The first 400 miles: A "campground", fauna, and rural scenes.
First off was Anna, IL. Expectations were to stay at Wally World but, on the way in and only four miles from town, WOW! A campground! Oops!
 Ya Think the "Est. 1850" might have been a clue??? |
 Well, at least it would be quiet! |
Instead, we found a farmer's field where we could stay, with permission, of course. He even had 15 amp service which did not react well to a 3 hour draw of 17 amps. Oh my. Will be running the generator tonight to keep cool and find a penny for the fuse box tomorrow when I can see where (or not) to stick my fingers - and the penny!
And, the tranny (the one on the RV), elected to give me the shaft (so to speak). At rest area stops, it refused to shift into any gear. After some pulling of wires at an I-57 pickle park and banging on the output shaft speed sensor, it seemed to be in fear of the wrath of Dave and started to work as advertised. Perhaps it would be prudent to pick up another sensor, if one can be found. Postscript - perhaps not! What appears to be prudent may not be.
Today we saw all sorts of fauna: donkeys, deer, turtles, kitties, and bunnies.
But wait.....there's more....
We have rural scenes (and magazines.....)
Up next is a trek across Missouri and half of Kansas on the way to a salt mine (the other salt mine). The weather here has been great: high 80s and abundant sunshine while back home it's in the 60s and raining. Good timing. The downside: while the top is down and the sun is shining, the skin is burning. Oh well.
The next 318 miles: City Park, Weaubleau, MO
It was a time! Fueled up at a shit hole truck stop in Cape Girardeau, MO. Needed to clean my shoes before coming into the RV it was so nasty. It was the most disgusting truck stop I've ever had the misfortune at which to stop. But the fuel prices were good, though! From the shit hole truck stop, blasted along at 40 mph on many twisty curvy scenic back roads, including a one lane gravel road that Barbie insisted was a short cut. It was! But it was good, though! But no photos. Bummer!
After the scenic back roads, we wound up at a Wally World in Farmington, MO (not NM), to get supplies. (What? We ran out already???) When ready to go, started the engine and the tranny refused to shift and the throttle refused to throttle. Double damn, shit and all the other words I know. Called King Controls, manufacturers of the POS throttle control and they indicated that there is a design defect in the computer control unit where the ground connector overheats and the unit goes bonkers, which then also causes the apparent tranny problem. Needed to remove the throttle control upon which the entire RV was constructed.
What a 2 hour pain in the ass. Crawled under the RV at WW and contorted myself in ways which the human body was never designed to be contorted. 1 hour later the POS control unit was removed from the RV, the allegedly sealed case was opened and found both the +12 and ground lines on the plug connecting to the circuit board had been so hot they melted the frickin' plastic Molex connector. No fix to the connector so soldered the 14 gauge wires to the circuit board itself (screw the connector!) and voilà, the POS started to work. Happy tranny. Happy throttle. Happy cruise control. Happy Dave. But no photos. Bummer
On the way out of Farmington, stopped at the "Missouri Mines Historic Site" and toured a massive lead mine and mill built in the early 1900s. Spent close to a couple hours there chatting with the guide who had waaaay to much coffee that day! But it was good, though. This was a really fascinating glimpse into the past. The size and construction of the century old machines on display was awesome.
A blue, frequently patched, highway. But fun, though!
The next 250-300 miles: Hutchinson (Are we there yet?)
Awoke to a cold overcast day in Weaubleau and proceeded west once again. At the MO-KS line, the clouds broke and it became a beautifully sunny day with highs about 85. The first stop, 250 miles down the road, was the Kansas Underground Salt Museum at Hutchinson. Not only do they offer tours of the mine, it's also used as a secure repository for business records of all types as well as many film reels for the movie industry. Not only is it pretty secure at 650' underground, it has a year round temperature of 68 with 40% humidity so it's a great place for secure storage. It was a most enjoyable time.
Almost 100 miles of tunnels.
Film reels.
At least they have a sense of humor in Pratt!
A very nice, scenic, relaxing campsite.
While a new hospital is being built, this one, with modular trailers and tents, is still in use!
The Big Well is indeed big and dug, entirely by hand, for the Sante Fe railroad as a source of water in the late 1800s.
Nothing left but the well and some art.
Next was, what seemed like along drive. Going back and forth to and from Moab, I can do 800 miles a day. On this trip, 300 miles per day seems to be pushing it. Go figure!
Dodge City, what a pity! True. Been through there 3 times and not impressed at all. Just had to say it.
