Behold the magnificent scenery.
I think I'm going to publish, while there is connectivity.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Capitol Reef
Greetings Earthlings! We're in Capital Reef, where the force of the internet is weak. This is an amazing place. We've made contact with other some other bloggers, and plan on doing some hiking with them.
Behold the magnificent scenery.
I think I'm going to publish, while there is connectivity.
Behold the magnificent scenery.
I think I'm going to publish, while there is connectivity.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Grand Junction KOA
While in Grand Junction, we stayed at the KOA. It's kind of a nice park. Unlike so many KOAs, it's not full of screaming children and it's not noisy. OK, the gravel is noisy. It's 5/8 rock, and it grinds a little when vehicles drive over it.
One of my complaints with the park are these adorable post fences. They effectively narrow the sites. We can not open our big slide bay doors. They open up and out, and will hit the fence. When we washed the RV, we could not get the ladder down that side. The fence is cute, but it's a pain.
Park internet doesn't work for us, despite a repeater just off the back of the site. Verizon 4G is good. Satellite on our site (C10) is good. Water and water pressure is good. Sites have picnic tables. The laundry is big and clean. Each site has a little grass patch and a patio. Sites are fairly level.
One thing we know we should do, but frequently forget, is to run water from the spigot before hooking up the filter. I think maybe we have learned that lesson here. The water spigot was full of rust. I went in to use the toilet, and the water filling the bowl was bright orange. Between the water in Pueblo, and the rust here, we got 12 days out of this filter.
We would come back here. It's close to the Monument and is convenient to the town of Grand Junction.
One of my complaints with the park are these adorable post fences. They effectively narrow the sites. We can not open our big slide bay doors. They open up and out, and will hit the fence. When we washed the RV, we could not get the ladder down that side. The fence is cute, but it's a pain.
Park internet doesn't work for us, despite a repeater just off the back of the site. Verizon 4G is good. Satellite on our site (C10) is good. Water and water pressure is good. Sites have picnic tables. The laundry is big and clean. Each site has a little grass patch and a patio. Sites are fairly level.
One thing we know we should do, but frequently forget, is to run water from the spigot before hooking up the filter. I think maybe we have learned that lesson here. The water spigot was full of rust. I went in to use the toilet, and the water filling the bowl was bright orange. Between the water in Pueblo, and the rust here, we got 12 days out of this filter.
We would come back here. It's close to the Monument and is convenient to the town of Grand Junction.
Friday, October 3, 2014
The Colorado National Monument
Today we drove the Rim Rock Drive through the Colorado National Monument. If you're near Grand Junction, this is really worth doing. The area was designated as a monument in 1911. It's a 23 mile drive and it's just spectacular.
The road is a CCC project, constructed during the depression. The road was built by men using hand tools and black powder. They would blast the rock and then clear the rubble by hand. It was a massive effort.
This is the Fallen Rock. Water gets into the sides of the wall and freezes. That puts pressure on the rock and shoves it forward. Eventually the rock sloughed off onto the valley floor.
These formations are called the Coke Ovens.
The spires from one side.
And from the other side.
There's a window in this rock. It was sort of underwhelming, but it was a nice walk along the rim to go see it.
It is just so amazing there.
Sorry about photo quality, I shot this through the dirty windshield. We left the park heading towards Fruita. This is where you really get an appreciation for the amount of toil required to make this road.
There's another tunnel on the left of the picture.
The monument's balanced rock on the left.
We were really happy we went today. Tomorrow 2,000 bicyclists will be riding in from Fruita and go through the park. It should be chaos!
The road is a CCC project, constructed during the depression. The road was built by men using hand tools and black powder. They would blast the rock and then clear the rubble by hand. It was a massive effort.
This is the Fallen Rock. Water gets into the sides of the wall and freezes. That puts pressure on the rock and shoves it forward. Eventually the rock sloughed off onto the valley floor.
These formations are called the Coke Ovens.
The spires from one side.
And from the other side.
There's a window in this rock. It was sort of underwhelming, but it was a nice walk along the rim to go see it.
It is just so amazing there.
