Travel to FCRV Campvention (Cam-Plex, Gillette WY)

2015/07/04 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

We moved out of our spot at the COS Elks Lodge on Wednesday evening after it finally quit raining. I had already loaded the Harley and bicycles earlier in the day. We dumped the tanks and parked at the back of the lot so we could get an early start on Thursday.

Urban Escape Vehicle ready to roll at the COS Elks Lodge.

We coordinated our morning takeoff time with my Dad/Stepmom in order to meet up on I-25 so we could convoy together to the FCRV Campvention Rally in Gillette, WY. When my stepmom (Elaine) called to say they had gotten on the highway and were nearing our exit, we took off immediately but got caught up in slow traffic before we could even get to the on-ramp. When we finally got on I-25 heading north, they were several miles ahead of us. We stayed in contact via text message and called off mile markers. They stayed around 55 mph, but with heavy traffic it took us about 40 miles before we could catch up with them.

We finally passed my Dad & Elaine near Castle Rock and took over the lead…

Dad and Elaine’s Coach with Jeep in tow on I-25 heading north to Gillette, WY.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we have the pleasure of traveling with our grandson (Kaan) while school is out for the summer. He really enjoys the passenger seat.

We rolled through Denver without too much incident… traffic is always a challenge through there.

I only had to stand on the brakes once. Don’t you just hate it when you leave a nice gap between yourself and the cars in front… and someone always seems to want to fill that gap just as everyone ahead is braking… grrrr.

And later on, this knucklehead passed us doing about 85 mph while chunks of his flat tire littered the road in front of us. We dodged the pieces until he finally realized he had a flat and pulled over…

We finally found a rest area near Ft Collins and took a quick break. Our little dog ‘Coach’ enjoys breaks often 🙂 My dad shared one of his walkie-talkies so we could stay in touch without having to call or text on the phones.

Traffic finally thinned as we approached the Wyoming border.

My Dad & Elaine made reservations earlier in the week for the KOA in Douglas, WY. We wanted to stay on budget and didn’t make any reservations. Besides, we can easily dry-camp at a rest area for a quick overnight while traveling.

So we stopped at a rest area just south of Douglas to call the KOA to check prices and see if they had room for us there too. They did have one spot left… but they wanted about $40. Ouch! We originally planned on spending the night at a rest area near Guernsey State Park that we had frequented once before, but we already passed that one. This particular rest area in Douglas had signs posted “No Overnight Parking”. Luckily, the nice lady on the phone from the KOA told us about the city park nearby.

So after traveling ~300 miles for the day we parted ways for the evening. My Dad & Elaine went to the KOA while we found the city park…

And what a nice park it was! Plenty of room, easy access, and the best part – free 🙂

Right next to the North Platte river…

We didn’t even have to disconnect the truck.

Grandson Kaan in front of a barbed-wire deer at the Riverside Park in Douglas, WY.

We unloaded Kaan’s bike so he could get some exercise and give the computer games and our internet usage a break.

We even broke out the metal detector. Kaan had fun with it for a while until he got tired of digging up bottle caps and other metal junk.

Then we played a little “catch” with the football…

In the morning (Friday), we drove the ~2-3 miles to meet my Dad & Elaine at the KOA park for breakfast. We enjoyed Biscuits & Gravy at a picnic table in the shade.

(L to R) Elaine, Dad, Kaan and Stilla getting breakfast at the KOA in Douglas, WY.

The Urban Escape Vehicle parked at the check-in line. Douglas KOA in WY.

Then we convoyed north on WY-59 for ~120 miles to arrive at the Cam-Plex Events Facility in Gillette, WY.

We were greeted by FCRV volunteers in the parking lot where we paid $50 for two nights because we arrived early. The FCRV Campvention Rally doesn’t officially start until the 6th of July. We paid in advance for the rally itself, which was $275 for six nights.

We disconnected the tow vehicles and followed the directions we were given to the Boxelder RV Park located on the east side of the complex.

I followed Dad’s coach to our designated site in the RV park…

And here we are, all set up and ready for the rally…

Elaine, Dad, and Stilla enjoying the shade between our rigs.

We pulled in next to friends and fellow FCRV members Biff & Linda Anderson. They arrived a day or so earlier.

Biff & Linda Anderson next to their Monaco Coach.

After getting set up and exploring the immediate area, we found… you guessed it… an Elks Lodge right next to the park. Elks Lodge 2825.

