Home Sweet Home

Five weeks, 7 states, 3850 miles.  It was a great adventure.  Kansas is not completely flat, Colorado is pretty flat for a long stretch, Missouri is beautiful, Iowa has RV dump stations in its rest areas (thank you Iowa) southern Utah has more concentrated beauty in its landscape than I could have imagined and Illinois and Wisconsin still feel like home.

We had a great dinner Sunday night in Iowa City with Amy and John and celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.  The last time I had been in IA was for their wedding, so the timing for this get-together was perfect.  Then yesterday we drove the 260 miles homes and pulled in about 5pm.  We unhooked and parked easily and efficiently.  Guess we did learn a few things.  We left home in late summer with flowers and air conditioning and returned home to leaves and heat. 

Beanie and Xena adjusted immediately racing through the house, bouncing off the furniture and bringing sparkly balls to play fetch.  It may take us a bit longer with long to-do lists of cleaning out Chuck and Toad, catching up with bills, mail and other obligations.  However, high on the list is doing what we need to do for the next trip.  Stay tuned!  BTW - we STILL have 2 cases of wine in Chuck.

For Beanie and Xena it starts and ends in the same place

Hunkered Down at Eagle Ridge

Campground Owner's House at Eagle Ridge Campground

One of the things our instructors drilled into us in Bootcamp  (get it – drill instructors – boot camp?) was that no matter what, we had to keep ourselves safe.  Road rage, bad traffic, bad turns – do whatever keeps us safe.  So when last night’s thunder storms threatened to continue with high winds and hail today, moving in the same general direction as we planned, we opted to spend another night here, giving us a free, uncommitted, non-travel day.  The cats love these days, and I have to admit, I like them a lot also.  How often to you find yourself with a day and no obligations?

Beanie planning his day off

So how did we spend it?  First, a hearty breakfast.  Something I haven’t done on the trip because we’re either getting ready to tour or travel.  Bacon, softly scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast.  Yum, and enough bacon left over for BLTs before too long.   

Breakfast

We have a good WiFi connection so I downloaded 3 more books to my Nook from the Kenosha Public Library.j  I love our library, and the Nook especially when traveling.  Then a drive through the countryside and nearby town ending up at WalMart.  Yes, I know…not my favorite place either but there aren’t that many options here in the small towns for milk, work gloves and magnesium supplements.  WalMart fits the bill.  Then back home here to Chuck for a dinner – Yucatan Mexican Pork casserole constructed from the freezer, pantry and my imagination.  The storms are rolling in again now.  Hope dinner is good. 

Neighboring campsite

Tomorrow to Iowa City and dinner with a long-time greyhound friend (and birthday twin) and her husband, then on home Monday – probably.  Then again, who knows? 

Not in Kansas Anymore

Goodland, KS:  Giant Van Gogh reproduction alongside the highway

We’re not in Kansas anymore.  We made it through most of the state uneventfully until we pulled into Milford State Park in Milford, KS last night.  Toad’s battery was dead again after a long (6 hr) drive.  Yes, we should have learned by now that 4 ½ hours is about as long as we can go without stopping and running the car for a bit, but we’ve been so focused on coolant and the day got away from us.  So there we were at 6pm in the middle of the road in the middle of the campground with a dead battery.  Some very nice camphosts came over to check on us and once again AAA came to the rescue and jumped Toad.  We backed into a lovely site, hooked up and enjoyed a salad, cheese/onion quesadillas and the good chips and salsa we bought at the Mexican restaurant in Kanab, UT.  Boy, that seems so long ago.  

Milford State Park, Molford, KS

Today we left Milford and drove through the rest of Kansas, crossed the Missouri River on a big, wide bridge in St. Joseph, MO and landed in Eagleville, MO.  

Not in KS anymore - crossing the Missouri River

No eyeballing truck drivers on bridges today.  No eagles in Eagleville either.  The drive was easier today, only about 4 ½ hours of driving and yes, Toad started when we got here.  A little reluctantly, but he did start and Robin took him for a long ride right away.  You’re probably wondering why we don’t just stop mid-day and run the car, right?  Well, a couple of reasons:  there’s not always a good spot to pull over and stop in the middle of the day for 20 mins when you driving 36’ of vehicle with another 14’ attached.  That sounds like a weak excuse, but we’ve been trying to stay off the Interstate to enjoy good scenery and the roads tend to be narrow and winding and the towns tiny.  Also, running the car to charge the battery entails disconnecting and removing the i-Brake, running the engine, then going through the gear setup, and then reattaching the i-Brake before driving again.  Tthat doesn’t sound horrible, and it’s not, but we succumb to road hypnosis and tend to think we’ll be fine if we go just a few more miles.  We’re learning.

