Road trip! Off to Colorado

I largely neglect our Twitter page except to post blog updates and while we're moving. Winnebago responded to our maintenance manual post!

We are spending October in Colorado visiting family.  We try to avoid being on the road over holidays and with Labor Day on the 5th, we get rolling early.   We are spreading the drive over three days with the goal of being tucked into the campground the Thursday before the holiday weekend rush starts.  (Ironic, since we used to do this drive in one day--12 hours straight through--and made fun of those who didn't!  Spare time is a wonderful thing!)

Our destination is Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, Colorado.  It's a popular spot with locals on weekends and we squeaked in by booking a month in advance (losing a site and finding another site while trying to consult the calendar and The Colonel).

This is our first time towing the car and we are quickly stopped on our way out of Sundermeier RV Park.  Turns out it wasn't because of concern over the tow bar hook-up but "You aren't headed back to Florida already are you?"  Ha, ha.  Nope, we're going the other way!

Facebook:  "On the move after sitting in one place for a month!  We're not used to that. Colorado bound."

Traveling is exhausting!  Thank goodness Princess Amelia has access to the couch while we're moving...

"Is the house moving again?  I'm not talking to you!"

Facebook:  Lunch stop on the first day is Oak Grove, MO.  "The same stupid white Nissan has been tailgating us since we left!  Oh, that's our car...   Bahahaha"

Facebook:  "Passing through my hometown. Go Royals & Chiefs!"

Lots of "green" for an RV park

Stop 1, Deer Creek Valley RV Resort.  Topeka, KS:  After lunch, I ended up on the couch with an upset stomach (crew member down!).  Then we hit a small rain shower with more gloom on the radar.  The Colonel pulled over at a rest stop before Topeka to:
1) call our second choice stop (first choice hadn't called back)
2) bring the iPad back so I could reprogram the directions
Then he had to:
3) go in to check in on arrival.
4) set up on his own
5) make his own dinner & toast for his wife
Yep, he appreciates everything I do!

We ended up stopping 20 miles short for the night.  This turned our to be a great stop.  $39.60 (Good Sam).  Large pull-thrus, large grassy areas between pads and the park is surrounded by trees (second best to parking under a tree).  Great atmosphere.  Staff is very friendly (and reviews say the bathrooms are immaculate).

Bonus:  the rain showers didn't arrive until after we'd gone to bed.  An overall good day.

Stats:  313 miles

Ahhhh, beautiful Kansas with light rain thrown in for variety!

Lunch stop, day 2:  Flying J Truck Stop, Salina, KS.

The windmills of breezy Kansas always make me smile

Despite all the jokes, Kansas can be beautiful!

This afternoon's road trip music:
Pandora's Southern Rock Radio...
"Somebody is gonna hurt someone before the night is through..."
"There's gonna be a heartache tonight, a heartache tonight, I know!..."

I do miss the fabulous sunrises & sunsets from the boat, but we still keep an eye out.

Stop 2, High Plains Camping.  Oakley, KS:  This was a bare bones stop but the options get sparse in western Kansas.  It turned out to be a decent facility.  The owner's keep it tidy and are very enthusiastic.  They even convinced us to check out the adjacent restaurant but it turned out to be a little disappointing.  Oh, well.  At least I didn't have to do dishes!

Stats:  309 miles

For people who skipped last winter, this is chilly!  Digging out the flannel jammies!

Day 3:

Hanging with the big boys!

An advantage to a Class A RV is we sit up high with a great view. How high?  The Colonel requested a pic as a semi goes by because "they look so close!"  (They are close!). It took him awhile before he realized many were waving. Got the perfect shot today--see the stuffed animal in the window?  We're up here with the big boys!

Mountains in sight--a little hazy today.

Spot #17

Destination, Boyd Lake State Park:  Check in was interesting.  We accidentally turned into the office entrance instead of the main gate.  I quickly panicked, thinking I'd directed The Colonel into a dead end but he maneuvered the round-about like a champ (we saw several large rv's make the same maneuver during our stay).  It gave me opportunity to purchase a state park pass ($70 for the year, versus $8/day in addition to the $23 campground fee.  We'd later learn our family didn't have a state park pass either, and paid $8 to come in to greet us!)

Stats:  289 miles

A view of the lake or the mountains. Pick your seat.

Welcome to Colorado--sunset over the mountains.

Catching up on some paperwork.  Leg One from FL to St. Louis was 1395 miles.  Leg Two from St. Louis to Colorado was 904 miles, for a grand total of 2299 miles in Odin the Winnebago in two months!  Certainly much faster than the Odin the Sailboat!

Road route map for leg two is up (interactive--zoom in and switch to satellite to see the rv parks):  https://goo.gl/maps/rKa2WVAtPBq

St. Louis Month 2, Historic St Charles area

A sunset over Sundermeier RV Park

When we get bored, we just MOVE!  OK, we loved Babler campground but now we're 20 min closer to Grandbaby, next to the Katy Trail, we have on-site laundry, and we're close to several yummy eating establishments so our friends can come visit (hint, hint)!