(L to R) Linda, Stilla, Elaine, Dad, and Biff at Elks Lodge 2825 in Gillette, WY.

After refreshments at the Elks Lodge, we drove through the Cam-Plex looking for fellow FCRV members (Bob & Mary McChord) who were parked in the handicapped area on the opposite side of the complex.

Other than a recent dinner visit at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs, we last saw Bob and Mary McChord when they were staying in Parker, AZ at the Pirates Den Resort & Marina. I wrote about our visit with them on 12 Feb 2015 (HERE).

FCRV members visiting with Bob & Mary McChord in their coach.

Stilla and Kaan touring the RV park in Gillette, WY.

So here we are; (L to R) Biff & Linda, my Dad & Elaine, and the Urban Escape Vehicle in Gillette, WY 🙂

There’s supposed to be a nice 4th of July fireworks show here at the Cam-Plex along with some other activities… stay tuned…

Colorado

Our Final Days at the Elks Lodge (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/07/02 davidhobden@mac.com

We’ve stayed pretty busy this past week… I’ve gotten behind again with the blog postings, (my last entry was on Friday morning). To continue where I left off; On Friday morning, we said goodbye to our Alpine Coach friends, the Foster’s, who were heading up to Littleton to visit relatives. See you later, John and Lorraine! The Giddens (Jack & Linda) along with Linda’s sister (Edye) and her husband (Hugh) went out for a day of sight-seeing around Colorado Springs.

IMG_9172_2 — Nice to see a couple more Alpines in the Elks RV park… doing our part to increase the property values…

Meanwhile, Stilla spent time over at our daughters house while I took the motorcycle over to a nearby RV park where Ricky and Cathy Broussard are parked. Ricky mentioned that he’s had to add small amounts of antifreeze to his recovery bottle lately and is concerned he might have a coolant leak. We checked everything out but couldn’t find any evidence of leakage. The only questionable problem was with the radiator, it has a small section where the cooling fins appear to be disintegrating (pictured below). Anyone seen this before? The area is dry and doesn’t seem to be seeping antifreeze.

While checking out Ricky’s Alpine for coolant leaks… he showed me his ingenious idea for deflecting the air from the compressor pressure relief valve. I’ve got to build one of these… I think everyone hates the dust cloud that inevitably gets kicked up when the pressure relief valve blows. Way to go Ricky!

When I returned to the Elks Lodge, the camp host enlisted my help to get the tires filled on his Sportster. It’s been sitting for quite a while and the front was almost flat. After I filled the tires, I offered to wash the bike since I already had my wash bucket out. Then I ended up waxing and polishing… I just hated to see all the scuffs and scratches from the plastic tarp he’s been using to cover the bike. It gave me something to do and it turned out pretty good. If anyone’s interested, he’s trying to sell it… I’m sure he’ll make you a good deal… it would make someone a great first ‘starter’ Harley.

The Gidden’s made it back in time for the Friday dinner at the Elks Lodge. The Broussard’s also came over from their nearby RV park.

Dinner at Elks Lodge 309: Ricky and Cathy Broussard on the left… Jack and Linda Giddens on the right. Lindas sister Edye is also on the left across from Stilla.

It was a great dinner with great friends… my Dad and stepmom Elaine also came by with Biff and Linda.

Early Saturday morning, I was walking our little dog (Coach) and met Jack in the RV parking lot… we decided to go on an impromptu (somewhat) longer walk and see where Ricky and Cathy Broussard are parked at a nearby mobile home/RV park. After meeting up with Ricky in front of his Alpine (pic below), the three of us continued on down to the nearby Monument Creek trail and did a hefty ~2 mile loop.

After we returned from our little morning hike… The Gidden’s took off for the day to tour Cripple Creek and Victor with Linda’s sister Edye and her husband Hugh.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool here at the Elks Lodge.

My oldest daughter, Jennifer brought our grandson, Kaan for a day at the pool as well…

Daughter Jennifer with grandson Kaan, who demonstrated (again and again) how he can dive to the bottom of the deep end.

And then things began to liven-up around mid-afternoon… a band started setting up tents beside the pool. Before we knew it, we had good music, a keg of beer, and raffle prizes. What an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Apparently, unknown to us, the lodge was hosting this charity event to raise funds for a local school wrestling team. Here’s some pics…

Unfortunately (for us) the Gidden’s and Hugh/Edye were too worn out after their day in Cripple Creek and Victor to join us, but they could certainly hear the music from their respective spots in the RV lot.