Sorry about photo quality, I shot this through the dirty windshield. We left the park heading towards Fruita. This is where you really get an appreciation for the amount of toil required to make this road.
There's another tunnel on the left of the picture.
The monument's balanced rock on the left.
We were really happy we went today. Tomorrow 2,000 bicyclists will be riding in from Fruita and go through the park. It should be chaos!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
The Gorgeous Drive From Pueblo to Grand Junction, CO
After spending time in the visually dessicated area of Pueblo West, today's drive to Grand Junction was a feast for the eyes. I swear we could feel our spirits being renewed as we drove Hwy 50 through the Aspens and the mountains.
This is at almost the summit of Monarch Pass. It's 11,000 some odd feet. We were not expecting to see snow. Fortunately the roads were fine and it was all good.
This is the descent off the pass. It's long and steep. It's good to own the Mountain Directory West. We knew how long and how steep it would be. Jim kept the speed down using the exhaust brake and I was not a nutbag about going too fast. We were all happy.
It was so cool that the sun was out, lighting up the trees.
Eventually we drove along a reservoir, and saw this.
After Olathe you see this. We are talking big sky country.
We're in Grand Junction for three nights. There will be a trip to the Colorado Monument. After that, it's on to Capital Reef.
This is at almost the summit of Monarch Pass. It's 11,000 some odd feet. We were not expecting to see snow. Fortunately the roads were fine and it was all good.
This is the descent off the pass. It's long and steep. It's good to own the Mountain Directory West. We knew how long and how steep it would be. Jim kept the speed down using the exhaust brake and I was not a nutbag about going too fast. We were all happy.
It was so cool that the sun was out, lighting up the trees.
Eventually we drove along a reservoir, and saw this.
After Olathe you see this. We are talking big sky country.
We're in Grand Junction for three nights. There will be a trip to the Colorado Monument. After that, it's on to Capital Reef.
Haggard's RV Campground
While in Pueblo West we stayed at Haggard's RV Park. It's not a terrible park, and would be an excellent over night stop if you're traveling on Highway 50. This is the road going west on 50, just outside of Pueblo West. It's very wide open.
The lady who runs the park is incredibly nice. Very friendly, very outgoing.
This is what the park looks like.
There is one tree, if you have a Class A with a roof mounted antenna, it will probably block your reception. We had no issues, being on a tree-less site. It's right on 50, at night there is some highway noise, but it's not terrible because it's not heavily traveled. There are bugs. The biting flies and moths have been a pain in the butt. There is livestock in the area, so there are bugs.
Park internet is sometimes good. We have a strong Verizon 4G signal, so we've been happy with that. Satellite is good, with the exception of that one site with the one tree. There is laundry on premises. The machines are old, and they're small. The laundry room is clean, the mother of the woman who runs the park cleans a lot. No data on the rest rooms. Most sites have a picnic table. Interior roads are graveled, as are the sites. There is no annoying grass to be tracked in to your RV. The entire park slopes away from the highway, so you will have to have a method of leveling. It's not terrible, but there is slope.
It's windy here, and big winds can come up quickly. It's not good to leave awnings out, or in some cases, slides.
Here is the bad. The water. They are on a well. DO NOT plan on drinking or cooking with the water. The park owners will tell you the same thing. It's just vile. We're buying water and ice. The water also spots like you can't believe. Jim squeegees the shower and dries it after each use, and still it looks like this. That's stuff from the water. Whatever is in the water is bad for your Hydro hot if you have one. It's probably also bad for the anode in a gas water heater. Before we got here we bought a carbon block water filter on the advice of Erik who told us that well water is bad.
With the exception of the water it's a good over night. The area around here doesn't have that much to recommend it, unless you fish.
The lady who runs the park is incredibly nice. Very friendly, very outgoing.
This is what the park looks like.
There is one tree, if you have a Class A with a roof mounted antenna, it will probably block your reception. We had no issues, being on a tree-less site. It's right on 50, at night there is some highway noise, but it's not terrible because it's not heavily traveled. There are bugs. The biting flies and moths have been a pain in the butt. There is livestock in the area, so there are bugs.
