday morning and glanced out the window at the head of my bunk and saw mountains. Every time I’ve been to Colorado and saw mountains in the morning, they seemed out of place, being from Michigan, as if someone had snuck in during the night under the vail of darkness and placed them on the horizon. This was especially so having arrived after dark and not seeing them the night before.

Morning view. Pikes Peak to the right.

Dempsey called before I pulled myself out of bed and invited me up for breakfast. I went to their place and used their shower, then Dempsey made us a breakfast of eggs. bacon, toast and coffee.

Melody Living is a large complex they have an assisted living building a memory care unit and the independent living, a four-story building where they live. Bev and Dempsy have a nice apartment with a living room a small den, a kitchen, dining area, laundry room, a large bedroom, a full and a half bath. Melody living provides about everything one would need. 3 meals a day in a large dining room on the first floor. They have a special for each meal or you can order from their menu. They provide quite a list of activities and a lounge with a bar.

Independent Living building

I decided to take them up on their “Guest special” anyone would be a fool not to. For only $50. per night you get a beautiful suite and three meals a day.  The manager told me they offer that deal to encourage family and friends to visit.

My guest Suite.

Having my own room was also less complicated with my own bathroom and a place to shower.

We would spend the next two days catching up, looking at old pictures and sharing memories.

Dempsey, Bev and I

I hadn’t seen Bev for at least 20 years, and only knew Dempsey through telephone conversations and some Facebook messaging. Bev and I had maintained contact through letters and phone calls.

Bev’s son Bret stopped by on Wednesday for lunch and dinner on Thursday, I hadn’t seen him since his teens. Now he has grandchildren, but still runs marathons. That is something since he suffered severe back injuries in his 20’s with a skydiving accident in which his parachute failed to open.

Bret Bev and I

I asked Dempsey about the Korea/Vietnam veteran, 101^st Airborne hat he was wearing. I was fascinated by the novel worthy story he shared of his military experience.

Two old Vets

He joined the army at 18 and found himself landing in Korea at 19, in 1951, assigned to a engineering battalion. His first day on base a soldier was killed by sniper they never located. His unit’s job was to rebuild the roads, bridges and trestles that were destroyed to slow the North Korean advance. After Korea he’d return to the U.S. He found himself manning a 50-caliber machine gun he never fired, from an upper floor hotel room during that uprising, and manning the same on a small boat escorting ships through the canal. He was stationed at various sites in the States and did 2 years in Germany, served as a boot camp drill sergeant for a number of years. He said most of his positions weren’t his choice.  Apparently, the army’s assignments had more to do with rank or leadership qualities, as with no combat training except for the basic in boot camp he found himself with the 101^st in the jungle of Vietnam, now in his 30s, married with two kids, as a platoon leader under the command of one of the men he put through boot camp. He took shrapnel there but was not awarded the purple heart as it was result of a green soldier mishandling a live round and considered friendly fire, even though they were in a firefight at the time. It wasn’t a serious enough wound to send him home, so after a short time in the field hospital, he was returned to combat, providing perimeter protection for an artillery unit. He was awarded a bronze star, he never told me that, I noticed it in his framed medals later. He retired in 1971. It’s funny there is a guy in his same building to which he was his drill sergeant, and he still addresses him as he did under his command.

Dempsey’s medals

Wednesday evening, I was looking at my new Rand McNally Road Atlas (100^th edition) and after some consultation with Google I moved into my “spontaneous opportunity” mode and decided rather than head for home on Friday I’d keep heading west and see the Grand Canyon. Why not, it is just a little over 10 hours further west. Why not take advantage of the westward miles I’ve already invested and continue in that direction.

Bob’s RV Adventures and Thoughts from the Road (2)

I woke up to a very foggy Tuesday morning and a murder, (now that I have your attention), of crows. The fog was so heavy I could not see the lake only 50 yards away.

I took advantage of the campground’s hot showers then returned to my RV for breakfast. I prepared that breakfast with a couple of the amenities that play a part in my evolution from a camper to a glamper, heating a piece of quiche from my RV’s refrigerator in my RV’s microwave.

I left the campground at 8:30 am, my destination being 11 hours away. I was determined to arrive in Colorado Springs the day after I left Michigan.

