Category Archives: Colorado

Taking Care of Family (Casa Grande, AZ & Colorado Springs, CO)

2016/02/10 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

My last post was on Wednesday the 27th of January. It has been a busy and stressful couple weeks since then. We had to move our oldest daughter and grandson from Colorado Springs to Phoenix. Let me bring you up to date:

We left the Urban Escape Vehicle at the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande and took the Silverado with our (empty) cargo trailer on a ~17 hour drive to Colorado Springs (COS). We made it late Thursday night (28 Jan) without incident. Thanks Dad and Elaine for putting us up at your place 🙂

On Friday we loaded up all the daughters’ stuff in COS.

Nice weather and nice view of Pikes Peak from where we picked up the daughters’ stuff. That was about to change tho… the weather I mean.

After getting everything loaded into the trailer and pickup bed, we joined my Dad and stepmom Elaine at the COS Elks Lodge for Friday dinner. Other friends also joined us when they heard we were in town.

(L to R) Stepmom Elaine, Monika Malmquist, and my Dad (Bill).

(L to R) Good friends Biff Anderson, Daniel Malmquist, Linda Anderson, and then Stilla.

(L to R) Stilla, Monika Malmquist, Christine Bargy, and Biff Anderson.

(L to R) Tim Bargy, Daniel Malmquist, Linda Anderson, and my stepmom Elaine.

We enjoyed after dinner conversation in the downstairs lounge. It was great catching up. I think it was September when we were last here.

On Saturday, I stopped by my old high school buddy’s auto repair shop to say hi and air up the tires on the trailer and truck for the extra weight I was now hauling.

Here’s my old high school pal Mike. He owns Chuck’s Auto in COS.

Mike and I, along with a couple others from his shop went out for a late breakfast. We had some of the best biscuits & gravy I’ve eaten in a long time at the nearby Mill Hill Saloon.

A big storm front was moving into COS and snow was expected overnight on Saturday and it was supposed to get real bad Sunday or Monday. So I made the wise choice to start heading south before the bad weather hit. Stilla stayed until the next day (Sunday) to spend time with our youngest daughter Joleen, plus the oldest daughter Jennifer still had to clean the place we moved her out of and take care of a few last minute items.

After getting safely over Raton Pass, I stopped near Springer, NM to see what new car displays they have inside Russell’s Truck Stop. I try to stop by here anytime we go down I-25.

Cars on display at Russell’s Truck Stop and Restaurant, Springer, NM.

I drove as far as Albuquerque and got a room at Motel 6. Ugghh, it reminded me of why I like to RV. And their cheapest room was still almost $50 🙁 Oh well, at least I successfully missed the snowstorm before it shut down Colorado Springs.

Stilla, Jennifer, and Kaan caught up with me around noon just south of Albuquerque, they had some light snow and icy conditions getting out of COS but the roads were fine after that. We all made it safely to Casa Grande late in the evening on the 31st of January.

Back at the “dirt farm”, we worked on my Mom’s casita that was still under the last stages of construction. We just had to put a few finishing touches on it to make it livable for Jenny and Kaan until we find her a place. I helped my stepdad Jim finish putting in the toilet and carpet for the floor, then we set up the air conditioner and heater. And finally, after a trip to Home Depot for some window blinds, we had a nice one room apartment, aka casita.

We then spent several days looking at houses, rentals, property, etc., and finally came to the conclusion that she needed to be in or near Phoenix to find a job and good school. We luckily, have a nephew in Phoenix that has extra rooms she can stay in for a couple months. Thanks Matthew! Matthew is my younger brother Donald’s kid who lives in Florida. Matthew owns a house in Glendale where he’s going to college.

Grandson Kaan at nephew Matthew’s house.

We drove by the Elks Lodge in Tempe, AZ on the way back from dropping Jenny and Kaan off at Matthew’s house in Glendale. We wanted to check it out for possible future RV spots. They had a Super Bowl buffet that we joined in on. In the RV park, we saw an Alpine. So I naturally popped by to say Hi. It was Todd & Janet Legg! We last saw them at the Desert Rat Rally in Quartzsite. I talked to Todd for a bit but didn’t get to see Janet. See ya later guys 🙂

We finished up the evening back at the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande by watching the Super Bowl with my mom and stepdad Jim. Go Broncos !!

Now we just have to figure out what to do with Jennifer’s dogs. Having pets certainly makes it harder to find a house or apartment for rent. And she can’t have them where she’s staying now, so I guess we’re stuck with them for now.

This is Ember (below). Our little dog “Coach’s” sister. We put her on Craigslist under the title ‘Free to Good Home’ but only got one response from an animal rights group called S.A.F.E. which stands for Save Animals From Euthanasia. They take pets every Saturday at a designated PetSmart® in Phoenix to find homes for them.