Xena, on a cold morning, trying to ooze onto my hands (again).

So now we’ve been set up for about a half hour and the lightening, thunder and rain just started.  This campground only has room for us because a bunch of people who planned on attending their Halloween Party weekend canceled due to the forecast thunderstorms.  Luckily we got settled before the storm started.  Standing out in the field plugging 30amps into a receptacle on a pole in the middle of a lightning storm seems like such a bad idea.  See, we are learning.

ETA in Wisconsin is sometime Sunday, unless we get a better offer.  See you soon.

Homeward Bound

TransWest Truck and RV Repair - our new best friends

       The good news is that the RV repair place in Denver found 2 leaks in the coolant system and fixed them!  So it wasn't just the radiator cap and/or our imagination.  

Much relieved, we picked Chuck up yesterday afternoon after long, hot showers and continental breakfast at the La Quinta. 

Xena bathing at La Quinta

We headed east and as much as I like the mountains, it was nice to see them behind us and the long, flat road ahead of us.  We made it 200 miles and are in Goodland, KS.

It's a nice KOA Campground and today we continue east hoping for an uneventful run to home.  Stay tuned!

Sunset at the KOA

Man Plans-God Laughs

When last we checked in with our intrepid travelers, they were awaiting a Saturday afternoon visit from the famed Lloyd-the-mechanic who they hoped would work his magic on Chuck and his coolant.     

Lloyd did appear and poked and peered and poured and just for good measure, spit on a rag and proclaimed that it just might be a bad radiator cap.  If not, call him Monday.  So we trotted off to Napa Autoparts, where we had purchased coolant the day before.  This time when we walked it, the nice young man behind the counter said, “back again?”.  It’s a  bad thing when you’re recognized at the auto parts store.  He did set us up with a new radiator cap which we easily installed on Chuck.  We had decided to stay in Moab until Monday, figuring rig trouble on the road on a Sunday could be bad, so we celebrated the radiator cap with another dinner at Desert Bistro.  This time we had an amazing scallop appetizer followed by two different steak dishes.  Unusual for us to order two beef dishes, but they both were delicious.

Scallops at Desert Bistro

Sunday was a free day and we had been debating two different routes for leaving Moab so we decided to take a drive in Toad to check out the more scenic of the routes.  We quickly decided it was a bad route for Monday’s departure in Chuck, but was perfect for a Sunday drive.  The sheer red cliffs rose on one side of the road and the Colorado River tumbled along the other side.  The sun was shining, the road was winding and it couldn’t have been much nicer, or so we thought until came around a curve and what was before us?   A winery!  Yes, in the middle of Utah on a Sunday afternoon was a winery with an open tasting room.   We stopped, we tasted and we bought.  OK, only two bottles because we still have 1.5 cases to get us home, but it was a very fun stop.  From there it was home to Chuck for dinner and early to bed.

Monday dawned clear and cold and and we peeked anxiously at Chuck’s rear end and the surge tank.  All the coolant was there, the new cap was tightly placed so we hooked up and headed out of Moab.  We  drove gingerly for 45 minutes, pulled over and looked.  Good news, no sign that the coolant was low.  We barreled on another 45 minutes to Grand Junction, CO where the service place was, and decided since we made it there without issue, we’d go on to Carbondale, CO.  We were downright giddy.   

On to Carbondale which is about 12 miles south of Glenwood Springs, nestled in the Roaring Fork River valley.  We were here to eat dinner at Russets restaurant, a place that was dear to my heart since I had spent several days there nine years ago helping open the restaurant.  The owners are related to a friend and we had flown out to CO to provide some free labor and enjoy the process.  It was great to see the restaurant thriving and the wine racks we had assembled still standing.  The food, service and atmosphere were all outstanding. 

Well constructed wine rack after 9 years

So today, Tuesday, we head around Denver to eastern Colorado continuing to work our way home.  Keep your eye on the highways for us.  Sooner or later this trip has to end and we’ll be home to plan the next trip.

 Continued the next day (Wednesday morning)….

