This is the log from the home page of the first trip we had in the
truck camper.
Hi all, we are going on a
most excellent adventure: where we are picking up our Snowriver camper,
something that we can put on our Ford Super Duty F-350 truck. We have
all ready packed and are now on the road to get the camper.
Please check back often, as we plan (we will see of course) to: upload
pictures and travel log.
Started out writing this on the home page, but it got too long, that was
why we made individual pages. But here is the first log that I did-on
March 27, 2005:
By the way, trying to write this while on Ohio roads - they are so
bumpy!
I am no longer in Ohio, or Kansas anymore, but in Colorado where it is
17 F with the wind blowing the snow off of our camper. There are more
pictures to be seen, I have changed the format a little so that the
pictures and pages of text are together.
Now we are in Fruita, Colorado, just outside of Grand Junction where it
is going for a high of 60 F and blue skies!
Today, April 2nd is also
blue skies and warmer still.
April 3rd was the day of
the
Mighty Hike. Please check on
the pictures to see why it is so mighty.
April 4th was
winery day -we went to six
wineries and did no hiking until the next day.
April 5th was another hike
day, this time back to Colorado National Monument on the Monument Canyon
Trail, a 7 mile downhill trail with beautiful vistas, geology, and
biology. The
log is on the same page as the pictures,
as keeping up a log has seriously cut into our vacation time. We also
met with our camper neighbors - Larry and Kathy and spent some time with
them that evening. They are such an interesting couple and the
information they gave us will help every time we travel with the camper.
They have been traveling with the a trailing camper (they actually live
in it full time and move when the job moves them) for several years now.
April 6th was a relax, put
signage on the camper, and
clean up day.
April 7th, we drove back
from the Grand Junction area via I-70 thru some amazing scenery and
stopped in the Denver area at
Five Star RV to have them take
care of a couple of punch list items on the camper. We feel that 5 Star
really took care of us and would recommend them without hesitation
should you be in the market for a camper or similar RV. Once the gang at
5 Star did their magic, we were back on the road.
Now on 1-70 eastbound on
the high, flat Colorado-Kansas plains, it was very windy here. We are
having problems going more than 65 miles an hour because we are fighting
against the powerful southerly cross-wind. We have been using the
on-board trip computer in the truck to plan refueling stops and today,
for the first time, it let us down. The strong cross-winds fooled the
computer, something the driver should of anticipated. At least it
happened during the day. We still had enough diesel to make it up an
exit ramp. I parked the truck off the side with Laura in it. We were 8
miles short from the planned truck stop. 2 guys heading to a Bass
tournament gave me a ride east. Once there, I found Tim the parts guy
who just happened to be heading west to Denver to pick up truck parts.
We filled a jerry can with diesel and went back west to Laura and the
truck. Tim the good Samaritan asked for nothing, but got a healthy tip
from the grateful travelers. Lesson learned- cross-winds effect
mileage!! We didn't make it to our planned stop that night and stayed in
Hayes, KS that night in a Wal Mart parking lot.
April 8th we are again on
our way home. We hopefully will get moving again, but I was able to
upload the rest of the pictures of the last hike and signage at
Flying J truck stop because -
get this - they have a high speed internet hot spot. And it is fast!
On April 8th we went from
Hayes, KS to the western outskirts of St. Louis, MO. We stayed that
evening in a Flying J parking lot. I know this is really not camping
but, boy is it nice. Hi-speed internet access and a safe environment,
plus a good restaurant when you wake up.
On
April 9th we plan to go
through St. Louis and try to get as close to home as possible. But we
plan to take a slightly different route, going through Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia on Interstate 64 to
Interstate 79.
Sasha has been very sappy
lately, I believe we have found a great way to travel and have become
closer because of it. He believes that the camper is good for our
marriage. I believe that our parents thought we would kill each other by
trip's end, but I think that it really brought us closer together - in
many ways. All in all, a very good trip. We will update this website
when we get back too, as there are more things that Sasha wanted to add,
and I will just have to teach him how to use it.
April 10th our last day: again
we stayed at a Flying J last night, driving in at 1 am. We are so close
to the West Virginia border, but still in Kentucky.
We are now back home and
back to work, but we plan to get other things into the website in the
next couple of weeks. See you soon, as we go one the road again.