May 10 to May 12, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010
Charlie left the campground early this morning to get the new brakes for the van. Joey and I hung out and did laundry, dishes in the campground's rec room, and then I did a mean thing. I took Joey next door and had his nails trimmed. He gets so upset that he has to be muzzled. The lady didn't want to muzzle him, but he was beside himself. She had this big thing that covered his whole face and he kept shaking it off. It was a real scene, and I had to give her a good tip. Afterward, we went back to the camper and relaxed a bit, and I got on the computer. Then Charlie got back and he was hungry....I am glad he came and got me because all I have been eating all day is yogurt and cookies. We went and got a nice lunch and then went by the RV place to see how our new camper is coming along. The dealership had the camper as a consignment, but they are supposed to check it out thoroughly and add the equalizer thing. Cody was happy to see us and asked us to come back at 4 o'clock and the camper would be ready! That was good news, but it only gave us two hours to get the Aliner ready. Incredibly we got almost everything out of it, and into the van. We left our bikes, some crates, and the porta potty at the campsite. We made it to the dealership in time but we did not get away from there with our new camper until after 6pm. So then we had to go back and load up the new camper and get it organized enough so that we could go to bed. The funny thing about this camper is that the front end pops out into a bed like a pop up camper. The way the dealer had it put together, the mattress in the pop out was intruding on the sofa and dinette (when it was closed) which are the only other two places to sleep. I was sure that could not be right, but I couldn't figure it out. So we had to open the pop out to sleep in. It was after 10:30 before we were able to settle down. Charlie slept in the pop out, the temperature outside kept dropping, and the vinyl pop out was not much protection. The heater was on, but it just made the rest of the camper hot. During the night I got up off the foldout sofa and it slid away from the wall and was kind of crooked. That was the end of sleep for the night. Charlie got up and fixed the sofa, and I figured out how the pop out mattress snaps in so that it does not intrude on the rest of the camper. Now we can keep the pop out closed and have a solid wall, and we can sleep on the dinette and the sofa when it is too cold or too hot outside. Charlie also had to deal with the water which was not ready to go since it had been winterized and the dealership did not finish undoing that. Hopefully we have the kinks worked out now. This camper is so comfortable as far as having a place for everything, and I am so glad we have it in spite of the rough start.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
We were up half the night and really tired, but continued to get organized and figure things out. Finally, Charlie decided he wanted to get on the road to see how we do. The new hitch that is meant to help balance the weight between the tow vehicle and camper is huge. It is so big and complicated that Charlie is getting frustrated and I am not strong enough to help. I hope he will find it easier as he gets used to it. We got back on Route 50 and headed west. We went through beautiful mountains and along rivers and streams. It is the prettiest drive we have made in a long time. The sky was overcast most of the way though, and it was very cold so we didn't stop anywhere except for the ski lifts on Monarch Mountain, and at the Monarch Crest which is at the Continental Divide at 11,312 feet. It was so windy that we didn't even try to get Joey out of the car. It rained toward the end of the day, and the rain was brown! All day the horizon had been hazy and brown, and now we know why. It was a dust storm with rain. I never heard of such a thing. We had trouble seeing through the muddy rain, and the van and camper have brown streaks all over now. We took Rt 550 to Ouray, CO where we pulled into an RV park that is right in town. The office was closed and a boy told us that the restrooms are not open yet. We traveled about 160 miles today and we were tired, so we settled in anyway. As soon as we did, it started to snow. When I walked Joey later in the snow my jacket got brown spots, and I noticed that the hood of the van is turning brown. Yuck! Joey saw four deer before I did, and got them on the run. Our campsite is next to a rocky mountain that goes almost straight up. It has been snowing all evening and we are happy to be snug and warm in our new camper with a 'camper' cooked hot meal.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
It is clear this morning and when I got out to walk Joey I noticed that there is a very fast moving creek about 100 feet from the camper...duh! I heard it before I saw it, and wondered how I could of missed it! I guess I was so interested in the mountain on the other side? Oh well. The dust storm yesterday continued during the night and the van is covered with brown mud. Charlie was able to borrow a hose from the owner to clean the van & camper, not usually allowed in RV parks. We then drove south on Rt 550, the Million Dollar Highway, for about 24 miles to Silverton. It was a beautiful drive, along Bear Creek and we saw many waterfalls, and two mountain goats. We drove through ice and snow on the road and there were lots steep switchbacks going up and down the mountains. We stopped at the old Idarado Mine which was founded in 1939, and closed in 1978. The overlook road was covered with ice and snow so Charlie walked up it and took pictures. We arrived in Silverton which is at about 9,300 feet. We parked on a side street and left Joey in the camper while we did lots of shopping and had lunch at the Brown Bear Cafe. As we finished lunch snow really started coming down. Oh no, this is exactly what happened when we were here three years ago. That time it snowed for two days. By the next afternoon there was at least a foot of snow on the ground and lots more was predicted so we took a chance and left. We had a harrowing ride through the mountains in the snow, and I was mad because we didn't get to stop in Ouray. This trip Charlie was determined that we would do that. Anyway, today it was about 2pm and snowing, so we were going to go ahead and stay at the same RV park in town, but they did not have showers there. We both really want and need showers, and we are not ready to try to take them in the camper. Too tight and we have to worry about how much water we are using. So we left Silverton and continued south on Route 550 through the mountains up to 11,000 feet in the snow. We then had to mount another summit, more switchbacks with shear drops on wet and icy roads. For once I stayed awake. We went through Ouray but almost all of the stores are closed, I guess the season has not started yet. So, we need to keep Ouray on our list of places to visit. Ouray has swimming in Hot Springs too. I never knew there were so many hot springs in Colorado. About 50 miles after Silverton we got on Route 160 east. So now we are heading in the direction of home. We went another 60 miles to Pagosa Springs. We stopped at two RV parks but didn't stay. One had no showers, and one Charlie just didn't like. Finally we found a very nice place, still in Pagosa Springs called the Riverside Campground Pond & River. When we were back in Silverton and left Joey in the camper, I had set out a bowl of water for him on the counter next to the sofa. I forgot about it until we were on the road again, and the whole way I am thinking we are going to have a wet sofa (my bed). Incredibly, the bowl was still sitting on the counter when we stopped for the day. This camper must have a very smooth ride. We are camped beside a pretty little pond that we walked all the way around. There is a tiny dock with paddle boats tied to it. Joey was very curious all along the bank of the pond and then he went out on the dock. Several times his leg slipped through the slats in the dock and he fell through up to his chest. I have never seen a dog do that. He does not seem to be as sure footed as other dogs I know. If we had a TV we could be watching it now. Since we got a camper that is big enough to have a TV we miss having one all of a sudden. We have not really seen TV for weeks and only have a vague notion of what is going on in the world. Perhaps that is just as well.