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 🙂
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.
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.
Nice spots backed up to a short grassy area and thick woods. Next to us was a nice covered picnic area with BBQ pits.
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.
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.
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…
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.Obie’s Fillin’ Station saloon area.Obie’s Fillin’ Station country store.
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!
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!
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…
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.
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…
Almost caught back up now with the journal entries… I’m only a couple days behind now 🙂
On Tuesday morning, we left the Coach parked at the noisy campsite behind the VFW post and drove the Silverado to the Yuma Proving Ground Museum.
Fair Warning – This post is picture heavy! As a veteran of 26+ years, I enjoy military history and equipment, therefore, I took lots of pictures.
These are the signs you see at the turn-off from US 95 to the Proving Grounds and Imperial Dam.
YPG sign on US 95 (taken later when we drove by in the Coach)
These giant cannons are on the west side of US 95 opposite the signs above… you can’t miss the turn to Yuma Proving Grounds with these landmarks! The “Atomic Cannon” was designed to fire a nuclear shell per this link @ RoadsideAmerica.com
Here’s another couple vehicle displays outside the main gate at one of the two base entrances.
The following tanks, vehicles, and other military equipment are located on the side of the road just a short way down from the US 95 turn. We parked and checked them out. No ID card or anything is needed to view these, they are open to the public… they are just off the side of the road and there is ample parking.
This is the museum entrance on the base located just across from the Fam Camp. It used to be the installation’s headquarters and is now called the Heritage Center Museum. (Click on the link)
We were going to stay at this Fam Camp but changed our minds when we were having too much fun down by Los Algodones. Besides – it would have cost us $130 for the week or $40 for one night.
You do need an ID card to gain access to the base which is the administrative side of this massive post. However, I assume they allow visitors with proper identification to get a visitors pass. Here’s another good link for more information.
It took us a couple hours to tour through the museum. You could easily spend more time here if you stopped to read all the literature or sit through the several recorded presentations.
Did you know that General Patton trained his tank corps here to prepare them for battle with Rommel during WWII?
And who doesn’t like Jeeps?
A couple cool pictures of vehicles being tested back in the day.
There were quite a few cool dioramas, I like dioramas… maybe it’s a not quite grown-up “guy thing”.
The original Installation Commander’s office has been recreated here with all the furnishings.
A couple more cool dioramas:
There was even an entire room dedicated to the cowardly terrorist attacks of 9/11. The video presentation was riveting.
Great museum – highly recommend it!
After our tour of the museum, we stopped at the mini PX and gas station to save a few bucks on fuel for the Silverado. Then we exited the base and headed farther down the road to check out the BLM sites in and around the Imperial Dam (Click link for more images) for possible future camping locations. Wikipedia has more interesting facts about the dam here if you’re interested.
The following pictures are of the Imperial Dam area. We saw many different long term visitor areas (LTVAs) and other nice camping spots. We might have to come back here some time in the future.
This guy was para-sailing… or is it para-surfing?
Typical signage seen throughout the area.
When we got back to the Coach parked behind the VFW post, we immediately got ready to roll on up the road. We weren’t going to spend another night here with the planes and trains.
We pulled into Parker, AZ (about 40-50 miles up US 95) and found the local Elks Lodge. They had 12 spots with 30amp and water for a suggested donation of $15 per night. We were packed in pretty tight – we couldn’t even put out the awning more than a couple feet or it would hit the RV next to us. Oh well, it was nice to have electric again. It’s been a while. Stilla loaded up the washer/dryer combo to get caught up on some laundry since we had hookups.
The Elks were having a lodge meeting and didn’t have anything to offer for dinner, so even though it was short-notice, we called some friends from Colorado Springs that we knew were staying at the Pirates Den Resort just up the road. They hadn’t eaten yet so we made plans to meet at the Black Pearl Restaurant located inside their resort.
“Greeter” inside the doors at the Black Pearl Restaurant located in the Pirates Den RV Resort, Parker, AZ.
We met Bob and Mary McCord and had an awesome BBQ rib dinner while we caught up on things. It was sure nice to see them again, it’s been several months since we saw them last in COS. They belong to the Family Campers & RVers (FCRV), Rolling Springs Chapter that we also belong to along with my Dad and Stepmom. We only get to see them during campouts or meetings.
After dinner we went over to their site and relaxed in their nice Coach. They recently got “upgraded” to a spot overlooking the Colorado River instead of being a couple rows back. Nice Coach, Nice spot! We called it a night, said our farewells, and headed back to the Elks lodge in downtown Parker. We’ll see you down the road Bob & Mary!
Friday was another wash & wax day since I was so rudely interrupted by the exploding expandable hose that I talked about in my previous post. I decided to get another pocket hose from WalMart on Friday after doing some research on-line. It seems that no matter which version of expandable hose you choose – there are many negative reviews on each. The pocket hose is cheaper than the x-hose and this time I saved the receipt. Anyway, I finally got the whole coach washed… it’ll take awhile for the waxing though – one section at a time is the best approach 🙂
On Saturday, we decided to go see the folks in the camping group we belong to – the Rolling Springs Chapter (FCRV). So we jumped into the Silverado and drove down to the KOA in Colorado City where the group is having their weekend campout. We “crashed” the party and got caught-up with folks… especially my Dad and Stepmom. This KOA is about 65 miles South of Colorado Springs. We stayed here with the group once last year. Nice campground, but of course at KOA prices…
When we arrived around noon-time, most folks were out enjoying the local sites so we hung out with Biff & Linda Anderson outside their Monaco Coach (we still had our folding chairs in the back of the Silverado) until my Dad and Stepmom Elaine got back. It was great catching up with them… Biff & Linda were especially helpful to us before we started our trip up to the Pacific NorthWest back a couple/few months ago… they provided us invaluable tips on routes and best places to stay because they had been before. Thanks Biff & Linda! It was great seeing you again.
