Author’s note: No pictures today 🙁 Early travel day to Hermosa, SD. (just south of Rapid City). Will post pics of Closing Ceremonies and other Day 5 events in my next post.
Friday was basically a pack-up day for me after I worked on the computer because of my iPhoto crash that I mentioned in my previous post. I was worried because I haven’t done a backup of the hard drive since May of 2014. But it looks like I was able to bring things back in order 🙂
So after publishing the post yesterday (Friday), I loaded up the Harley after washing off all the dust that’s blowing around here in Gillette lately. Then I loaded the bicycles, took down the flagpole, and folded up our chairs so we can get an early start on Saturday. We plan on traveling with my Dad/Stepmom to Hermosa, SD where we made reservations earlier last month.
Stilla spent some time with my stepmom Elaine at the Cam-Plex Wyoming Center learning (or re-learning) how to line dance. And then at about 7 PM, we all (my Dad, Stepmom, Stilla, Kaan, and FCRV friends) went over to the main building for closing ceremonies, awards, and evening entertainment.
I did a full backup of the laptop overnight, which took hours. I had to let it run overnight and when I woke up this morning, the computer said it finally finished at 3 AM. I used my old Time Capsule™ Airport Extreme base station from Apple that I’ve been carrying around at the back of a cabinet in the Coach for the last couple years. It’s a 1TB Wi-Fi Hard Drive that I used to have set up at the house and hooked up to our router. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t done a backup since May of 2014 and there’s really no excuse other than laziness. I suppose I could leave it plugged in and it would automatically do backups for me over Wi-Fi, but that’s not really an option when we’re limited to our Verizon Jetpack, our AT&T iPhones, or weak campground Wi-Fi. I just need to remember to get it out, plug it in to AC power, and then plug the ethernet cable into the laptop every so often.
Gotta finish packing up now… check back later to see what we’re up to…
It happened again – I tried to add pictures from my Dad’s USB stick to my iPhoto album on the MacBook Pro this morning for the blog, and it just shut itself down. I had to do a complete rebuild of my iPhoto library and now all my folders are out of order. At least all my pictures appear to be there. Still not quite sure what’s going on – so anyway, after a long morning of messing with the computer, here’s today’s post… better late – than never, right?
On Day 4 (Thursday) of our FCRV Campvention Rally; we followed through on our plan to visit Devils Tower. It was very windy and still overcast in the morning, so we decided to leave the Harley at the campground and we all piled into my Dad’s Jeep. I chauffeured for the circa 120 mile round-trip.
Here’s our first view of the tower at a pull-off along WY-24…
Click HERE to read about the legend of Devils Tower.
Informational placard along WY-24 at a scenic pull-off.
And we couldn’t help but notice that the Trading Post was already stocked up for the upcoming Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in nearby Sturgis, SD. I guess they aren’t wasting any time to ensure they sell out.
Stilla bought a couple T-shirts.
Then we took advantage of the little snack bar inside the Trading Post and had some hot dogs to keep up our energy for the hike around the tower that we planned to do later.
Dad, Elaine, Kaan, and Stilla in front of the Devils Tower Trading Post.
We drove through the entrance…
I used my Disabled-Veterans Access Pass and got us in for free.
We found a parking spot in front of the visitors center. After a quick tour through the visitors center, we took some water along for our 1.3 mile hike around the monument on the Tower Trail.
Stilla and Elaine in front of Devils Tower on the Tower Trail.
The Tower Trailis a nice paved 1.3 mile pathway that circles around the 867′ high monument. There’s another longer, un-paved path named the Red Beds Trail that circles around for almost 3 miles, but we opted for the shorter, closer trail.
Stilla and Kaan in front of Devils Tower on the Tower Trail.
The trail had lots of convenient (much appreciated) benches along the route. The weather ended up being quite nice with temperatures in the 70’s and only an occasional gust of wind.
Stilla and Elaine on the Tower Trail at Devils Tower.
