COLORADO / NEW MEXICO RV TRIP - 2021

Colorado - New Mexico RV Trip

More photos to be posted at johnp.zenfolio.com

 

Day 1 - July 13: Travel - Decatur to North Little Rock, AR

We started our trip intending to travel to Lake City, Colorado and Moab, Utah, with a potential return through Santa Fe, New Mexico to see Melanie's cousin, Leslie.  Sadly, we left Max the Wonder Dog at home, so he could wonder where we went.  He will be fine at home with his buddies Roxie and Tango, and a grandson who is house/dog sitting.  We will miss him, but it frees us up to do a lot more activities without him.

The RV's tank gauges indicated we needed bulk propane, so I carefully researched a vendor on the way out of town with easy access for a motorhome towing a car.  For those who don't know, you cannot back up when towing unless you want to rip the front end out of your tow car, and unhooking the car and re-attaching it is a major chore.

I decided to stop at Holston Gas after being assured by the lady on the phone that I could drive all the way around the building to reach the propane filling station.  No such luck.  As soon as we drove in they told us the turns were too sharp for us to navigate.  We had to unhook and I drove the RV into the rear of the plant surrounded on all sides by tank after tank of propane and other compressed gasses.  After our tank was filled, I had to turn around a 40 ft motorhome with limited rear visibility in the narrow aisles between all these tanks.  With the Decatur Fire Department carefully watching and the Decatur Daily on standby for the story of the year, I managed to get out and reconnect the Jeep.  We continued our journey after wasting almost an hour getting the propane.  The sad part of the story - we only took 3 gallons of propane in a 20 gallon tank.  Our gauge was wrong.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  We rode across northern Mississippi on Hwy 72.  I watched them build this road in the 80's and it hasn't been maintained since.  It was one of the roughest roads on our trip west.  Going through Memphis wasn't too bad.  We had to cross the river on the I-55 bridge because the I-40 bridge was closed due to a large crack in a support girder, but that was a short delay.

After 6 hours of driving we got to the North Little Rock RV Park.  We have stayed there several times in the past.  Our spot faced the Arkansas River, 50 ft in front of the RV, so we could watch the construction work on a new bridge across the river. We had to unhook the Jeep since it was a pull in site and we needed to back out in the morning.  We could see the Bill Clinton Hall Of Shame from the RV, although I found out later it was his presidential library.

 327 miles, 6:33 driving time, 37.9 gallons fuel, 8.6 mpg, 49 MPH avg, 6% idle time

Click to enlarge pictures

Bridge Construction

Clinton Library

Day 2 - July 14: Travel - North Little Rock to Oklahoma City, OK

Our drive from Little Rock to Oklahoma city was uneventful.  The Interstate in Arkansas was quite good.  Eastern OK was a lot rougher, and there was some one lane travel between construction barriers that was not fun. We spent the night at Roadrunner RV Park.  We have been there before also.  It is a nice, clean park and a great spot to stop for a night. 

333 miles, 6:30 driving time, 41.7 gal fuel, 8.0 mpg, 51 mph avg, 7% idle time

Day 3 - July 15: Travel - Oklahoma City to Stratford, TX

We continued on I-40 to Amarillo, TX, then headed NW towards new Mexico and Colorado.  We stopped for the night at the Star of Texas RV Park and Horse Motel (really, see photo) in Stratford, TX, which was one of the strangest places I have ever stayed,  Stratford has a population of 1200, and I think 500 of those are cows.  The RV park is beside a rodeo arena. It probably had 200 spaces, with full hookups (power, water, sewer, Wi-Fi) but unpaved and very unlevel sites.  We were the only transient RV there.  There were 4 or 5 other RV's there  but most were not occupied.  When I leveled the RV the front tires were 3" off the ground. We took a quick walk around to see the few horses that were stabled there in several corals.

349 miles, 6:23 driving time, 46.2 ga; fuel, 7.5 mpg, 54 mph, 4% idle time

Click to enlarge pictures

 

 

 

 

Day 4 - July 16: Stratford to Alamosa, CO

 

This started out as a normal day's drive heading northwest into the NE tip of New Mexico and then into southern Colorado.  The early highlight of the day was stopping at a rest stop in New Mexico and being buzzed twice by a low flying B-1 stealth bomber.  I can tell you that at low altitude this is not a stealth bomber.  The noise was incredible.  I tried to take a picture of it, but nothing showed up on the camera.  Maybe it really was a stealth bomber?

