Tag Archives: Morgan County Fairgrounds

Colorado

Back to Reality and More Rain (Colorado Springs, CO)

On Sunday morning we joined my Dad and stepmom Elaine at a church service in the Morgan County Fairgrounds main building with the other FCRV members.

Afterwards, a small group of us carpooled into town for a hearty breakfast.  Then it was time to pack up and head out since our fun-time here has come to an end 🙁  We were supposed to be out of the fairgrounds before noon.

My Dad was hooking up his Jeep to tow as I pulled up beside him.  We planned to convoy back to Colorado Springs together.

IMG_8697

He hooked up his (new to him) Blue Ox™ towbar that he got a good deal on thru Craigslist.

IMG_8694

And then he hooked up his RVi™ supplemental braking system.  I have an older Brake Buddy™ version, this one is pretty nice, but I’d still like to get one of those Roadmaster InvisiBrake™ systems that I’ve seen at recent rallies.  Maybe one of these days…

IMG_8693

For those that are interested; here’s my Blue OX™ Aventa LX (10,000 lb) towbar hiding underneath the Roadmaster mesh tow defender that I purchased and had installed while at the FMCA Rally in Pomona. (Link HERE).  I think the tow defender is doing its job protecting the front of the Silverado, but only time will tell…

IMG_8695

My Dad followed us from the fairgrounds until we stopped for fuel at the Flying J in Limon.  He was running low and needed to fill up.  We had already filled up here on the way to the rally, but I used the opportunity to fit another 25 gallons into the 115 gallon tank.  It’s always best to keep the tank as full as possible to head off condensation issues in the fuel tank.  We know that we’ll have to spend at least another few weeks parked while we (hopefully) close on the house.

We switched it up and my Dad took over the lead after our fuel stop.  We followed along behind until we got to Colorado Springs.

IMG_8708

Pikes Peak grew larger and larger as we ticked down the miles and got closer to the Springs.

IMG_8711

IMG_8724

And here’s another pic of the Urban Escape Vehicle that my stepmom sent me on her phone after we took over the lead again once we were in town.  Yup… it’s starting to rain again 🙁

Image

We stayed in touch with walkie-talkies while we were on our mini-convoy; we said our farewells once we got back on I-25 and I exited on Nevada Avenue.  We made it back to the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs and were able to dump our tanks just before it started to rain hard.  We then relaxed for the evening and hid out from the infrequent rain.

On Monday, I spent time at the house working off some of the minor deficiencies as a result of the home inspection that the potential buyer had conducted last Friday.  We received an Inspection Objection Notice with a list of items that the buyer would either like to have fixed or he would like to receive compensation for.  After working off some of the items on the list, i.e., sticking door, loose door knob, caulking and insulation on central A/C lines, etc., I consulted with my realtor and we reached a decision to give the buyer some smaller $ amount in concessions.  We’re pretty sure it was the buyer’s intent all along to nit-pick on the inspection so he could get help with his closing costs.  So, we submitted a response to that effect, got positive feedback from the buyers realtor, and therefore hope to be closing on or about the 1st of June 🙂

This morning (Tuesday), we are expecting an appraiser to be at the house.   So I intend to brave the constant rain (it rained all night too) and go over to the house to answer any questions or do whatever might help things along… The appraisal is the last hurdle to get through on this home selling (mis)adventure.  Wish us luck…

 

Colorado

FCRV Rally – continued (Brush, CO)

1 Comment

On Saturday, we joined most of the 100+ FCRV attendees here at the Morgan County Fairgrounds for a flag-raising ceremony.  The flags arrived in a parade of old John Deere tractors.

IMG_8623

IMG_8625

IMG_8627

IMG_8629

IMG_8631

After the flag-raising ceremony and accompanying musical tribute(s); we were able to peruse some of the classic agricultural-engineering-vehicles; aka “tractors”.

IMG_8633

IMG_8634

Checking out tractors was almost as fun as a classic car show 🙂

Then we joined the smaller group for our morning 2-mile walk again:

IMG_8640

As we rounded the park on our walk-about, we came upon a rather large group of local boy scouts:

IMG_8642

They were shooting up their Estes Rockets…

IMG_8646

IMG_8647

IMG_8648

Several of our walking group stayed to watch some of the rocket-launching activities.  We saw one go into a tree; and one got hung on a telephone cable; and another one or two, plummeted down like missiles when their parachutes didn’t open.  It brought back memories of childhood… ahhh, to be young again.

