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.

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…

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.

We unloaded Kaan’s bike so he could get some exercise and give the computer games and our internet usage a break.

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.

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…

We pulled in next to friends and fellow FCRV members Biff & Linda Anderson.  They arrived a day or so earlier.

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.

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.

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).

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…