We got on I-25 at Raton, NM.  We immediately began climbing a steep mountain as the road narrowed to one lane due to construction.  The RV choked down to about 15 miles per hour and didn't want to shift to a lower gear.  My first concern was that we would not get up the hill, and my second concern was that we would become the victim of road rage from all the cars behind us.  We finally crested the hill, but the engine ran poorly and the gears did not seem to change properly for the rest of the trip to Alamosa.

After we got to our RV park in Alamosa, I called my Cummins guru in Decatur for advice or suggestions.  He recommended changing the fuel filter and fuel/water separator.  Fortunately it was just early enough to catch a mechanic, recommended by the RV park hostess, who could do this before he closed for the day.  We went directly to his shop.  He removed the old filters and fortunately found new ones to put on, because he messed up the old ones taking them off.  The owner was a young Hispanic named Joey who kept calling me "Boss".  I liked him immediately for his shrewd perception of character.

Joey had an old fire truck from New York City that he had converted into a mobile road service truck.  The truck had been at the world Trade Center on 9-11, and he had a photo of it crossing the Verrazano Bridge there on the way to the Trade Center on 9-11.  He also had an almost toothless employee who helped a little with my RV.  I overheard this guy tell another worker that the county DA had dismissed eight felony counts against him, but had added eight other felony charges.  I was not exactly sorry to get away from there with new filters and my life still intact.

We stayed at the Cool Sunshine RV Park in Alamosa.  It is a relatively new park and was very nice, except for the switch engine that blew its horn long and loud as it moved train cars around all night right behind the park.

 

291.6 miles, 6:12 hours, 38.3 gal, 7.6 mpg, 46 mph, 10% idle time

 

Click to enlarge pictures

 

Day 5 - July 17: Travel - Alamosa to Powderhorn/Lake City, CO

Our travel to Powcerhorn was shorter than in previous days.  It was only 160 miles to our destination.  I was concerned about the RV getting over a 10,000 foot pass, but we made it with no problems at 35 mph, which is not unexpected.  Apparently the fuel filters did help our engine performance.  It was a pretty easy trip with nice scenery along some really winding roads coming out of the mountains.  

 

We kept looking for our destination as we followed the directions of our GPS which indicated we had about a mile to go.  As we drove by a house well off the road, I commented that it looked like the house in the Airbnb pictures.  Then, in typical wifely fashion,  Melanie says "THAT'S IT, TURN IN."  Unfortunately we were past the driveway and, as you know, you can't back up when you are towing a car.  We went about a mile down the road and puled into a driveway littered with "Posted"signs.  We hurriedly unhooked the Jeep and Melanie drove it back to our RV site.  I backed across the road into another driveway so I could turn around, then went back up the road to our destination.  Our journey had finally ended in the right place.

Our RV site was a stroke of luck.  I had tried to book a regular site in Lake City, but they were already full 6 months in advance.  I found an Airbnb site 19 miles north of Lake City and the owner said she had a spot where we could stay in our RV.  She had lived on the site in a travel trailer while she built her house.  She had 30 amp power (enough to run one AC unit), water, and Wi-Fi at the site.  There was no waste dump, but she said we could use her septic system when out tanks were full. Since our RV is supposedly set up to allow boondocking (no services at all), this seemed fine.  It was a great, level spot on the site of an old lumber mill.  The view in every direction was wonderful.  We thought it beat the heck out of a regular RV park in terms of privacy and beauty. 

We met our hostess, Jackie Luft, who was an attractive and amazing lady.  Like Melanie, she was a woman of action in every way, although even more self sufficient.  After setting up for the night, we took the Jeep to Lake City to meet up with Mike and Linda Burnett and their friend, Axel Thors, an Icelander who is a vascular surgeon in Kansas City.  I liked him, even though he has way more toys than I do.  We all went out to dinner, then Melanie and I returned to the RV for the night.

