Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Headin’ East…

P8310010 We leave South Fork in the morning to start making our way east to our next assignment. We start our next job in Greenwood, Nebraska the day after Labor Day. Spent mid-day to supper time with our friends Bobbie and Jim. For supper, Bobbie cooked up the fresh trout that our neighbor gave us. Boy was it good. We saw the neighbor tonight, upon returning to our rig, and thanked him for the fish. Today he and his wife had gone to a large potato farm down the road and watched them harvest potatoes. There were a bunch of potatoes that the farm didn’t want so they brought home a huge box of them. The potato I saw on top of the box was HUGE ! Probably 8-9” long and big around as my fist….that would be a whole meal. We said our farewells to Bobbie and Jim…we think we can get together again in January or February, depending where our travels take us. We know we’ll find a way…not a matter of “if”…just a matter of “when”.

Last night we got to have dinner with our friends Wendy and Cindy at Wendy’s parents’ cabin,outside of South Fork. WP8300012e had such a good time catching up with them and getting to know Bill and Jean…such sweet people. I think they live in Los Alamos and come up on weekends to their cabin. Wendy and her mom fixed a  great meal of roasted vegetables,mushroom stroganoff and poppyseed cake for dessert. Everything was soo good! P8310009 This morning we had the girls over and Linda fixed french toast with cream cheese and fresh peaches. A yummy start to the day plus more time to chat with Wendy and Cindy. We’re hoping to cross paths in January or February when we go to Texas for our annual meeting. We’ve had such a good time here with all of our friends. Life on the road is so rich with the friends we’ve made and quality time we get to spend with them.

Just three jobs standing between us and getting back home for some time off with our kids and family, picking up our new rig and visiting friends.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Now we know what that sound is…

P8280008 The last time we were here, every so often we’d hear this really shrill chirp when we’d be outside. I’d look around for a bird of some sort, never seeing anything. Then I thought maybe it was some warning signal for what I didn’t know. I heard it again today when I’ve been working outside. I saw our next door neighbor outside his rig so I asked him what that sound is. Whistling pig, he says. Whistling what ?!? A marmot or whistling pig….I’ve heard of a marmot but guess I’ve never seen one. I asked if it’s like a woodchuck…sort of. Well I caught sight of one out back of our rig. he wasn’t whistling…he was pretty intent on eating. From the looks of him, it would seem to be his favorite pastime. Maybe his whistler is broken cause he’s not making that sound. Maybe it’s not a marmot or whistling pig, although Gary said there are several of them around here.

Just finished a rowdy round of thunderstorms in the valley here….I guess mother nature figured the rig needed a second rinse since I gave the rig a bath this morning. Still dark clouds hanging around…might be mustering up an encore performance. And we didn’t even take the trike out today. Need to keep it parked now till our plates arrive (tomorrow hopefully) since our temporary tag expired yesterday.

California Little Leaguers played a great game ! Very evenly matched game with Japan, with great hits and great defense. I always hate to see them cry when they lose. I know it’s really heart breaking to lose after coming so far but all of the teams should be really proud. There is still a lot of buzz about the Keystone team. The attendance figures were unbelievable this year…gave the kids a big league feel to their games to have the stadium packed with people.

Not much else happening today. Did some cleaning around the rig. Counting the days till we pick up the new rig and get to see our kids. Keeping in touch with our kids as Hurricane Irene makes her way up the coast. Becky, in Boston will be the last one to possibly see the affects of the storm. So far, she said a tree came down in her block but very little rain.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Saturday

Took the trike out this afternoon for a ride to Creede. Another day of dodging rain drops….seems whenever we hit the road the P8270006black clouds roll over. Had a great ride to Creede…amazing how different the scenery is from riding in a car vs riding on a motorcycle. We went to the old firehouse and had ice cream cones…yum ! While in Creede we walked around and found this little sitting area where the  flowers were really gorgeous. There is also a really pretty mural of the P8270007 local wildlife. Very nicely done. Not much going on…trying to do little housekeeping chores before we turn our rig in. Think I’ll wash the rig tomorrow. It got really filthy driving in the rain the other day. We haven’t been able to wash it in any of the parks we’ve been staying in so it’s due for a bath.

