Laura-N-Sasha.com

A descriptive look at traveling with a truck camper - similar to an RV but smaller and more maneuverable. Laura and Sasha started this adventure in April of 2005 for a two week vacation and now use it for all vacations.

Trip 2006
Traveling Days Sun & Mon
Traveling Days Tue & Wed
Lake Pueblo State Park
Taylor Reservoir
Crested Butte
Headed West
Grand Junction
Boondocking
Wines & Rides
Rides & Trails
Dinosaurs!
Ride With Us
McDonald Creek
Grand Valley
Bangs Canyon
South Route Back
VA & MD Parks

Previous Trip
   Old Guestbook
   Getting There
   Got Camper
   Wal*Mart-CS
   CS to Grand  Junction
   First Day at Monument
   A Lounge Type of Day
   Mighty Hike
   Wineries
   Downhill Hike
   Signage Day
   Traveling Back East 2005

 New Trip - Traveling Days: Tuesday & Wednesday

Traveling West from Illinois to Colorado

By the end of yesterday (Labor Day) we were so bone-aching tired that we set up camp on the right (abet wrong side) of St. Louis (the east side not west side) because we could not go any further. I told Sasha that at the first yawn that he did, we were going to find a place to stay and so a few minutes later, when he did yawn (did you just yawn too? It is highly suggestive but anyway) I went searching for a Flying J. Found one and we got a spot to stay.

But since we were so tired, we forgot to put down the jacks, I only remembered about it when we were in the camper because it sways if you don't have them down. But we said "ForgetAboutIt" and went to bed.

	This is where we stayed - again the view may not be great, but it was pretty quiet and out of the way of others
	Here is another view of it

-- Sidebar- Yesterday I drove the rig for the first time, and although I have to get used to the wider turns and the bridge joints (if you go over them too fast the truck jerks more than it should), I moved out with authority and then was passed by almost everyone. I'm such the Jersey girl, I want to go as fast as everyone else, but if we do, we would burn through the diesel pretty quick (the speed limit in OH or IN was 70!) So I also have to learn to drive slower. You can not use cruise control with a trailer, it is dangerous and quite frankly, a bad idea anyway. So now I can safely say that I am a truck camper and trailer driving machine!--

Sasha is still asleep (it is really 0645 not 0745) and raining. So I decided I would post and do a little bit of work.

We got started on the road at 1000 am Central time - with the mileage starting at 23493, temperature: 70 degrees F, full bars on sprint and my cell phone. It is Tuesday so I will be doing some work on the road. The Illinois roads are a little bouncy. 

Here is a picture - AMAZING - of the Missouri Line - True skill on my part, although Sasha said it was pure luck!

We are on the road to Kansas City, with warm temperatures and flat land. 

I drove again today (so that is why there are not too many posts as Sasha can not post for some reason - (he says because he enjoys watching the GPS (we were also listening to a book on CD and so it is a little hard to write, listen and look all at the same time (although I do it but not everyone is like me.)))

We are at a Flying J here in Salina KS, a place very familiar, as last year we were here because of high winds and we kind of spent the day last year. This year Kansas was looking great - with green hills and brown cows. The sunflowers were so beautiful and the sunset was gorgeous. I will post whatever pictures I have a little later but do look at the ones from yesterday.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of where we stayed tonight.

OK Today is tomorrow, (Yes I am getting confused, too.) It is Wednesday, and we are still in Salina, Kansas at 1142 eastern time (once we get into CO, I will be stating everything in Mountain Time.) We have not left yet because not only did we gas/diesel up, we emptied the nasty, the semi-nasty and filled up with clean water. And we filled up the propane tanks (they were not very empty, but we thought it best to do it here rather than go someplace and not have enough.) We still have not figured out how long it takes for them to empty.

So it is kind of hot here, especially since it is almost noon, and this area is totally full of other RVers, most of them are Large RVs, not truck campers (only one other truck camper here) But this Flying J is great for RVers as they have everything you need.

OK It is past noon and we still have not gotten on the road yet, as Sasha is also filling up the 5 diesel containers. At this rate, who knows where we will end up.

We got on the road at 1239 and I was driving, it was ~80 degrees F and very sunny. We got a few pictures of where we were staying and some of the road.

	Here I am looking out of the camper
	the camper and trailer
	Our view, now back to driving again

 We are going up in elevation as we are driving through Kansas. Whenever I think of Kansas, I think of it as a flat state, but it really is not. Here are some pictures of Western Kansas:

 This is the endless road where we took the picture from the front window.

 As you can see in the second picture, there are a few hills.

 But mostly endless roads. While I was driving the road was not very  bouncy but now Sasha is driving and the road is bouncy again. But what can you do? We are headed for Limon, there is a Flying J there where we can gas up on last time before we go into the wilds. We hope to stop and sleep at Lake Pueblo State Park. It seems to have everything except shade.

Also, for my Mom, I put on another affiliate button on the side: this one is for her favorite store, Barnes and Noble. So Mom, if you are going to buy, come to my site first, click on the link and buy away; I will ultimately get a few cents from your purchases.

We got to the Flying J in Limon Colorado where we will gas up the truck and upload some more of this website to the internet. As we have paid for internet at Flying J, I turned off the Sprint and got on with even faster service from the Flying J service. Always good to have.

We got out of Limon and are off the interstate, now on State Route 24, a one lane road which is slightly bumpy and although it says 65 mpg, we are not doing that fast.  Amazing but we have internet access and cell phone service.

OK I spoke too soon again, lost internet service but I have full bars on the cell phone. There really is nothing around here except lots of farms and cows. And some traffic - lots of cars going the other way and some wind.

We are now in suburban Colorado Springs, but it is too dark for pictures, I would get the flash, but again, it would not come in well.

Well, we pulled into Lake Pueblo State Park about 10 am tonight. Amazingly, we have web access here via our Sprint PC card! This park looks pretty cool with a huge reservoir, and a close to a full moon tonight, which made setting up at night pretty easy. Hardly anyone here, however, we managed to pick the one site in the loop that is reserved for Friday night. We will be gone by then. We will post pictures of the park tomorrow.