When we got ready for bed, we discovered a slight problem.  Our sleep number bed is basically an adjustable air bed.  Melanie's side was flat as a pancake and could not be pumped back up.  Apparently it over-pressurized coming over the 10,000 foot pass and began leaking.  We put extra pillows between the mattress and the new mattress topper we had bought just before leaving on the trip.  I generously offered to sleep on the deflated side, because I knew how life would be if I didn't.  It was a lot like sleeping in a hammock.  I would occasionally reach over and up about a foot to be sure she was still in bed with me.  I was tired enough that I slept OK regardless of the bed.

 

159.6 miles, 4:05 hours, 21.1 gal, 7.6 mpg, 38 mph, 12% idle time

 

Click to enlarge pictures

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - July 18: Lake City - Alpine Loop Jeep Ride

We drove back to the Burnett's RV site in Lake City for our first adventure.  We put our gear in Mike's Jeep wrangler and set out to ride the Alpine Loop, a 60 mile, one-lane  goat trail on the side of a mile high cliff open to two-way traffic.  It is loved by Jeepers and ATV riders as a character testing destination to prove your manhood and strengthen your sphincter.  Melanie and I had ridden half of the trail several years ago in my Jeep Wrangler (Mike driving)when we went to Silverton, CO, so I already knew it was a thousand feet straight down if we fell off the road.  I was determined not to scream like a baby the way I did on our previous trip, even though it was totally justified.

 

Axel led the way in his Jeep Gladiator (I want one, but it is too heavy for my RV to pull). His wife and daughter would not go because he had scared the crap out of them on a previous trip.  They opted to stay at their RV and do girly things.  Mike drove, I rode in the front seat taking pictures and holding on for dear life while the Jeep bucked and jumped on the rough trail (definitely not a road).  Melanie and Linda sat in the back and talked so much they never had time to look over the side of the goat trail and get scared.  It was actually a fun ride (easy to say after surviving it).  We did meet a few idiots who tried to drive a normal two wheel drive automobile on the trail.  I have no idea if they ever got home, they could still be stuck up there.

Passing someone coning in the other direction could be really exciting, especially on blind curves or very narrow spots.  There is a protocol that apparently works most of the time where the person traveling uphill supposedly has the right of way.  I have some videos posted for another day that show these protocols do not always work.  That's not good when the path of unsuccess is about 1000 feet straight down the side of the mountain (see video).

After surviving the Alpine Loop with nothing more than frayed nerves, Melanie and I stopped for dinner at The Climb restaurant in Lake City.  Jackie works there (among her many jobs) as hostess.  It took her a few minutes to recognize us as her RV guests.  While we we eating, she mentioned that she had just bought a canoe, and wondered if Melanie would like to go canoeing the next morning.  Foolish question, and the adventure was set.  The food was great and was something I would eat - filet mignon, salad, and french fries.  We actually split a dinner.  Melanie ate part of the filet, the shrimp, and all the fru-fru veggies.

Click to enlarge pictures

Day 7 - July 19: Lake City - Blue Mesa Jeep Ride

Melanie and Jackie left early for their canoe adventure on San Cristobal Lake.  Jackie and one of her Golden Retrievers were in the front.  Melanie was in the back, supposedly steering to control of where the canoe went.  They had a good time and were back at the RV around noon.  They did not have any trouble getting the canoe on or off the top of Jackie's Toyota Four Runner.  Nobody fell in, and the trip was considered a success.

After lunch we headed back to Lake City to ride the Blue Mesa Trail with Mike, Linda, and Axel.  His family came along this time because this trip was more scenic than scary.

 

It was supposed to be a three hour ride, but our erstwhile experienced guide and driver, Mikey, missed a turn and we ended up driving almost 7 hours to get back to their RV site.  We found out later that if he had made the correct turn, we would have come out two miles from where our RV was parked.  It turned into a long day, but we survived and saw some nice country.  We ate dinner in Lake City on the way home, then got to the RV and totally crashed on our still deflated bed.