One of the raffle prizes was this party bus (pictured below) for twenty people to take a trip up to Cripple Creek for an evening. The band had loads of raffle prizes throughout the evening and even a 50/50 drawing.

Anyone want to purchase some losing tickets? Only used once…

The lights from the band reflected off the stainless steel on this Country Coach parked next to us in the early evening… first flashing red…

then blue…

and then green…

and they played on late into the night as evidenced from this view out our Coach window…

Another great day at the Elks Lodge!

On Sunday morning we met up again with all our Alpine Coach friends; my Dad/Stepmom; and Biff/Linda for an awesome Sunday Brunch inside the Lodge. Longtime friends John and Angelika Rowe also joined us for breakfast. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pics 🙁

After our breakfast, we said our ‘farewells’ and ‘see-ya-laters’ with our Alpine friends Jack and Linda, and Hugh and Edye. They are heading north. Safe travels you guys… it was great seeing you!

Then we joined John and Angelika Rowe who rode their Ultra-Classic from Fountain for a ride downtown to the annual Tejon Street Bike Fest.

Our ’96 Heritage Softail Classic and John’s Ultra Classic at the Tejon Bike Fest.

Angelika Rowe, Stilla, and grandson Kaan.

John and Angelika at the Tejon Bikefest.

All kinds and sizes of bikes were at the Tejon Bike Fest.

After checking out all the activities and vendors at the Bike Fest, we decided to take a ride into Garden of the Gods. However, the ride was short-lived for two reasons, 1) nasty rain clouds came in quickly over Pikes Peak, and 2) I forgot to switch the fuel petcock off of the ‘reserve’ position the last time I filled up… I ran out of gas just as we got to this parking lot (below).

Stilla, John and Angelika Rowe in Garden of the Gods.

John and Angelika had to ride over to a gas station to get us some fuel. They ended up having to purchase a gas can because the station didn’t do ‘loaners’.

John and Angelika “to the rescue”… fuel can in hand…

Now I’m the proud owner of a 1 gallon fuel can. Hmmm, where am I going to find room for that in the Coach? Once I was fueled back up… John and Angelika headed straight back home because it was starting to rain. We made if halfway back to downtown Colorado Springs before it started raining real hard. It got so bad that we had to duck into a gas station to take cover under the pump island. Luckily, the gas station/convenience store also had seating inside, so we dried off inside and enjoyed a cappuccino until the rain let up.

And then the sun came out… so we went back to the Tejon Street Bike Fest to check on a cover for the Harley that I had spied earlier.

People were out and about again after the rainstorm… the smart people had just stayed parked and waited out the rain inside one of the many bars or cafes along Tejon street.

I found the vendor that I had talked to earlier and he fitted the bike with one of their new waterproof covers. I’ve been needing one of these for those days where a full cloth cover just isn’t practical.

The cover is easy to put on and protects the seat and saddlebags from the hot sun. It can even be put on immediately after riding since the cover doesn’t touch the exhaust pipes. What you can get for $100 nowadays, eh?

Later on, after we got back to the Coach, my good friend and old Army buddy, Tim Bargy stopped by on his Harley with his wife Christine for a visit. Again, I forgot to take a picture 🙁 It’s always good to see Tim. We were stationed together in Schwabach, Germany back in the early ’80s. Christine is also German, so Stilla and her jabbered while Tim and I got caught up. It started raining again shortly after they left for their home in Monument, so I gave him a call later to make sure they made it home safely. Tim told me they had to spend a half-hour or so at a gas station to wait it out. Sounds familiar right?

On Monday, I honestly can’t remember what we did… so it must not have been anything important right? I probably just cleaned something or got a few things packed up in preparation for us to leave on Thursday.

But on Tuesday, Danny and Monika Malmquist stopped by for a lunchtime visit. Monika works just around the corner from here and Danny doesn’t get a lot of free time from his trucking job, so it was good to see them.

We decided to go out for some Greek food at a little restaurant on north Nevada Ave near the Elks Lodge. It was a good choice.

And later that evening, we got back together again for… wait for it… Taco Tuesday at the Elks Lodge…

Wednesday, I spent all day getting everything packed up. I got the Harley and the bicycles back onto the pickup. We’ve been here at the Elks Lodge for two months now… a great place but it’s time to move on…

Our plan is to meet up with my Dad and stepmom Elaine this morning (Thursday) to convoy up to Gillette, WY for the FCRV Campvention Rally. We’ll be taking our grandson along since he’s on summer break.

