Monday, April 25, 2011
We left on our trip “officially” yesterday when we left Baytown. But today we cut the umbilical cord, leaving Anne and Michael’s in Round Rock at 7:30 A.M. It was really muggy. Mixed blessing. On one hand it felt like the Houston that we know and love (yes, I am sincere). On the other, mugginess like that could mean rain. That would be different, and a treat; because we haven’t seen any moisture since September 16, when we were in Big Bend last fall. After about 100 miles (two hours), a very slight mist started. About ten minutes later I had to turn on the wipers to the slowest intermittent speed for another 20 minutes. It might have qualified as a trace of rain.
We have gotten so many tips and so much information from friends, family, and the internet. One of our concerns was the cost of gas for this trip. Spending so much time on the road gives lots of time to think and observe. We’ve decided to maintain a speed of 50 mph. There are definite advantages – like saving 50% on fuel expense when compared to 70 mph – really. That means we will use 700 gallons rather than 1400… We can do this…
We drove to Snyder, Texas, for the night – about 300 miles. We had been stopped for an hour or so when we saw a large dark cloud. “Rain, perhaps?” was the thought I had – although it was sort of a funny color – but not the color I thought a tornado would be, so no worries there. The wind was fierce, rocking the truck and camper as it came in gusts, and constantly blowing between the strong gusts.
As evening came on, another camper came to the door to ask if the Sheriff’s department had talked with us. It seems the sheriff had come by to advise campers that there was a wildfire about three miles from us. The wind was not blowing it our way, but if the wind changed, the sheriff would come back and we would be evacuated. For awhile, throughout the evening, the smell of smoke became stronger and stronger and we wondered if there would be a knock on our door. With that thought, we went to bed.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The wind did not make the fire come in our direction. We were not evacuated. And we were able to sleep through the night. This morning as we left the campground a little after 6:00, there was only a minimum smoky smell. But it became stronger as we drove north. We could see the glow of the fire down the road in the distance. As we came closer, there was burned ground on both sides of the highway and glowing coals out in the fields. What had apparently been large trees before, were only mounds of burned debris still smoldering. It was too dark for pictures. Now, three hours later, there are clouds in the sky – possibly of smoke from large wildfires still burning here in the Panhandle.
We arrived at our campground in Amarillo to discover it had a hot tub and indoor pool – a glorious way to relax from the road. I wish they would all be like that – but it’s a certainty they won’t be.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Another day on the road brings us into Colorado – Lamar. Nice campground, no pool and hot tub – HOWEVER – RAIN! We drove through it for a little while – again, very slow windshield wipers. And, this afternoon, sprinkles and mist have fallen on us four different times. Would it be more than a trace, though? Probably not. Tomorrow our goal is to reach Curecanti National Recreation Area, hopefully by mid-afternoon. We’ll stay there until Saturday morning when we will take off again.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
What a wonderful day to travel. The air is crystal clear, and we begin to see the Rockies in the distance almost immediately. Hwy 50 goes East-West across Colorado – and through Monarch Pass. It’s not an interstate by any wild stretch of the imagination, but it’s perfect for scenery. When we reached Big Horn Sheep Canyon along the Arkansas River we knew we were back in OUR Colorado. It is just so beautiful through there, with the road winding as it follows the Arkansas river, and tall walls of mountain on either side of us.
Snow was very apparent as we approached Monarch Pass – but the road was clear and dry. We arrived at Curecanti with 10 minutes to spare before Cara Lee had to leave to pick up her little girl at school. We’ve camped in Elk Creek Campground in the host site. Stevens Creek is not yet open for the season
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sleeping last night was miserable. The air mattress felt “funny” – like I had a hard board running down the center of my back. And Bob felt like he was lying directly on the board underneath the mattress, although it seemed to be full of air. We were joined at lunch by Cara Lee, but it wasn’t “picnic weather” after all. The lovely warm spring day of yesterday departed with the night sky – and today dawned windy and cold. We ate our picnic lunch inside the camper – but we enjoyed our company anyway. Later, “my” beautician in Gunnison was able to work me in for a much needed hair cut; and this evening we joined Cara Lee and John and their sweet daughter, Anna, for dinner and conversation at their home in Gunnison.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Yesterday we decided that we needed one more rest day before we took off, so we didn’t leave this morning after all – took the day to nap and finish odd jobs around the camper – like figuring out whatever in the world was going on with the air mattress... It seems that one of its little cells had popped, possibly because the heater vent was aimed up at it. We turned the thing around and think it will work just fine.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
So much for thinking. - In the middle of the night, we awakened to find we were definitely touching the boards underneath. At that point we moved to our “downstairs bedroom” (the cushions on the couch) and finished the night. Since we had gone to bed at 8 PM last night (because we only had enough battery power left in the camper to run the heater overnight – and we had used up the computer batteries, too), 3 AM was our wakeup time. We finished our drive across Colorado today in the dark (with me sleeping until just before we crossed the Utah state line) arriving at Arches National Park around 8:30 this morning.