Luckily, I also put a couple pictures on the Alpine Coach Owners Facebook page and got the attention of Ron and Jeanne. We worked it out through correspondence to meet in Lake Havasu once we get there for the Alpine Coach Rally.

We left the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande on Tuesday the 9th with both of Jennifer’s dogs onboard to get to the Rally. We left our dog ‘Coach’ with my Mom because three dogs is just too much in an RV. Thanks again Mom for watching ‘Coach’… personally I’m beginning to wonder if she’ll even give him back 🙂

We left Casa Grande a little late in the day and finally made it to the Rodeo Grounds in Lake Havasu just after dark. The volunteer guards at the entrance were still ready for late arrivals and had our check-in paperwork. We followed a guy on his ATV with annoyingly bright and flashing color LED antennae to our designated site in between the other Alpine Coaches that are already here. We set up quickly, said some hello’s to our neighbors, and watched a little TV with the generator on until 10 PM when we went to bed.

This morning (Wednesday), we met Ron and Jeanne at the SARA dog park around the corner from the rodeo grounds. They drove down from their home in Las Vegas to meet us about adopting our daughter’s dog ‘Ember’. They are fairly new Alpine Coach owner’s and haven’t had the opportunity to join one of our rallies yet. As a matter of fact, they inquired about this one but it was already full 🙁 Hopefully, they will have the opportunity soon to join us soon 🙂

Jeanne with her “new to her” little dog, Ember.

Ron & Jeanne took little Ember with them to give her a loving home… as I’ve said many times before; those Alpine Coach owners are the best of people 🙂

And so here we are again… at another fine Alpine Coach Rally. It is now Wednesday the 10th of February. The Rally officially starts on Thursday the 11th and I’ll try to keep the blog updated with rally activities. We are dry camping (without hookups) at the SARA Park Rodeo Grounds (←link here). We’re here for a week of fireworks… called the 27th Annual Western Winter Blast Pyrotechnics Show (←link). We attended the same rally here last year, click (HERE) for a link to the beginning of those blog posts if interested.

Stay tuned…

Colorado, New Mexico

Finally On the Road Again (Elks Lodge 408 – Las Vegas NM)

2015/09/24 davidhobden@mac.com

On Tuesday morning, after we pulled in the slides and raised the jacks, I remembered that our dash air-conditioner wasn’t working. The system quit working earlier this year and only blows warm air. I always forget about this until we’re on the road somewhere and it’s not convenient to find a place to check it out and recharge the system.

This time however, I remembered 🙂 and realized that we don’t have a pressing timeline to be anywhere, so I called my old high school buddy Mike who owns Chuck’s Auto to see if I could stop by on our way out of town and get it fixed. Mike told me to bring it by as long as I could maneuver around all the road construction that is currently going on around his shop.

So after we dumped our tanks at the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge dump station in preparation for travel, we headed over to Chuck’s Auto on the southwest side of town. We decided to not hook up the Silverado yet and Stilla followed along behind.

When we got close to Mikes shop, I pulled over on a side street and we both jumped into the Silverado to scout out the best route through all the road construction. It was a good thing we did, because the construction detours required us to maneuver through neighborhood streets with low-hanging tree branches and very large dips in the intersections. Anyway, we found the best route and made it unscathed. Mike made quick work of recharging the system with his high-speed mobile A/C service cart from Snap-on.

The Urban Escape Vehicle getting an A/C recharge at Chuck’s Auto.

While Mike was working on the system, Stilla went over to the local German bakery (Wimberger’s) and got the fixins’ to make some sandwiches. When she got back, she made everyone in the shop some authentic German sandwiches which was our payment to Mike for the A/C work. It’s good to have friends 🙂 Thanks again Mike! We’ll see you again next year when we get back to the Springs 🙂

After saying goodbye to Mike and hooking up the Silverado at a wide spot on a neighborhood street near the shop, we headed south on I-25.

We stopped at the KOA in Colorado City (~60 miles from COS) because my Dad and stepmom Elaine are spending the week there with the FCRV ‘Rolling Springs’ camping group for their annual “Retiree Rally”.

We parked the Urban Escape Vehicle at a wide spot near the entrance and walked in to say Hi and “crash” their party. We crashed their party here last year too, I blogged about it HERE.

Dad & Elaine outside their Coach at the KOA in Colorado City for the Rolling Springs “Retiree Rally”.

Before long, fellow FCRV members (and friends) Biff & Linda came over and we had ourselves a little “Happy Hour” time before we decided to go out for dinner.

Stilla, Linda, and Biff at the Colorado City KOA.