Park internet is sometimes good. We have a strong Verizon 4G signal, so we've been happy with that. Satellite is good, with the exception of that one site with the one tree. There is laundry on premises. The machines are old, and they're small. The laundry room is clean, the mother of the woman who runs the park cleans a lot. No data on the rest rooms. Most sites have a picnic table. Interior roads are graveled, as are the sites. There is no annoying grass to be tracked in to your RV. The entire park slopes away from the highway, so you will have to have a method of leveling. It's not terrible, but there is slope.
It's windy here, and big winds can come up quickly. It's not good to leave awnings out, or in some cases, slides.
Here is the bad. The water. They are on a well. DO NOT plan on drinking or cooking with the water. The park owners will tell you the same thing. It's just vile. We're buying water and ice. The water also spots like you can't believe. Jim squeegees the shower and dries it after each use, and still it looks like this. That's stuff from the water. Whatever is in the water is bad for your Hydro hot if you have one. It's probably also bad for the anode in a gas water heater. Before we got here we bought a carbon block water filter on the advice of Erik who told us that well water is bad.
With the exception of the water it's a good over night. The area around here doesn't have that much to recommend it, unless you fish.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
People are so Interesting
People are so interesting.
The citizens of Colorado voted their approval for recreational pot. As I said before, there's a store on just about every corner in Pueblo West. However, one can not buy regular beer or wine in the grocery stores. 3.9% beer is available, but that's it. Beer and wine must be purchased from privately owned liquor stores. The citizens of Colorado have repeatedly voted against beer and wine in the grocery stores. There are few liquor stores, and little competition. Prices are very high. The liquor store lobby must be very strong in this state.
There is one tree in the RV park, and this guy is nowhere near it. I have to ask, why would you haul a satellite antenna and four cinder blocks on to the roof of your RV? I don't get this.
This is one of the permanent residents. It's hard to see, but he has half to three quarters of a cord of wood stacked against the side of his RV. They've installed a wood burning stove in there. I did not know you could do that.
We spent the morning wedging the mountain bikes back into the bed of the pickup, washing dirt off the wheel covers and rolling them up, and other assorted tasks required for leave taking. Good thing we did it this morning. Afterwards we went to see Laurence and Jill for awhile. After leaving them we went to Safeway for five things, walked out with four of them, had to go back and then headed for home. The sun was shining at Safeway, and breezes were light. About five miles from Safeway, we saw this.
By the time we got back to the RV, the wind was strong enough to make opening a door require two hands. We were able to get the slides back in and find the door mat which had departed out site.
Note to self: When the weather head talks about rain, he's really saying it will blow like hell before it rains.
We're leaving in the morning, and I will not miss this place at all.
The citizens of Colorado voted their approval for recreational pot. As I said before, there's a store on just about every corner in Pueblo West. However, one can not buy regular beer or wine in the grocery stores. 3.9% beer is available, but that's it. Beer and wine must be purchased from privately owned liquor stores. The citizens of Colorado have repeatedly voted against beer and wine in the grocery stores. There are few liquor stores, and little competition. Prices are very high. The liquor store lobby must be very strong in this state.
There is one tree in the RV park, and this guy is nowhere near it. I have to ask, why would you haul a satellite antenna and four cinder blocks on to the roof of your RV? I don't get this.
This is one of the permanent residents. It's hard to see, but he has half to three quarters of a cord of wood stacked against the side of his RV. They've installed a wood burning stove in there. I did not know you could do that.
We spent the morning wedging the mountain bikes back into the bed of the pickup, washing dirt off the wheel covers and rolling them up, and other assorted tasks required for leave taking. Good thing we did it this morning. Afterwards we went to see Laurence and Jill for awhile. After leaving them we went to Safeway for five things, walked out with four of them, had to go back and then headed for home. The sun was shining at Safeway, and breezes were light. About five miles from Safeway, we saw this.
By the time we got back to the RV, the wind was strong enough to make opening a door require two hands. We were able to get the slides back in and find the door mat which had departed out site.
Note to self: When the weather head talks about rain, he's really saying it will blow like hell before it rains.
We're leaving in the morning, and I will not miss this place at all.
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