Click to enlarge pictures 

Day 8 - July 20: Lake City - Craft show, shopping, and company for dinner

There was a craft show on the square in Lake City today, so we went to see what the artists had to offer.  We got there around noon, but that gave us more than enough time to look around and decide we didn't need anything they had for sale.  We started to shop in several of the stores on the square, but the bottom dropped out and we finally went back to the car and the RV to keep from being part of a flash flood.  It turns out this was the beginning of daily monsoons that would affect the rest of our trip.

 

Mike and Linda came out to our RV site for dinner and Melanie cooked filets.  Mike and I rode up the hill in his Jeep to look at a 1940's era Alma travel trailer that was abandoned on the back of Jackie's property.   I have no idea how it got there, it was tough to access the site even in Mike's Jeep.

After dinner we said our farewells.  The Burnett's were heading on to Moab to ride trails in the national parks there.  Melanie and I were having enough fun in Lake City that we decided to stay there rather than risk a major detour in our 40 foot motorhome, especially when I was still unsure if I had motor or transmission problems.  I saw no real need to break down another 400 miles farther from home if we still had power problems.

Click to enlarge pictures

 

Day 9 - July 21: Lake City - Sight seeing

 After a lazy morning, we headed into Lake City to continue our low dollar shopping spree.  We did splurge and buy a couple of Colorado travel stickers for the RV and a Lake City coffee mug as a memory of our journey.  We found a great local museum with nothing but historical items from the early days of Lake City and the local area.  It was really cool and only cost us a $5.00 donation each.  We spent most of the afternoon there.  It was much larger than it appeared from the street.  Melanie had her picture taken with Alfred Packer, the guide who led an ill-fated group of miners into the mountains in the early 1880's and became trapped in a snowstorm. At some point the others died (or were killed by Packer), and he resorted to cannibalism to survive.  When he made it back to civilization, he was convicted of not being a vegan and spent the rest of his life behind bars.  While in prison, he created some artistic masterpieces, including a huge dollhouse for the warden's daughter.  I don't believe he was ever allowed to work in the prison's kitchen.

The museum was staffed by a docent (a title bestowed on a person when there is nothing the person docent know about a subject) who loved to talk and was extremely knowledgeable about the museum exhibits and the past and current history of Lake City.  He was a physicist by training, which explains his knowledge, but not his outgoing personality. I was still in the midst of taking several million pictures of the exhibits when another monsoon came and we retreated back to the comfort of our RV.

  

Click to enlarge pictures

 

 

 

 

Day 10 - July 22: Powderhorn - Bike Ride -Airbnb Photos

Jackie rents her house on Airbnb and normally lives in the basement.  She said several guests had told her her web site photos did not do her house justice.  After looking at them , I agreed and told her I would take fresh pictures for her to use on her listing.  The plan was to meet her around noon before she went to work.

In the meantime, she had told us about a nearby five mile long rails to trails abandoned railroad bed from the Denver and Rio Grande RR in the early 1900's.  It was only 2 miles from where we were staying and seemed like the perfect place for us to ride our Pedego electric bikes that we had brought from Alabama.  We got a late start, but we took the bikes out of the RV, put them on a heavy duty Thule folding bike rack, and headed off on our new adventure.  

We started to drive the trail in our Jeep, but it became obvious quickly that it was a narrow road with blind curves, two way traffic and a lot of spots where cars simply could not pass.  We beat a hasty retreat in reverse and decided our bikes were the best option for exploration.  We rode our bikes in about 2 miles, stopping often to take pictures, scan the hills and skies for eagles and mountain goats (saw none), and just enjoy the view and the river.  Then we discovered it was time to take pictures for Jackie, so we headed back to the RV.

 

We spent the afternoon talking to Jackie about her life alone in the wilds of Colorado.  She is a college professor at Western Colorado in Gunnison, working mostly remotely from home at the present time. She also works several afternoons and evenings as hostess at The Climb restaurant in Lake City. She had served as general contractor for her house, and when she could not find an electrician, she literally did all the electrical work herself. She has a great house on 40 acres and it will be a great rental on Airbnb.  The log house was first assembled in a small town 100 miles away, then disassembled, trucked over the 10,000 foot mountain pass, and reassembled at its current location. We got the photos done before she had to leave for work, and got back to the RV just in time for yet another monsoon.  We ended up staying in the RV the rest of the afternoon. watching the rain come down once again.