We intended to just stop by and say Hi on our way south, but since it was already late in the day and it looked like rain down south. We decided to see if the KOA had any dry-camping (no pun intended) spots available. We usually don’t stay at KOA Campgrounds because they are more expensive (based on our experience) than other campgrounds. KOA’s usually have all the nice amenities; i.e., swimming pools, playgrounds, mini-golf, etc., but of course, they charge a premium for all that.

The nice camp-hosts hooked us up with a boondocking spot right next to their multi-use building for a $20 charge.

We were able to leave the Silverado hooked up behind the Coach which was a convenient bonus. Plus, we were right next to the “doggie-park” which Little Coach liked.

So after we moved the Coach into the KOA and parked next to the building, we all piled into Dad’s Jeep for a ride over to Obie’s Fillin’ Station located on exit 74 just off I-25. Obie’s is a BBQ restaurant, saloon, gas station, and country store all rolled into one… good food with good atmosphere.

Obie’s Fillin’ Station as seen from the frontage road heading north.

(L to R) Dad, Elaine, Stilla, Linda, and Biff at Obie’s Fillin’ Station.

After our good meal, (Ugh! I ate too much), Dad & Elaine stopped by our Coach to show off the hats that they wore yesterday at the “Retiree Rally” hat contest.

Elaine & Dad with their “Retiree Rally” hats.

In the morning (Wednesday), we joined a lot of the FCRV camping group members in front of the multi-use facility to go on a walk which is a traditional morning event.

We walked along a pre-designated route from the campground and ended up going about 2 miles.

Dad and Stilla on the morning FCRV walk.

After our morning exercise, we all piled into Dad’s Jeep again for breakfast at Max’s Place, (ate too much again), which is another nice local eatery with huge portions.

When we got back to the KOA, we said our sad goodbye’s and ‘see-ya-laters’ and broke camp to head on south.

We made it over Raton Pass without incident this time. You may recall we had a rock hit the windshield the last time we traveled over this pass. Link HERE.

We checked our online resources and determined that Las Vegas, NM had an Elks Lodge with RV spots. We tried to call ahead to confirm availability but got no answer.

When we pulled in, we found four RV spots with full hook-ups – all empty. The lodge doors were locked, but cars started pulling into the lot for Wednesday evening Bingo and the doors were soon opened.

Stilla backed into one of the RV spots while I ground-guided. It’s good that she practices every once-in-awhile.

And here we are (all-by-ourselves) in one of the four extremely un-level RV spots at Elks Lodge 408 in Las Vegas, NM. The “Mother Lodge of New Mexico” according to their website.

Our view of the lodge entrance from the Coach.

We went inside the Lodge and found a nice lady that said she was a past-exalted ruler, cook, dishwasher, etc., 🙂 She directed us to the nice bartender who took our $15 donation for parking overnight. We decided to stay for one more day and check out the town, so we paid for two nights ($30).

They have great southwestern style food here; for dinner we had taquitos, an excellent beef-filled quesadilla, and an egg/potato burrito smothered in green chile. Yum! But I’ve got to stop eating so much 🙂

Our second drinks were free (courtesy of the lodge for visiting members) and they had a separate room with slot machines that Stilla always enjoys. So we left our little contribution and called it a night.

I think we’ll head on over to Santa Fe, NM after we leave here on Friday. We don’t have to be in Lake Powell for the Alpine Coach Rally until 5 October, so we have time to do some sight-seeing until then.

Oh, and by-the-way… the dash A/C is working great so far, thanks again Mike!

Colorado

Slow-Prep to Move South (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/22 davidhobden@mac.com

We’re slowly getting prepped to move south as we continue to say goodbye to family and friends here in Colorado Springs. We talked to the camp-host and determined that we don’t have to rush off, there’s no one currently parked in the ‘overflow’ waiting for a spot.

On Saturday, while Stilla entertained our oldest daughter Jennifer and grandson Kaan at the Coach, I rode the Harley over to Pikes Peak Harley Davidson for an “End-of-Summer” Luau.

Free food and free beer (tips accepted of course)… can’t beat that!

My ’96 FLSTC “Heritage Softail Classic” at PPHD.

Some of the new bikes are sure looking good. Back in the ’90s and earlier, you had to spend a lot of extra money adding all the accessories you wanted after you bought a ‘plain’ new bike. Nowadays, they come with all the accessories straight from the factory, i.e., fat rear tires, chrome controls, custom footboards, air cleaner housings, etc.,

There were more people in attendance than my pictures suggest. Most hung-out inside shopping, which is what the dealership likes of course 🙂

On Saturday evening we attended a birthday party for Tom. Stilla is friends with his German wife, Martina.

The birthday party for Tom (his 40th) also doubled as a farewell party (of sorts) for Stilla and her German girlfriends.

