Day 14: Home Again :P

 

Clayton, NM RestStop

Two days on the road, some rain, some sun, but the temps went from 60’s to upper 90’s, welcome to Texas! We spent the night at a rest stop near Clayton NM then on to Amarillo for a Buc-ees fix and then a non stop 5 1/2 hour trip to the house. 

New Bitcoin Orange sunglasses

More stickers

Photo Op with Buc-ee

Home Again

Day 12-13: Goodby Salida

Raspberry Gulch Camp Spot

Last Days in cooler temps, time to head home tomorrow :( It rained most the day yesterday so we stayed inside and caught up on computer stuff, and chatted with friends. Today, we went into Salida for our last round of shopping and some Amica pizza. It did rain a bit, but all was good. We got our fill of Salida, a great little mountain town to visit in the summer to beat the heat.

 

Day 11: Purge and Play day

 

It has been 8 days since we arrived and our black and gray tanks are full and our fresh water tank is low. We rolled in the awing, dropped the levelers, and made the 45 minute trek into town to dump our tanks and fill up on fresh water this morning. It was a two hour excursion, but all is good. We got back to camp, let out the awning re-leveled and were good to go. Today, Rebecca put on a art class for all of us and we did some "Pours" as they call it. We made art, even those of us (me) that are not so artsy. The sun shined, it rained, but it was a good day. We finished the day with a potluck of beef tips, shrimp kabobs, potatoes, and salad. After dinner we enjoyed a few card games of "Golf" and "Tens", all had fun and called it a night just shy of 10pm. It was a full day of fun for sure.

Day 10: Leadville

 

Rebecca and Alan spend the morning shagging water in her new 30gal bladder to fill her RV, then head to Leadville for a Melanzana appointment. Yolanda and Lori head into town for groceries and errands. In Leadville, we went to the Melanzana clothing factory on main street where they make fleece hoodies and only by appointment. Appointments are booked out 7 months in advance and you can only buy two items. We happen to snag a cancellation luckly for today at 4:30pm the only appointment available before Feb. 3 next year. Amazing they only sell this way, but small shop, and is certainly a thing here in Leadville as the store was packed. Walk-ins can only buy clearance items, socks, and hats, no new jacket inventory. So we felt lucky to get an appointment and Alan snagged a couple fleece hoodies, socks, and beanie hat. We finished the Leadville trip with pizza at High Mountain Pizza Pie's which is always excellent.

We also lost our refrigerator yesterday, it stopped working, It was the ignitor, but it was too late and we had to toss most our food out, so Yoli restocked the food in a RTIC cooler I picked up this morning at Walmart when I went into town to shag water with Rebecca. Now the freezer is working but the refrigerator is not. So back into the shop the RV goes when we get home and will have to live out of the ice chest the rest of the week. Boooooo!  

At the Melly factory - Score!

RJ & Alan at High Mountain Pies

burnt ignitor on fridge that needs replacing

RV Projects never end

Day 9: Festival days in Salida

 

We visit Rebecca at the festival to see her paint faces and spread her cheer to all the kids in the park, one face at a time. We buy fresh baked goods, Baklava, and see the Giraffe on a bike as he is there every year. Giraffe on a bike has been riding the streets of Salida for many years. We have lunch downtown with Mitch and Lori and Rebecca, buy some swag and call it a day.

Day 7-8: Sunshine and Rain

Last couple of days we have had sunshine and afternoon rain. We grilled up some beef and chatted around the bonfire with friends. Certainly enjoying the 50 degree nights. We have not had to run our heater or AC at all since we arrived. We even put on the winter comforter on the bed so Yoli could keep her window open for fresh air. Low 50's at night have been great for sleeping, and the fresh air and pine scent is priceless. None of that in Grapevine for sure. The lack of humidity does dry the skin and crinkle the nose, but a small price to pay for the views and temperatures. Lotion is a required commodity to keep the skin from drying out. Outside is wonderful with very few mosquitos, it is the biting flies that sometimes get to be a pain and drives us indoors or full clothing. Wearing long sleeve clothing and pants helps. All in all, it has been wonderful our first week at 8500' altitude near Buena Vista in the San Isabel National Forest.

 

Day 4-6: Buena Vista

As we get camp further unwound and spread out, we ventured into the town of Buena Vista. We ate brunch at Cool River on the patio, and finished the day at Quincy's steakhouse. We walked the downtown area and picked up some swag and deals of the day. It was getting warm approaching 80 degrees! Kidding aside, we are loving the 50's at night and low 80's during the day with a brush of cool rain here and there. We are just enjoying hanging out with our friends, planning pot lucks, and bon fires. We may do a raft trip this week, we will see. Tonight we cooked burgers on the grill, and sat at the bonfire until dark thirty.

Day 3: Summer Camp Arrival

Today we drove from Walmart in Trinadad, CO to our favorite boondock spot near Buena Vista, CO.  It was a 170 mile day plus a stop to dump and fill tanks in Ponca Springs. We arrived around 4pm to meetup with old friends and such a great surprise to find Bob Ide amongst the friendly faces that greeted us. We have not camped with Bob since Baja two years ago. We broke out the fire pit, and caught upon on everyones travels. Fun times for sure and today was certainly a Gooder Day.

Miles: 170 / 765

Day 2: Trinadad Colorado

Today we left Amarillo around noon after sleeping in until 10am and having our coffee. We topped off our fuel at Buc-ee's across the street from the visitor center where we spent the night. This overnight boondock spot is our fav when passing through Amarillo. Todays drive was 245 miles that took us north of Amarillo to Dumas, then across the NM/TX border at Texline. We passed the volcano where every time I do, I say I need to stop and go up that volcano and check out the crater, for 30yrs of trips to Colorado from Texas, not once have I made that trek. Some day, on my bucket list... Tonight we parked the rig at the local Wal-Mart so we could make a final provision run before we head to one of our favorite boondock spots near Salida, CO called Raspberry gulch. Nothing notable today, we did disconnect the Jeep and had Yoli drive it over the Raton pass to be easier on the RV as it is a slug climbing mounts with the Jeep attached to its rear.  No rain, cool temps in the 70's and looking forward to nightly temps in the 50's over 6000 feet in elevation for the next two weeks.

Miles 245 / 595

Day 1: Amarillo

Today we left home for cooler weather. Heading to Colorado for a couple weeks to meetup with friends in the mountains for altitude living. First stop on the trip was Amarillo to visit with family. We had a great dinner at Salt Grass Steakhouse and caught up on all things in life. Casey, Stacy, and Tyler are good people that we just love hanging out with any chance we come through Amarillo. Unfortunately we did not get to meetup with Miles, Courtney, and Kyle in Panhandle, next time through for sure. 

Miles: 350 / 350