We were worried when we heard from our sales rep, Al at Whitehorse RV that our rig had arrived just ahead of the hurricane. As you recall from my last post, I asked him to please wrap it in bubble wrap to keep it safe. He sent me this picture and told me he had it put in an empty service bay to keep it safe and sound. What a sweetie and what great customer service ! He promises to send me more pictures of the unit but I’m sure he has his hands full with the storm roaring through.Outlaw in NJ 

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Look at the row where we’re parked here at Moon Valley. Looks like an Excel family reunion. An older Excel next to us and two identical ones on the far left in the row. And there’s another Excel in a back row….holy smokes ! Ours in the dirtiest one in the row….The guy in the first slot, on far left, has a heavy duty truck…makes Bertha look like a her baby sister. Big truck !

Friday, August 26, 2011

Arrived in South Fork

Left Durango yesterday morning and headed to South Fork to hang out with our friends Bobbie and Jim for a while before moving on to Nebraska for our next job. We’ll also get to see our friends Cindy and Wendy provided they can get a flight out of Richmond. They were supposed to fly out Friday but they e-mailed us this morning and said their flight has been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene coming up the coast. They have rescheduled for a Sunday flight so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well that they can take their flight out. Linda and I are both watching the weather closely as so many of our family is on the east coast. My son is in Philadelphia area and my daughter is in Boston. Three of Linda’s kids are in the Virginia Beach area and one is in Williamsport, PA. Everyone please say a little prayer for everyone in the storm’s path. It sure sounds like it’s going to be very devastating for some areas.

Lots of thunderstorms in our area…seems every time we take the trike out for a ride, it rains. We ran into rain yesterday for the majority of the drive here from Durango. I had to stop and put another layer of clothes on, as it gets really chilly coming over Wolf Creek Pass. I could have sworn the rain that stung my face, up on the summit was actually ice pellets. I had taken my face shield off because it’s been so hot out but I may need to put it back for the trip to Nebraska.

End of August marks our sixth month at this job. We really love it and the relationships that we’ve made with merchants and park owners is great. For our full-time RV’ing friends, they know what we mean about the quality of the friendships you make on the road with people. Well, every day of work is like that. Meeting amazing people, with unique and varied backgrounds, and you begin to develop an amazing relationship with people that you’ll get to see year after year.

Heard from the RV dealer in New Jersey and our rig arrived today. Yay !! Now if I can get him to wrap it in bubble wrap till Hurricane Irene passes, I’ll feel much better. Keeping my fingers crossed that Williamstown, NJ is not in the path of any flying debris !

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Got Gas ?

I keep forgetting to talk about this in one of my posts but finally remembered. On our trip from Jackson, WY to Colorado, our route took us through Utah. We had stopped to fill up at a Flying J and noticed that the pump the guy across from us was using was really loud. It wasn’t till he was almost done pumping that Linda noticed the nozzle was different. She tried to ask the guy questions about it but he didn’t speak English. He was driving a pick-up truck and turns out he was filling it with natural gas. I figured it was a municipal vehicle as you often see buses and municipal vehicles say that they are powered “by natural gas”. Since we couldn’t ask him anything that couldn’t be answered with hand signals, we were getting ready to pull out. A lady pulled up in a car in the exact same spot, after the truck had left, and she also began to fill up with natural gas.

We asked her about it and found out it’s her personal vehicle and it’s pretty common to find them in Utah. According to this interesting article, Utah was the first state in the country to express broad consumer interest in running their cars on natural gas. We asked this woman what the fuel efficiency is on natural gas. She said that natural gas is running around $1.25/gallon and she has a 5 gallon tank in her car. She figured she got about 30 miles to the gallon ! Wow…why aren’t more states putting in natural gas pumps ? According to the article I found, people are searching the internet for natural gas cars for sale to bring back to Utah. There is more demand for vehicles than what is available on car lots. Honda Civic GX is the only manufacturer of natural gas vehicles for ordinary consumers. Honda’s web site touts fuel mileage of 28 mpg/city and 39/highway. The car also has zero emissions…how cool is that! Starting price is $15,805 if you can find one. They are selling like hotcakes. Can’t imagine why when gas prices are $3.61 (least that’s what we paid yesterday to fill the trike). Hey, President Obama…take a trip to Utah and see what Utah is doing to break the grip on foreign oil.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Finally Got it Worked Out !