Stilla’s German girlfriends from Colorado Springs.

Lots of good food which included German-style desserts… Yum!

Tom’s wife surprised him with an unexpected arrival of relatives that had just flown in from Germany.

And there was even a relaxing campfire in a raised pit to enjoy once the sun went down. It was a nice evening… thanks Tom & Martina, and Happy Birthday once again!

On Sunday morning, I rearranged things in the basement of the Coach and packed up our chairs and tables. Then I made my 2PM appointment with our tax-guy and finally got our 2014 taxes submitted. Yoo Hoo! And Yes, before you ask – we had filed for an extension. Taxes for last year were challenging and required a lot of preparation for several reasons: I was still working for part of the year; we rented out the house for most of the year; had to evict the renters; and did a lot of repairs among other things… all of which, had to be painstakingly documented for our tax records.

On Sunday evening we went out for dinner with my Dad & stepmom Elaine. They’re going on another campout with the FCRV group on Monday. Maybe we can stop by to say Hi again because they’re going to the KOA in Colorado City which is along our intended route south. They’ll be there all week, so if we leave on Tuesday, we can stop by to say goodbye again. Thanks for the dinner Dad & Elaine!

On Monday I washed out the back of the pickup while Stilla worked on the inside of the Urban Escape Vehicle, vacuuming and cleaning.

I even ended up washing the whole truck and most of the Coach. After the pickup was all cleaned up, I loaded up the Harley and the bicycles. All set to roll… we just need to raise the jacks, pull in the slide outs, and hook up to the truck.

Later in the day, our youngest daughter Joleen stopped by with her boyfriend Dylan to say goodbye. Then we relaxed the rest of the day and enjoyed our last evening at the Elks Lodge. We’ve been here since 6 September… time to move on 🙂

My next post will be from somewhere south of Colorado Springs… check back to see where we end up.

Colorado

Farewell (for now) Friends, Family, & Elks Lodge 309 (COS, CO)

2015/09/19 davidhobden@mac.com

We can feel the winter chill in the morning air already. It’s time to move south. We’re not sure exactly where we’ll go next just now, but we need to be in Lake Powell for an Alpine Coach SoCal Rally by 5 October. So, we’ll start heading in that direction on Monday.

The pool is all covered…

the chairs are all stacked…

and most of the tables and sun-umbrellas have been put into storage.

We didn’t even have to pay to stay here for the last 14 days or so, since we helped the camp-host so much with the pool area and with our painting of the lawn furniture that I wrote about in earlier posts. We’ll miss this lodge, but I’m sure we’ll be back next year.

We’ve stayed busy the last several days since my last post:

On Tuesday, I hung out at my high school buddy’s automotive repair shop (Chuck’s Auto) while Stilla visited with the daughters. It never ceases to amaze me how easily he can remember where all the parts go back in, and in what order 🙂

Mike working on an engine timing chain and water pump.

It happened to be a day where Mike had decided to rearrange one of the service bays… so I helped move a few things around.

I wouldn’t mind rearranging this El Camino into my garage… oops, that’s right – I don’t have a garage anymore 🙂

After leaving Mikes’ shop, I saw some construction going on near our old house. There’s a huge pile of dirt and boulders on the hill overlooking the back yard. I stopped to check it out.

Backyard view of our old house from hill on the south side. (looking north-west)

View of downtown Colorado Springs from old house (looking east)

It looked like they were just using the hill for a construction staging area for a new building nearby (sign below). Which is a good thing – because it would be a shame if they put a building on the hilltop, it would ruin the privacy that the backyard always had.

I also couldn’t help but notice, the giant cracks in the ground! It looks like the hill is unstable and may break off into a landslide sometime in the future. That’s a little scary. The construction material and the heavy earth-moving equipment on top of the hill probably isn’t helping any…

I’m glad we sold the house when we did… hope the new owner doesn’t have any trouble from this.

Back at the lodge, we enjoyed a final “Taco Tuesday” with our new-found friends Jerry & Marilyn Baumgartner. Biff & Linda joined us as well.

On Friday, Jerry & Marilyn packed up to head back home to Oklahoma. I helped Jerry load his bike into the back of his Ford Ranger pickup that he tows behind his motorhome.

Safe travels Jerry & Marilyn! Hope to see you in Port Aransas, TX next year… or even earlier in Quartzsite, AZ maybe !?!

Jerry & Marilyn Baumgartner. Good friends that we met while at the COS Elks Lodge.

On Friday evening, we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner at the Elks Lodge with my Dad/Elaine, Biff/Linda, and our grandson Kaan. Kaan often spends the night with us, I guess the summer trip he spent with us didn’t turn him off to staying in the Coach 🙂

(L to R) Kaan, Stilla, Elaine, Linda, Biff (behind Dad), and my Dad.