So check back soon to see what adventure awaits… and remember you can always ‘subscribe’ to this blog to get a notification when a new post is submitted.

Colorado

Retirement Ceremony and the Alpine Coach “mini-rally” continues…(Elks Lodge 309 – COS, CO)

2015/06/26 davidhobden@mac.com

Another fun day!

First of all, I had the pleasure and honor to attend a former co-workers retirement ceremony. It was held at Schriever Air Force Base within the highly-secretive Missile Defense Agency Integration & Operations Center (MDIOC). I worked there for ~7 years after I retired from the Army at Ft Carson in 2007. It was truly a ‘grand ceremony’ for a ‘grand gentleman’.

Pictures aren’t allowed inside the facility, but I hope to receive some “official” photos that the public affairs group took during the ceremony… if so, I’ll post them later. Meanwhile, here’s a front page photo of the ‘flyer’ or ‘handout’ with biography that everyone in attendance received…

Arthur, or ‘Art’ as he is known, completed over 32 years of government service in DoD Contracting and now plans on retiring to Hershey, PA. Good Luck Art! It was a privilege to have known you during my time at the MDA.

It was great to see the old workplace and coworkers… it’s been just a little over a year since I resigned my position there and we went full-timing in the Coach. Other than the awesome ceremony, the best part was catching up with the many fine folks I used to work for and with. Many of my old coworkers follow along on this blog or Facebook and know what we’ve been up to (somewhat), but many also do not. So, when asked (repeatedly) by many folks during the reception; I found myself trying to remember some of the many places we’ve visited in the last year. It’s truly difficult to pick a favorite place we’ve been over the last year, it seems like we’ve been to so many. I passed out a lot of my “non-business” UrbanEscapeVehicle.com business cards, so maybe more will follow along now.

When I returned from the ceremony, I found Stilla at the Elks Lodge pool with our grandson Kaan, and a couple of her girlfriends. (Sorry, no pics)

And then, before long we were hanging out with our Alpine Coach friends again as they trickled in from their day of sightseeing around the Colorado Springs area.

Another fun evening of good conversation with good people ensued…

This picture (below) almost looks like a repeat of yesterday, but it’s not – we just happened to snag the same table at the downstairs bar.

And then we spent some time out on the patio when the karaoke got a little too loud for conversation…

Jack Giddens and Ricky Broussard at Elks Lodge 309.

Like I stated at the beginning of this post… Another fun day!

We expect to meet up again tonight (Friday) for dinner here at the Elks Lodge with the Gidden’s and Broussard’s. Unfortunately the Foster’s left this morning to visit relatives in Littleton. Maybe they’ll be back by before we leave here on the 2nd of July. Hopefully, the Foster’s will sign up for the Alpine Coach Lake Powell Rally in October and we’ll see them there… I know they were tossing around the idea. 🙂

Stay tuned for more impromptu Alpine Coach “mini-rally” fun…

Colorado

Neighbors and an Alpine Coach mini-Rally (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/06/25 davidhobden@mac.com

Fun times here at the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge! We started off our Wednesday by going out to lunch with our neighbors Robert and Faye. They have been parked next to us here at the RV park for the last few weeks. They invited us, along with our other RV park neighbor; Barney to the Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. Barney is a long time resident of the Elks Lodge and was even the camp host at one time. Robert and Faye are full-timers that manage and maintain a metal art sculpture business to support their lifestyle on the road.

Good food and good conversation. Thanks for the invite Robert and Faye!

Elks Lodge RV Park neighbors; Barney, Robert and Faye. At Hu Hot Mongolian Grill in Colorado Springs.

We returned to the Elks Lodge after lunch and were happy to see Jack and Linda Giddens had arrived in their Alpine Coach. They are members of the Alpine Coach Association SoCal group that we belong to. Linda corresponded with us yesterday, so we knew they were coming in. I spoke to the camp host to reserve a couple spots for them that had just opened up the day before.

The Giddens’ are traveling with Linda’s sister and her husband, Hugh. They parked their 5th Wheel in the last open spot.