The early morning sun cast a golden glow that drew my attention to the beauty of the rolling farm lands I had not noticed on the way in. The corn had been harvested leaving only the stubbles of what had been stalks. Fields already tilled stood in wait of next year’s crop.

I left Kellogg, Iowa, returning its 607 population to 606 and got back on I- 80 heading west. At 11:43 am I crossed the state line into Nebraska. Unlike crossing the Mississippi river when I left Illinois and entered Iowa there was nothing distinctive about crossing into Nebraska, just a small wooden sign and a “welcome to Nebraska” from my GPS.

It had been 44 degrees when I left the campground in Iowa, by the time I was appropriately entering Furnas County Nebraska it was 83 degrees, with cloudless blue skies, it would remain that temperature through Kansas and until the sun started dropping in Colorado.

Things I remember from Nebraska, I went through Funk City, they had yet to harvest their corn. I spent at least $10. more than I should have on gas when I grabbed the wrong nozzle and pumped $80 worth of Sinclair premium into my tank. (at least it wasn’t the diesel nozzle), I crossed Antelope, Elk and Beaver Creek but the closest wild thing I saw to any of them was a coyote seeking roadkill beside I-80. Speaking of roadkill, I think I may have seen a prairie dog before leaving the state.

Without fanfare, except for my GPS welcoming me to yet another state, I crossed into Kansas at 4:14 pm. Sometime before making that crossing that GPS took me off I-80 and put me on two-lane highways for most for my way through Kansas. I didn’t mind that as I found Kansas roads to be some of the best I’ve encountered.

I was slowed a bit by two paving projects. I found the way they handled their one lane reduction interesting. In addition to the usual flag person at each end to control the flow of traffic, they had two trucks with yellow flashing lights. One would lead the parade of cars in one direction with the other bringing up the rear. When they reached the end of the one lane the tail truck would pull in front of the waiting traffic leading that parade in the opposite direction, with the former lead falling behind in the tail position. Apparently, they want to make sure no one wanders on to the fresh asphalt.

As I got closer to Colorado the angle the sun rays were hitting my windshield made it quite apparent that the 6-state collection of bug squish on that windshield would have to be addressed at my next gas stop. It had gotten so bad that even the lane sensors in my windshield sent a message to my dash monitor announcing that they refused to work until I cleaned the glass. I’ve never understood why, in this age of scientific miracles, no one has developed a formula for a windshield washer fluid that removes bugs.

I crossed the Colorado State line at 5:49 pm and noticed an immediate dip in road quality.

Riding into a sunset may be a romantic was to end a story, but driving into one is another matter especially with six states of bug squish on your windshield.

I finally made out a sign for a Loves truck stop through the glare, just off the highway. Pulling in I was pleased to see they had window sponges on long sturdy wooden handles, I wouldn’t even have to break out my step stool and I was easily able to apply the pressure needed to remove the bug memorials from my vision.

Between the road construction and bug removal my 11 hours had been increased to 12 hours, plus 10 minutes, and daylight had vanished.

Made it!

My GPS brought be right to the address I sought but then kept directing me in circles around it. After 3 circles I decided to ignore it an embarked on the entrance it should have directed me to. I called Dempsey my cousin Bev’s partner who had seen me and sent the night manager out to flag me down. She directed me to a parking area and told me I could boondock there, or take advantage of the Melody Living’s guest deal, and what a deal it is. I didn’t feel like unpacking stuff and decided to sleep in my RV, at least the first night.

Bev and Dempsey were very happy to see me. Dempsey heated a bowl of soup for me as i never stopped to and eat on the way.

Boondocking in the parking lot.

We visited for a couple hours then I retreated to my camper. I hung my light blocking curtains, crawled into bed after a very long day on the road, sleep came quickly.

Bob’s RV Adventures & Thoughts From The Road 1.

Westward.

The end of September I finally surprised my brother with a trip to Lapeer with my new RV, after over two months I no longer have to keep it a secret. So, I can start a new series, “Bob’s RV Adventures;” if someone else hadn’t already coined the phrase I would have really liked to call it, “RV There Yet.”

So, this series begins after Two trips to the U.P.  The Wheatland Music Festival, a trip to Lewiston, and an overnight and paddle near Baldwin.