outlaw For several months now, we’ve been working with several RV dealers, around the country, to work out a deal on a Damon Outlaw toyhauler. One of the dealers we’ve been working with is Whitehorse RV, in Williamstown, NJ. Over the last few weeks, each time we’d get close to finding an Outlaw like we wanted, they’d sell it. According to the salesman I’m dealing with, Thor only produces 100 Outlaws a year and this dealership has already sold 5 or 6 this year. Well, on Friday we got everything worked out to get one. Financing is done….Our Outlaw is rolling out of the factory in another week or so and will have all the options and features that we wanted. The dealership will get it and hold onto it till we get there in early October to trade in Bertha and our 5th wheel. We’re so excited ! Now our trike, Vanessa (that’s her name) will have a garage of her very own.P8200012

Today we took Vanessa for a spin over to see our friends, Bobbie and Jim in South Fork. Started out hot, here in Durango, but hit rain on top of Wolf Creek Pass and my hands were freezing by the time we got off the mountain. Significantly cooler in the South Fork area than in Durango. Had to exchange our shorts and t-shirts for jeans and jackets for the ride home. Brrr….Got home just as the rain moved in at a steady clip.P8200008 Was great to surprise our friends…We finish up in Durango and leave on Thursday. Going to South Fork to See Bobbie, Jim and our friends Wendy and Cindy, who will be in the area visiting family. Will be great to see all of them before we head east for the winter months.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

First Trike Ride

P8160008 Went for our first trike ride Tuesday night. Found a small excursion in a biker brochure, that our neighbor Bill gave us, so we went out for three hours. Went to Chimney Rock, which was nice riding through farm lands and off the highway riding. Don’t know anything about this particular land formation…it was pretty to look at and we were just happy to go out for a ride. Linda saw some deer and turkeys along the road while we were riding. It was really, really hot riding since the temps during the day had gotten up to the low 90’s. We each wore jeans but had forgotten Newton’s law of gravity that all wrinkles and folds hold sweat when you sit on a leather seat. Whew, it was a hot one and even by the time we arrived home (7:45) it hadn’t cooled down much.

Sure P8160022 was a pretty ride though. Bike handles nice…a little different than the last trike I had but really comfortable. Linda thought she was sitting in a big ole Lazy Boy recliner…sprawled out in the back..listening to tunes as we rode down the road. A good time for sure…

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Silverton,CO

 

P8150015 Drove to Silverton Monday…50 miles away. It’s a pretty drive…up over a mountain on “millionaire highway”. Apparently when the highway was built back in the 40’s it cost a million dollars. After having traveled it, I can see why. P8150046

I think there was 500 ft of guard rails the whole way there….they were virtually non-existent ! I really was hoping that I had a pair of blinders with me so I couldn’t see off the sides of the road. So far down in some spots….

We stopped at Molas Pass….elevation of 10,899 feet. The sign at the rest area says that some of the freshest “air” in the United P8150014 States is in that area! From the San Juan Mountains you can see up to 170 miles. It sure was gorgeous up there. Air was fresh but also thin….we could feel ourselves having a tough time breathing and Linda got a little nauseous later in the day.

Silverton is a cute little town, nestled in the valley. The Durango-Silverton narrow gauge train makes a stop in Silverton…This was a mining town for Gold in its heyday.  P8150025The train track ends on a side street and the conductor has to back the train up about a 1/2 mile to turn around. Close to the train are several former bordellos.P8150019 See the ladies in the upstairs windows ! Natalia’s is now a restaurant and had a cute sign hanging in their window….

 

 

 

 

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It was a tough decision to decide where to have lunch…so many places that had wonderful smells coming from them. There was a BBQ place that had been on Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives and had a poster of Guy Fieri in the front window that was enticing but we ultimately were drawn in by the wonderful ragtime pianoP8150041 playing at Grumpy’s. Lacey, the piano player, has been playing full-time, at Grumpy’s since 2000. Look at the sign hanging on the left side of her piano. She knows over 500 songs by heart and takes requests from the lunch crowd. She was awesome ! Not only was the music great but the food was too. All of the fixtures in the place were old and ornate. The bar was huge, with mahogany or walnut wood and big columns.Tin ceiling, wooden floors, bison and moose heads hanging from the walls. When the train comes in and drops off a load of people, the place fills up. Neat place..great food !

