I needed some nourishment for the blog. Just not feeling like writing the last week or so... Buffalo steak, sauteed green beans with smoked maple and garlic seasonig, and red potatoes with bacon, onion and rosemary. A great dinner for a little blogging nourishment...
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| lost my seat at the table... |
So now... we're both sipping on a bottle of Costco 18 yr Highland Scotch (we picked up 3 bottles in St. Louis)... stuff is amazing, and very hard to find. It's only $37 a bottle.. whereas an equivelent brand would be close to $75 or more. It you like highland scotch, go get some.
I'm ready to jump on the keyboard and get back to blogging. Here we go...
We decided to stay the weekend of July 4th in St. Louis. The idea of hitting the road on a holiday weekend was not terribly appealing with all the possible traffic on I-70, and full campgrounds. Although the weather returned to hot and humid... My cousin Jenny's pool was waiting.. along with burgers and dogs as well as plenty of beer. Damn, it had been a long time since I hung out in a pool all day. It was awesome. The pups came along too.. cheddar stayed in the AC at home.
That evening, we hung low.. and watched the Edwardsville Fireworks.. put on right behind the house at the golf course. We were doubtful at first we'd be able to see them as the house is about 75% surrounded by by trees, but our luck was amazing, as the show was perfectly placed just above the houses behind us and just to the side of the trees.
We got some severe storms on Sunday. I hopped in the car to storm chase, and the Mom came along for the ride. She has some potential for a storm chaser... but talks about things other than weather a little too much.
So Monday morning came, we had plans to get a relatively early start (before noon is early for us) and head west. A hunk of cheddar cheese changed those plans a little. The furry feline decided he was having too much fun exploring the jungle that is Edwardsville... trees, birds, squirrels, bugs, etc...Cheddar has always been great in staying around the motorhome and coming when called. We did not want to take that away from him, so we let him explore, as long as he stays close and comes to us.
So we're ready to leave... After we pulled the motorhome out to the street and hooked up the toad (tow vehicle)... cheese was nowhere to be found. A few hours of searching the neighborhood by 3 aunties, a grandma, an aunt.. mom and dad, and various neighbors and chamber of commerce members... and no Cheddar. We decided we were obviously going nowhere today, so I got in the motorhome to move back to the driveway. Low and behold, as soon as I start the engine and begin to back up, Debi yells at me to stop... the cheese had returned. Apparently, he was sleeping in a bush about 10 ft from the driveway. Not sure if he was there all the time, but cheddar was close to becoming fondue by the time I was done with him.... Mom was a little more forgiving.
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| Mom punishing Cheddar |
After a day of frantic searching and sweating in the oppressive heat and humidity... we needed beer and pizza. First, we hit Stagger Inn... I needed a rematch of shuffleboard after our last visit a couple yrs ago when Debi whooped my ass bad. All I can say is, revenge is sweet. Mom and sis joined us, and they took a few shots at shuffleboard before we headed next door for Dewey's Pizza.
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| Mom shuffling |
Dewey's was awesome.. fresh ingredients, great sauce, and unique combinations of specialty pizza's. We spilt 2 pizzas and salads... and slurped down a few more beers.. well, except a wimp of two that chose iced tea.
Tuesday is here! Time to head out. It was a really great 3 weeks in STL. I don't see family all that often anymore, so it's extra special when we get to spend as much time as we did. Of course Mom left a wet spot in the street as we left from her crying... at least that's what I think it was from.
The gang is ready to go...
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| Merced driving, Sierra and Dixie in passenger seat. |
Our first night, we stopped in Blue Springs Mo, about 30 minutes east of Kansas City. Mom, sis and I actually lived here for a while about 30 yrs ago.. I really didn't recognize much, but we did drive by our old duplex..
and went to Zarda BBQ for some KC smoked goodness.. the restaurant was there 30 yrs ago, but it had moved.
We stayed at a real nice county park near Blue Springs lake. I think it was constructed with a dam about 5 yrs after I left in the late 80's. We hit Costco the next morning, and headed west into Kansas...
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| Blue springs county park |
I forgot Kansas has a turnpike on I-70. I mean seriously... paying to drive through Kansas? They should be paying us! I have to say though, the road was like butter driving on... I could almost put my feet up and take a nap it was that smooth.
We drove about 5 hrs that day, and ended up just west of Hays, Kansas in a small town called Ellis. Ellis is famous for Walter Chrysler growing up here... of the Chrysler Auto fame. The town has a beautiful little campground along a creek... electric and water hookups, hot showers, a dump station.. free wifi, and weather radio blasting in the restroom building 24/7. That's what put me over the top, of course.... All this for $15 a night.. s steal. The local cop comes by in the evening and collects the money and chats with the campers. The simple lift still exists in these parts.