The drive to Denver went really well.  It was over the Rockies peaking at about 11,000 ft above sea level.  Near the top we stopped to check Chuck and all looked good at his rear end so on we went.  We planned it so we’d be through Denver before rush hour and we were on schedule passing the eastern edge of the city at 3pm with a campground lined up for the night 70 miles further. We were feeling pretty good when…

…the dreaded yellow light and warning came back on.  Oh sh*t.  We pulled off at an exit, found a quiet industrial park road surrounded by prairie dog burrows and surveyed the situation.  To make a long story as short as possible – the tank was low, this time coolant was dripping and we could not get the d*mned new radiator cap off using muscle, rags, mallets every strategy in our imaginations.  Finally we called CoachNet (the AAA of RVing) who offered us either help with the cap or a tow and the address to the local RV repair shop.  Meanwhile a rent-a-cop hovered anxiously asking how soon we were leaving.  He seemed sure we were planning a raid on his empty parking lot and busy prairie dog burrows.  We opted for the help and soon a service truck with a tall, strong service man showed up and removed the radiator the cap and said, “you have to push down”.  Uh duh, like we hadn’t been pushing down for the last hour.  We may be short and weak but we’re not stupid.  Oh well, it was done.  Coolant refilled, cap replaced, security guard mollified we drove 11 miles back into Denver, now through rush hour traffic to the RV service place.  We unhooked Toad, removed the cats and enough supplies for night from Chuck and decamped to the local La Quinta hotel which is pet friendly.  

Blogging with Xena

Today, hopefully, we hear some good and definitive news about Chuck.  I’m finding bright spots where I can.  Given our route yesterday, we could have broken down in much more dangerous place.  We’re in a big city with good service including, hopefully, good RV service, and the La Quinta was happy to welcome us and the cats for the night.  Stay tuned, with any luck we’ll be on our way to Kansas today.  Flat countryside never looked so good.

Arches National Park

This is what brought us and the many others to Moab.  Once again we sailed through the park gates.  It’s wonderful to be part of the 47%.  After a long climb (in the car of course – we don’t actually climb) the road rose over the edge and the valley was spread out before us.  More of the stunning red rock canyons, fins and formations topped off by a series of arches.  It’s all so massive in scale and the panorama so sweeping that photos capture barely a fraction of the beauty.  Once again, words can’t describe it either, so here are a few photos and all I can say is that, if you ever get an opportunity – visit this area.

The town of Moab is not our favorite.  Even at this time of year, which is far from peak tourist season, it’s very frenetic.  The stores, restaurants and streets are crowded and traffic on the main street is irritating.  I can’t imagine what it’s like in mid-summer.  The area is very popular with bicyclists and hikers, as well as off-roaders on ATVs, 4WD Jeeps and motorcycles.   You don’t see the motorized sports in the National Park but they active in the surrounding area.  Of course, this congestion is to be expected in any highly touristed area, and there’s no fault to be found, it’s just not to our liking. 

However, one really bright spot in Moab (along with the scenery) is the best restaurant so far on this trip.  We had dinner last night at the Desert Bistro and the food was wonderful, the service was perfect and the setting was beautiful.  We couldn’t decide on which appetizer to try so we shared 6 appetizers and a salad for dinner.  Dessert was brie baked in puff pastry with an assortment of fruit to accompany it.  We liked the meal so much that we made reservations to go back tonight.  We may just have an entrée tonight.  Whee!

Dessert

Are you wondering about our coolant situation?  Here’s the poop (it’s been a while since I mentioned that isn’t it?).  We contacted Freightliner who puts engines on chassis for our RV company and they said yes, sounds like you have a coolant leak.  The nearest dealer with service is in Grand Junction, CO which is 120 miles over the mountains from here.  We could add coolant and make a run for it but if our slow leak suddenly turned into a rupture (think loose clamp or small hole getting bigger) we’d lose all the coolant at once and be stuck.  Since we are no longer under warranty, they suggested that finding a local repair person might be smart.  As we thought about the terrain between here and Grand Junction, we agreed that local help should be sought.  After several phone calls we tracked down the guy that everyone agreed is the go-to diesel guy in Moab.  Of course, being a good mechanic means he’s busy, but he will (hopefully, eventually) come to us here at the RV park and take a look.  So today we’re waiting to hear from Lloyd the mechanic and probably going to the local farmer’s market.  Also, with luck, we’ll Skype to Europe complete with sound. 

More later if there’s news.