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That's right - no bingo. No bean bag toss. No ladder golf. No square dancing, or Tony Orlando, or whoopie cushion record breaking attempt. Just good friends, dynamite food, and  bountiful Colorado sunshine.

 

 

This is how the NuRVers roll. In the picture is Ian (my son), Eva (Vanta_C), Jim and Renee (LiveWorkDream), Bella, Sarah, and Matt (LiveLightly/Mattjanssen), and Angie between Sarah and Matt. For an impromptu gathering, it came together nicely, and it was a pleasure to meet everyone. I hope we have a couple more evenings to NOT have bingo, square dancing.....

 

--kev

The owner of the Broken Bow RV Park had mentioned something when I checked in that made me open up my GPS mapping software again. I had mentioned that we would leave Escalante in the morning and drive north on Hiway 12, then to Hiway 24 through Capitol Reef NP. He said something like "oh, that way". Huh? What do you mean "that way". "I hope you have good brakes in that thing".



No problem, right? I can handle these.... right? No worries - I will deal with them when I get there. I was on a mission.

The drive out of Escalante was more of the incredible countryside we had been enjoying on our 2-lane adventure. A little ways from town, we hit our first big "obstacle" - an incredible descent into the depths of Perdition (well, almost). The descent was a couple of miles of 6ish percent grade, but was complicated by being behind a RENTAL RV!!



Climbing out of the bowl, and still behind the rental RV, we were treated to some amazing canyon views. It is really difficult to pilot 65 feet of 40k pounds of diesel-breathing beast while trying to take in some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen! However, once we reached the top of the climb, all of my attention was needed for one of the trippiest roads I have ever encountered - a true "ridge-top" road known as "The Hogback"!



I realize that the photos don't really capture the vibe on this road, but it is a little spooky snapping pictures while driving on this. There is a few inches of shoulder on each side of the road, followed immediately by sheer dropoffs to the canyon bottom below! The rental RV finally threw me a bone and pulled into a turnout.

Just down the road was a beautiful little town called Boulder, which was right in the middle of Anasazai Indian Village State Park. We parked just outside of town in a little turnout so that I could make a phone call, which turned out to be the rest needed for the next leg of the journey. The leg referred to by the statement "I hope you have good brakes in that thing".



The climb was gnarly. We went from about 6000 feet to just over 9500 feet pretty quickly. Well, not quickly as in driving quickly, because The Knight was bound and determined to take its time getting up there. I don't think I have ever pulled a hill at 25-30mph before! The summit was incredible, with breathtaking views down into the valley. And as they say, it was all downhill from there...

The downhill was a little stressful. We are running pretty heavy, and I worked my best magic with downshifting, exhaust brake, stabbing the air brakes only when needed. There was a cornucopia of 6, 8, and 10% downgrades. Ang missed all the downhill fun - she was crashed out through the whole edge-of-out-of-control adventure.

Once the downhill ended, we coasted through the town of Torrey, and went east on Hiway 24 - and right into Capitol Reef National Park. Another set of Wows gave me the courage to try something that I rarely am brave enough to do - try to wake Ang from a nap. It was worth it. The park was absolutely incredible.



We stopped at a nice parking area in the middle of the park. It was close to the river, so there were trees and plants and coolness. We took a walk around the wood platforms and saw some great "wall art" - ancient art/stories/communications by the native indians of the area. This, however, solidified my theory that aliens actually live in these towering mountains, and the natives recorded their oddness for eternity in their art.



Another nice treat in this parking area was access to the original fruit orchards that the Mormon pioneers planted in this area. I ate a green apple from one of the trees and it reminded me of doing the same as a kid at our cabin near Mt Shasta. Green apples picked out in the middle of nowhere seem to taste better than anything you can get in a store.



After leaving the park, we had a short drive to the town of Hanksville. We had another travel day planned, so we decided to go to the only campground in the area and rest up for the couple-hour drive to Moab the next day. We pulled in to the campground and should have taken heed of the sign out front -



heh - shady. I paid our $18 for the night, and Ang and I walked around the campground. We didn't find one spot we were comfortable pulling our rig in to. If bushes could have bed head, this is how we would describe them. We were able to find a place big enough for us to flip a U-turn and get back on the highway. I just hope they use my $18 to make their campground less "shady".

So, it was off to Moab. It was only two hours, and we arrived at our campground just before dark. We were happy to be "home" for the next couple of weeks.



--kev

Tags: Roadtrip Moab Adventures

Leaving California is never easy - saying goodbye to family and friends, wrapping up business, swearing at our storage one more time... Always way too much to do before we leave. This departure was also dotted with maintenance on the RV - full lube, some minor repairs. Getting ready for the road ahead.

