As I said in my last post – I didn’t have time to include pictures of our last day (Day 5) at the FCRV Campvention due to computer issues. So here they are now:
On Friday morning, I took a short break from packing up and we drove over to the Cam-Plex parking lot to view the FCRV Campvention Parade…
In the evening we attended closing ceremonies inside the Wyoming Center building.
Where they handed out awards for the different events and activities that took place over the past week…
My stepmom Elaine, Linda, and Stilla handed out the left-over door prizes as the announcer called out names. There were a dozen or so prizes left after all the drawings earlier in the week, so they used this opportunity to unload the rest…
And when the ceremonies ended, the band kicked up and the dancing started…
Here’s Stilla and Elaine doing a line dance…
Once Stilla got her fill of line dancing, we (Stilla, Kaan, and I) walked over to the Monster Truck Show that was going on in the rodeo arena between the Cam-Plex and our campground. We watched from the sidelines for a bit, before walking back to the Coach. Here’s some pics of the trucks taken earlier during the daylight… my pics during the nighttime event didn’t come out very well…
And that’s all for the Campvention. It’s was a great event, especially since we had the opportunity to hang out with my Dad & Elaine and our friends in the FCRV Rolling Springs Chapter.
Saturday morning we left the Cam-Plex in Gillette WY around 10 AM to head over to the Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD. We convoyed with my Dad & Elaine along Interstate 90 towards Rapid City and then went south on 79. Our total mileage for the day was about 160 miles.
Here we are at the Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD. We made reservations before we left Colorado under the direction of my stepmom Elaine who did the planning. They accept the Passport America discount so we ended up paying ~$50 for two nights.
The pull-through sites aren’t long enough for the Coach and truck. We have to park the truck on the grass across from our site.
Elaine waving in front of their Coach parked next to us at Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD.
We met up with Biff & Linda Anderson who had arrived here at the same park earlier in the day to meet with some old friends of theirs. We all drove over to the nearby Lazy R Bar & Grill for some dinner.
Linda, Biff, and Elaine outside the Lazy R Bar & Grill in Hermosa SD.
We took the 0.6 mile Presidential Trail loop. Very nice. Luckily, we took the clockwise route so most of the steps were down.
We got back to the stadium seats just in time for the 8 PM show and lighting of the monument ceremony. The seats were packed.
After a ranger talk, we watched a well-made documentary on the big screen and then they turned on the lights…
After the lighting ceremony, the ranger called all veterans down to the stage area. I went down to the stage along with my Dad, where the ranger walked along the line of veterans as everyone said their name and branch of service. Afterwards, a selected few helped lower and fold the flag. It was a nice gesture of appreciation to all the veterans.
If you haven’s seen the evening lighting ceremony (Click HERE), you’ve got to add it to your list.
Today (Sunday), we plan on driving over to the Crazy Horse Memorial… check back in with us 🙂 Gotta go now…
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…
Day 3 (Wednesday) here at the Cam-Plex for the FCRV Campvention stayed somewhat overcast with a comfortable 72° Perfect weather for getting out and walking around, so that’s what we did.
There weren’t any seminars or activities scheduled today that peaked our interest, so after walking little “Coach” and finishing up yesterday’s blog post; we jumped into my Dad’s Jeep to go check out the area along with my Dad and his camera (so fair warning – extra pictures today) 🙂 Unfortunately, my stepmom Elaine was scheduled to pass out the final door prizes from 2 – 4 PM so her unswerving sense of duty and unwavering dedication to the cause prevented her from joining us 🙁
The Wyoming Center building here at the Cam-Plex Multi-Event Facility.
We drove around to the northwest corner of the Cam-Plex and stopped at the Energy Exhibit, which is a permanent collection of vehicles and equipment that represent this area, which often calls itself the ‘Energy Capital of the World‘ due to the huge low-sulfur coal mining concerns that still sustain growth and support jobs in the town of Gillette.
Grandson Kaan and I climbed aboard a Burlington Northern GE U30C locomotive.Stilla and Dad skirting along the side of a Burlington Northern GE U30C locomotive.Grandson Kaan peeking out from the front of a Burlington Northern GE U30C locomotive.
There were quite a few representative pieces of equipment from the coal mining operations of the area on display…
Stilla standing next to a huge tire commonly used on the heavy coal-mining trucks.Kaan standing inside a huge earth-moving bucket provides size perspective.