We were also surprised to see John and Lorraine Foster’s Alpine Coach in the RV park! They are also part of the Alpine SoCal group. We weren’t expecting them. Another rig had apparently just departed so they (luckily) were able to score a spot with hook ups as well. It’s starting to look like a mini-Alpine Coach Rally here at the COS Elks Lodge 🙂

And it just keeps getting better… Ricky and Cathy Broussard, who are also Alpine Coach owners, showed up to visit. They are parked at a nearby RV park and just happened by today. We met Ricky and Cathy at our first Alpine Coach Association Rally in St. George, UT a few years ago when we first joined the Alpine SoCal group.

So we all went into the Elks Lodge bar to enjoy some adult beverages. However, John and Lorraine were still out and about, so we didn’t get to meet up with them until later.

(L to R) Stilla, Cathy Broussard, Linda Giddens. Moose antler on table in foreground, courtesy of Ricky Broussard.

(L to R) Ricky Broussard, Stilla, Cathy Broussard, Linda Giddens, Linda’s sister and husband Hugh, and Jack Giddens.

(L to R) Myself, Ricky, Stilla, Cathy, Linda, Linda’s sister and Hugh.

Great people and great fun! We had a good time catching up on each other’s travels. Ricky showed off a moose antler they recently picked up during a shed hunt. There’s probably something inherently wrong with having a moose antler in an Elks Lodge… lucky he wasn’t kicked out 🙂

After “Happy Hour” was over we said our fond farewells and made plans to meet up again later.

On the way out, we met up with Alpine Coach Owners; John and Lorraine Foster who had just gotten back from a quick day trip to Denver.

So we went back into the lodge to enjoy another adult beverage and some more conversation. We got caught up on their fun travels. It sounds like they’re having a great time. Hopefully we’ll be able to see more of John and Lorraine before they depart again on Friday. The others will be around until Sunday.

Any more Alpines out there that want to stop by?

Stay tuned… today (Thursday) I get to attend the retirement ceremony of an old co-worker from the Missile Defense Agency… I’ll report back later…

Colorado

Still Killing Time (Elks Lodge 309 – Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/06/23 davidhobden@mac.com

Still not a whole lot going on lately… we’re just killing time here at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs since we already paid for the month of June.

It’s been good spending time here with friends and family. Our next planned trip is to the FCRV Rally (Campvention) in Gillette, WY around the 1st of July. We will convoy with my Dad/Stepmom and meet up with other friends once we get there.

Our spot here at the COS Elks Lodge across from the pool.

Meanwhile… we’ve been attending events here at the lodge and hanging out by the pool…

Hanging out at the Urban Escape Vehicle with (old) neighbor Tricia after a day at the pool.

Hanging out after Spaghetti Dinner night at the COS Elks Lodge.

Father’s Day BBQ at the Elks Lodge. Happy Father’s Day Dad!

Grilling on the deck at the COS Elks Lodge.

Hanging out under the awning at the COS Elks Lodge.

Enjoying Steak Dinner night with friends at the COS Elks Lodge.

Enjoying Steak Dinner night with friends at the COS Elks Lodge. (John and Angelika)

Newly inducted ‘Elk Member’ and fellow RV’er (Gary Abbs)

We even made it over to the Pikes Peak Harley dealer on a recent Saturday for some “Casino Day” fun…

It hasn’t been all “playtime” though… I’ve spent some time detailing the generator bay recently…

I cleaned and touched up the paint on the inside of the front clip. It cleaned up nice 🙂

The frame rails have a little surface rust that I still need to take care of. I plan on getting back in there and taking care of that. Hopefully, I remember to post some “after” pics once I get it done.

And here’s a picture of little “Coach” since you haven’t seen him lately…

Stay tuned… more fun on the way (hopefully) 🙂

Colorado

Biding Our Time (Elks Lodge 309 – Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/06/11 davidhobden@mac.com

It’s been a while since my last posting. There’s just not a whole heck of a lot to blog about when your stationary for so long. It’s been a great relief to get the house sold and be done with the mortgage payments and other associated home-related bills/obligations. The checks have all cleared and all the bills have been paid 🙂 We already paid for our spot here at the Elks Lodge until the end of June.

It now feels like we’re just biding our time until we head to the Campvention Rally in Gillette WY o/a the 4th of July. Now, don’t get me wrong… we haven’t just been sitting around in the Coach all the time – we’ve been doing a lot of things with family and friends and enjoying the many amenities at the Elks Lodge. It’s just that we haven’t been to any major attractions or “blog-worthy” events.