After a "few" more miles and pit stops, arrived at La Junta, CO. Expectations were fully met. We spent a short time touring Bent's Fort and early tomorrow will be OTR again, this time into the Spanish Peaks, the beginning of the Rockies and a more relaxed and scenic trip. If all goes well, it should be a 100 mile drive.
Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas River and the Santa Fe
trail, was pretty cool. It was used as part of the basis for Michener's
book, Centennial. The fort tour was great and for that time period,
the fort was pretty technologically advanced. For example, portions
of buffalo hide were used as weather stripping for the doors. But it
was a hot day and margaritas and Carne Asada in a nearby town were
calling. Priorities!
The Breasts of the World - The Huajatolla
Well, at least that's what the Native Americans called the Spanish
Peaks just west of Walsenburg. Nice name. And later, even a drive between
them. 
But first, the day started with some guy leaving the campground, flat towing a front wheel drive vehicle behind his RV. Too bad he forgot to put it in neutral. After about 500 feet of dragging the front wheels on the pea gravel, I was able to flag him down. After a few minutes of trying to shift into neutral, he was still not able to release the wheels but assured me he would be fine, so Asta La Vista and we were OTR.
On the 90 mile drive to Walsenburg, there were a bunch of signs protesting the Army's land grab where they are trying to acquire between 100,000 and 400,000 acres in the Pinon Canyon area of southeast Colorado. Ranchers are up in arms over this abuse of government power. I shall refrain from making any comments on the deplorable state of affairs within our government. Hmmm, perhaps I just did!!
About 11 AM we settled in at Lathrop State Park near Walsenburg and began a most scenic drive up to the "breasts". A route was planned to head up there on a myriad of 4WD roads.....the plan worked.
The 30 mile drive back to the camp was anti-climactic as the storm had moved into the plains east of the Rockies. The weather radio was predicting hail (duh), 50 mph winds (yup), and heavy rain. Then they made the statement that if this storm became "severe", there would be additional warnings. I'd hate to see what they call a "severe" storm.
So with that, it was a pizza, a beer and an evening of watching the storms come and go, but nothing "severe"!
Monday - A trip back up to the Peaks.
The plan for the day was to take an 80 mile loop trip around the Peaks leaving from the campground, lunch at Trinidad, and then returning. That 80 mile trip turned into 150 mile trip given all the side journeys.
After an 8 AM departure, Cucharas Pass was reached easily by 10. The morning was cool and windy with more storms predicted but non materialized. Up to the top of the pass and beyond for a few miles was really beautiful.
On the down side of the pass there were a lot of side roads that beckoned. But the closer we got to Trinidad, the more obvious it became that this was once a major coal mining area. Some of the places near Trinidad were pretty dumpy.
How purty is it?
Hundreds of old coke ovens near Trinidad.
First on the road was the Ludlow monument, an obelisk dedicated to those who lost their life in a confrontation between miners and a coal company in the early 1900s. A little further down the road was a wash where cars and trucks from the 40s and 50s were used as fill to keep the walls of the wash from eroding. Now THAT was different!
The 30 mile trek back to the campground turned out to be more like a 60 mile trek, but it was pretty, though!
There was even a BNSF coal train snaking its way through the various switchbacks on its way to Walsenburg - and yes - it beat us.
It turned out to be a much longer day than expected. There was a lot of great scenery but that was offset by some of areas near Trinidad that were pretty grimy.
Got back to the RV about 5 PM. Little rainstorms were all over the place but none came near us. I took a walk and enjoyed the fresh clean air and great scenery.
Tomorrow is a 60 mile drive to Alamosa for a few days, one of which will be to ride a steam train from Alamosa to La Veta. More on that later.....
Am not sure how well this will work (nor how interesting it might be) but will try putting up a few maps now and then just because technology will allow me to do it.
Walsenburg is at the top of the map and Trinidad is at the bottom. Both towns are on I-25. To the East are plains while directly to the west are mountains. It's quite a distinct dividing line.
Tuesday - A day of reconnoitering.
The drive to Alamosa was uneventful, even through La Veta Pass at a whopping 9,000 ft. Pulling in to Alamosa there was a choice between a KOA for $40 a night and another campground for $20 a night. Well, duh! I really hate KOAs to begin with - way overpriced - but that's a drinkin' story. Plopped down at the $20/night campground. Gave up 20 amps (only 30 amp service, not 50) but didn't need 50 anyhow. Hell, they even have wi-fi, or at least someone near the RV has wi-fi. Who cares? It works.