Where the trail ends

Katy Trail: I was laying down a blistering pace on our local rail trail when it suddenly turned into a singletrack. We rode quite a ways on our road bikes before I almost wiped out in a sand pit (at least the landing would be soft but I always bend something on the bike). We don't usually have to worry about poison ivy and thorns on our rides! It's a shame our state parks are the first to suffer with budget cuts.

On the boat, there is a moment where all your neighbors pop out at the same time as you to secure, stow and take stock before a storm (at night, you can see all the flashlights/headlamps bobbing around).  It always makes me giggle.
It's a little more cozy in an RV park.  Some wind ahead of a 3:00 am storm.  All the men were out putting in the secondary awnings in their underwear.  I can now answer the question, boxers or briefs!  Our lifestyle is so entertainining.


And yes, it's all about the food!

Some Missouri BBQ at our favorite local establishment (I'm a coffee girl.  The Colonel is hot & smoky!)

Out with the girls in historic St. Charles.  She charmed the waiter into a free brownie!

I just can't duplicate the "bowls" from Crazy Bowls and Wraps...

Unlimited veggies!  This still gives me heart palpitations.

Our new ding ding and it matches!  LOL

We found our dinghy!  Unfortunately, St. Louis doesn't have many RV parks, everything is spread out, they've chased Uber out and public transportation stinks.  We tried getting along without but after borrowing a friends truck (over 200,000 miles & no air but LOTS of personality), then renting a car while we scoured Craigslist & used car lots, we found it.  Our friends at the airport never let us down!  A 2006 Nissan Altima with manual transmission so we can tow it.  Now we just need the tow bar & braking system (which will cost as much as the car!)

Guaranteed to work!

He wasn't happy about this project

Tank access 

Yeah!  The black water tank reads empty! (Update: it never moves from this reading.  Project ongoing!)

Project:  The shitter is NOT full!  On the boat we just call it a holding tank (sink water goes overboard).  In the RV, we have to deal with a black water tank (toilet) and a grey water tank (sink drains).  We can't see our tanks (like we can on the boat) so they only way we know they are full is by the gauge.  Our gauges weren't working.  The Colonel bought some new "guaranteed" probes for the black water tank (that made our RV friends laugh!).  The directions were my favorite (Remove.  Replace the way they were).  They are working so far!

My tea haul--don't tell The Colonel!

Apparently drinking tea is directly linked to becoming "the cat lady"!  Good to know.  The English Shoppe

Historic downtown St. Charles is known for it's shops.  There are no fewer than three tea shops on top of antiques, candy/ice cream/fudge and crafts.  It's also becoming a hipster area due to the close proximity of Lindenwood College.  This is a good thing and a bad thing. I like seeing an old neighborhood being embraced by the next generation but I don't appreciate the "you're lost old lady" look at my favorite coffee shop (which is now also a wine bar with an open mike night)!

The balance of our time was monitoring weather as "Invests" start spinning off of Africa toward the Caribbean.  Good times.  Hang tight, Odin the Sailboat!


A shiny Fleetwood Excursion just arrived at Sundermeier's pulling a...
wait for it...
classic VW Bug!
Hey, honey, how come we didn't get one of those?!

We are officially a moving road hazard.  Yes, we know it.

A neighbor came out and advised moving the chain attachment on the RV to the hitch but I didn't take a second pic so....We also use bungees to keep everything from dragging.

Monitoring Ding Ding through the backup camera.  I see you back there!

I should have written up the tow bar project.  It actually took quite awhile, but unfortunately I wasn't paying attention and didn't get enough pics.  eTrailers.com is actually headquartered in St. Louis so it should have been easy to run over to the warehouse & buy everything--but they didn't have the base plate for an Altima so we had to order it!  (Eek!  Leaving for Colorado soon...). It involved running hydraulics from Odin the Winnebago to the car (Odin already has a hydraulic line at the hitch but a hydraulic line with a quick attach had to run out through the grill).  Mounting attachments for the foot brake, and attaching the base plate to the car.  We also had to purchase a tow bar.    

Above is the practice run with the dinghy to the new Love's truck stop. Fingers crossed!  The only problem we had was the accessory brake lights fell off--they are supposed to be magnetic but luckily we didn't lose them.  Also, it was a little tricky getting the tow bar unhooked from the car but (after reading the directions) we learned that turning the front wheels will help release tension.  Huh?

Normally we can access the engine by flipping up the mattress & frame by the hinge but this is serious work.  Note the mattress flipped up against the wall.  It's a small bedroom!

He did some cool spider man moves while working but I wasn't fast enough with the camera (Note the iPad YouTube Cat diesel video...)

Countdown to our drive to Colorado. Yesterday, The Colonel gave the dinghy an alignment. Today's chore:  adjust valve clearances on our Cat diesel, that lives under our bed. I'm afraid I encouraged this activity. Plans with family this afternoon. We may be sleeping on the couch tonight!