Ellis, Kansas
We went to bed around 10, and as soon as I turned the lights out, I noticed a ton of flashing outside. A cluster of thunderstorms had developed just south of us... and put on a constant light show for the rest of the night. I went outside and watched for a couple hours.. It was raw Kansas summertime at it's best. I'd be lying though if I didn't have flashes of scenes from the movie Twister going thru my mind all night... and not just images of Helen Hunt, either.
The next morning was breezy and clear. It was a little bit of a struggle driving in a 25 mph crosswind for about 3 hrs, but then the wind let up as we entered Colorado. We stopped for gas in Limon... what a fiasco.. I'm about done with the big truck stops that supposedly cater to RV's/truckers/large vehicles... it's more stressful than trying to fit into a tiny station. They had pump issues and long lines inside, and 30 minutes later... after storming out of the cashier line cursing the employees... we left with no gas and a pissed off Todd... to a regular gas station a mile further south.. this went a little better, but... let me just say this... if you ever find yourself traveling through Limon, Colorado... trust me, and keep going and get gas/pee/eat somewhere else.
Our intentions were to stay near Colorado Springs that night... but I thanks to an early start, a time change that gave us another hour... and the desire to get into the mountains... I think we put in 8 hrs that day... the longest of the trip so far. (Driving a motorhome towing a truck for 8 hrs is entirely different than driving a car for that long, I can assure you). We drove a little further south towards Pueblo, and into the mountains just southwest of town to a Colorado State Park called Lathrop.
Lathrop Park had hookups, and sat near a nice lake.. and was in the foothills with the Rockies looming in all directions. It was a little cooler, and very scenic... albeit a little desert-y. We tossed a couple buffalo burgers on the grill and walked the pups around that evening. Watched a little TV, then went to bed. It was a long day.
Debi got up early the next morning and took a bike ride. We have our bikes on the back of our Tahoe and have not used them much. Debi is still having some back pain, and seeing a chriropractor/massage periodically, but she's been feeling better since an adjustment in Blue Springs. (Btw, that's my excuse for not biking much either... I would feel guilty leaving Debi back at the motorhome. ;) )
After that... Debi has a conference call, and I'm nervous about getting a campsite near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. All the reserveable sites are taken, and they have 1 "walk-in" first come loop... so I take off in the motorhome and Debi stays behind in the Tahoe with reliable cell signal to work for an hour or two.
It's about a 2 hr drive to the sand dunes... over La Veta Pass.. a scenic, but fairly mellow mountain pass that is not a big deal for the motorhome. The monsoon is still in full force here, and storms are already building by 11 AM. As I get towards Blanca, storms are starting to pop over the Sangre De Cristo's. Blanca peak is 14,345 ft... not much smaller than Mt. Whitney. it's quite impressive as it stands somewhat alone on the edge of the San Luis Valley. It's also about 15 degrees cooler here at 8,000 ft than it was at 6,500 ft on the other side of the pass.
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| 14,345 ft Blanca Peak |
I have been to the sand dunes 3 times.. Once in 1987 with my Dad and stepmother... Once is 1997 when I lived in Colorado for a winter... and now. Some things have changed a little here.. it used to be a National Mounment... and is now a National Park....however, everything else looked the same except the visitor center, which was upgraded a little. The campground was familiar, and I even recognized the site we stayed in in 1987. Funny thing is... during that time, I think my Dad was MY age when were there! Man, he's got to be like 80 or something by now. :)
Thankfully, the campground was only about 3/4 full... and I got really lucky. I'd say there were only about 5 sites that could accomodate the 32 ft motorhome and our Tahoe.. 2 of those sites were open.. and 1 of them had one of the best views.. SCORE!
No Hookups here, but they have a water spigot to fill our fresh water tank, and a dump station when we leave... We can also use our generator every once in a while, but we prepared our electronics the previous days when we had hookups... As mentioned before, we actually prefer not staying in RV Parks, so this was nice.
The Dunes are huge.. the largest in North America at about 750ft tall. Here's a link which tells the interesting part about their formation. There is also a small river that runs in front of the dunes.. it's part of what helps them form and reform. This river dries up above ground this time of year, but it was really cool to see it rise above the sand and expand a few times as we had afternoon and evening thunderstorms both nights we were there.
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| the drying river |
Unfortunately, on Saturday morning, we noticed Dixie has TONS of small ticks all over her. We decided it was in Ellis KS she probably got them, as we found a tick on her there. I suspect it had babies and they spread everywhere. We took her the 40 minutes into Alamosa to a vet recommended by the camp host. We got some spray for her and the other pups/kitty (which haven't seem to been infected) and sprayed them all down good. That afternoon, most of the ticks had fallen off and died... and by the next morning, they were almost all gone.