Click to enlarge pictures

 

 

Day 11 - July 23: Powderhorn - Second Bike Ride  - Mud Slide

We had stored our bikes under the big living room slide of the RV to keep them out of the rain.  We loaded them back on the bike rack and headed back to the old railroad bed to ride the entire trail.  We took out time, taking a lot of pictures and stopping to look for eagles and mountain goats.  We never saw any wildlife bigger than a ground squirrel, but it was a beautiful and interesting ride.  At one point Melanie started hiking through some brush looking for a trail to an old mining camp.  She promptly got a cactus stuck in her leg, and based on the volume of noise she made, I think it hurt.  Using my best training as a Ph.D. chemist, I pulled the spines out with a pair of pliers from the toolkit in my bike bag. I'm afraid she will remember that hike for a while.

 

We had several interesting conversations with some fishermen we met, and the ride and the scenery were well worth the time.  We came across an old mine shaft cut into the rock cliff beside the rail bed, but it was gated and not accessible for entry.  It surely did look interesting, though.

Before we returned to the car, we visited an old ranch/stagecoach stop nearby.  The buildings were well preserved and the information signs were quite interesting.  We got back to the RV in time to get the bikes protected from the afternoon monsoon, then took the Jeep for a trip to discover the "town" of Powderhorn.  It turns out there is no town, although there is an old post office.  It is mostly just a series of ranch buildings, and a lot of signs to document the history of the area.  It was raining cats and dogs the entire time we were checking out the area.

 

When we got back to the RV, we got a text from Jackie.  She was at work in Lake City and could not get home because a mud slide had blocked the only road back to her home.  We ended up with baby-sitting duties for her two dogs and her cats while she was stuck in town.  We were thankful we had not gone back to Lake City for dinner.

 

 

 

 Day 12 - July 24: Powderhorn - Rain Day - Mud Slide

It continued to rain all day today, so we took a rain/rest day and stayed at the RV.  Melanie got up early to let Jackie's dogs out of their crates, since Jackie was still not able to get back from Lake City due to the mud slide last night.  Mid-morning one lane of the road re-opened and she finally made it home.

 

It kept raining all day and we watched more old movies that we have seen in years,  We were afraid to go to Lake City to shop or revisit the museum because we were concerned another mud slide would leave us trapped in Lake City.  I was going to process photos until I discovered my hard drive was full and I needed an external hard drive for additional capacity.  That would require a 50 mile drive to Gunnison in the rain, so that didn't happen.  

 

I ended up catching up on my blog entries and watching more movies for the 33rd time on TV.

 

I did search Facebook for video of a couple of wrecks on the Alpine Loop which we had ridden in Mike Burnett's Jeep earlier in the week.  Links are below and they are a little eye opening.  I don't feel so bad about being a wuss while we were riding.  It was fun but can obviously be dangerous as well, as you can see below.

 

*Black Bear Pass Closed

A single vehicle accident just past Ingram Falls on Black Bear Pass is blocking all vehicles from continuing down the pass. Black Bear Pass is closed to vehicle traffic from the bottom of Bridal Veil Road in Telluride and from San Juan County side until a tow can safely remove the vehicle. Driver and occupants are claiming no injuries. 

Update 4pm: wrecker working to safely remove truck. Deputies have pedestrians clearing Bridal Veil Rd.  

Sheriff Bill Masters said Black Bear Pass has always been a dangerous pass that has no requirements for skill level or type of vehicle. "While on US Forest Service land, these incidents remain our responsibility, but without any authority. You can be a 16 year-old licensed driver joyriding in your grandpa’s old Cadillac, and I can’t do anything to prevent you from driving that pass. Sure there are signs, but no enforcement, and it is unreasonable and unaffordable to place a deputy up there all day to try and prevent people from making poor driving decisions."

 Update 7pm Thursday: Black Bear Pass and Bridal Veil Road will remain closed until the overturned pickup truck south of Ingram Falls on Black Bear can be safely removed. This includes access to the Via Ferrata and other climbing in that area. Closures expected most of Friday. Skilled personnel managing the operation said two wreckers are required, and while it is unlikely, large rockfall is possible during the process. The Bridal Veil Trail was assessed to be out of the potential rockfall area and will remain open to pedestrian use. The driver of the vehicle told deputies he misjudged the turn and went too far up the cliffside causing the vehicle to turn on its side. All occupants claimed no injury.

