Holy Guacamole!

Evelyn, this is just a reminder that we'll cook for you once again when we return to the East Coast.  Love you!!!

Seriously Crushed Pineapple

Kay, We'll Bring the Margaritas!

What Happens When Christy Drives

Hitting the Jackpot

Headed out of Nevada, we learned an important lesson: Always, always, always look at the fuel gauge before heading out into the desert.   

We found ourselves with 41 miles to the nearest border town and the truck estimating 40 miles worth of fuel in the tank.  RUH-ROH!!!

While John was confident we would make it, Christy started thinking through about shoes, sunscreen, and hats we would need to pull from the trailer as we hoofed it through the desert the last mile to Jackpot, NV. 

About 10 miles from the border, the truck chimed with another low fuel alert.  However, we coasted into Jackpot NV and hit the only gas station in town.  

We were lucky our lesson only cost us the egregious $4.10 / gallon...about a $0.40 markup per gallon due to it's monopoly on such a precious item.   

Listening to others talk on the road later in the day, we realized you can't rely on your Internet information to get you through either....someone else traveling had relied on there being a gas station at a rural crossroads only to discover it was not open.  

Lesson learned!

Classic Revisited

Since a 1972 Airstream was my first introduction to an RV and RV camping, I sorta assumed there would be a lot of Airstreams on our trip.

In reality, not so much.

We saw a vintage one at Grayton State Park in FL.  Nice folks...ended up socializing with them and hope to go stay at their place in Nashville on the return trip.

And of course, there were the Airstream food trucks in Seaside FL.

Saw one or two in passing along the road....always going the opposite direction of us.

John saw two of them in Ft Pickens, FL, but by the time I got over there they were gone.

While we were in Denver, a new model similar in size to ours parked within eyeshot.

But while in Green River UT, a newer model but longer, pulled up next to us in the night.  We took some side-by-side photos for comparison.  Ours is in the foreground in each of the photos below.


One feature of the newer models that would be nice to have in ours is tinted windows.  While the aluminum does a good job of reflecting most of the heat, the windows seem to let it straight in.   Not such a big deal when we're in cooler climes, but out in the desert it seems to make a difference.

Arriving in Wells, NV

Passing into Nevada from the Utah Salt Flats, we were relieved to see a different landscape.  While it was still 100 degrees and after 6 PM, and there was little in the way of vegetation, it was a relief to see mountains in the distance.

Just inside the Nevada border, we considered stopping to stay at a casino for the night...it would be a contrast of culture to the barren landscape and depopulated areas we've been traversing.  After all, the shiny new casinos would surely have the best air conditioning, clean bathrooms, and free wi-fi.

In the end, we decided we could press on another 60 miles to get us that much further on our next trip.

So we ended up at the crossroads where we'll head north on our next leg.  Wells, NV has  all the signs of having once been a gambling haven itself.  There are small motels barely hanging on, much like what we've seen in other dusty and nearly abandoned towns.

There's one food store, one bar and grill, a couple of old-school small casinos still operating 24-hr, 365-days.  A handful of RV parks from which to choose, and what looks to be a lot of government employees living in town (search and rescue, sheriff, department of transportation, etc.).

We landed at a great little RV park, just down the street from the railroad tracks and the highway.  There's a lot more train traffic than highway.

Here's our campsite at the Mountain Shadows RV Park.  These private parks can be hit-or-miss, but we've lucked out here. Very nice little park.  Clean, friendly, got everything we need, including decent WiFi.  And the best part...it's within walking distance of the local watering hole.  Time to check out some local color!

Why?

This post goes out to my friend Michael Smith in Seattle.   Looking forward to seeing you, Emily, and the girls soon!

Where's the Bling?

The cool-factor on Airstreams is huge.  Who wouldn't like a shiny silver suppository-shaped travel trailer?

And we love our peacock...adds a nice bit of color to the place. 

But it's really been bothering John that we don't have lights on the awning.  So we decided to solve it.   After a dreadful afternoon assaulted by traffic, heat, and suburban sprawl, we located the goods necessary. 

Here's what we ended up with...before and after dark.  The peacock looks good with his dangling lanterns.  That was John's contribution...

Fancy Pants Peacock...