We begin with my first trip to cross state lines in the new rig, heading to see my dad’s favorite cousin, Bev, in Colorado Springs. They grew up together and she was like a sister to him. Though my second cousin, because of our age difference she always seemed more like an aunt to me. She really misses Michigan and her people there and is at an age where travel is difficult. She was very excited when I told her, after numerous invites, I was finally coming.

I left Saugatuck at 10:00 am this morning making a stop in South Haven to top off my tank with 14 gallons of the cheapest gas in Michigan, actually the cheapest gas I’ve seen on my trip through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. You could get it for $3.04 at most stations in South Haven but with my Meijer card it was $2.94 per gallon.

Gas in South Haven

It was partly cloudy when I left, with patches of blue sky and sunshine which ignited the fall colors. It is still early in the color change there, but my favorite time is when there is a stark contrast between the leaves that changed and those that are yet to do so.

My GPS greeted me with a welcome to Indiana, my first state line, at 11:35 am. About twenty minutes after that I had the first close call with my RV. A woman in a burgundy Equinox decided when my front bumper was about mid-point with her vehicle it would be a good time to cut into my lane. The blast of my horn seemed to melt her into the seat upholstery, along with the desire to occupy my lane. In fact, she seemed to disappear into the army of Chicago bound trucks altogether, as I never saw her again.

I received another GPS welcome at 11:17 Central time zone, this one to Illinois as I crossed my 2^nd State line.

I have yet to understand the 55-mph speed limit on the freeways in and around Chicago. If you ever actually drove that speed, you would have a lot of angry people behind you, and making people angry isn’t something you want to do around Chicago.   Why 55, is it to give lawmen more variety in enforcement options?

You have to keep on your toes among the heavy truck traffic on 94 and 80 below Chicago as some of them like to use their size, something the lady in the Equinox didn’t have, to give them the right of passage into your lane, and with the slimmest margin for error.

I made my first pit stop at 12:05 central time. Illinois does not seem as generous with their rest stops as Michigan. Having missed a travel oasis, I saw my first sign announcing a rest stop 20 miles ahead, the next one after that was 63 Miles. I took advantage of the 20 miler and didn’t need another until Iowa and that one was more to see if they had any Iowa maps, so I could look for a campground, something that doesn’t stand out on their maps.

I picked up a misty rain as I crossed into Illinois but 50 miles later the skies were clear and blue, this continued into Iowa; I crossed its state line at 2:11 central time.

I started getting hungry around 3:30 central time, my last meal had been breakfast at 8:30, and it was a half an hour past my afternoon coffee, eastern standard time. I was approaching Iowa City and took the 2^nd exit, which seems, not the best for food.

In my effort to turn around and get back on the highway I found Joensy’s, just as I was about to exit a huge medical complex with offices covering everything from dentistry to podiatry. There was a Jersey Mike’s next store, but if I have choice between franchise food and anything else I’ll take the latter.

Joensy’s specializes in breaded tenderloin sandwiches which I guess is an Iowa thing. They had a long list of things you could put on that sandwich. Joensey’s is purported to have the largest in Iowa, and I believe it, as I was full with the half size I ordered and had to leave a portion of my fries behind.

The Red Cross had sent me to Iowa in 2020 to do damage assessment for the “derecho” which brough winds over 140 mph. I was seeing a lot of familiar geography from that deployment. The corn fields, silos and seemingly endless fields of wind turbines.

 I had intended to drive through Des Moines and then look for somewhere to camp beyond, but my tank was getting lower than I felt comfortable with, remembering how far it could be between gas stations.

I pulled off at the Kellogg exit, seeing a station near it.  I also saw a sign for Rock Creek State Park. I had been on the road for over 8 hrs., so I decided to camp there. It was farther from 80 than I expected, as when I asked the teen at the gas station how far it was, she looked at me as if I had asked her to explain Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Campsite at Rock Creek State Park

I don’t know where the creek is, but it is on a pretty lake. It has showers, both inside bathrooms and out houses. The cost took me back to the early days in Michigan, $12. for a site with electricity and $6.00 without. I didn’t need electricity but made a $4.00 donation with the smallest bill I had being ten dollars.

View from RV at dusk

I checked Google and Colorado Springs is a little over 11 hours from here, so I’ll probably arrive tomorrow in the early evening, depending on what time I leave in the morning.

Well, that about wraps up my first day on the road.