In other news – Little Coach got his follow-up shots at PetSmarts’™ Banfield Hospital. I wrote about Banfield in a previous post (Click HERE. He still has the weird cough but otherwise appears to be doing well. We, (Stilla & I), also made our doctor appointments at Evans Army Community Hospital on Ft Carson and got our meds refilled. So we’re ready to roll out of here now. I just have to load up the Harley and bicycles sometime this weekend.

Stay tuned to see where we end up next… I’m thinking maybe Santa Fe, NM. Our friends and fellow Alpine Coach owners, Mike & Donna Kuper, recently blogged about their stay there. Link here: FlyingtheKoop.com. Plus, it’s in the general direction of Lake Powell where we are co-hosting the Alpine Coach rally starting on 7 October.

Colorado

Alpine Eggs & More Friends (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/15 davidhobden@mac.com

On Sunday morning, we saw a familiar face pass by the front of our Coach. It was Wilma Egg! We know Wilma and her husband Vic from several of the Alpine Coach Rallies that we’ve attended over the last few years. They’ve been full-timing in their Coach for ~6 years now.

Vic and Wilma had just pulled into the Elks Lodge 309 parking lot and Wilma walked by our Coach in search of the camp-host when Stilla and I both recognized her… we jumped out of the motorhome to say Hi.

Since the camp-host didn’t seem to be around at the moment, I gave Vic my recommendation for the best ‘overflow’ spot to park in for the night. All the hook-up sites were currently full.

A good looking Coach, eh? Of course, I’m biased since it’s the same year and color scheme as ours 🙂

We talked briefly and then we let them alone to finish setting-up with a promise to get-together later.

Vic & Wilma Egg in front of their ’05 Alpine.

Today (Sunday) was also the last day of the season for the pool to be open here at Elks Lodge 309. So we basically spent the whole day trying to get the most out of it one last time. Our oldest daughter Jennifer came by with our grandson Kaan. And then our youngest daughter Joleen came by with her boyfriend Dylan to spend some fun time in the pool. Here’s some last pics of the year here at the Elks Lodge pool:

Later on in the day, Jerry & Marilyn also came by to enjoy the pool with us. Here’s Marilyn (below), sorry – no new picture of Jerry today 🙁

One of the Bronco fans (John) escaped from the bar area and was seen hanging around the pool too…

Vic & Wilma joined us later in the evening, where we enjoyed the nice weather and some more good conversation by the pool.

Marilyn on the left and Vic Egg on the right at Elks Lodge 309.

Vic told me about the volunteer work he’ll be doing with the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial here in Colorado Springs. He retired from the New Jersey Fire Department and was involved in the response to the cowardly terrorist attacks of 9/11. According to one of the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial websites (link here); “The mission of the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial, which is located in the shadow of Pike’s Peak, is to honor the sacrifice made by IAFF members who serve as professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel who have given their lives in the line of duty. ”

This nice lady played with little Coach while we talked.

Vic told me that another Alpine had pulled in and parked behind them (see pic below). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet the owners because they left again early Monday. Vic told me who it was, and we probably know them from past Alpine Coach Rallies, but I didn’t recognize the name(s) he gave me. I’m sure if we saw their faces, we’d recognize them… I do remember seeing the Coach before because it has a bunch of wind-deflectors mounted on the sides at the rear. I think they’re called air tabs (link here), and their generator slide-out appeared to be painted with a bed-liner material.

Two Alpines in overflow parking at Elks Lodge 309. (one on the right is Vic & WIlma Eggs’)

On Monday morning, I got the opportunity to talk a little more with Vic before they pulled out. He told me more about the volunteer work he’ll be doing for the Firefighters Memorial. They’re headed over to Cheyenne Mountain State Park (on the south-side of Colorado Springs) in order to be closer to the activities he’ll be involved with. I think we’ll try to find the time this coming Saturday to attend some of those activities. For more info on those Firefighter Memorial activities, go to this website (Click here).

C U later Vic & Wilma. Hope to see you again soon!

After Vic & WIlma headed out on Monday morning, I helped another Elks Lodge member (John) put away umbrellas and stack lawn chairs in the pool area. Later on, Jerry joined in and we covered both pools for the season 🙁

We closed out our Monday evening with new friends Jerry & Marilyn outside our Coach. Jerry grilled up some awesome steaks that we washed down with some adult beverages.

Jerry, Stilla, & Marilyn at Elks Lodge 309.

And another fine day comes to a close! Monday continues to be my new favorite day of the week (since retirement), because when I wake up , I realize I don’t have to go in to work 🙂

Check back soon…

Colorado

Reunion(s) (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/14 davidhobden@mac.com

Saturday was a day of reunions! We got to see our old 1957 Chevy Pickup at a car show and then we went to a family picnic where we got to see all of my Aunts & Uncles from my Dad’s side of the family.