 

Leaving California is always difficult in another way - Cali has some of the worst roads we drive on. It is never fun to look forward to several hours of teeth rattling, light fixtures falling, and general "contents WILL shift during flight" issues. However, we did have something to look forward to with getting out of Cali - next stop Moab, Utah!

Well, maybe not the "next stop", but the next destination for sure. We were quite happy to be heading off to Moab. Ok, I was quite happy. Ang was along for the ride - always game for the next adventure. Moab has been one of those places that has always eluded my travels. I have wanted to go there since I first read about it when I was mountain biking. It just seemed like the place to go. Now, with dragging the Jeep behind us, I had renewed interest, and had been trying to get it into our travel plans for quite a while.

Bolthouse Farms - Angie's Mothership & the reason it is so windy in SoCal
 

The trip out of Cali was pretty uneventful. We passed Angie's favorite provider of yummness - Bolthouse Farms. She was awake to see it! As we approached the California border, we kept seeing corny signs for "The Best Gyro in USA!!". So, a stop at The Mad Greek in Baker, Ca. (home of the worlds largest thermometer!!) filled our bellies before we left the state.

Tiredness hit at around 2am when we rolled into Mesquite, Nv. I had wanted to get out of Las Vegas while it was night time, as I had no desire to deal with that place during daylight hours. Mesquite turned out to be a pretty neat little town, and we found a cool casino with an RV parking area that allowed us to park for the night.

Overnighting at a Casino
 

Once we were out of Nevada, the Ahhhhhhhhs turned on - big time! The tiny part of Arizona we drove through was beautiful - big canyons and nice roads. Once we were in Utah, it was time to start looking for the off ramp to start our 2-lane adventure!

 

  

We got off of I-15 just past St. George, Utah. We really didn't know what to expect, but after looking at the maps for a week or so, I figured we could handle anything the 2-lanes were going to throw at us. Our first lesson on AWESOME was shortly after we left the interstate hell - Zion National Park. The warnings were a little intimidating, but we figured we weren't the first motorhomers to drive through the park.

 

  

As we stopped at the gate to the park, we were informed that we were too long to drive through the park, so we would have to unhook and Ang would have to follow behind me. No big. Then came the real news - there is a tiny little tunnel that we have to go through, and because of our size, they have to shut the traffic down so that we can drive down the middle of the road. No big. I can do that. Then the downside of all that - it was going to cost us $40 to drive a few miles through the park, including the $15 tunnel charge!

However, after driving a little bit through the park, I decided that $40 was a true bargain. This place put the awe in awesome. The tunnel was just an added bonus!

 

  

The drive through the park on Hiway 9 was amazing. We were able to stop a few times, take some pictures, dig the beauty. Once we left the park, we were treated to hours and hours of beautiful country. Zion NP had a high concentration of beauty, but the whole drive had something to offer.

At Mt. Carmel, we headed north on Hiway 89, then jumped on Hiway 12 east which took us through the top part of Bryce Canyon National Park. We didn't get to really see much of the park, as we decided to continue heading east. We found out about half way through the day that we were now on Mountain time, and since we didn't have campground reservations for the night, we were hoping to get to Escalante, Utah, before nightfall.

We found our spot for the night at the Broken Bow RV Park. Not a fancy joint, but exactly what we needed after a few days on the road - food and cocktails right across the street!

Check out the rest of the pictures in the Gallery - cal2utah_001.jpg through cal2utah_027.jpg.

 

--kev

Tags: Roadtrip Moab Adventures

Wow - ended up being a damn long day. We didn't leave Coyote Valley until about one, then after fueling up, weighing, and getting our act together, we didn't leave the Bay Area until about 2pm.

The drive wasn't too bad leaving California, which is why we left on Sunday. Figured there wouldn't be a lot of people traveling on that day. It was a normal crowded Sunday.

Our first real stop was in Baker, California - the home of The Worlds Largest Thermometer! We took that in for about 30 seconds and dashed into The Mad Greek for The Best Gyro In U.S.A. (according to the dozen billboards on the way). It was pretty good - but was $9.95!!! Guess the Mad Greek isn't a Stupid Greek - we were there at around 10pm and the place was full.

We made it out to Mesquite, Nevada for the night, and found a great spot in a parking lot at a casino for the rest of the night. It was warm out, so all windows were open all night. Felt good to stop after 600ish miles.

Anomaly of the day: diesel was cheaper in California than Nevada!!! Paid $4.19 in Gilroy, $4.29 in Las Vegas. Color me confused...