Update 9:30pm Thursday: New estimate of Black Bear Pass and Bridal Veil Rd re-opening is Friday 2pm. We will continue to update this post. Potential rockfall during operation to remove vehicle requires us to close the road and pass until cleared.

Update 8am Friday: Bridal Veil Road is OPEN. Black Bear Pass remains CLOSED until further notice. The vehicle is upright and removal no longer poses rockfall risk.

 

 Jeep Wrecks on Alpine Loop

Here is a video of my worst fears when riding the alpine loop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couple drives off Alpine Loop at Animas Forks

 

 

 Jeep wreck on Alpine Loop

 

    Followup to Jeep Wreck

Day 13 - July 25: Powderhorn - Third  Bike Ride

We decided to take one more bike ride down the old railroad bed this morning.  My idea was to ride in front with my Garmin Virb camera (similar to a GoPro) and capture the entire trail on a single video. Unfortunately, I did not fully charge the Virb and it stopped recording about a half mile from the end of the trail.  This was a fairly quick ride since we did not stop on the way in or out to see the scenery and read the information plaques again.  We did get a free whiff of pot smoke as we rode by a couple who had obviously determined a medical need that could not wait.  It was not enough to get high, so we kept riding.

Close to where we had parked the Jeep, there was a bridge that crossed the river and headed up to Blue Mesa via a series of pretty steep switchbacks.  I had looked at the road on our previous bike rides, and wondered if I could get up to the first switchback on my electric bike.  On the way back from this trip, I told Melanie to hold my beer and wait while I tested my manhood riding up the steep incline.  I took off using my best biking form, with the pedal assist turned up and the bike geared down.  About what felt like 3 days after my legs first started feeling the burn, I successfully reached the first switchback. Feeling very proud of myself, I stopped and started to get off my bike to wave at Melanie and show her what a hero I was.  Unfortunately, that was the moment when my right thigh cramped up and I couldn't move my leg for several minutes to get off my bike.  About that time Melanie pulled up beside me and asked if I was OK.  She had also ridden up the hill.  I tried to make my grimace look like a smile as I said I was fine.

We took a few pictures to prove our biking prowess, then she went back down to take photos of my descent from the bottom of the hill.  I rode back down carefully, since my rear brake handle was out of adjustment and pressing against the handlebar.  I was having visions of a 90 mph descent down a steep gravel road, but the brakes held fine.

We got back to the RV before the afternoon monsoons hit and got the bikes back inside the RV where they were protected from the weather.  We had wanted to go back to Lake City for dinner (reservation at The Climb), but the road was blocked by another mudslide.  We spent the evening in the RV getting everything put away for our return trip to Decatur.  

Here is a link to parts of our bike ride:

Lake City Rails to Trails Bike Ride #1

 Lake City Rails to Trails Bike Ride #2 

  

Day 14- July 26: Travel - Powderhorn to Segauche toAlamosa

This was a good day of travel with a most amazing surprise in the middle of the trip.  

After consulting several Winnebago RV forums, talking to Wade Harris in Decatur (our chassis and engine guru), and committing the unmanly act of actually reading the Freightliner's Owner's Manual, I made several operational and setting changes to the RV to improve performance in the mountains.  I had already changed the fuel filter and fuel/water separator when we stopped in Alamosa.  I added diesel fuel additive to the 3/4 tank of fuel we had.  This would help tame the western US biodiesel I have to buy, stop it from gelling, and to help keep the fuel injectors clean.  While driving I selected the Mode Button, which magically changes the software programming for the Allison transmission in some unknown way, since it won't indicate what "mode" it is in and it is not really explained in the unmanly instruction manual.  I also made sure NOT to press the accelerator pedal to the floor because, according to Freightliner, that somehow inhibits optimum shifting of the transmission.