As a matter-of-fact; we’ve enjoyed the pool here at the Elks Lodge several times over the last couple of weeks; and in between rainstorms, I’ve even been on several motorcycle rides around town and through Garden of the Gods park.

Front-view of Elks Lodge 309, Colorado Springs CO.

Urban Escape Vehicle in the RV park behind the Elks Lodge.

And we’ve enjoyed many dinner get-togethers at the Lodge over the last couple weeks…

Taco Tuesday (2 June) – Elks Lodge 309 with Dad, Stepmom Elaine, RV friends Biff & Linda, Daughter Jennifer, and Grandson Kaan

BBQ night (5 June) – Elks Lodge 309 with Dad, Stepmom Elaine, and RV friends; Biff & Linda, Bob & Mary.

We even spent a couple days over at my Dad’s house helping to get the ‘bird house’ set up that I wrote about in an earlier blog post HERE.

Stilla digging hole for the bird house at Dad’s house.

Dad securing the bird house post after leveling.

Dad putting the final touches on the freshly “planted” bird house.

So, my apologies in advance to you blog-readers that are expecting new locations and picture-heavy blog posts… you’ll just have to wait until we hit the road again in July 🙂 Meanwhile, we’ll try to come up with some local Colorado Springs stuff… as a matter-of-fact, I recently got an invitation to attend a retirement ceremony later this month for a friend and old co-worker from the Missile Defense Agency, so stay tuned for that…

Colorado

Homeless (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/06/02 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

It’s official!… we’re now homeless, or should I say houseless. Closing went quite well with no surprises. Congratulations to the new owner. I’m sure he’ll love the house as much as we did.

Here’s a couple final (farewell) pics of the house, although not the most recent:

View from rear of house. Downtown Colorado Springs after rainstorm.

We went ahead and paid for the month of June here at the Elks Lodge to take advantage of the cheaper monthly rate. We don’t know for sure if we’ll stay the entire month but at least we can relax, pay off some bills, and enjoy visiting with family and friends here.

We did sign up for a rally in Gillette WY for early July, so we’ll definitely be out of here by then. Until then… who knows… stay tuned…

Urban Escape Vehicle at White Sands National Monument, April 2015.

Colorado

Friends (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/05/31 davidhobden@mac.com

We went over to the house on Friday to program the garage door remotes for the new owner because he complained they didn’t work. He was right – I couldn’t get them to work either… I’ll have to go buy some fresh batteries and try again later. This was the only discrepancy he found during the walk-thru he conducted last Wednesday. Once I take care of the remotes, and get the Harley out of the garage, we’ll finally be finished with everything! Closing is still set for Monday morning. Yoo Hoo 🙂

On Friday evening, we had some old friends join us for dinner at the Elks Lodge. Tim and Christine are friends from waayy back. I’m talking early ’80s… Tim is an old Army buddy that was stationed in Schwabach Germany (1-1 CAV) with me back in the cold war days.

Here’s an old picture of Tim (on the left) from 1983 when he attended our wedding in Germany. He now lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Christine. We’re not sure where Craig (on the right) is located at nowadays… we think he might be in Milwaukee.

One of the cool things about doing a blog is that every so often I get the opportunity to dredge up old photos and give them new life… here’s another example of that – the pic below was also taken at our wedding in 1983 and includes old Army buddies; (L to R) Craig Collins, Tim Bargy, and Jim Burns:

And here’s a more recent pic (2014) of myself, Tim and Jim. We held an impromptu reunion when Jim was passing through Colorado. Tim and I drove up to Denver to meet Jim for a brief dinner before his plane took him back up to Washington where he lives now.

David, Tim, and Jim. “We’ve aged pretty well” eh?

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my Dad and stepmom Elaine also attended dinner with us; along with more recent friends Biff & Linda. Here’s some pics of us trying to talk to each other over the loud jukebox music after dinner at the Elks Lodge:

After dinner, Tim and Christine joined us in the Coach for more conversation. Christine is also from Germany, so of course, the girls jabbered in Deutsch while Tim and I conversed. We talked late into the evening catching up on events and recent activities. We haven’t seen Tim & Christine since we left for the southwest in January. It’s always great seeing old friends… you know what they say; Life without friends is like a ‘pencil without an eraser’ or ‘books without paper’…

Christine and Tim Bargy in the Urban Escape Vehicle.