Kaan enjoyed exploring along the side of the path.Myself (David), Stilla and Kaan resting once again along the Tower Trail at Devils Tower, WY.Elaine, Bill (my Dad), and grandson Kaan in front of Devils Tower on the Tower Trail.Informational placard along the Tower Trail.
I’m not sure how long it took us to go around the tower, but we were all glad we did. Stilla and I were here 2 or 3 years ago with our little dog “Elvis”, but they don’t allow dogs on the trail and it was too hot to leave him in the car, so we didn’t get to do the trail back then. This time – we left our little dog “Coach” back at the Urban Escape Vehicle with the A/C on. Our kind neighbor Linda, volunteered to let him out to walk a couple times while we were away.
Letting the Jeep cool off before we get in after our walk around Devils Tower.
On the route back out of the park, we stopped by the Belle Fourche River Campground to check out the sites for future reference. They were nice – but we only saw a few spots for larger rigs and none had hookups.
This sculpture was near the campground:
Informational placard explaining the ‘Circle of Sacred Smoke’.
My Dad took a picture to emulate the picture in the placard (above):
And of course, we had to stop at “Prairie Dog Town”:
Then we stopped for ice cream at the Devils Tower Trading Post on the way back out…
We also stopped at the grocery store in the small town of Moorcroft on our drive back to the campground in Gillette. We scored some fresh fruit (watermelon, cherries, and bananas) to enjoy later.
Back at the Cam-Plex; Here we are again at yet another impromptu “Happy Hour” between our Coaches…
Elaine, Linda, Biff and Stilla hiding from the gusts of wind.
Later on; Stilla, Kaan, my Dad, and Elaine all went to enjoy some evening entertainment inside the Wyoming Center, but I stayed at the Coach to catch up on some recorded shows and download the pictures we took during the day.
This morning (Friday) I took a break from fixing the computer problems to go to the FCRV Parade (my Dad took lots of pictures). And just now, in the early afternoon, Stilla went over to the Wyoming Center building with Elaine to do some line dancing. Later this evening, there’s closing ceremonies and a Monster Truck Show. So check back tomorrow for a full update and more Urban Escape Vehicle.com adventure…
We had much nicer weather for day 2 (Tuesday) of the FCRV Campvention. We started out the day by checking out the “Pet Parade” that took place behind the main Cam-Plex building. Registration for the event was on the previous day and we didn’t get a chance to enter little “Coach”… he probably wouldn’t do well in a crowd anyway, he’s too shy and skittish around people he doesn’t know well.
Some folks went all out to dress up their pets with scarves, glasses, hats, horns, and full costume outfits. I think they awarded prizes, but didn’t stick around to see for sure.
Back inside the Wyoming Center building, my stepmom Elaine, Dad, and Linda have been busy all morning passing out the door prizes to folks that had won during the first round of drawings.
Elaine, Dad, and Linda in their tie-dyed t-shirts.
Here’s the system they devised to notify winners (below). They posted tickets with the winner(s) name and registration number on the closed shutters of the room at the Wyoming Center. Folks are supposed to stop by during the designated times and take their ticket to the door where someone is waiting to hand out the prizes that were donated by the Colorado chapters of FCRV. Around 475 gift donations were dropped off and therefore; with circa 500 rigs in attendance, almost everyone won something. 🙂
After the door prize pick-up times for the day had passed; they closed the room to prepare for the next day. We helped count the remaining door prizes which dictated how many second round tickets could be drawn. The total number of door prizes kept changing because some people were still dropping off late donations and we even got some gift cards from local downtown restaurants/businesses. Then we helped post the new tickets in alphabetical order on the board.
We used the Harley to get back and forth from the campground to the Cam-Plex throughout the day. I even toured around the grounds a couple times. Once back at our coaches in the early afternoon, Stilla put together a cheese, salami and cracker platter for an impromptu “Happy Hour”…
but once we sat down outside the Urban Escape Vehicle, it wasn’t long before it started raining so we had to cut our “Happy Hour” short…
(L to R) Stilla, Don, Dad, Biff, Linda, Cheryl, and Elaine.