Better trip on the way home. We were on the right side of the road (next to the mountain) so I didn’t have to see over the edge so much. Could finally unclench my toes, hands and stomach !P8150045

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Durango

P8120012 We are settled in and spent Thursday in the Durango area and all day Friday in the BayfiP8110011eld area. Had a really great lunch at a BBQ place in Bayfield. Boomer got to eat the food we weren’t able to finish. Their home-made BBQ sauce was really good !

We went to both of the campgrounds in Bayfield to pick up some brochures to use when we go out to sell. They are situated on the edge of a beautiful lake. This wood carving is at one of the campgrounds and is of a firefighter holding a raccoon. Lake Vallecito in CO

Today we took the free trolley downtown. There is a pick-up point right in front of the campground and there are routes all over town….what a godsend for not having to find a parking place when it’s so congested downtown. We had noticed yesterday, when we were downtown, that the local theatre is playing “The Help”. We went to the 1:30 showing today and what a wonderful movie it was. Humorous and thought provoking, it depicts life in the 60’s from the perspective of the African American women who served as maids in Jackson, Miss. A young woman, who studied journalism, got the idea to tell what life was like from the point of view of “The Help”. It’s a wonderful movie that will make you laugh and cry and question how some people could every have treated black people that way. There are some aspects of American history that are pretty embarrassing to think ever transpired in this country. If only the humanity aspect of our civilization would escalate and mature as much as the technology side of things, we’d be so much more evolved.

We walked around Durango and there are so many beautiful buildings. We found a store, just like one in Creede, CO where they sell infused olive oil and aged and flavored balsamic vinegar. We spoke with the owner and told her about the Creede store. She had just been to the Creede store yesterday and was surprised that there was something else like her store. They get their stuff from the same supplier…just label it with their own name. Linda sampled the fig balsamic and roasted garlic olive oil, which she had not done when Bobbie and I bought some bottles in Creede. Good stuff !!

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I loved the look of these old doors and entryway..P8130017 P8130018
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Look at the old sign on the side of the building…P8130023 Train station – train goes to SilvertonP8130014

Great old buildings, beautiful flowers and some cute shops. We had a great time looking around and then caught the trolley back to the campground. The trolley runs till 10 p.m. so very handy for night owls.

Tomorrow our trike gets delivered to us here at the campground. Turns out our next door neighbor, here in the campground, has a Harley trike that he bought a while ago on Ebay. He showed it to us in the back of his toyhauler and it’s a beautiful bike. He went out for a ride after supper. We won’t be able to go out for a ride tomorrow as the temporary tag didn’t get here yet from our mailing service. It was overnighted on Thursday but no sign of it yet. Remember when “overnight” meant that you’d have it the next day ? Guess that’s not the case anymore. We’re excited to get it and explore the area with it !

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Arrived in Durango…

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Left Springville around 7:30 this morning and got into Durango around 3:45. What an awesome drive to get here ! Some of the most picturesque roads to make up for one great day of traveling. Took 6/89 through Price Canyon down to 70, then 191 through Moab. At Monticello, we cut over to Cortez area (although we bypassed the actual town) and then took 160 over to Durango. I usually don’t give you specific routes, etc. but today was an awesome trip. I’ve never seen rocks with such a reddish color as we saw in the Price Canyon area. If you want a great place to stop and take a break (we ate our lunch here), stop at the rest area just before you get on 191 toward Arches National Park. It sits up on a hill and there are great 360 degree views. P8100019There were some beautiful flowers around the buildings and I got this shot of the bees having a feast of pollen for their lunch. The little devils were so quick, flitting from one blossom to another, that it took me several tries to capture a shot of one. Look at how he’s gripping the flower with his front legs to get the pollen out.