The TomTom had routed us into Arches on a US highway in Utah, however, we took off on a state road (128) to sample the area. What a beautiful drive in the early morning light. We followed the Colorado River through wonderful canyons formed of red-red rock! We’re thinking that when we have an opportunity to follow a river along a smaller road, we’ll do that rather than stick to the Interstate. The views are fantastic.
Since we had not reserved a campsite at Arches, we came up to the campground host to ask if there were any cancellations for tonight. What luck! There was ONE site, and we are in it. We took one short hike to the Delicate Arch viewpoint this morning before we crashed for about three hours. Getting up at 3 AM to travel is hard on a person – even one who sleeps almost the whole way, like me. There have been some snow flurries, but the sun is shining, too. Bob is up on the roof now, mounting our solar panel so that the batteries will charge as we drive along. And we’ll check out a WalMart when we get into a big city area (Provo or Salt Lake City) to get some patches for the air mattress. Hopefully that will work. But the couch isn’t too bad in the meantime.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Another good reason to drive 50 mph: it eliminates the possibility of getting a speeding ticket in the 70 mph zones…
Utah is a beautiful state. The little towns look orderly and clean. The mountains are tall and snow covered. And Salt Lake City is grand, easy to drive around. We stayed at a Good Sam’s park last night in a suburb, and THERE WAS A HOT TUB!!! That made the $40 worthwhile. We stopped there before noon, ate, took a nap, shopped, and soaked the road weary muscles. Today we were off again by 6 AM to finish the drive through Utah and begin the one through Idaho. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this land is beautiful. It doesn’t matter if there are snow covered mountains, plain mountains, or rolling grass lands. It’s all beautiful.
I saw my first wild Eagle sitting on a fence post (just like it belonged there!) – and later on there were a couple of cowboys on horses – no sissy pickups for them. We have driven by a lot of irrigated farm land, which had us asking if there were potatoes planted there, since this is Idaho. Then we passed the Potato Museum… Duh! But some of it must be grain for beer, judging from the big “Budweiser” painted on some grain silos… And we are seeing sodded roofs, that sit directly on the ground over dug out barn spaces. Interesting. Today it’s only 45 degrees out there, but with the overcast sky and the wind, it is cold. I imagine if I were a cow, I would appreciate a nicely insulated barn – especially with all the “watch for snow plows in your lane” signs that are still on the highway.
We made it into Dillon, Montana, around 2:00. I’ve cooked a pork loin roast and Bob is putting the final touches on our dinner. There is no running water yet in the campground because of the threat of frozen pipes. But there is a sink in the laundry room where we can wash our dishes and fill our water jugs. It’s working.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Another good reason to drive 50 mph: it saves us from spending too much time in the campground…
Wednesday we drove as far as Great Falls, Montana. Thursday we made it to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Good days, good pictures, but pushing all the way it seemed. Today, though, was something else. We turned northwest at Calgary and drove through the Banff National Park and the Jasper National Park (along the Icefields Parkway). What a spectacular drive. Great highways with 3G along a lot of it, so a lot of pictures were sent to facebook. Most of the day we were up in the clouds – literally. And we went though several snow flurries and patches of sleet. Even the lakes are still frozen up here, although if the water is running (as in a river) that is not frozen.
We arrived around 1 PM at Whistlers Campground – a Canadian National Park Campground just out of Jasper. When we registered, the gate attendant told us two bears had been seen this morning on the railroad track a little way from here – so, as he said, “the bears are out.” Our campsite has a number of fresh coyote tracks in the mud – and there are some adventurous critters that look like red squirrels, and something else that lives in boroughs around us. And just a few minutes ago, an enormous black raven was strutting around the camper. The trees around us are enormous – 40-50-60 feet tall. But the cones that drop from them are from ½ to 1 inch long and ½ inch in diameter.
After our nap (almost a requirement after 7 hours of driving (our get up time is usually 5:30 AM with start of driving around 6:00 AM) we plotted tomorrow’s route. We’re hoping to make it to Dawson Creek and the beginning of the Alaska Highway, about 328 miles from here. We think that will be about as far as we can go without collapsing. We’re trying to make up for all the “rest” time we took in the states because we were so tired at the beginning of the trip. So much for a slow, leisurely ride. Well, it is slow – we’re still doing the 50 mph thing. But the days are longer than we originally thought they would be. We have 2,086 miles to go, and we understand that the slower roads are yet to come.
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