Off to Escalante, Utah. 

 

--kev 

Its been a while, but we are stoked to be hitting the road this morning. Chassis lubed, coach clean inside and out, fuel prices lower. Time is now!

We have been in the Bay Area since the beginning of May. We both love being here, as this is where our friends and family are stuck. But, being here always brings on way too many things - doctors, storage, gatherings, heavy traffic. We always look forward to getting back on the road.

We are totally stoked about heading to Moab, Utah. Our planned route takes us off the interstate just inside Utah, through some beautiful country. Here is our travel map.

See you on the road!

 

--kev

I have been reading RV forums for a couple of years now, and it never ceases to amaze me at some of the topics that come up. Tales of outlandish neighbors, irritating kids, gestapo managers. Made me want to come up with a campground version of Snopes.

However, even with my limited experience, I am starting to see that some of this stuff really happens. The first occurence of this was at Sun N Fun in Sarasota - I actually observed someone using their clearance lights on their fifth-wheel as decorative outdoor lights. Every night he would turn on all of the trailer lights for a wonderful display of highway festivity. Good times.

My latest uncovering of these camping urban legends is the "dogs tied to a trailer while the owner is gone and barking all day" myth. This really does happen. It happened right next to us all day today. Two big dogs that barked at every leaf that blew down the road, every person walking by, every imagined dog gremlin that taunted them.

By far, the worst part about this (other than the pure lameness of the dogs owner) is that every sound by the barking canine duo was met with a rapid and unweilding report from Malabar. It was a freaking game of barking volleyball.  

Just a bit ago - around midnight - I slid outside for an evening smoke. I noticed the dark trailer next to us, dogs inside, car parked out front. As I walked beside my rig, a renegade flip-flop kicked the barbecue, making an "urch" sound from the wheels skidding on the cement pad. The sudden urch was met with the disapproval of the dozing dogs in the sleepy trailer.

They barked.

Bummer. Maybe I should apologize to the guy in the morning for disturbing his restful evening...

 

--kev

(or, maybe this should have been posted on Craigslist's Rants and Raves) 

Just over the ridge from us, the hills have been burning a couple of days. The winds have been horrible, and up until today, it has been very warm here. Today was cold. UnCalifornia cold. Mid-60's. Burrr.

The other night coming home, we could see the glow above the flames.  The fires are still pretty far away, but the smoke has filled the valley we are in. I stepped out yesterday and discovered that our RV park now smells like a campground. The asphalt paradise at Coyote Valley RV has gained, and the tragedy of the fire, the ingredient to make it seem like we "camping".

Maybe that is a new product idea. An escense that is marketed to RV parks that they can emit into the air that will give that campground smell. It would be similar in practice to what they emit into the air at KFCs to make you stop for some crack chicken. Devils.

So, the other day when I was basking in my campground smell glory, I shook the dreams of being in the redwoods somewhere and quickly went inside to close vents and windows. I then remembered how nice it was to have a greatly sealed RV to escape that smell. 

I guess campgrounds smell like campgrounds, but I sure love getting away from it.

 

--kev 

 

The question presented: How cool can a $200 a month RV park be?

The answer: Extremely.

What started as a week (or so) in New Braunfels, Texas, ended up as almost two months in one of the coolest towns we have stayed. Damien and Michelle called us up when we were leaving Florida and said they had payed for a month at an RV park in New Braunfels. It was close to several of their upcoming shows, so they thought they would just stay there for a month and commute to their weekend shows. Not having anything really planned out, we told them we would stop in and hang out with them for a bit. haha - yea, a bit. After almost two months, we had made some great friends, had great times, and found out that we loved the Comal River.

 

We have been to many places in our adventures, but never have we been to a place that we met so many cool people, and built friendships like we did in NewB. Having Damien and Michelle was key to this - they are just as outgoing and adventurous as we are (or try to be), and the town opened their arms wide to the four of us foreigners. Landa RV and Campground was not the "resort style" campground by any means. It featured rough gravel roads, wifi that worked periodically, and heavily used train tracks that ran straight through our living room. It spite of all of that, our campsite was inches from the Comal River, the park hosts were some of the nicest we have met, and the neighbors were top notch. We found nothing to complain about (well, other than the occasional train).

 

Much brown at the beginning, a warning, floating neighbors

We found some cool things to do in the area. One of the first adventures was to some caves close by called Natural Bridges Caves. We went there with D&M and had a great time. We also ventured to some neighboring towns to see what they had to offer - Gruene, San Marcos, and San Antonio. We always seemed to find a cool pub to grab a cold drink, and great locals to hang out with.