On Saturday we went back to the house to try new batteries for the garage door openers… they still wouldn’t work. A couple of our old neighbors even came over to offer assistance (or was it sympathy?) I ended up going over to Sears to get a new remote control unit. Ouch, another $44 🙁 I took the new remote back to the house and – finally, success! Now all we have to do is show up at the closing on Monday morning to hand off the keys.

We took a break around lunchtime while working on the garage door remotes and went over to nearby Wimberger’s Old World Bakery & Delicatessen. Stilla heard about an ‘authentic’ German Imbiss trailer that was going to be stationed outside on the street today. Stilla, along with many of the German folks here in Colorado Springs flock to this bakery on a regular basis to stock up on German foods and condiments.

Apparently, word got out – and there was an unbelievably long line of people waiting on a currywurst, döner kebab, or pommes. Click HERE for a link to The Little Imbiss Facebook page.

Little pond adjacent to Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.

After an hour-long wait, we finally sat down with our food and friends; John & Angelika Rowe. Angelika is also from Germany. We passed the time waiting in line catching up with these friends. We’ve spent time at car shows with John & Angelika and have attended holiday get-togethers at each others’ house over the last several years.

John, Angelika, and Stilla in front of Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.

Once again, it was good catching up with old friends. See you later John & Angelika!

Angelika, Stilla, myself and little Coach in front of Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.

After our loonng lunch break, I picked up the Harley from the house and took it over to the Elks Lodge while Stilla joined our oldest daughter and grandson at the indoor pool on Peterson Air Force Base. Afterwards, Stilla stocked up on groceries at the Commissary on base and joined me again back at the Urban Escape Vehicle where I was searching the basement for a tarp to cover the Harley with. If anything is certain lately, it’s that rain is in the forecast, and since I can’t use the garage at the house anymore…

And that’s all for now folks… stay tuned…

Colorado

Working at the House and Emissions Testing (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/05/29 davidhobden@mac.com

We’re still on track to sell the house with a closing date of 1 June. We finally heard back from the appraiser after the Memorial Day weekend – all OK with no conditions 🙂

The buyer was scheduled to do a final walk-thru on Wednesday, so I finished up a few things at the house on Tuesday. One of the things I still needed to do was move our old birdhouse from the front yard since we want to keep it. Dad helped me move it over to his house… he’ll set it up in his backyard for safekeeping.

Here we are hauling the top portion into his backyard:

He’ll dig a hole and set up the post in concrete near these rocks.

Here’s what it looked like in front of our house when we first set it up back in 2006-07. We brought this from Germany with us in 2005. Stilla’s brother Wolfgang made it for us.

And here’s another old picture of it with our former dog Elvis posing in front… poor Elvis was attacked and killed by a coyote in our backyard in December of 2013 🙁

Here’s the view of my Dad’s house (backyard) that the birdhouse will be looking at for the foreseeable future.

After we moved the birdhouse, Dad helped me put a final coat of paint “restore” on the front porch. The first coat was done before we put the house on the market back in January and portions of the rubberized-type paint had frozen before it dried and it wasn’t sticking too well. I promised the buyer that I would touch it up before he took possession.

In the evening, we gathered back at the Elks Lodge for “Taco-Tuesday”. Three tacos are only $5 and drinks are at very reasonable happy-hour prices. We had quite a few folks join us; my Dad, stepmom Elaine, friends Biff and Linda, old Army buddy Daniel, and fellow Alpine Coach owner’s Tom and Johnna.

Wednesday, I piddled around the house again in the morning hoping to catch the new owner during his final walk-thru/inspection. I figured he’d appreciate me being there to answer any questions and maybe explain how to set up the auto-sprinkler system, etc., I got there at 8 AM but finally said the heck with it and left around 1:30 PM when he didn’t show. I heard later in the evening that he did get there to do his final inspection. All is well, except he couldn’t get the garage door remotes to work. So, I’ll go back and program them for him.

Thursday, I had an appointment to get the emissions test done on the Urban Escape Vehicle. It’s time to renew the registration and I haven’t had the opportunity yet to change domicile to South Dakota. Unfortunately, the county that we’re currently registered in (El Paso county) requires testing on all diesel vehicles. So $90 dollars later, I can now renew the registration for another year 🙁

After completing our emissions test and paying the state of Colorado for the privilege to drive on their fine pot-hole decimated roads for another year, we returned to the Elks Lodge.

We stopped at the dump station before returning to our parking spot because all the sites here require the use of a macerator. The sewer pipes are above-ground (small diameter) PVC pipe. It’s much less hassle to use the dump station than to hook up the macerator.