The results were amazing,  We climbed a mountain to North Pass that topped out at 10,200 feet and never dropped below 35 mph (we went 15-20 mph on the same mountain going to Powderhorn). The gear shifting was spot on when climbing, and just as good, the transmission downshifted automatically to hold a constant speed when descending (aided by the exhaust brake).  I rarely had to touch the brakes to hold my speed going down the mountain.  It was almost like the Winnie actually like riding in the mountains.   At the end of the trip when I checked all the trip settings, we had averaged 9.2 mpg, which was by far the best on the entire trip.

After climbing the pass we descended to the tiny town of Seguache.  The altitude was 7500 feet, so we could almost breathe like normal people.  As we drove through, I saw a bunch of old jeeps and military vehicles along the side of the road.  I had seen them on the way to Powderhorn, but didn't pay much attention. Seguache is laid out in neat squares, so it was easy to circle back for a "quick" photo op.  Melanie stayed in the RV, thinking there was not much to see besides old vehicles along the street.  That was a mistake on her part.  This turned out to be one of the most interesting parts of our trip for me.

There was nobody around, so I started taking pictures of all the old equipment.  It was an amazing collection of WW-II era jeeps, half-tracks, and other equipment from many years past. I made my way to the door of a building that would have made a few tenant farmers proud and looked inside to see if anyone was there,  The building was inhabited, so I entered and found two mountain men and a tall, thin guy behind the counter in a building simply crammed full of military artifacts  We started talking (I knew he was my kind of guy because he had a Trump sign in one of his trucks).  He gave me the grand tour and a lot of history.  He started collecting Jeeps and military items so he could show young people something finite from history that they could touch and appreciate, rather than just read about it in a book or on the Internet..  He was a veteran of the Iraq war and a very interesting guy. 

He has a gun collection that was unreal (he unlocked a steel door that secured a room with a large number of old  "cartridge" rifles and pistols.  There were mannequins modeling a lot of old military uniforms, including one in a gillie suit.  His prized possession was a red British soldier's coat from the Revolutionary War.  It had apparently been taken from a British soldier by a patriot, because the buttons had been changed from British issue to the buttons worn by the colonials.

We went back outside so I could take his picture in front of some of his equipment.  Fortunately, someone else stopped and started talking to him.  Otherwise I would probably still be there talking to him about his amazing collections.

The rest of our journey was uneventful, with stops at Wal Mart for groceries and a 4 terabyte hard drive for my photos, and a stop at Safeway for my favorite soft drink, Zevia.

157 miles, 3:56 hours, 17 gal fuel, 9.2 mpg, 39 mph avg, 3% idle time

  Click to enlarge pictures

Day 15 - July 27: Travel - Alamosa to Santa Fe

This was a pretty dull day.  We drove 150 miles from Alamosa to Santa Fe, NM.

The highlight was probably seeing the Cumbres and Toltec railroad station and trains as we passed through Antonito, CO.  We have ridden the trip to and from Chama, NM several times and this brought back good memories.  It was a pretty drive with no problems.  We checked in to the Rancheros De Santa Fe Campground.  It is different from most RV parks.  It is not paved, but the sites are OK and there are a lot of small trees to separate the RV spaces.  They have really nice facilities and a lot of beautiful plants and flowers.

We spent the afternoon on a short walk, talking to a man who had left Oregon because he could no longer stand the politics there.   His politics and his Australian Shepherd made him the perfect new best friend for Melanie.  I thought we would never get back to the RV.  When we did finally get back I worked on this blog and Melanie plotted our activities and fate for tomorrow.  All I know right now is we are meeting her cousin from Albuquerque for dinner tomorrow night. I'm sure my day will be full.

150.5 miles, 3:11 hours, 16.2 gal, 9.3 mpg, 47 mph, 3% idle time

 

Click to enlarge pictures

 

 

Day 16 - July 28: Santa Fe

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, Dinner with Melanie's Cousin

We spent a hot, sunny morning exploring the Rancho de las Golondrinas (Ranch of the Swallows) just outside Santa Fe.  It is an old ranch dating back to the early 1700's.  It was an important stopping place along the famous Camino Real, the Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa Fe.  Most of the buildings are well preserved and there are docents and guides to explain the history and the workings of the ranch.  It was an very interesting tour, although in 3 hours we only managed to see less than half of the ranch.  It was so hot in the sun in the middle of the day that we finally retreated to the RV to cool off again.  I took a lot of interesting photos, but somehow they have nearly all disappeared.  what a disappointment.