The highlight of the day (for me at least) was the San Luis Valley Brewing Company at the end of the day and a number of glasses of their Rio Grande River IPA. Very well done. The best part was the 6.6% ABV. I needed that badly!
But back to the story.
The weather was iffy, sun and clouds, and then by 3 PM it was totally overcast and a few sprinkles and a couple booms of thunder presented themselves. But that was about it. This was also a day of some shopping. No photos for that. Darn.
We took a drive from Alamosa to Del Norte to reconnoiter for the coming Labor Day weekend to see if there might be spots available. It turned out to be an OK drive, even with the sprinkles and thunder. The drive was worthwhile as there appears to be a lot to do and see in the Del Norte area, which is on the eastern approach to the infamous Wolf Creek Pass (on the Great Divide). A rather strange campground was also discovered, see below. Shopping was also accomplished.
On the way to Del Norte from Monte Vista, the San Juans presented a nice profile. And yes, Wolf Creek Pass is there somewhere. The clouds were forming and soon there would be thunder and sprinkles.
The road for much of the trip followed the historic Santa Fe Trail.
Crappy photo due to the weather but this is a double
screen movie theater with a motel next to it with picture windows on
the screen side so folks can see the movie from their rooms. Now that's different,
too! There is a campground there also that may serve well for the Labor
Day weekend. Strange!
And finally, the $20/night campground. More than adequate.
Wednesday: The San Luis & Rio Grande Scenic Railroad
While the nice lady who booked the reservations (yes, we DID have reservations!) a few days ago assured me the steam train would be in operation, sadly it wasn't. Being in the shop for a cracked firebox and boiler clean out, they used a GE B-39-8E diesel instead. Being sorely disappointed and wanting to change the reservations to Friday or so to get the steam engine (which would have been easily arranged) there were other factors that prevented that from happening. Merde! So in the warm sunshine of Alamosa, we boarded a 3 car train with maybe 30 passengers for an 8 hour trip over La Veta Pass to the village of La Veta and back to Alamosa. Even without the steam engine it was fun, most enjoyable, but kicked my ass. Now, at the end of the day, I'm more tired than when we spent 8 hours or more 4 wheeling.The open air car was very comfortable on the way up over
the 9,000 foot pass and to La Veta. (BTW, they claim this is the highest
standard gauge passenger rail line in the US.) Once in La Veta, about
noon, we were kicked off the train and on our own for 2 hours. My suspicion
is that's done to get people to wander the streets of this little town
and, in a futile attempt, try to find edible food. Our experience was
not good, well, at least mine. First off, the Margaritas at the small
Mexican joint were on ice, not frozen. I opted for a lemonade instead.
Hard to fathom, eh? Secondly, they took about 30 minutes to wait on us.
Thirdly, whatever I had to eat really upset my stomach. Might have been
the lemonade! Now back at the RV, it has taken almost a whole
bottle of Côtes du Rhône to settle it down. Medicinal purposes,
don'tcha know?
Around 1, it clouded up, as it has each day here so far, and the temperature dropped into the high 60s and it sprinkled. Ahh, autumn in sunny, colorful, warm Colorado. So the trip back was not as pleasant as the trip up. It was colder than a witch's mammary gland in the open air car. But it was still a fun trip with a lot of railroadiana there and back, incredible scenery, and all in all a fine trip, even though we got back 2 hours late. They run freight as well as tourist trains over this short line and there are often delays waiting for oncoming trains.
The next two days we'll move to the Great Sand Dunes for some day trips here, there and everywhere. Perhaps on the way back through Alamosa on Saturday or Sunday, another trip might be arranged, this time behind the steam engine. But don't bet on it!
The photos below will help to chronicle the trip but do not do it justice.
This is the open air car at the end of the train as we left the station on Alamosa. Most of my time was spent here.
The middle car of the three was a dome car, built in the 1950s. This is the lower level and bar. Cool! Very cool! I want one of these. The third car was someone's private car. Must be nice........
The little engine the couldn't. Even though it's an oil burner, other people's photos show incredible smoke. It would have been SO NICE to have had this rather than the diesel....but.....
But...the GE put on an admirable show of its own. Periodically the turbo loads up with fuel and when they crank 'er up, the fuel not only ignites, but the turbo blasts it out of the exhaust. I like it! One can only imagine the looks this must get from gawkers.
Gotta love Coors. SL&RG stores tank cars for Coors - going rate: $1 per car per day. Hey, any port.....There are 100s of these cars that were used years ago to transport beer to the East coast from Coors brewery in Golden, CO. Nowadays, Miller or someone has bought out Coors and brews their crap out East, negating the need for these hundreds of derelict tank cars. Corporate America sucks.