 

Tourist Spelunking, Mitchell and Ang in San Antonio, The River Walk in San Antonio, The Alamo, and wake boarding, Texas style

New Braunfels was quite the little town. Landa RV is situated just a couple of blocks from downtown, which features a cool round-about in the center of town, with cool little restaurants and pubs all within walking distance. We found ourselves loving the Liberty Bistro, where owner Darren always made us feel like we were family. The normal after dinner drink location ended up being the Uptown Piano Bar, where old school velvet, smoky room, and a hipster tickling the keys on a Grand was the cool way to wrap up the evening. Honorable mentions go to Naegelin's Bakery (140 year old bakery), The Oyster Bar, Huisach Grill, The Black Whale, and the Gruene Onion Grill. All wonderful places that always served up some great food and drinks.

By far, the best thing about New Braunfels was the friends we made while there. From the first day there, we seemed to make easy work of meeting the coolest people the Hill Country had to offer. Two of the first people we met were Angel and Jason, who were working at the Liberty Bistro. We all hit it off, and they couldn't get rid of us for the rest of the time there. Angel was a great friend to us, and we really enjoyed hanging out with her.

Being parked on the river, we would have an influx of weekenders. One day, a family with three cute little girls set up next to us. I made contact while they were setting up, and kept finding excuses to visit while they were getting everything set up for their weekend of fun. Ended up that Kris and Mel and the girls were from New Braunfels, and enjoyed camping on the river. In no time, we found much to talk about, and after the weekend ended, we got together as often as we could. They are great people, and we look forward to seeing them again in the near future.

In our first location at Landa, we were "up top", which is an area that is a bit farther from the river. Our neighbor was a guy we would see once in a while, and we were constantly feeling sorry for him for having us as neighbors :) We quickly ended that by having some beers and great conversation. Josh is from south Texas originally, and is everything I thought a real Texas guy would be. Not only the owner of a huge heart, he actually got our sense of humor. Not an easy task :) Josh is soon heading towards College Station, and we have threatened him that we will be hunting him down. Josh - you have been warned. There were many others that we met during our stay, and I must say that our new group of Texas friends will stay with us for a long time. I can see us returning that that area just to see them again!

 

Angel and her buds, James at the Oyster, Kris and Mel, Josh with the group on St Patrick's Day, Josh and his girlfriend over for dinner

It wasn't easy to leave New Braunfels, but it was made slightly easier because we were heading up north to see the kids in Colorado. I can't hardly wait to see them, so it gives us a mission. We are on the road, and NewB is in our rear view now, but the friendships we made there will never be far away. Great town, awesome river, beautiful friends. This is why we are on the road.

As for the title of this post - translated from D-speak means "Her dizzy head is conscience-laden". But, that is a whole 'nother story...

 

--kev

Tags: Texas Goodtimes

We drove from Denver to Santa Fe on Sunday, then Santa Fe to Flagstaff this evening. I had issues.

I worked until about 4 today, then we broke camp to hit the road. I was a little hurried, because we had a long way to go, and a short time to get there (well, not really, but that song is cool). I did things in a different order than I usually do. I pretty much do the same things in the same order when we break down. It is not intentional, but rather just habit now, I guess. I couldn't even write out the steps here - I just do them. Today was different - and I think I broke something because of it.

I was filling the fresh water a bit so we would have flushing juice on the road. I kept the fill valve open so that it would drain off the pressure and I could disconnect my fitting at the pressure regulator.  When I released the quick disconnect on the regulator there was a bit of pressure, and more water than usual was draining from the hose. I went back to the wet bay and heard the water pump going. I closed the fill valve and the pump kept running. It was filling the hose and pumping out - out through the in door.

I changed positions of the fill handle, cycled the pump several times, many combinations of things. They all turned out the same. Needing the water pump for the road trip, I put a quarter turn ball valve on the end of the hose and turned on the pump. It filled the hose to just over 40psi and shut off, which is what I had hoped for.

I figured out that there must be a check valve that diverts whatever is supplying the system with pressure. I rigged it for the drive, and it actually worked out because the hose acts as a big expansion tank. With the pump turned off, there was a lot of pressure for quite a while. Made me want to go to Lowes and shop for a tank.

I will call Monaco tech support tomorrow to see what is up with that check valve. Damien said that it happened to his, so I will see if he has any wisdom to share. I am sure it will be a quick fix, but by the time I get the part, make time to tear apart the wet bay, fix the valve, then goof with all the other stuff in there, it is going to be a while. Something tells me I can blow off the trip to Lowe's because I am going to have my ghetto Hose Reel Expansion Tank in use for a while.

 

--kev 

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