Melanie's cousin, Leslie Neice, and her husband Mark drove up from Albuquerque in the early afternoon for a visit and dinner.  They took us to Tomasita's in Santa Fe for a real Mexican dinner.  Be sure you know what you are ordering there, because the sauces basically come in Really, Really Hot and Atomic (green and red).  We had a nice dinner outside, followed by being greeted by a mentally deranged homeless woman who successfully panhandled us in the parking lot as we were leaving.  The evening was a nice ending to a great trip to some of my favorite parts of the west.  (I'm not as big as I appear in the picture, I just happened to be closest to the camera.)

 

 

Day 17 - July 29 - Santa Fe to Sayre, OK

We decided to try to get home in 3 days, which means we need to drive about 400 miles per day.  We left this morning at 9:00, which may be our earliest start ever.  We lost an hour entering the Central Time Zone, hence the early start.  We got in and set up around 6:30 PM.  We stayed at the Bobcat Creek RV park in Sayre.   It was OK (no pun intended).  No restroom or shower facilities, but that doesn't matter to us.  The pads were gravel, which was OK, but they were not level.  The first time I leveled the RV the back wheels were off the ground.  That's really bad, because the back wheels have your brakes to hold the RV in place.  I had to put everything away, move the RV, and start over.  

On the bright side, the lady who runs the park also has a limited meal service with meals delivered to your RV.  Melanie had fried catfish and I had chicken fingers.  Melanie didn't have to do anything but order it.

When we stopped for fuel in the morning, we met a young man at a gas station who saw our large University of Alabama decal on the back of the RV and struck up a conversation.  Turns out he was in negotiations with Jeremy Nails and John Joseph to manufacture a unique parasail ATV/airplane combination, the Skyrunner,  (www.flyskyrunner.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNIOu8yLaiY), in our hometown of Decatur, AL.  Unfortunately, our insightful and forward thinking mayor vetoed the idea for some reason.  The plan was to manufacture the riding/flying machine in the the old cotton gin next to the downtown viaduct over the railroad tracks.  We apologized for the mayor's lack of vision and appreciation of new jobs coming to town.  The company eventually changed their plans and now manufactures the plane in Texas.  I guess after we got the Toyota/Mazda plant, small business just isn't important to Decatur.

 

 

 397.1 miles, 6:56 hours, 46.1 gal, 8.6 mpg, 57 mph, 3% idle, $125.00

 

 

Day 18 - July 30 - Sayre, OK to Russellville, AR 

This was a long day with a lot of one-lane Interstate driving due to to road construction.  The good news is that there was not a lot of truck traffic.  Apparently long haul truckers have completed their runs by Friday.  We didn't get away until 10:45 because we slept late after yesterday's long trip.  We made it to Outdoor Living Center RV Park in Russellville around 6:30 PM.  It's a nice park, although not real fancy.   It does have a nice, well equipped recreation building. It's clean and the gravel pads are level, so setup was easy.  It looks like a lot of the campers are long-term residents.  We took a short walk around the park, ate dinner, and went to bed so we would be ready to head home on our final leg of the journey the next day.

385.1 miles, 6:31 hours, 44.2 gal, 8.7 mpg, 59 mph, 1% idle

 

 

 Day 19 - July 31 - Russellville, AR to Decatur, AL (Home)

 This was another very long day.  We drove 400 miles to get home to Decatur.  It was 7.5 hours of driving and almost 9.5  hours of being in the RV.  We got home around 7:30 and basically crashed.  We got our essentials out of the RV and left everything else inside until the next day.  The trip itself was uneventful, just long.  It did take almost an extra hour to get through Memphis because the I-40 bridge over the river was still closed and we had to detour over the I-55 bridge along with a million other travelers.  The I-40 bridge reopened later  in the week after we arrived home. 

396 miles, 7:30 hours, 43.6 gal, 9.1 mpg, 52 mph, 2% idle

TRIP TOTALS

2796 miles, 53:40 hours, 335.4 gal diesel, 8.33 mpg, 52 mph, 4% idle