How purty is it? Within the space of a 1/2 mile, the track loops back on itself in a curve in order to allow the tracks to gain altitude at less than a 2.5% grade.
Purty! And it was not far from here we saw several bears. A few years ago there was a car carrying grain that tipped over and spilled its load. The railroad crew buried the grain. Now the bears come down from the hills, dig up the earth, and eat the grain that has naturally fermented. Happy bears! Very happy!
The tracks went through many scenic cuts. One of these
used to be a tunnel until, in the early 1900s, the wooden support beams
and ceiling caught fire and the tunnel burned down. They then cleared
the debris and made it a cut instead. There also used to be 27 trestles
on this line but the Southern Pacific, who bought this line from the
Denver and Rio Grande Western years ago, removed the trestles and filled
the gaps in with earthen fills. Progress sucks.
Ahh, but some tunnels still exist -until they burn down also!
This line loops around along the sides of the mountains and clings to the sides precariously. In the upper right is the railroad line in the distance.
Thursday: What makes the Great Sand Dunes Great?
They are HUGE! The little dots are people.
They go on for miles and miles.
And they're purty!
Before the 30 mile trek to the Dunes, we made a trip to the railroad station in Alamosa and yes, the steam train was running today. Changing the reservations for one day later would have been perfect. Sigh! Someday there'll be a return trip to the Valley and a chance to take the scenic route to La Veta behind a steam engine.
So after watching the train depart, the move was made and we got set up in a private campground overlooking the Dunes and the Valley. Incredible views but no cell service nor internet. This is roughing it.
A few fun signs other than the insufferable "Road Closed" signs.
A fun drive through the sand. There were places where 4WD low range was really needed!
Once into the forest, there was a herd (or whatever) of goats and later we saw a 6 point buck. A most fun drive, even with all the damn road closed signs.
Friday: A day of recon and finally Mt. Blanca!
What a day! A UFO "watchtower", a swimming pool in the middle of nowhere, after 15 years the Mt. Blanca 4WD road, and finally to top off the day, a great thunderstorm complete with lightning, thunder and rain.
Morning at the Dunes.
One can climb to the viewing platform to the left, plop one's ass and wait for UFOs.
Not finding a suitable place to camp for a few days (other than the UFO place), we headed back to the camp thinking a few days on the side of the road somewhere was in store. But on the 50 mile drive back was this sign for the "Sand Dunes Swimming Pool & RV Park." This place is 20 miles from the nearest town of any size and fully 25 miles from the Dunes entrance. It's out in the middle of nowhere in the massive San Luis Valley. Once again, strange. We took the 2-1/2 mile detour to check it out and WOW! What a neat place. It has a massive geothermally heated pool and decent camping - complete with internet! They had a cancellation for Saturday so we signed up for the last open site. How fortuitous!
Yes, it really is an oasis. No trees, nothing, for miles and miles around....well, except for the UFO place.
Now the fun began! With permission to attack Mt. Blanca by myself, I immediately pulled the top down, the doors off and got the Jeep ready for the Mt. Blanca 4WD road, allegedly the most difficult trail in Colorado and a trip I've been wanting to do for about 15 years. It was calling my name. So about 1 PM off I went, in full Dave mode.
The welcome sign - oil pans, nerf bars, hubs and an eclectic collection of other parts.
A beautious day, already 3000' above the Valley floor.
This trail is not as tough as some of those in Moab and certainly not as tough as those in South Dakota, but it damn well got my attention (as well as the Jeep's!) Most of the trail was rocky (8" to 24" boulders) but was perfectly doable and most scenic and enjoyable. I was amazed at the number of hikers on their way to the top to go tent camping. It's one helluva climb! That's one reason I wanted to take it now as there is a continuing battle with the greenies to keep Mt. Blanca open to 4WD vehicles. As usual, we will lose that battle too in a few years.
There are only three major obstacles on the 7 mile trail, Jaws 1, 2 and 3. Jaws 1 and 3 got me! The weather was great, the top down and all was well with the world until about 1/2 mile from Jaws 1 when it started to sprinkle, then hail like hell. (Hmm, does it hail in hell?? Enquiring minds.....)
After freezing my arse off in the hail trying to put the top up and the windows on (yes, I even had to resort to my "emergency" sweatshirt I was so cold and drenched) it was time to move upward on the now slick rocks and mud. Slipping and sliding on Jaws 1 and being significantly off camber brought the pucker factor up to a reasonable value. But after climbing in and out of the Jeep half a dozen times to spot myself, I slid over Jaws 1. Jaws 2 was a piece of cake.....left tire on a log which was the only support holding the trail from a 200' drop.
