Tag Archives: FCRV Rolling Springs

Alabama

Another Overnight Elks Lodge & Alpine Coach Friends (Tuscaloosa, AL)

We continued our eastward trek along I-20 on Monday and ended up driving 227 miles from Vicksburg, MS to Tuscaloosa, AL.  We stopped at a Pilot/Flying J in Meridian and topped off the fuel tank with 84 gallons of diesel for $187.  I like the Pilot/Flying J’s because they’re always easy-in and easy-out.  Plus we have their discount card (Pilot RV Plus) that we can pay online when the bill is due.  Calculations after refueling confirmed our Scangauge D™ is accurate and we’re getting a little over 8 miles to the gallon.  Not too bad 🙂

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Once again our ~$100 annual Elks Lodge membership pays for itself…  our iPhone app routed us to the Tuscaloosa Elks Lodge #393 where we went into the lodge and paid a reasonable $20 for the night.

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After checking in, we disconnected the Silverado and pulled into a 50 Amp full hook-up site next to the only other Coach at the lodge.

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Nice spots backed up to a short grassy area and thick woods.  Next to us was a nice covered picnic area with BBQ pits.

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After getting set up we went back into the lodge for some tasty margaritas and conversation with friendly folks.  The bartender cooked us up a really good pizza and a BBQ beef sandwich for our dinner.

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In the morning, I got our ladder out and spent some time washing the bugs off the front of the Urban Escape Vehicle.  With a little help from Stilla, I even got most of the coach washed and wiped dry again.

Around noon on Tuesday we hit the road again and plugged the route to a Walmart in Centre, AL into our RVND™ GPS.  We’ve been in contact with some old friends from Colorado Springs who invited us to park for a couple days at their new (to them) house near Lake Weiss.  Tom & Johnna Phillips coordinated to meet us at the Walmart parking lot so they could lead us out to their beautiful home on the lake.

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Tom & Johnna were already waiting for us when we rolled into the Walmart parking lot after our ~145 mile drive from the Elks Lodge in Tuscaloosa.  They guided us to their house where we’re now moochdocking on their 50 Amp power hookup 🙂

Tom & Johnna have been here a year now but used to be in the Family Campers & RV’ers (FCRV), Rolling Springs Chapter out of Colorado Springs.  We were also members of FCRV at that time and went on several camping trips together.  We’ve stayed in touch with them along with several other current and past members.  My Dad and stepmom Elaine are still active members and as a matter of fact – about this time last year we were with them in Gillette WY at the FCRV Campvention.  And BTW – did I mention Tom & Johnna also have an Alpine Coach!?

Tom grilled us up some burgers on the back deck while we watched the sun set over the lake in the back yard and got caught up.  Thanks Tom & Johnna for the hospitality!

Check back tomorrow for more pics… Tom & Johnna plan on showing us around the area…

Colorado

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

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.

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

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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.,

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

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

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Birthday boy (Tom) in the gray shirt.

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

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Stilla’s German girlfriends from Colorado Springs.

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

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Friends John and Frank.

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

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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!

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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!

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

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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.

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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

Back in the Springs! (Elks Lodge 309, Colorado Springs CO)

We took our time Thursday getting packed up.  I wouldn’t have minded staying at the Westminster Elks Lodge for another day or two, but Kaan’s mother (our oldest daughter) was expecting him back.  It’s been fun having the grandson for the summer and I think we were able to give him memories to last a lifetime, but it’s almost time for him to start another school year.

We walked over to Jim & Sally’s Coach to say our “see-ya-later’s!” We didn’t get a chance to see our neighbor Ray again, but we’d said our goodbye’s the evening prior.

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Jim & Sally’s Coach at the Westminster Elks Lodge.

So eventually, we pulled in the slides, raised the jacks and moved over to the dump station to lighten our load.  After taking care of the dirty deed, we hit I-25 south and braced ourselves for Denver traffic.

We rolled into Colorado Springs 75 miles later and unhooked the Silverado in the newly-resurfaced Elks Lodge parking lot.  Did I mention how much we hate going through major cities with the Coach?  “It’s called ‘merging’ for a reason people… you’re not supposed to just drive onto the highway and force people over… arrgh!”

Then we took the Urban Escape Vehicle over to the nearest gas station to fill up the 115 gallon fuel tank with 75 gallons of diesel.  Ouch!  Since we’re going to be parked for a while, it’s important to completely fill up the tank in order to minimize condensation.  I also put in a fuel additive called Biobar JF that prevents microbial growth.  Condensation and algae are among the two biggest killers of fuel filters, injectors, etc.,  Our friends Mike & Donna Kuper @ FlyingtheKoop.com turned us on to this product a while back.

Stilla already decided for us that we’d stay for the month of August here at the COS Elks Lodge.  This is fine with me.  At least we can save a little money on fuel and campground fees.  We only have to pay $350 for a month here.  We pulled into our 30 Amp spot facing the pool and I downloaded the bikes and the motorcycle.