While in Alamosa, we hit Walmart for some items... btw, its' great to have Wal-marts all over the country. I know alot of people are opposed to them and the way they operate, but they are a lifeline for rural america, and we can find just about everything we need there at a good price. We actually found a 5 star wet dog food for our pups, after Coscto started playing musical dog food with their quality dog food Merced has been on for over a decade.
We hit the San Luis Valley Brewing Company for lunch... great beer and food!
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| Alamosa, CO |
I took home their chili lager... had some tonight as a matter of fact!
Back to the dunes... and we stopped at the cafe/store just outside the park and rented a sand board. I've always wanted to try it. Every time I've been here, I've seen people on snowboards, and it looked like fun. There were the daily thunderstorms looming, but thankfully the rain held off until late evening, so we hiked up into the dunes to give it a shot. The sand was soft and cool.. a bonus, as on a normal summer day with sunshine, the sand can reach 140 degrees! I hopped on the board and went down a little dune.
Ok, that was not easy. There are no edges like on a snowboard, so turning is not really an option. I would be willing to bet they make better quality ones than what we rented, but it was what is was. Debi tried it, but sitting down.. fun!... but crawling back up the dunes was a killer, and exhausting! I took about 5 or 6 runs.. and we were wiped out. I really wanted to try a bigger dune, but i was not comfortable going any steeper.... nor did I have the energy to walk up any higher in the dunes... where are the charlifts when you need them? I did one last run, not on video, where I as able to go sideways down the dune, and turn a little more... that actually was my best run, of course.
Back at the homestead, we think about dinner... Ahi tuna is the choice! The rain starts to move in, and the tent campers flee! Its' also very windy. Ok, I feel a little bad being all nice and dry and warm in my motorhome... while people are soaked and looking miserable outside or sitting in their cars... but I made myself feel better when I helped chase down an fly-away tent with 4 other people in the raging tempest... or it went something like that.
I break out the wonderful maple wood cutting board my 3rd cousin Courtney gave us a a wedding gift at our part a few weeks ago.. and slice up the Costco ahi we bought in STL (and froze immediately).. We make a salad with Debi's famous Asian dressing... damn, it's good... and also some iced tea.. hey, we needed to hydrate after exerting ourselves all day, right?
It rained almost all night... the people next to us, about 10 in the family, packed up the tent and all left..around 7 (of course, putting the 2 dogs in the bed of the truck and driving off in the pouring rain.. assholes).
Anyway, around 9PM a couple shows up and knocks on our door.. they have an air mattress, but no electricity to pump it... so we turn on the generator and help them out. The long day takes its toll.. and both head to bed and take to our books... Debi is reading one of her sci-fi books, and I'm reading a book on Indian history. The sound of the pitter patting of raindrops on the RV roof lull off off to sleep in no time.
We wake up to a beautiful morning again. The smell of wet sage and pine, mixed with coffee is delightful. In St. Louis, I had to drink cold coffee drinks in the morning, because it was so hot... I couldn't fathom drinking hot cofee.It was nice to have my hot high elevation Pinon flavored Coffee from New Mexico again.
So...the dunes are wet, and have taken on an interesting texture, resembling the hunk of marbled rye bread I had the day before with my Reuben at the brewpub.
We talk to our neighbors for about an hour. They have a home in the forest near Idaho Springs, which is about an hour west of Denver.. beer and skiing dominate the conversation. Sound like our kind of people! They invite us to stop by anytime and stay. They are actually having a big party in 2 weeks with a band and food, etc.. we'd love to go, but might be tough with our schedule that week.
After talking about beer for an hour.... we take the pups for a walk down by the river, which was flowing again above the sand for about a mile longer than the previous day. This place is really just amazing.. it sits back against the towering mountains, and then the sand dunes come in and wedge in next to it.. The campground and park is in that little sliver between the two.
We take our time getting ready to leave. Our motorhome, which really is our home now.. well, we have nowhere to rush off to, so Debi does some work, I do my work on my weather blog.. and then we pack up and head north for Salida.
It was Sunday, so I took the day off driving... (Union Rules :) ).... and Debi is at the helm of the motorhome. (She has only driven once of twice, as she works most of the time while I drive). We're not towing because we our brake buddy system (supplementary braking for towed vehicle) had a cable break off.. and we need to find a replacement.
About an hour after we leave, we stop off at an RV park...and consider staying the night. There are some hot springs on the mountain across the valley that we want to visit, but it's mostly a member only thing... otherwise, you have to call to see if they have last minute spots for the public. I get an answering machine...well, that decides that.... not going to sit around all day, so we decide to move on. There are numerous hot springs north of Salida we can visit... this place just looked really cool.