Later in the day, around noon-time, we took part in the raffle and vendor sale activities in the event building.  They served hot-dogs, brats, and ice-cream.  We also joined many others in wandering around the grounds on a scavenger hunt.  We had to find hidden flags with a flamingo on them to mark our scorecards… when complete, we turned them in for a chance to win prizes.

Then it was time for another “happy-hour”:

IMG_8655

IMG_8656

Just before dinnertime, we watched another storm front move into the area.

IMG_8661

IMG_3722

Luckily, the heavy rain passed us by and we were able to stay somewhat dry.

After another fine dinner at the events building we gathered again for announcements and door prizes.  I won one of the 50/50 drawings from earlier, Yoo Hoo!… $65 dollars!

Our friend Linda, (below) won a $25 gift certificate from the previous days’ downtown scavenger hunt.  Unfortunately, the certificate is only good at local establishments… and guess what?  They’re all closed on Sunday and the certificate expires in a few months.  Sorry Linda.

IMG_8683

And then Stilla won the drawing for the Flamingo scavenger hunt!  A $30 dollar Visa gift card.  Yoo Hoo again!

IMG_8687

IMG_8690

Today (Sunday), we head on back to Colorado Springs.  It’s been a great time with family (Dad & Stepmom Elaine), and our other friends in the FCRV group.

In other news from the home-selling front:  We got the results of the home inspection that was conducted on Friday by the buyer.  I was pleasantly surprised, but we have a few things to work out with the buyer.  More on that in my next posting… stay tuned…

Colorado

Dodging Tornados at the FCRV Rally (Brush, CO)

Our first full day (Friday) at the FCRV “Spring-Fling” Rally started out with a 2-mile walk for those members that wanted to go.

IMG_8586

A rather nice, scenic route was marked for us by Rally volunteers.  It went around a pond and the local park.  The weather was cool but dry.

IMG_8589

Here’s our friend Linda walking Porter… or is Porter walking Linda?

IMG_8590

IMG_8594

IMG_8596

IMG_8597

IMG_8598

We walked past the Brush Area Museum and Cultural Center, which is a former schoolhouse built in 1912.  Maybe we will find time later to check it out since it’s right next to the fairgrounds where we’re parked.

IMG_8599

IMG_8601

We returned to the fairgrounds after our walk-about.  We logged in our miles at the events building… the miles are converted into “Brush-Bucks” that can be used to purchase FCRV related items.

IMG_8604

We hung out at the fairgrounds most of the day except for the girls who went on a scavenger hunt of sorts, to get stamps from local businesses downtown.  A drawing for prizes will be held later this weekend for those that participated.

And, then we had a little excitement just before dinnertime.  We got tornado warnings on our iPhones and could see the clouds heading our way:

IMG_3711

Pretty ominous looking, eh?

IMG_3714

The local police even stopped by to make sure we were all aware.

IMG_3717

IMG_8608

We watched the whirling clouds as they got closer and closer… luckily (for us) they passed over without incident.

IMG_8609

We put away all the chairs and tables and hunkered down to hide from the rain that we could still see coming our way after the tornado-like clouds passed.  The rain, mixed with a brief hail-storm passed quickly.

IMG_8612

We then went to the events building to enjoy a catered meal of BBQ pulled-pork.

IMG_8617

IMG_8619

There was also a section of “flea-market” type items for sale that we perused.  Members donate the items and the proceeds go to the club.  There was even a kitchen sink for sale there 🙂

IMG_8622

We finished off our first evening with entertainment from a Father/Daughter team.  They were really good, and had CDs for sale after the show.

IMG_3718

That’s all for now… stay tuned…

 

Colorado

A House Offer & Weekend Outing (Brush, CO)

1 Comment

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.

IMG_8576

IMG_8582

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”…

IMG_3695

IMG_3704

IMG_3707

IMG_3698
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.

IMG_8585
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.