Welcome to Shady Acres!

No Name, CO

So there's this rest area in Colorado, west of Denver, with no name.

Proved a beautiful spot to get out and have a snack.  It was an awesome picnic....leftover pizza, cantaloupe, peaches, and pico de gallo.

(Pico de gallo on cantaloupe is a great combo if you like spicy and sweet!)


While there we saw an Amtrak passenger train going through the valley.  Really cool.  (You can see it in the lower left picture.)

Opposite of Kansas

Whereas Kansas was field after field after field, the scenery in Colorado has been dramatically different.

Over the course of 200 miles we saw snow-capped mountains, rugged red rocks, canyons, the Colorado River, Amtrack trains, mesas, and desert.

It Ain't All Romance....

There are a lot of things you have to do to get ready to leave a campsite and roll out with the Airstream. 

First, you have to ensure that all items inside the trailer are carefully stowed.  If something heavy were to bounce, slide, or otherwise go airborne en route, it could cause damage to the trailer as well as the object.

This includes things like locking the bathroom door into place so it doesn't slide open and taking down the handheld showerhead so it doesn't fall off and swing about. 

Next, you have to ensure the refrigerator is running on gas rather than electric.  Speaking of gas, we need to shut off the hot water heater and turn off the pilot light in the oven. 

We have to detach all the connections to the trailer...take off the water hose, unplug the electrical cord, and disconnect the sewer hose.  That is, if you are at a site where you've been able to hook up sewer.  If there is no sewer connection, it's off to the dump station with the gray water tank...pulling it behind you.  And a second visit will be required as we leave...to dump the black water from the trailer. 

Let's see...all the hoses and cords disconnected....now we need to get the trailer itself put together from the outside.  

Each of the four stabilizers have to be cranked up, the awning needs to be put away and locked in, and the steps folded up.  

If the truck has been detached from the trailer, it has to be hooked up as well.  This takes another 10 minutes or so to get all the leveling bars, brake cord, emergency chains, etc. in place. 

Phew.  

This is why I'm always glad to stay somewhere with showers...I seem to work up quite a sweat trying to get everything complete!

It's Okay, Boy!

Awoke this morning to an unfamiliar sound.

Pssssssshhhhhhhhh.

Pssssssshhhhhhhhh.

Neighboring campers' dog barks his head off, to which the balloonist replies from on high,

"It's Okay, Boy!"

Big Sky

Driving across Kansas, we got our first taste of the wide open big sky.  It gives a sense of exposure and nothingness and awe all at once.  It's easier to appreciate why folks who come to the east coast feel claustrophobic by all the trees on each side of the road.

Wind Turbines in Middle Kansas	Combine Harvesting in Western KS
Center of the US, Lebanon KS	Grain Silos in Western KS

That sense of big sky didn't dissipate when we hit the Rocky Mountains in Denver CO.  We've been able to enjoy some really beautiful sunsets from our campground at Chatfield State Park. 

Airstream Rocky Mountain Sunset Chatfield State Park, Denver CO

Sunset over the Rocky Mountains Chatfield Reservoir in Denver CO

Recycle Kansas

Curbside recycling takes on a different form in rural Selden KS.  As nomads, we are also opportunists and made the best of a respite from wheatfields by emptying our recycling.
They had numerous paper options, plastics, and tin cans.  Surprisingly aluminum was nowhere on the scene.

Winding Our Way Through Kansas

Stopped for a picnic in Smith Center KS, a quiet stretch of US 36 with happy neighborhoods.  We found this old Dutch mill 4 blocks off the main street.  Great shade trees nearby provided a perfect, breezy spot to polish off a hamburger and a peach.

Time to Be Tourists

When you're looking at the map and see the words "World's Largest Ball of Twine" only 30 minutes off your route, you have a choice to make.

Do you continue to haul ass along the predefined route so that you can make it to your next stop in time to make camp before nightfall?  Or do you take a detour so that you can claim that stop in your list of life achievements? 

We decided it was time to be tourists. 

And we weren't the only ones.  In the span of our five-minute stop, we saw at least three other cars do the same thing.  And these were the only other vehicles we saw in Cawker City...it was a Sunday, but it also looks like it has seen better days.