 

 

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P8100028 Wilson ArchP8100030

Moab is a cute town…surrounded by lots of neat rock formations. In case you can’t tell, I have this thing for rocks. I love cool formations and I’m sure Linda gets tired of me saying how “amazing” different ones look as we’re driving down the road. Yep, I like ‘em. Yesterday, when Linda called the campground where we’re supposed to work, she asked if they could take us one day early since we were running ahead of schedule. They said sure…might have to go in a water and electric only site but we said that was fine. Linda had also scheduled for us to meet with two different parks to get their paperwork out of the way tonight so we can start selling tomorrow. We arrive at the campground and they don’t have a site for us. We had to find a site at another park down the road till we can get in there tomorrow. IF we’d known all of this, we would have stopped at the Arches National Park (one of my bucket list  items) and seen all of the cool formations there. We did get our meetings out of the way…one good thing.

Been a long day…we’re tired and cranky….off to bed. Have to get our tails in gear and sell our butts off ‘cause we only have two weeks to get these four parks done. We’ll keep you posted…

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Traveling Through Utah

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Left a little after seven this morning…bound for Durango, Colorado. Gorgeous start to the day, although a little on the chilly side. We drove  340 miles today…about half way to Durango. Just before we got to Provo, Utah we drove by a lake that was really pretty and had tons of boaters and skiers taking advantage of the terrific weather. We pulled off the road, at a pull-off area, to stretch and relax for a bit before driving some more.There were two wind surfers on the lake that were fun to watch. The one guy dumped his sail (not sure hat the technical term is for losing the wind in one’s sail) and had to wait till the wind hit it just right to pick it up again. Was certainly interesting to watch…I can’t imagine how much upper body strength it must take to do this.

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While we were stopped, I checked RV Park Reviews for a park that would be on our route. It seems there is a problem with mosquitoes in this area. Several parks that I pulled up, had reports of being attacked by mosquitoes the minute they got out of the truck. Found a good review, on the park where P8090021we're staying, with no mention of mosquitoes. We’re just off Interstate 15..exit 261 at East Bay RV Park. Nice park…very clean and neat, with a great backdrop of the mountains. When we got to our site, a contractor was making his rounds and was spraying for mosquitoes….THAT’s why this park isn’t having a problem with them ! This park offers a Good Sam discount…total cost was $30.P8090022 Pretty scenery coming down through the hilly country, into Provo. Went by Bridal Veil Falls, which was really great…cascading down the side of the mountain. Provo isn’t as big as I imagined it would be. Drove by Brigham Young University’s stadium and the outer portion of their campus. When I was at Penn College, there were several active members in a group called NACUFS (National Assoc of College University Food Services) that were from BYU. Pretty town….can now say we’ve been through Provo. Tomorrow we’ll arrive in Durango….

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Bridal Veil Falls

 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Leaving Jackson Soon

P8050006 We’re trying to finish up the two parks in this area. We drove up to Moran on Friday and met with the manager there to go over their changes. We met a neat couple, from Georgia who were on their way to Sturgis. They had a Harley motorcycle and were pulling a trailer. We stood there for quite a while and chatted about all sorts of things. While we stood there, we noticed that some mud swallows had built a nest up in the roof structure over the gas pumps. You can see the little baby birds heads poking out of the openings. P8050008 While we were sitting in the truck, waiting for the owner, we watched this squirrel who had made a home under one of the cabins. Cute little guy ! It was a morning for critters….

Passing thunderstorms today…still nice temps. Have to turn the heated mattress pad on at night…it gets so chilly. Last night we had a pizza from Mountain High Pizza Pie, in downtown Jackson. They deliver to the campground so we did that while the Nationwide race was on. We got a grecian delight which had onions, feta, black olives, fresh garlic and sesame seeds on a whole wheat crust. It was the first pizza we’ve had in quite a while…I really liked it but Linda thought it was a little dry.

Next Sunday we’ll be in Durango and our trike will be delivered to us. Mike, the guy who picked it up in Oklahoma said that everything went well and the trike is safe and sound until he brings it Sunday. He said it was very hot in Oklahoma ! I hope all of the hot weather finishes up before we start heading east again. We worked out our work schedule for next year and submitted that to our boss. I think he has a number of jobs that need to be done that he will put out there for people to pick up so will be interesting to see where they might be. We’ll see how that whole thing works.

Not much going on…hitting the road on Tuesday.