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And here we are again in our old spot.  We look forward to spending time with our two daughters, our relatives and friends here in Colorado Springs.IMG_1599

I can use the time to get a little maintenance done on the Urban Escape Vehicle.  Yesterday (Friday), I already broke out the sealant to touch up some roof seams where I noticed the old sealant was starting to crack… there’s supposed to be some rain in the forecast over the next week.  I’ve got a lot of washing and waxing I’d like to get done as well.

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Little “Coach” walking his squeaky toy around the Coach.

Friday evening we enjoyed dinner in the lodge.  But this time we were alone since the usual cast of characters that have joined us in the past here at the lodge are all otherwise occupied.  My Dad is recuperating from his surgery, Biff & Linda are at a weekend campout with the FCRV Rolling Springs group, the kids are at work, etc, etc…

I’ll try to find interesting things to post about while we’re here, so stay tuned…

 

 

Colorado

A House Offer & Weekend Outing (Brush, CO)

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It’s was a good morning Thursday.  First-of-all; it wasn’t raining for a change.  And second-of-all; we finally got a good offer on the house!  I got the email from my Uncle (the realtor) as we were packing up to meet our group so we could convoy to the FCRV “Spring-Fling” Rally in Brush, CO.

We delayed our departure a little bit while I brought up the contract via email and applied our digital signatures.  We got very close to our asking price with no seller concessions.  Now, the only thing to worry about is the home inspection scheduled for this morning (Friday).  Hopefully it appraises appropriately and the inspector doesn’t find anything expensive for me to fix that I wasn’t aware of.  Our expected closing date will be the first week of June contingent on the buyer getting his existing house sold.  He’s scheduled to close on his house in Canon City at the end of this month.

We were about 15 minutes late joining our convoy at the designated  place (E Woodmen Rd and I-24).  After hugs and greetings we all headed east on I-24 to Limon where I left the convoy to fuel up at the Flying J.  Since we were going to be dry-camping (no electric or water) at the upcoming rally, I need to have at least 1/4 tank of diesel in the fuel tank or the generator won’t run.  This is a built-in safety feature to prevent folks from using all their fuel while boondocking and then not being able to drive to a gas station.  It’s no easy task to get a diesel engine started again after it runs out of fuel due to air in the injector lines.

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After Limon, we took Hwy 71 north to Brush.  We never caught back up with the group on the road, but they were still setting up when we joined them again at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

So, about 150 miles later… we parked the Urban Escape Vehicle and joined everyone for “Happy Hour”…

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Even little Coach enjoys “Happy Hour”!

After “happy hour”, we all (eight of us) went out for dinner in downtown Brush and made it back in time for Stilla to join the other girls for card bingo at the event building.  No, she didn’t win big 😐

Here’s my Dad and stepmom Elaine in front of their Jeep.  They towed the Jeep for the first time since he got the baseplate installed and  found a good deal on a used Blue Ox tow bar.

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My Dad and Stepmom Elaine.

So stay tuned… we’ll enjoy activities and the company of the FCRV group this weekend and then probably head back to Colorado Springs on Sunday.  Our spot at the Elks Lodge is already paid-up until the 1st of June.

Colorado

Hiding from the Hail (Colorado Springs, CO)

We’ve been hunkered down at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs hiding from the rain and hail over the last several days.  Looks like we came back to Colorado a little too early 😐 Luckily, any hail we got at the Coach was only pea-sized, – no damage so far;  ‘knock-on-wood’.  There have been reports of damaging hail and some flooding in outlying areas… I hope our luck continues to hold out and springtime gets here soon.

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Pikes Peak in the background over the Urban Escape Vehicle.

We haven’t even been able to do much at the house due to the crummy weather.  Everything I need (or want) to do, requires good weather, i.e., pull dandelions/weeds; spray weed & grass killer on the landscape rocks; spread grass seed on bare spots, etc.,

At least Stilla has had plenty of opportunity to hang out with our daughters and grandson.  The grandson even got to sleep-over which is always a treat for him until he gets bored and realizes that we don’ t have an X-Box 360 or Playstation 🙂

News on the home-selling front; We got an offer!  However, the potential buyer has to sell his present house which (I’m told) isn’t scheduled to  close until mid-June.  As a matter-of-fact,  we countered his offer but haven’t got a formal response yet… apparently the potential buyer wants to get through an inspection on his present house first.  Meanwhile, the potential buyer has scheduled an inspection on our house for this Friday, which (I assume) is a good sign that he’s serious.  While waiting; we continue to have showings; four more this past weekend.  All we can do is wait and see…

In other news: We plan on joining my Dad and Stepmom this coming weekend for “Spring-Fling” with the Family Campers & RV’ers (FCRV) in Brush, CO.  This is supposed to be the “kickoff to summer”…  we’ll see if the summer really “kicks off” 🙂  I’ll keep you posted.

Also – a ‘shout-out’ to Daniel Malmquist who stopped by for a quick visit recently.  Daniel is a long-time reader of the blog and friend.  Stop by anytime Danny…

Stay tuned for more mis-adventure…