Finally, my Dad & Stepmom Elaine arrived back at the CG. It was really good to see them again too! We haven’t seen each other since late July when we convoyed together to Lake Tahoe and spent an awesome week together at the Sugar Pine Point CG with some cousins that live in California.
This is the first opportunity we had to see Dad’s new Jeep! He hasn’t gotten the baseplate installed yet to tow it behind his “FRED”. That’s short for Front Engine Diesel. It is made by Gulfstream and the model is the Crescendo. Elaine drove the Jeep down from COS, following Dad in the Coach. Next time, I’m sure he’ll have it set up to tow.
Dad “Bill” and his new 2014 Jeep Sahara
Nice Jeep Dad!
Of course as soon as a hood goes up, others come by to check it out too 🙂
I got to test drive it. We all piled in and went over to Graneros Gorge which is just minutes South of the CG. Although we didn’t need 4-wheel drive – it was still fun hitting the dirt road to get there. Here we parked near the edge of the gorge.
There are the remnants of a gazebo on the edge. At least that’s what my research determined this was.
View down into the gorge.
And here we are looking down into the gorge. You can see Dad’s new jeep in the background.
I posed for a picture near the edge… Stilla kept telling me to take one step back…
We got back to the CG in time for happy hour with the group.
It wasn’t long after happy hour was over and we all gathered together again inside the community room for our traditional Saturday evening potluck. Tonight’s potluck theme was chili. We had every sort of chili known to man and as usual there was more than enough to go around.
Again, it was fun seeing all the great folks again in the Rolling Springs Chapter of FCRV. C U all next time!
I started this post yesterday morning (Sunday) but just now (Monday) got it posted due to interruptions. We picked up our son William and his girlfriend from the airport in Denver (DIA) on Sunday evening and have been running around all day today doing some sight-seeing and shopping… but I’ll do a separate post on that shortly… I need to post this one first.
We’ve been parked at the house since my last post and I’ve been taking my time to wash and wax the Urban Escape Vehicle while Stilla is inside the house cleaning in preparation for son William’s visit from Germany this coming Sunday. The undercarriage and especially the wheelwells got pretty muddy when we left Westley, CA in the rain as I mentioned in this earlier post: (http://www.urbanescapevehicle.com/westley-ca/). We also drove through a lot of rain along I-70 while hurrying back from Las Vegas.
My washing efforts got slowed down yesterday when my expandable hose burst. I’ve been carrying around one of those “pocket hoses” that I got from WalMart which has been great for it’s storability characteristics but apparently not so great for durability. When I went to use the hose, I noticed that water was squirting out of a pinhole. It wasn’t long before the green outer covering split and the clear plastic inner hose oozed out… it looked like a big fat sausage skin that bloated up until it exploded in a shower of water. This incident made me think about the commercial regarding the X-hose where they warn you not to be fooled by imitations. Wish I saved the receipt. Anyway, I got rid of all of my old hoses here at the house when I was down-sizing to go full-timing, so I need to go buy a new hose. I certainly don’t want to use my drinking water hose for washing, it’s important to keep it clean and free of contamination for filling the water tank and hooking up at campgrounds.
The Urban Escape Vehicle parked in front of the house.
I got a surprise message from my good friend, old co-worker, and former roommate, Maile Unten, who follows the blog and noted that we were back in town. She kindly invited me on behalf of the agency that I used to work for, the Missile Defense Agency Integration & Operations Center (Schriever AFB), to come to their “end of fiscal year” celebration to be held at Cheddars on the North end of town. The end of the fiscal year (FY) is a big deal for the Contracting Directorate that I used to work for… a lot of long hours and hard work is put into getting all the funds obligated and contracts awarded before the end of the FY when funds expire.
I went alone since Stilla was in the middle of cleaning the house as I mentioned earlier. It sure was great seeing most of my old co-workers again. There were a couple new faces too.
The MDIOC “Contracting Directorate” crew. Maile Unten is at the bottom left.The MDIOC “Contracting Directorate” crew. The director (Bob) is at the head of the table.
We caught up on things while we passed around appetizer dishes between folks. Bob, the “Contracting Directorate” Director, graciously showed his appreciation for everyone’s hard work and dedication by paying for the first round of drinks. Thanks Bob!
And Maile surprised me by paying for my appetizer and drinks… Thanks Maile! You didn’t have to do that. And thanks for the invitation! It was nice seeing everyone again, I just wish that my old boss, Sandra Yaden, had been there as well… I was told that she is on a well-deserved vacation. Take care Sandy – hope all is well with you.
I was told that the group’s annual Christmas Party is already scheduled for Dec 10th at the EdelWeiss restaurant here on the South side of COS. Our current plan calls for us to be far South by then to stay ahead of the freezing weather, but you never know…
I made it back home in time to watch the sun go down behind Pikes Peak from our front porch. Our house is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac, so we get a nice unobstructed view of the mountains up the street from the front of the house. The back of the house overlooks downtown COS.
Stilla, oldest daughter Jennifer, and grandson Kaan on the front porch.
In other news – the camping group we belong to along with my Dad and Stepmom; the Rolling Springs Chapter of the Family Campers & RV’ers – is holding the last group campout of the year this weekend. It is down in Colorado City at the KOA. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend since William is coming in on Sunday and we have to drive to Denver to pick him up along with his new girlfriend. If time permits, we plan on maybe driving down in the Silverado on Saturday to visit with folks. My dad already went down a day early on Thursday to get the most out of the weekend. Hope you guys are having fun Rolling Springs FCRV!
Welp… I have to go find a new waterhose, so that’s all for now.
