Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Full circle

 

We squeezed in a visit with Ralph and Crystal, with a dinner out, then sketched in a route back to Casa Grande.

We are on the road again, as the old song goes.

We decided on a fairly direct route south thru Wyoming and Colorado and our first stop was going to be Lusk but the roads were so good and there was so little traffic that we got there by lunch time so after a break for said lunch we carried on to Cheyenne.

Our favorite app RVParky showed several campgrounds and one sounded interesting, Terry Bison Ranch. It had a restaurant, train rides, horse riding, a Bison herd and better still it was a “Passport America” (PA) park that gives discounts for PA members.

The reality was very different and we found a dusty potholed place that was very run down, campers that obviously hadn’t moved in a long time. It was right next to I25 so traffic noise 24 hrs a day that got drowned out only by the trains that ran between the CG and the Interstate!

Checking in they told us there was a “Totally free breakfast” in the restaurant and live music on Saturday night.

We checked in for 2 nights as high winds were forecast for the next 2 days, and the forecast was right! 60 mph gusts then the temperature dropped to 50 during the day and 30 at night.

Things got worse when the smoke from a wildfire 30 miles away blew our way. Then the live music which we assumed was in the restaurant turned out to be an outdoor rock concert that lasted until 10pm. Then the concert goers returned to the tents they had set up near us and partied until 2pm.

Next morning we sat down to watch the Formula 1 race we had set the satellite system to record overnight but there was no signal. When I went to investigate I found that somebody had disconnected the cable from the dish antenna, pulled the cable to the rear of the coach OPENED OUR BATTERY COMPARTMENT and tied the cable around the strut on the door so the door stayed open all night.

The office could care less about it, we checked the CG rules and noticed that unlike every other park we’ve been in this one had no quiet hours.

When we went for the “Totally Free” breakfast they looked at us like we were from outer space. There was no free breakfast.

Thankfully the wind died down after our second night and we headed south again.

At this point I have a confession to make. It’s something we say we never do, but we did it. We are sorry, we will try not to do it again after this.

We drove on Interstates!

There I’ve said it, there is no taking it back. We got on I25 in Wyoming and we are going to stay on it until we get to New Mexico. There aren’t any seriously good side roads thru or around Denver, or for next several hundred miles on a direct route.

Driving this far on the Interstates reminds me why I dislike them so much, especially thru big cities like Denver where 30+ miles of heavy traffic and construction drove me to distraction.

Then we stopped in West Pueblo CO at another campground listed as Passport America and found Haggards CG way out in the middle of nowhere. Tidy and roomy, quiet and friendly. It was all we want in a campground and we made reservations for 3 nights.


The bad news is that they only give PA discounts after October 1st, but then they gave us the good news, they give discounts for Escapees members all year round!

What a delight this place was. Just an open vista out to the distant hills, I glanced out of the window and saw a covey of quail fussing about, just 50 yards from us. Another morning there was a small herd of antelope on the other side of the fence!


We explored the area and found Pikes Peak was just a half day trip followed by Colorado Springs and side trips to a British Grocery store and the Elks Lodge. Pueblo was a nice find too as they have a River Walk very similar to the one in San Antonio TX.


In our wacky world we love to find the funny side of things and the River Walk reminded us of Wichita Falls.

  https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2016/04/stuck-on-wichita-falls.html

There the falls had been washed away by a flood. 




In Pueblo they had rerouted the river because of a huge flood in 1921, so they had constructed the “River” Walk as an homage to the river that wasn’t there anymore!!

All too soon we were moving on and back on the Interstate again. Fortunately there was very little traffic and we sailed along on the boring concrete slab but made good time. So good we decided that we’d skip our next stop and go all the way to Albuquerque in New Mexico. We set a new record for us by driving 350 miles in one day.

Albuquerque was like a small homecoming for us as we bought the current RV here almost exactly 2 years ago after the engine in the Rexhall died. (https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2018/10/new-mexico-adventures.html).



Back then we lucked out and got front row at the Balloon Fiesta that Albuquerque is famous for. We assumed it was cancelled due to Covid, and it was, but instead they had Balloon Siesta where 100 carefully controlled balloons were flown from points around the city to remind everyone that although times are tough right now there is hope for a recovery. I was very touched by that.

Back to Interstate 25. We had pounded down that for a total of nearly 800 miles! Unwillingly, but there was little choice on this route. We were headed for Show Low Arizona and the GPS wanted us to take another Interstate, I40, but we outsmarted her and got on Rt 60 instead for a very nice drive thru rolling hills and varied scenery. Traffic was almost non existent and we could cruise around 65mph. Such bliss!

3 nights at the Elks there was pleasant and let us explore another area of Arizona we haven't been to with just 175 miles to go until we were back in Casa Grande.