How quickly things change! But it was still fun, though.
Slippin' and a slidin' on Jaws 1. The non-off camber line.
On the way to Jaws 3, I learned that if one does not have a spotter (leaning out the door), and one gets too close to the passenger side edge of a big friggin' drop off (like hundreds of feet straight down) it's easy to tell when you are too close. One just listens to a shitload full of rocks falling off the edge of the road as they careen down the massive hill and one says to one's self, "Oh SHIT! That was a close one!"
Next was Jaws 3. The right line was to be very close to the edge of the cliff but after the last episode, I was a little too conservative (me???) and Jaws 3 bit me. The rocks high centered the Jeep all by itself. At least it had stopped hailing by then. So get out the winch line, hook to a tree and pull myself off the rock. No problem.....but I got my hands dirty.
Well this is a revoltin' situation. Notice the lack of flex on the front axle with the driver's side 2' in the air. DUH!
Good thing there were ample trees - and a long winch cable!
From there, it was a short drive to the top and the lake. How purty. And the photos come no where to doing it justice.
Now it's time to go back down 6000' where gravity is sometimes your friend. For Jaws 3 I elected the cliff side and with a half a tire width to spare, make it over. Jaws 2 was no problem. Somewhere along the line a heard one helluva snap and clunk but all seemed well.
11,600', plus or minus. Como Lake, end of the trail. Purty, ain't it?
And now back down. This is typical of the trail, except for the steep ledges and drops.
And yes, this photo DOES do it justice. This one had a Dave pucker factor of 9.999!
And this one does not do it justice.
The rest of the trip down was uneventful but there was a big dark storm forming 10 miles north of the trail head, right over the camp. Made it back before the storm, had supper, knocked back a number of beers and watched a most incredible storm form to the north and move slowly up over the mountain to the back of the RV and then down the edge of the mountains, right past us. Massive lightning on the mountain tops and a moderate amount of rain, 1/2". It was a great show to end an even greater day. But still no internet....wah wah wah.
Hmm, did I mention I did the whole Mt. Blanca thing with the sway bars connected? Dumass!
Saturday: The pool and Bonanza.
By 9 AM, had moved from the previous campground the whole 27 miles to the Sand Dunes Pool and RV Park. A very nice place. The plan was to drive to the ghost town of Bonanza to see what one could see and pick up rocks. But.....10 miles OTR in the Jeep, there was a front end death wobble of biblical proportions. WTF? A quick analysis showed the steering stabilizer shock absorber had shot its wad of oil via a leak and was no longer performing as advertised. Any time we got over 40 mph, the front end vibration was so severe that it left front tire tracks on the highway. Not fun! So elected to drive 30 mph to Alamosa, 30 miles away for a replacement shock. NAPA did not have one there but they did in Monte Vista, another 15 miles away. Other parts stores were useless, but that's a drinkin' story.
Got shocked in Monte Vista, replaced it in their parking lot and all was well. In the process however, noticed that the leak in the shock was due to a puncture from a tie rod clamp. In Moab I had to move the clamp to repair the bent tie rod and when I tightened it, the clamp was not twisted to avoid interference and it nailed the shock somewhere on Mt. Blanca. Once again, I'm the Blame Bitch!
Also noticed the tie rod was in distress and bent a fair amount from some abuse up on Blanca. This is the 2nd time this "indestructible heavy duty" Currie Tie road has bent. I should have known better!
Deeefective!
And, as an added bonus, a train along the route from Monte Vista to Alamosa. How many times do you see a daily passenger train like this?
Monte Vista is a big potato growing area - and very entertaining. (How many airheads does it take to plant a potato?)
This view is perhaps 10% of the entire show.
The ice truck cometh.
The view from the pool was breathtaking. Clouds were beginning to form here and an hour later were black and precipitating on the mountains to the east.
So now 8 PM. Finished a few beers and supper trying now to catch up on this and some email while there is wifi here.
10:30. Went back up to the pool for a hour's nighttime swim. Clouds were coming and going over the full moon and it was so, so cool! (Especially when exiting the hot water and making a run for the RV!) What a great experience!
Tomorrow will try for Bonanza again but will first move the RV to the UFO place just because it's so weird and would be fun to spend a night there - for entertainment purposes only. Why the hell not? No facilities there, much less internet but perhaps if a UFO lands, they might be able to provide a connection to the internet. Otherwise, see y'all in a few days in Part 2!