And once again, the afternoon rain storms rolled in:

All 13 full hook-up (30-Amp) sites here have been filled since before Memorial Day.

Here we are; backed into our site again (facing the pool).

We plan on going over to the house today (Friday) to program the garage door remotes and I’ll pick up the Harley and bring it back to the Lodge. It’s been nice to have it garaged with all the recent rain … but I guess that’s the price you have to pay for being homeless, aka houseless 🙂

We’re supposed to meet some folks for dinner here at the Lodge this evening, so we’re looking forward to that… stay tuned…

Colorado

Memorial Day – Picnics and Cemeteries (Colorado Springs, CO)

2015/05/26 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

“Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer.” (reference – www.history.com)

As a veteran, I took time this weekend to pause and remember all my comrades-in-arms that I had the privilege of serving with during my 26+ year Army career. There is no greater bond than the one formed between brothers-in-arms during military service/combat. Thank you brothers…

On Sunday, we did the typical picnic thing and enjoyed the Memorial Day activities here at Elks Lodge 309.

The Lodge had the grill fired up with lots of brats, dogs, and burgers. And you can’t beat the price for a beer; only $1 a glass 🙂

Friends and fellow Coach owners, Biff and Linda joined us for food and conversation.

Daughter Jennifer and grandson Kaan, also stopped by.

The threatening rain clouds didn’t stop some of the younger generation from jumping into the frigid pool…

… but the rain (once again) put a damper on things around 3 PM. Stilla went back to our youngest daughters’ house to keep an eye on her dogs while she’s in Las Vegas with her boyfriend for the weekend. Of course, she’s also using the opportunity to spend quality-time with our grandson. I just hid out from the rain and caught up on some of my favorite TV shows for the rest of the evening.

In the morning on Memorial Day Monday; my Dad, stepmom Elaine, and my Dad’s brother, Charles stopped by the Coach at the Elks Lodge to pick me up.

My Dad and stepmom have a tradition of visiting the family cemeteries each year. I offered to act as their chauffeur. Our first stop was in Elbert, CO; about 40 miles north-east of Colorado Springs. My stepmom Elaine has several relatives here.

We arrived just in time to witness a nice flag-raising ceremony, complete with honor guard, a 21-gun salute, and taps on a bugle:

After the flag ceremony, we got to work trimming some bushes and refreshing the flowers at Elaine’s relatives gravesite(s).

Dad even broke out the weed-eater…

It was time for lunch after our visit to Elbert Cemetery, so we stopped at the quaint, nearby town of Kiowa.

Patty Anns Cafe is a nice local establishment that we’ve been to a number of times. The food was just as good as l remembered it from last year.

After lunch, we took the scenic route back to Colorado Springs and arrived at Evergreen Cemetery…

The Veteran’s section of the cemetery looked especially nice with recently-placed flags. Someone had even taken the time to place a fresh flower on top of each individual headstone. Nice touch…

Here we visited my dear Grandpa and Grandma Hobden. I sure miss them both… I was deployed overseas during each of their funerals.

Dad & Elaine at Evergreen Cemetery visiting Grandma/Grandpa Hobden

We replaced the flowers and tidied up a bit.

Isn’t this a nice photo of a younger Jesse Wayne & Glenora Hobden?

Next, we visited Isadore and Minnie Meyers; Grandma Hobden’s parents. My Dad claims that Grandpa Hobden planted this evergreen tree back in 1926.

And here’s Grandpa Hobden’s parents; Nellie & Joseph Hobden.

Our final cemetery stop was at Memorial Gardens ( on S. Academy and Airport Rd.) where my stepmom Elaine’s parents (Richard and Helen Tifft) are interred at the mausoleum. We freshened up the artificial flowers which was a little challenging without a ladder.

After we paid our respects and completed our cemetery tour(s); we dropped off my Uncle Charles at his house near Memorial Hospital. Then we stopped for a quick bite at the Pita Pit near the Elks Lodge. I then successfully concluded my chauffeur duties by driving us safely back to the Coach where we said our farewells.

I hope everyone had a memorable Memorial Day weekend.

My plan for Tuesday is to finish moving a few final things out of the house in preparation for the future owners walk-thru, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Stay tuned…

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

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Working at the House and Emissions Testing (Colorado Springs, CO)

Memorial Day – Picnics and Cemeteries (Colorado Springs, CO)

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