My Dad’s youngest brother, (Uncle Alan) invited us to come up to his house (near Florissant, CO) for a picnic/BBQ that he tries to hold annually. Alan was also our realtor, you may remember him from some of my previous blog posts about selling the house. He not only got us into the last couple houses we bought, but also got us out of them too. 🙂

But first – we stopped in Woodland Park on our way to the family reunion/picnic. The annual “Cruise Above the Clouds” car show was being held. We used to take our 1957 Chevy Bel-Air to this car show every year from ~2006 until I sold it in 2013. I was hoping to see the Bel-Air at this car show, but instead, I saw our ’57 Pickup that I owned from ~2009, but sold in 2011! This was the first time we’d seen it anywhere since it was sold.

The Woodland Park car show is normally held within the town park and on the adjoining streets. However this year, the park was undergoing some major reconstruction, so the cars were scattered around on the surrounding streets and nearby parking lots which made for some serious hiking.

The town park in Woodland Park, CO was undergoing a major renovation.

I recognized our old ’57 Chevy Pickup right away! It had a newly re-upholstered bench seat and the bumpers were re-chromed, but otherwise it looked pretty much the same. The current owner was nowhere to be found, but I was able to ascertain from the window placard that it wasn’t the same person I sold it to back in 2011.

Here’s a picture of the truck when I put it in a car show in Springfield, CO back in 2010. It won a ‘top-ten’ trophy/placard back then.

We had our grandson Kaan with us for the day, so I had him pose for a picture in front of the truck.

Sept 2015 at Cruise Above the Clouds with grandson Kaan.

And here’s an old picture from 2009 for comparison:

Pic from 2009 with grandson Kaan in front of our garage.

The new chrome bumpers look good. But the truck still needs a new paint job, which is one of the reasons I decided to sell it.

This is an old picture (below) for comparison.

The new bench seat (below) also looked good. When I owned it – it had a couple of ugly tan-colored bucket seats with little armrests. I also put in a new clutch, pressure plate, and had the 3-speed transmission rebuilt. I was really hoping to talk to the new owner, but he was nowhere to be found… he must have been wandering around checking out the other cars/trucks.

Here’s a couple more old pictures that I dug up. These were taken in 2010 when we towed the truck to a car show in Springfield, CO behind our old Class-C motorhome.

circa 2010, on the way to a car show in Springfield, CO.

Stilla, July 2010 at car show in Springfield, CO.

There were a lot of Chevy pickups at the car show this year. We must have seen six or seven mid-fifties trucks. They must be gaining in popularity again. For example, here’s a yellow ’57…

and here’s a ’59 for sale that needs some minor work…

I loaded up on a few new t-shirts… they were selling event T’s for $15. I bought one, and then they threw in a couple more from the last two years’ events. What a great deal, especially since I’ve worn out some of my old ones.

After walking through the whole car show area, we still didn’t see my old ’57 Chevy Bel-Air 🙁 So I texted the new owner and he responded right away that he was at a different car show in Colorado Springs today… oh well, maybe I’ll get a chance to see it again another time. We’ve stayed in touch since he bought it in July of 2013. Here’s a picture of the new owner when he picked it up with his trailer… what a sad day (for me).

Anyway… enough of the trip down memory lane with the cars…

We left Woodland Park and headed on up to my Uncle’s house for the family reunion picnic.

The aspen trees are already getting their fall colors.

My uncle lives between Florissant and Divide. Therefore, he likes to call his neighborhood “Floride” 🙂 Get it? The back of his property borders the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Uncle Alan set up a tent and had a campfire going alongside the dirt road leading up to the house on his property. This is the usual spot for his annual picnic, but he has to transport all the food, utensils, chairs, etc., from the house which is still a good distance away – too far to carry stuff by hand, so he uses a little trailer hooked up to his ATV.

Alan cooked some hot dogs on the campfire while his son-in-law Nick grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs on the BBQ grill.

We all milled around, talked, and enjoyed our food in the great outdoors. The weather couldn’t have been any better.

Here’s some pics of our Hobden family gathering: Note: My dad was the only one of the Hobden clan that couldn’t be here, because he (and stepmom Elaine) were at a campout in their Coach with the FCRV group this weekend.

(L to R) My Uncle Bruce, and aunt’s Alice and DeEtte.

(L to R) Aunts’ Beverly, DeEtte, Alice, and cousin Sarah.

(L to R) Uncles’ Alan, Russell, and Bruce. (Bruce had recent knee surgery).

My Uncle Alan’s daughter Sarah, her husband Nick and their two beautiful girls.