The upper portions of San Luis Valley start to close in, to a tighter valley. it's really pretty... and the storms exploding all around as we come up over the pass make it all that more dramatic
I had been thru Salida in 1997 briefly, when I lived about 90 minutes north, in Leadville. I didn't recognize it at all. It's supposedly been revitalized quite a bit in the last 20 yrs. The old historic district is pretty cool, with all it's funky shops and bars.. there are tons of people in town as we just miss the 18th annual Colorado brewers festival.. and 200+ Colorado beers!
We camp in the mountains just west of town at an RV park with hookups- as we need to charge up some things, empty and clean our tanks, and do laundry, etc. Even though we like to boondock, we still need to hook up every few days, as we can only realistically sustain ourselves for 3 or 5 days, So... I grill up some brats... we do some laundry, take hot showers and save our town exploits for the next couple days.
Monday, we got going early to go back to our "boondocking" site we found yesterday. It's only about a mile southeast of town. There are about 10 other people scattered around the area when we arrive, but there is plenty of room, and we got a site that about 100 yds from the next closest person. It sits a about the same distance to the river... Again, for free.. it's a really great spot. There's an RV park about 1/2 mile down the road where you are 5 ft from neighbors on both sides of you, and they want $40 a night. No thanks! That's some decent savings for beer money there...
We get set up, and spent some working.. Debi on her job, and me finding a restuarant for Debi's work dinner part of 24 next week .... and then took off for town. We got iced teas at a cool little coffee shop that's been refurbished from an old mechanic's garage. Then, we head off to the dog park. No one is there, so in addition to the 3 pups running around.. cheddar comes out to play, too. He's pretty funny chasing Sierra and Dixie, and butterflies too. Storms are starting to build again, which is good... because although it's only in the low 80's, the high elevation sun makes it feel quite a bit warmer.
We need to go to the store again for a few things, but since it's still warm, we decide to drive the ~20 miles up to Monarch Pass, and see the pass and ski area. This place gets 400" of snow.. about the most in Colorado. It sits above 11,000 ft along the continental divide. We get about halfway up the pass and the sky opens up. A big storm is starting to unload just as we get near the ski area. The temperature has dropped from 83 to 44! We also get about 15 minutes of soft hail that starts to cover the ground. We sit at the pass and wait it out before heading back down. The views are amazing, as we get "peaks" of some 14'ers off to the NE.. (14,000 ft mountains). That was a little joke.
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| Madonna Mine |
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| teeny nit of Monarch Ski Area |
We head back down the pass... I'd love to have the windows down and hang my head out along with the dogs, but Debi is about to turn the heater on, so that's not gonna work. About half way down, I see a sign for a USFS campground, and looks like a cool meadow and stream below, so we drive down a couple miles of dirt road to check it out. After the rain, it is really beautiful. Some big rigs made it to the campground, so it's a place we could maybe stay sometime... but no cell signal for working.
Anyway, we spend a little time in the meadow with what is the beginning of the south fork of the Arkansas River. The pups get out, and mom puts the Cheeser on the leash. Cheddar liked the stream and beaver ponds.
Time to head back into town and go to Wal-mart. As we get to town, storms start blowing up again back towards the pass.. We drive up a hill on the south side of town and take a few pictures.. pretty dramatic!
We get "home" and that's where the story at the beginning of this blog begins....
....We both had quick hot showers, and the scotch is gone... (don't worry, not the whole 3 bottles, just the little bit we poured)... The pups had some frosty paws (frozen ice cream doggie treats), and they are all sacked out. Cheddar didn't like it, so we gave him some of his new favorite food...'Deans' french onion dip ;)
The generator is off, and Debi is is bed. I'm sitting here at the table with the soft LED light on.. a cool breeze blowing in the window, and the sounds of the cascading Arkansas River filling my ears... well, that and Merced and Sierra snoring.
Tomorrow Debi will work for a while, but we plan to hit Mt. Princeton hot springs, about 30 minutes north of town. We'll also go into town and hit some shops, and probably have a beer or two and maybe dinner out. We'd like to go rafting down the river, as this area is huge rafting country, but we really don't feel comfortable leaving the pups for 4 or 5 hours in the motorhome while we raft... plus, Debi's Mom reads this thread, and she told Debi to never raft again after getting flipped out of the boat on a rafting trip on the Kern a few year ago with me. :P
On Wednesday, we'll head north to Buena Vista and probably stay a day or two there... then up into the Leadville area probably for the weekend... On Monday, we have to be in Vail for Debi's work conference, and we have a week reserved at a close-by USFS campground... and Debi has a room at the Marriott. Somehow, I see the possibility of some fighting for that room a night or two.
So that's it from the road... it's great to be back out west again and in the high country.
Until next time...
Debi, Todd, Merced, Sierra, Dixie and Cheddar.
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