Our grandson Kaan even started a little earth moving of his own…
View from the Energy Exhibit towards the Cam-Plex; RVs in the background.
Kaan wants one of these to play with in the backyard Mom…
Kaan climbed up the back of this giant earth-moving truck to check out the massive engine, and…
of course, had to follow up with the front side…
to sit in the drivers seat…
After we had our fill (pun intended) of the earth-moving and mining equipment exhibit, we plugged the Rockpile Museum into the iPhone GPS and maneuvered our way to the north side of Gillette.
We had no trouble finding the Rockpile Museum thanks to the GPS, the sign (below), and the rock pile itself…
Don’t forget to click on this link to the museum to see more.
Not sure what this is, but it sure looks cool… an old stone age wheel maybe? 🙂 Maybe it’s a piece of petrified tree stuck in ancient sand that turned to stone with the middle of the old tree disintegrated and missing? My dad took this picture under the museum sign.
The Rockpile Museum is… you guessed it… located next to a rock pile! The rock pile is a local landmark and at one time overlooked the massive stockyards and rodeo shows. In even earlier days it was a favorite landmark that the cowboys used to find town and they often camped out under the boulders.
Additional out-building (extension) to the Rockpile Museum in Gillette, WY.Strange looking windmill at the Rockpile Musuem in Gillette, WY.
Here’s some pictures inside…
Now this is an old RV…
This old RV has all the amenities of home…
More pics from in and around the museum… enjoy…
We watched some really cool short films… I really liked the one on setting off explosives to loosen up the overburden to get to the coal…
Inside an old schoolhouse. Kaan isn’t too happy about being back in school… he thought it was still his summer break 🙂
We worked up an appetite at the Rockpile Museum, so we drove over to nearby ‘old downtown’ Gillette to find something to eat. We found the Gillette Brewing Company with a pizzeria (Pizza Carrello) located inside the old Post Office building…
where we shared a pizza and Dad had a BLT wrap… yup, I said BLT wrap… they really make those here…
Mural on old downtown Gillette building.
Since we still had a little time to kill before we had to get back to meet up for Tacos at the local Elks Lodge, we drove several miles north out of town to check out one of the mining operations we heard about; the Eagle Butte Coal Mine.
We were turned away at the entrance gate. The manned shack had a young girl inside that told us we had to make reservations in town before we could enter the main coal mine area for a tour, so we just went over to an overlook and took pictures from a distance…
My Dad’s camera can really zoom in for some quality pictures…
Giant truck being loaded at the Eagle Butte Coal Mine near Gillette, WY.
Giant truck dumping it’s load at the the Eagle Butte Coal Mine near Gillette, WY.
It was almost time to get back and pick up stepmom Elaine so we could meet up with Biff & Linda Anderson for Tacos at the local Elks Lodge. We made plans earlier in the week when we first stopped there; they need the business. This quaint Lodge performs double-duty as the local VFW post as well.
We made it back to the campground just in time to pick up Elaine and convoy over to the lodge… a whopping quarter-mile (or less) away…
(L to R) Kaan, Stilla, Elaine, Dad, Biff and Linda at Elks Lodge 2825 / VFW Post 7756 in Gillette, WY.
After filling up on Tacos we decided we still needed dessert at the local Dairy Queen…
And that’s it for Day 3 here at the Cam-Plex. If you get a chance, the Rockpile Museum is definitely worth the visit and was the highlight of our day. Hope you enjoyed the pics 🙂
This morning (Thursday) it’s a little windy and overcast. Someone told me that part of the reason it’s so gray and overcast is because of forest fires up north and west of us.
Our plan is to go visit Devils Tower today since there isn’t a whole lot of activity here at the Campvention that interests us. So after my Dad goes to a 9 AM seminar that he promised to take pictures of, we’ll head out on the ~62 mile trip, (104 round-trip). Hopefully the weather holds up for us. I want to take the Harley since we have my Dad & Elaine in their Jeep to take our grandson Kaan along with them. Check back for a full report…
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…
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.
Kaan with blue popsicle tongue.
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.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.
Bob & Mary McChord’s Coach.
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).
Mary and Bob McChord.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…
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.
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…Got gas?
Fill er up John.
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.