It didn’t rain very long, just a passing shower. So once it dried out we took the bicycles for a long ride around the Cam-Plex. We made it back just in time for the evening’s scheduled entertainment.
At 8 PM, we piled into Dad’s Jeep once again to ride over to the Events Center building together for the evening entertainment. The nights entertainment is Charles King “A Fabulous Night in Las Vegas”… but first – if you recall from yesterday’s post, I had trouble downloading pictures from my dad’s USB stick. With that problem now solved; Here are a few pics of the previous (Monday) evening’s awesome performance by Tamra Hayden. Click HERE for a link to her official website. Or click HERE for a link to her youtube videos.
Tamra Hayden performing at the Cam-Plex in Gillette, WY.Tamra Hayden performing at the Cam-Plex in Gillette, WY.
She was pretty good… and wow! – did she ever have a strong voice…
For tonight’s performance with Charles King, we once again scored good seating in the mezzanine.
Charles King “A Night in Fabulous Las Vegas” performed songs reminiscent of the Las Vegas “Rat Pack” days and then in mid-show, he changed into an Elvis costume. Click HERE for a link to youtube. I couldn’t find a website for him.
Singer/entertainer Charles King at Gillette, WY.Singer/entertainer Charles King at Gillette, WY.Singer/entertainer Charles King at Gillette, WY.
The show was pretty good, but the acoustics in the large hall were definitely off… we had trouble hearing his voice over the musical instruments. Sometimes when he talked between songs we couldn’t understand a word. Oh well, it was still entertaining! Grandson Kaan amused himself with Stilla’s iPhone during the show, so even he wasn’t bored… thank goodness for free WiFi in the area 🙂
Elaine, Stilla, and self… in front of our Coaches at Gillette, WY.
Check back in to see what Day 3 of the Campvention brings… it’s overcast this morning but hopefully the cloud cover will burn off, I’d like to get in some more Harley-time. The only thing I know for sure is that we plan on going back to the Elks Lodge for Tacos this evening.
Day 1 (Monday) of the Campvention dawned gray and gloomy, but the skies cleared (for the most part) and it warmed up throughout the day.
My first sight in the early morning while doing doggie-duty with little “Coach” (or is it doggy-doodie?) was Biff Anderson up on top of his Coach. He got a new roof-top antennae for local channels because he’s been having issues with reception. He found a broken wire while putting on the new antennae and had to splice it back together.
Voila! All good now…
Biff Anderson on top of his Monaco Coach.
More folks continued to pour in yesterday and last night. The spots behind our rigs are now filled up. At last report, from a reliable source (my stepmom Elaine) says there are around 470 rigs in attendance. You can see my Dad (way back there) in the middle of the picture (below) next to the Alpine. He’s parked on the left side of us.
Spots behind our Coaches are now filled up… no more “open space” for get-togethers there…
Around noon, we went over to the Wyoming Center which is the main building here at the Cam-Plex to join in on the day’s activities.
We missed the previous evening’s entertainment, the “Gospel Trail Singers” but my Dad & Elaine gave us an update. We also missed the morning opening ceremonies while I was finishing up with the blog yesterday.
We found my Dad, stepmom Elaine, and fellow “Rolling Springs” member Heddy Servant in the door prize area trying to organize and finalize the raffle details.
(L to R) Heddy Servant, Elaine, Dad, and Stilla.
The prizes have been sorted, and laid out (on and underneath) the tables which have been covered to prevent prying eyes from turning into sticky fingers.
There were lots of youth activities behind the main building (Wyoming Center). Hot dogs and hamburgers were on the grill. We took grandson Kaan along for hot dogs and playtime…
Our grandson Kaan on the slide.Our grandson Kaan on the slide.Our grandson Kaan playing a little soccer.Tor, Tor, Tor… which means goal, goal, goal in german.
