Colorado Rocky Mountain High...

We finally made to Colorado and I added another state to my map; that makes two this trip with more to come...I hope!

Campgrounds in Denver are few and far between. My first choice was Cherry Creek State Park but they were booked since our visit coincided with Memorial Day weekend. I felt lucky to get a reservation at The Prospect RV Park. Most of their sites are 30 amp and that's what I had reserved. When we arrived we were happy to learn that they had one of their three 50 amp sites open up and saved it for us...and it was a pull-thru! The campground is a typical urban park, sites are gravel and tight with little to no grass but they do have cement patios with picnic tables. Our site was an end site and gave us some extra room. The utilities were odd in that the electric and water for our site were on the passenger side but the sewer was on the driver's side where it's supposed to be. Our hoses and cords were long enough and we managed fine. The staff in the office were very nice and friendly.

Our reason for coming to Denver was to visit my sister Amy and niece Jill both of whom I hadn't seen in three years. We were able to spend plenty of time together, much of it over food - Carrabbas, The Summit House Grill and Tap, Saucey's Pizza and Amy's homemade lasagna! We did lots of talking and catching up...it was a great visit.

One of Jack's six brothers, Randy, was living in Denver when he died...far too young at only thirty-eight. Since we were in Denver, we decided to find his grave site and visit. Seemed like a simple task but it took forty-five minutes to actually find him. The cemetery file was ambiguous as to his exact location but one of the staff searched with us until we found him. The visit meant a lot to Jack.

On the negative side of the trip...Jack had an accident. Fortunately it was more of a fender-bender and everyone is alright. The damage to the truck is small and Jack's already fixed some of it and will work on the rest once we settle somewhere for a while. The other car had a bit more damage and we're waiting to find out how big a hit our insurance will take. To make matters more complicated, our new insurance card was in our mail back in Wilmington so he had no proof of insurance, but a few phone calls to our agent took care of that. All that remains is the court date at the end of June. Once this holiday weekend is over Jack has to find out if he can pay the fine by mail. (Yes, he got a ticket...we all makes mistakes).

Meanwhile the truck was in need of an oil change so Jack made an appointment to have it changed and to have some things looked at since he'd recently felt like the truck wasn't running right and smelled a burning belt. Well, I don't know anything about mechanics but with the oil change and accompanying fluids and something about belts and tensioners and whatever the grand total was over $900!! Just when I was about to exhale! As Roseanne Rosannadanna said, "It's always something!"

So...four days in Denver...fun time visiting Amy and Jill, somber time visiting Randy, the hassles of a small accident and the pain of large vehicle repairs.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave...

Family, Gymnastics and Expensive Repairs (again)...

Chapel Hill

Fun Family Weekend

Katie and Jackson spent lots of time with us at the campground and made some new friends. An awesome family with four children from 5 to 18, living and home schooling on the road. We "friended" on Facebook and addresses were exchanged with hopes of keeping in touch.  Wish I had gotten some pictures of them all.

I spent a nice day with Becca and the kids in Chapel Hill. After Katie's audiology appointment, we had lunch and spent the afternoon in the Natural Science Museum.

The last weekend in March my niece Ciera competed in a NC State Gymnastics Meet held in Wilmington and hosted by my granddaughter Katie's Gym!  My brother Ken came down with Ciera as well as my nephew Matthew. We had a great family weekend and Ciera performed beautifully...even qualified for the Regional meet! We're very proud of her. After the meet, we had dinner downtown at one of our favorite's...Elijah's.

<-- Ciera and Spike.         Matthew and Ciera at Elijah's. -- >

Below...Ciera floor routine and bars and beam.

She placed Third overall!

My birthday fell on Easter Saturday. We celebrated with dinner downtown at the Front Street Brewery. The next day, Easter Sunday, we had dinner at Becca's.


Our truck had been running poorly and getting even poorer than usual fuel mileage so Jack took it in for a check-up.  I'm not sure what exactly the problems were...diesel leaking into the crank case and some other issues...but it took ten days and $6600 to get it fixed!  Yikes! The truck repairs delayed our departure but it gave me an extra day of babysitting.

We finally got on the road and headed to Greensboro for more family and another gymnastics meet.

Standing On A Corner...

We had an engine light come on in the truck on the drive back from Sedona.  Took the truck to have the error code checked and learned a thermostat was stuck open.  The Flagstaff Ford dealer couldn't fit us in before we were leaving so we decided to wait until we got to Holbrook, which was our next planned stop.

We stayed at the OK RV Park...typical desert landscape, long, level sites and good cable.  Jack took the truck in to the local Ford dealer and had a new thermostat put in. Since we were tired, we decided to spend a few days just relaxing.  Tried a few restaurants...Romo's is a Mexican place and every dish on the menu came with either red or green chili on it.  Jack liked it, I didn't.  We also tried Mesa Italiana...food was only mediocre but the prices rivaled a large city restaurant.  We ate at home after that!

