Staying Ahead Of The Cold and Snow

October 21-29, 2019

We were up and out early, after getting ice off the slides before we brought them in. We made it over Raton Pass before the weather changed and 177 miles later we arrived in Capulin NM well before the cold front got there. Capulin RV Park & Camp is the only game in town and served the purpose of an overnight stop just fine.

We had arrived early enough to go check out Capulin Volcano National Monument, this would be our 3^rd try to visit this park. Why I didn’t check their website I don’t know, if I had we would have gone a little further south. A month ago they had some torrential rains that washed out the road to the top of the volcano. With plenty of time on our hands, we decided to do a hike in the park. The Bocca Trial provided us with some nice views of the surrounding landscape.

Old homestead ruins

The next morning we got up and headed even further south to Oasis RV Resort in Amarillo TX, a windy 197 mile ride trying to keep ahead of the cold weather.

Where else to go for dinner when in Amarillo

The next morning we got up and high tailed it out of Amarillo, there was snow in the forecast for there. By looking at the reservation system for TX state parks I determined there were no reservations, the day before our arrival. By noon we were on our site, 24, at Caprock Canyon State Park. Our 106 mile ride went smoothly then the rains came, the cold came and the snow came.

The next day we had to move to site 17, by the time we moved the snow was gone, the temps were coming up and the sun was out.

Caprock Canyon State Park is a place we’d like to check out when the weather is a little nicer. The Texas State Bison Herd calls Caprock Canyon home, we saw the herd as we drove into the campground upon arrival. There are prairie dog colonies here near the trail head we hiked from.

We enjoyed a few nights at Caprock, got some hiking in, found a geocache and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Our satellite Dish TV worked fine, Verizon signal wasn’t that great but one of us could get onto our hot spot at time.

Geocache-check

Our next overnight stop was at Fredericksburg RV Park, 370 miles of TX highways and 7 hours later we were parked for the night.

By the time Dave was ready for his second cup of coffee the next morning, we were on our way to the Gulf Coast. 250 miles later and we were pulling into our lot at Gulf Waters Beachfront RV Resort in Port Aransas TX. We’ll be here for 17 nights before we head out and explore some of the Texas State Parks and COE campgrounds before heading west to AZ. Time for Dave to get some fishing done and to keep our fingers crossed the shrimp boat goes out while we’re here, and no snow in the forecast. 

Until next time…

Colorado: Visiting Family and Friends

October 15-21, 2019


After arriving safely at Cheyenne Mountain State Park we headed to one of the Red Robin’s in Colorado Springs, the draw of this one is that our son is a waiter there. After another great lunch there we headed to his place where we got to say hi to his girlfriend before she headed off to work. Plans were made for the next few days and the enjoyment of spending time with Tom, and Krystal, began.

Over the next week we spent their time off enjoying their company and doing a few tourist things.

Bishop's Castle

Jim Bishop

Over the years Jim has been single handily building Bishop Castle, all through the donations from the public. Jim’s Parkinson diagnose has brought a halt to any more building of the castle. Hopes are he has sat a Guiness record of the largest structure built by one man. There is talk of a foundation when Jim passes to preserve his legacy.

Royal Gorge

Anderson Farms Fall Festival; where we spent the day in a corn maze, wandered around a pumpkin field, and when the day turned to night, the place became Terror In The Corn with a haunted village and a paintball fight with zombies.

Not too many pumpkins due to an early freeze

We had a couple of days free so we contacted some local friends and arranged some meetups. Unfortunately we due to our time restrictions we weren’t able to catch up with everyone, we’ll try again next year for a longer visit in the area.

We first met Mark & Janell in AZ our first winter there, we’ve caught up with them a few times since. They now have their home base in Salida CO which was about a 2-hour ride from us on a very scenic route. An afternoon of catching up went by way too fast, looking forward to our next catchup.

We met Steve and Cathy on our Alaska Caravan, we had hoped to catch up with them when we were in Ft Collins but alas with our RV issues that wasn’t meant to be. Since there were only about 3 hours between us we decided to meet for lunch in Denver at Rock Bottom Brewery in Centennial, Dave enjoyed his flight A fun few hours and our visit was too quickly over, can’t wait to see them again.

Views from site 9 Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

As our departure day neared it was clear that we would be leaving in snow, so once again an adjustment to plans was made and we left Colorado Springs two days early. Very thankful we were able to make it to see Tom and Krystal, going to try and plan our visit a little earlier next year.

Until next time…

The Saga Continues

September 27-October 15, 2019


Since we were once again back at Lake Shelbyville we got back into our routine of volunteering and helping my folks out. Before too long we heard Lippert was going to get a mobile tech to us on 10/11 if not before. Maybe our visit with our son could be salvaged. 

My mom has the house decorated for Halloween, just a few of the scenes around their house. 

Meanwhile, a Grand Design tech, who was passing thru the area on the way to a rally, stopped by. Jack took a look and verified what our issue was, he and Dave also worked on moving the slides a little more center in their openings. 

On 10/10 at about noon we heard from Lippert, the tech was on his way and would arrive around 5pm, so around 4:45 we moved the rv to an asphalt parking lot in anticipation of his arrival. Bruce arrived about 5:15 and soon got down to business. By 8pm and despite the rain we had slides coming in better than they have in years-alright maybe we can get to CO. 


One last visit to my folks on 10/11 then on Saturday we pulled out early morning with Kansas City MO in our sights. We realized we’d be in very early and decided to get our tires rotated at Tire Discount in Blue Springs MO, not too far from our campground for the night. We arrived around 2:30 and about 4pm they had us move over to get started. Before too long we realized we had a tire problem on our hands. When they pulled one tire off they found bulging on the inside of the tire, an inspection showed bulging on the inside wheel well of all 4 tires, they needed to be replaced before we went any further. Of course, they only had 1 tire in our size and it wouldn’t be till Monday morning when their next order came in. Another delay :( 

Sunday we worked on another issue that had come up, one of the lugs broke and some of the lug nuts on tires weren’t the best. So off to the surrounding O’Reillys to find matching lug nuts, we cleaned a few of their stores out. We then took a walk around Lifestyles RV in Grain Valley MO, just down the road from our campground in Odessa at Country Garden RV Park. We stayed here two years ago on our way thru, it’s a small private campground next to the interstate. It was good to walk thru some of the new 5^th wheels, we know some we don’t want to consider. 

Site 25-Country Gardens RV Park

Monday morning were at Tire Discount about 9am, tires arrival could be anywhere from 9-12, of course, it was closer to 12 by the time they arrived. Our warranty covered the old tires, we just paid the difference in the upgraded tire.  By 1pm we were back on the road with new sneakers, 440 miles to go before we called it a day. With the time difference, we pulled into the Goodland KS KOA about 7pm, a 7-hour ride with only one quick stop. No pictures of the campground since it was dark, suffice it to say it worked for an overnight, fuel and a Walmart were nearby. 

Tuesday we were up and out by 9am for our short drive to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, we made it safely and set up for our week's stay. We made it!! Can't wait to see Tom!!

Site 9

Until next time...