We toured the vendor area again. I ended up buying a Road Mate DVR. I’ve seen these at many of the RV-related shows or Rallies that we’ve attended in the past. These devices normally mount on your dashboard or windshield to record your trip. The advertisement claims that they are designed for your security, protection, and save the best memories of your trip. I’ll post more about it later and give you my review. I paid $130 plus another $35 for the SD card it requires; called a SanDisk Extreme Plus SDHC UHS-1 Card. You can learn more about this device at their website; link HERE.
Campvention commercial vendor area.
I peeked into the main stage area, where they were practicing for the Teen Pageant…
And at 2:30 PM, my Dad and I attended the “Tips for Extended Travels” seminar. Maybe I’ve been to too many seminars at other rallies in the past because I didn’t find this one very informative. That’s all I’ll say about that…
Later on, we hung out around the campground and finished up a rhubarb/strawberry pie with my Dad & Elaine. We washed it down with a wine/cranberry juice mix. Yummm.
Then it was time for the evening’s entertainment, so we piled into Dad’s Jeep to go back over to the Event Center…
My dad took lots of pictures and gave me his USB stick so I could download a pic or two for the blog, but unfortunately I couldn’t get it to work on my MacBook Pro. The USB stick showed up and I could read the info on it (size/capacity, used/un-used etc.,) but no pictures 🙁 As a matter of fact, after ejecting the USB stick, my laptop went black and I had to reboot. So, sorry… no pics right now. Maybe tomorrow.
After the evening show, it was time for a little hospitality sponsored by the FCRV folks out of Missouri. We waited in the long line, not quite sure what to expect…
The Missouri group shook hands with everyone as we passed a table loaded with free literature and a snack…
Dad & Elaine
Kaan wasn’t too thrilled with the cheese & crackers that we waited so long in line for…
After that, we called it a night and retired to the Coach. Let’s see what adventure tomorrow brings…
Wow! What a difference a day makes… Saturday was 95° with perfect weather for evening fireworks, but on Sunday, it stayed gray and overcast all day and it looks like more of the same for today (Monday) as I type this posting. And it’s only 54° this morning 🙁 Oh well, at least it’s not pouring down rain. Just a light drizzle at times.
This kind of weather is certainly not conducive to getting the grandkid off the internet and outside…
You may recall that I said in my last post that we volunteered to help out with the door prizes from noon to 2pm on Sunday…
Stilla, Linda Anderson, and Stepmom Elaine; accepting and staging the door prizes as folks drop them off.
The Colorado members of FCRV were asked to bring an item to the Campvention that has an approximate value of $10. The “Rolling Springs” Chapter (the FCRV group we belong to along with my Dad/Stepmom) are charged with organizing and conducting the door prize raffle. Note: (The “Rolling Springs” Link (above) is to an old posting I did… they don’t have a separate website). Many of the donated “prizes” were certainly over $10 which is a kind testament to the type of people RV’ers are 🙂 We don’t expect that everyone who attends will get a “door prize”, but we may be close…
I took the pics of the door prize tables early in the day, by the time we left; the tables were full and we started filling up the space underneath.
While manning our station at the door prize drop-off window, fellow “Rolling Springs” members and friends (Don & Cheryl McCarthy) arrived to say hi after driving straight through from Colorado Springs. Roy & Vivian Crouse (on the left) did the same thing, but a day earlier.
(L to R) Elaine, Roy & Vivian Crouse, Cheryl & Don McCarthy
So we completed our tour-of-duty at the door prize drop-off window in the Cam-Plex Wyoming Center and then got our registration “goodie-bag” after the line of people went down. Many folks did 4th of July activities elsewhere and have been arriving today. There should be more tomorrow.
Then we toured the vendor area, which didn’t take long…
The last time we were here at the Cam-Plex it was for the 50th Anniversary of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) event. Click HERE for a youtube link to that event from 2013. This place was packed with thousands of motor coaches and vendors back then… but that’s to be expected; FMCA is a much larger organization than FCRV.