Our grandson, Kaan and Stilla swinging on the cool “porch swing” hanging from the trees.

All my dad’s brother’s and his only sister… (L to R) Alan, Alice, Russell, and Charles.

Our grandson Kaan played in the hammock.

And a few more pics…

My dad’s brother Russell (below right) and his wife DeEtte (below left) drove all the way from Lamar, CO to be here. I don’t get to see them very often and it’s always great to catch up.

Kaan tried to find some treasure with the metal detector until the batteries died 🙁

We toured around the property a little bit on Uncle Alan’s ATV. Kaan always enjoys that 🙂

And Kaan tried out all the swings that Uncle Alan has set up around the house…

It was great to see all my Aunts and Uncles (from my Dad’s side of the family) and we always look forward to these get-togethers.

Before it got too late, we helped clean up, and then said our farewells to head on back down the pass. Here’s a view of Pikes Peak from the Woodland Park side.

Check back soon, my next post includes some new Alpine Coach’s that arrived at the Elks Lodge on Sunday…

Colorado

Fixing the Other Daughter’s Car (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/13 davidhobden@mac.com

I spent most of Friday at my old high school buddy’s automotive shop “Chuck’s Auto“. My oldest daughter’s car had some serious front tire issues as you can see from the following pics:

My buddy Mike came to the rescue again with reasonable prices and his outstanding mechanical abilities. As usual, I did a good job of supervising and even got my hands dirty:) You may remember Mike from previous posts HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Mike gave the car a much needed alignment…

and mounted/balanced two new front tires.

Thanks for the help again Mike!

In other news: The Urban Escape Vehicle just missed being clobbered by this tree branch overnight. We woke up to see this laying in front of the Coach. We didn’t even hear the wind that must have kicked up to do this… or could it be the work of mad squirrels? Luckily, the tree isn’t directly above us.

Stay tuned for my next post. We went to a car show on Saturday in Woodland Park and saw my old ’57 Chevy Pickup, then it was on to a mini-family reunion at my Uncle Alan’s in Florrisant/Divide CO.

Colorado

Alpine’s Come and Go; New Class C (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/10 davidhobden@mac.com

More fun times at the Elks Lodge…

On Wednesday evening, after a lazy day of hanging around the Coach, Jim/Sally and Jerry/Marilyn joined us outside the Urban Escape Vehicle.

We grilled up some German Bratwursts using Jerry & Marilyn’s BBQ…

and just enjoyed each other’s company until it was time to call it a night. The brats were excellent by the way.

Thursday was more of the same… we hung out in the evening with Jim & Sally outside their Coach. Jim & Sally are heading out in the morning so this would be our last evening with them. We expect to see them again in Quartzsite, AZ at the Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally” in early January. But, you never know, we might cross paths before then 🙂

Sally made a nice stew for us. We talked for a while and then said our farewells and ‘see-ya-laters’. Til next time Jim & Sally…

And guess who’s back in town?!? Ricky & Cathy Broussard stopped by! They just rolled back into Colorado Springs and saw us in the Elks Lodge parking lot. I guess you could say; one Alpine rolls-out and another rolls-in. Except, Ricky & Cathy aren’t staying at the lodge, they are going to their usual spot in an RV park just around the corner. But they’ll come over to the lodge as their busy schedule permits and I’m sure I’ll be posting more pictures soon 🙂

In other news – My brother Steve and his long-time girlfriend Cheryl just sent us a picture today of their new (to them) Class C. They’re in Casa Grande, AZ where we like to spend some of the winter months. I’ve written many posts from their place which they affectionately call “the dirt farm“. You can do a search on this blog by typing in “dirt farm” to see more, or click on the link. Maybe some family RV trips are in our future? 🙂

Colorado

Old Batteries; New Car (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/09 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

No, not us this time, but I did help Jim & Sally do some battery maintenance and then I helped my Dad & Stepmom (Elaine) pick up a new car. Read on to hear more…

Here’s Jim & Sally’s Alpine Coach parked in the “overflow” area of the Elks Lodge 309 parking lot:

I wrote about Jim & Sally in a previous post (click Here). Jim has had some issues lately with his ~5 year-old batteries. Some of the battery posts have worked themselves loose over time due to (possible) manufacturer defect and excessive heat.

Jim pulled his batteries out while I employed my awesome supervisory skills honed through years of military service. I made sure nothing sparked and ensured we had a fire extinguisher handy 🙂

His Coach, (a 1999 Alpine), has eight ‘house’ and two ‘chassis’ batteries, just like my 2005. Although, Jim has installed an array of solar panels on top of his Coach, while I only have the original (two) 50 Watt panels.