Holbrook is not very far from Winslow. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to go down Route 66 and visit Winslow...which acheived fame in the Eagles' song Take It Easy.
For our grandchildren, who are not likely familiar with the song, the part about Winslow goes like this:

Well, I'm a standin' on a corner

In Winslow, Arizona

Such a fine sight to see

It's a girl my Lord

in a flat-bed Ford

Slowin' down to take a look at me

Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy

Winslow is much smaller than I envisioned, there's very little there and what is there is not particularly pretty...but it has a corner and we stood on it. There's even a flatbed Ford parked on the corner!

We also met a nice couple from New Zealand touring the United States in their 1957 Mercedes-Benz 220S Ponton...they were nice enough to let me take some photos of their car.



Oh...I now have a "Standin' on the Corner" coozie.

Stuck in the Desert...

As we left Salt Lake City and headed out of Utah, I got my first look at the famed salt flats. I'm not sure what I expected but it just looks like snow on the side of the road. Kind of cool!

Campsite at Iron Horse

We crossed into Nevada and spent the night in Elko...at the Iron Horse RV Resort. Don't know why Elko is so expensive...maybe it's the casinos... but it is and we paid way more for a site for one night than I like. It's a very nice park, big sites, patios, grass, cable, but the amenities are a half mile up the road at the Hilton Garden Inn...a bit inconvenient and not worth the money.  We'll pass by Elko next time.

We had originally planned to make our next stop in Winnemuca, Nevada but decided, instead, to drive straight through to Fernley, near the Nevada/California border. It was straight I-80 and would be an easy drive...except for those awful, bumpy roads.

Nevada Landscape

We got on the road Friday morning about ten and pulled off the interstate two hours later for gas and lunch when Jack noticed the truck was idling extremely roughly. It was troubling at first and became a real concern when the mechanical error light came on. Jack wanted to have it checked immediately and I trust his judgement, so we found a campground nearby, got a site for the night, unhitched and Jack left with the truck to find the local Ford dealer. Their diagnosis was a bad injector that needed to be replaced. Repair estimate...$993...and they wouldn't be able to do the work until Monday morning! So...here we are, stuck in...you guessed it...Winnemuca, Nevada...with no transportation!

On the plus side, the campground, Hi-Desert RV Park, gave us all four nights at the Passport America rate, despite their policy that only allows two nights at that rate It's a mostly gravel campground, level pull thru sites, no shade, but great cable and a very nice, cheap laundry. If the truck is ready as promised, we'll be leaving here on Tuesday...with clean laundry!

I hate automotive repairs!

Salt Lake City,Utah...

Our trek to California brought us across the top corner of Utah and right through Salt Lake City, so we decided to stop for a couple of days and see a little of the area. There is too much to see in such a short time and it will definitely require a return visit, as will other areas of Utah that we didn't get near. Entering Utah from Wyoming brings such a change in landscape...for the better, with rolling green hills and countryside.

We spent those days at the Salt Lake City KOA. KOAs are more expensive than most campgrounds, but this one was worth it.  Paved roads, paved sites with concrete parking pads and patios, grass, enough trees for shade, but not intrusive and lots of amenities. Think it will be our campground of choice when we return.

We met a nice couple in the site next to us, Rob and Karen, also full timers...from Charlotte, NC! They have the same exact truck as ours, only theirs is blue.  We joked that we should trade as theirs would match our fifth wheel and our dark red would match theirs.  We enjoyed talking to them.  As we were going out the first afternoon, Rob noticed a screechy sound as we started the truck.  Jack investigated and discovered that our serpentine belt was going bad and went off to the Ford place to get it replaced.  I know it's important to keep the truck maintained and in good repair, but I hate these necessary, but expensive, automotive costs.

Once the truck was in good running order, we went off to explore Salt lake City.  We only had one day (having used the other for truck repairs) so we visited Temple Square. It's quiet and peaceful and beautifully landscaped and maintained. The center piece, of course, is the amazing looking Mormon Temple which is closed to outsiders. One must be a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints to enter.  We did see the Mormon Tabernacle, home to the famed Choir.

Across from Temple Square is an open air mall, Creek City Center.  We wandered over, walked around and had a snack.  It's beautiful...has a retractable skylight roof, a skybridge, waterfalls, fountains, and, of course, a creek. It's also houses the Center City station of TRAX, the public transportation system.  I wish we'd had more than an hour and a half to explore...and I wish I'd taken pictures.  Something to revisit next time we are in the area.

Temple Square

Click to Enlarge