While touring the commercial vendor area; I did find a vendor that repaired windshield chips. Yoo Hoo, just what I needed! Some of you may recall that a rock hit the passenger windshield when we were driving over Raton Pass back in April. I posted about that HERE. I signed up at the unmanned vendor desk for an evaluation/repair. It wasn’t long before I got a call to meet the repair guy at my Coach. He repaired the chip on the Coach and even did one on the Silverado windshield that I’ve had for a long time. So, after a short phone call to my insurance company (USAA) for the Silverado, and a reasonable $40 in cash, I’ve got both repaired 🙂
Shortly after my windshield repairs were completed, we joined my Dad & Elaine, and Biff & Linda at Applebees downtown for an early dinner. Then we returned to the Boxelder RV park for dessert in Biff & Linda’s Coach…
And that’s all for now folks… we retired early (mostly due to the crummy wet-weather) and watched some TV. Check back for a recap of FCRV Campvention Day 1, which kicks off today…
Happy Independence Day! It’s been in the high 90’s here in Gillette, WY at the Cam-Plex. Saturday was our first full day parked at the Boxelder RV Park with the FCRV group for the Campvention Rally which officially starts on Monday the 6th of July. (Click on the green links for more info)
We started off the day by washing the bugs off the front of the Urban Escape Vehicle while the front was still in the shade, we’re parked facing due West. We have multiple water faucets at our site along with 50-amp power. After I finished, I shared the wash bucket, hose, and ladder with my Dad who is parked beside us.
Then it was time to unload the Harley from the back of the Silverado. We downloaded the bicycles yesterday, and of course, Kaan’s bicycle was the first…
Trying to stay in the shade… Stilla, Linda, and Kaan.
I toured the Cam-Plex area a little with the Harley… boy, was it hot yesterday. I rode by the handicapped parking area on the opposite side of the Cam-Plex main building and visited with Bob McChord for a few minutes. He was outside washing the bugs off his rig too.
In the late afternoon, we made a trip into town with Dad & Elaine to stock up on a few items at WalMart.
Then we grilled up some steaks on our Cuisinart gas grill. We shared the grill with my Dad & Elaine. Once the steaks were cooked, we put them in a travel container. Stilla made some creamed-corn on the stove top. When everything was ready, we took our food and chairs over to the “Colorado Cruisers” FCRV group to join them in a little potluck get-together. They are parked next to us in the same row. The group we belong to along with my Dad & Elaine is called the “Rolling Springs” Chapter of the FCRV. Fun people… fun times…
4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”. Notice everyone trying to squeeze into the shade 🙂4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.(L to R) Biff, Linda, Elaine, and Dad – 4th of July Potluck with the “Colorado Cruisers”.
After enjoying the impromptu get-together with the “Colorado Cruisers”, our “Rolling Springs” group retired to a shady spot behind our own rigs together to enjoy some dessert that Linda shared… yummm.
4th of July dessert-time with the “Rolling Springs” group. (L to R) Bob, dog ‘Abby’, Biff and Linda.4th of July dessert-time with the “Rolling Springs” group. (L to R) Stilla, Elaine, Dad (Bill), and Mary McChord.My stepmom, Elaine dishing up some of Linda’s Cherry Cobbler dessert.4th of July dessert-time with the “Rolling Springs” group.
Around 10 PM, we set up our chairs in front of our rigs for the highly-publicized fireworks show… expectations were high.
Of course, I had to set up our flagpole for the event. Luckily the solar light had enough time to charge during the day because it’s been stored away for the last couple months while we were parked on pavement at the COS Elks Lodge.
The fireworks were awesome…
We released one of the “Chinese Lanterns” that we purchased in Quartzsite AZ a couple years ago. We’ve been carrying them around for quite awhile. Someone else had released theirs earlier, which gave us the idea.
The fireworks show lived up to expectations! What a great Grand-Finale! Of course, all the firework shows we see, now get compared to our experience at the Pyrotechnics Show “Winter Blast” we attended in Lake Havasu back in February. (Link HERE), (HERE), and (HERE) for my posts on that event.
Today (Sunday) we volunteered from 12 – 2 pm to collect door prizes from everyone that’s arrived so far. It’s already windy and overcast this morning… quite a difference from yesterday. Stay tuned…