Jim’s battery bay (three batteries already removed)

It may be hard to see in this picture (below), but the old battery post appeared to be a bolt (turned upside-down) and embedded in the lead which simply pulled out after years of use. It sure doesn’t seem (to me) that it’s a very good method of manufacture. All the batteries I’ve dealt with in the past had solid (poured) lead posts.

Original battery post (on the right) fell out.

In this picture (below), you can see the original battery post on the right. It’s loose and it wiggles around, which isn’t good for a battery post. This creates high resistance and reduces the batteries ability to conduct electricity efficiently. The hole on the left-side of the picture (below) was drilled by Jim in order to use a self-tapping screw to secure the battery cables since the original post is loose and therefore unusable.

And here’s how Jim did it:

Here, he is cleaning up the area with a wire brush on his drill to prep for drilling. Again, I supervised and kept a fire extinguisher handy 🙂

And here’s Jim drilling into the lead so he could ‘sink’ a new self-tapping screw to replace the old ‘post’.

After fixing two of his batteries with this ‘modification’… Jim started the task of putting all the batteries back in the bay.

And here ya go! All back in place, hooked up, and working again:)

That took most of Tuesday morning – but, Great job Jim! Now, start budgeting for new batteries instead of doing this again, eh?

After finishing up the battery maintenance with Jim, my Dad and stepmom Elaine stopped by the Elks Lodge to pick me up. I offered to chauffeur them to an auto dealership (Hoo Motors in Kiowa, CO) where they found a new (to them) car over the weekend.

They attended a Labor Day weekend campout with the FCRV “Rolling Springs” group in the Kiowa area and had stopped by the dealership to “just look-around”. They found a really nice 2013 VW Passat TDI with low mileage.

They’ve been looking to trade in their Toyota Camry before it got too old and started to have maintenance issues. It’s been good to them over the years, but they wanted something newer. They’ve been known to go on long road-trips and certainly don’t want any break-downs to be in their future.

Here’s the old Toyota that they traded in.

And here’s the new (to them) 2013 VW Passat TDI.

Side-by-side comparison:

The Passat is a really nice car… I told them they should have bought two 🙂 The interior reminded me very much of our old 2004 E320 Mercedes which I guess isn’t unusual since they’re both German cars with (probably) the same design engineers. It was fun to drive too! I chauffeured them back to the Elks Lodge where we enjoyed (once-again) “Taco Tuesday” with all our friends 🙂

“Taco Tuesday” at Elks 309 with (L to R) Biff, my Dad, Linda, Marilyn, Jerry, Stilla, and Elaine.

After tacos and drinks, we all went outside to check out Dad’s (or should I say?) – Elaine’s new car. After everyone was properly impressed… we said our farewell’s to Dad/Elaine and Biff/Linda.

The rest of us; Jerry/Marilyn and Jim/Sally went back to the lodge to enjoy some more adult beverages and later on we finished up the evening outside Jerry/Marilyn’s Coach.

(L to R) Marilyn, David, Jerry, and Jim.

Good times with good people… and another awesome Colorado sunset completed the day!

Check back soon to see what we’re up to next…

Colorado

In the Wind (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/09/09 davidhobden@mac.com

On Labor Day Monday we joined our new friends Jerry & Marilyn for an awesome day of riding. We met Jerry & Marilyn here at the Elks Lodge in COS only last week and we already consider them “best-friends” that we hope to be associated with for many, many years to come. It never ceases to amaze me how many great people we get to meet our full-timing adventure.

Here’s some pictures from our motorcycle tour around Colorado Springs, Manitou, and Woodland Park:

David & Stilla riding up the pass (I-24 to Woodland Park) [picture taken by Marilyn]

(L to R) Stilla, David, Jerry, and Marilyn at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.

(L to R) Jerry, Marilyn, Stilla, and myself at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.

Jerry trying on a new look at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.

(L to R) Jerry, Marilyn, and Stilla at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post in COS, CO.

(L to R) Stilla, Jerry, Stilla, and Marilyn at the BierWerks in Woodland Park, CO.

After a full day of riding – we made it back to the Elks Lodge just in time… it started raining as we pulled into the parking lot. What a great day!

Check back in for my next post which includes the always enjoyable subject-matter of battery maintenance; a new car; and the ever-popular Taco Tuesday.

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

Category Archives: Colorado

Taking Care of Family (Casa Grande, AZ & Colorado Springs, CO)

Finally On the Road Again (Elks Lodge 408 – Las Vegas NM)

Slow-Prep to Move South (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

Farewell (for now) Friends, Family, & Elks Lodge 309 (COS, CO)

Alpine Eggs & More Friends (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

Reunion(s) (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

Fixing the Other Daughter’s Car (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

Alpine’s Come and Go; New Class C (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

Old Batteries; New Car (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

In the Wind (Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

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