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Welcome to Our Photo Gallery & Travelblog
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August-September 2003, To Kansas and Back Hitting the road to fetch the "Catmobile"There and back again ... On Thursday, August 28, we headed to Kansas to fetch our RV. We are not early birds and headed out of Brookings, OR, about noon. We packed some bed clothes, linens, a few kitchen items, and some computer electronics in plastic containers and loaded them into the back of the truck. We headed south on 101 through misty redwood forests before we hit sunshine and warmer temperatures around Santa Rosa, CA, where we spent the night. Through Nevada we go ...On Friday, August 29, we headed across Nevada on I-80 East. The temperature stayed steady at 88F, rather cool for this high desert. The emptiness of the landscape creates an alien beauty like that of the moon or a sibling planet. Lasting mental images: hills of rocks and dirt, quarries, prisons, military bases, dry grass, heat, trailers, a few "trading posts" scattered few and far between, and some cows chewing pitifully on dead grass. Are we there yet? Around Loveluck, we were swarmed by suicidal yellow butterflies! Where did they come from? We are checking out RV parks as we go. So far, Benbow in Garberville, CA, and Gold Ranch Casino & RV Resort in Verdi, NV. Very friendly staff welcomed us and answered our questions. The KOA places were clones of each other and not as friendly, helpful, or scenic. Through Utah and Wyoming ...Saturday, August 30, we continued across Nevada into Utah and Wyoming. I-80 East is one of those straight, flat highways where you can see where you will be an hour from now and it's more of the same. Cottony clouds cast shadows on barren mountain ranges. Valleys were dry, brown and dotted with power plants, mineral mines, distant trains inching their way to elsewhere like caterpillars. A scarce patch of visually pleasant black-eyed susans colored the dull landscape. Mid-day, a hawk dove for his lunch, a snake or lizard? As we approached the Utah border our eyes were shocked to see salty seas of the mineral-kind and mountains of snowy white salt. The salt shone like winter snow that refused to melt in the summer sun. Rocky red buttes were separated by thirsty canyons eager for the fall rains and winter snow and snow fences were braced for coming snow drifts. Posters reminded us that the Winter Olympics were held here in Salt Lake City in 2002. Wyoming welcomed us with clouds, fireworks factories, a fiery sunset, and a red rainbow. We passed greener pastures with naked sheep and a few real cowboys. Castle Rock, minus the car cemetery, looked like the great Heidelberg castle in Germany. Wyoming hosts saloons and steak houses, serious snow fences braced for coming winter blizzards, oil diggers, and a wind farm. Concrete sections of the road jostled our juices suggesting more frequent potty breaks, if there had only been more saloons along the way! And, through Colorado to Kansas ...On Sunday, August 31, we continued our travels through Wyoming and Colorado. We were pleasantly surprised to catch the silhouette of an antelope on a rock in the early morning sky. The temperature remained pleasant from 51-70's with partly cloudy skies. We traveled canyon roads bordered by rocky boulders and valley roads where wooden crosses carry electrical currents to scattered desert communities. Trucks, trucks, and more trucks accompanied us on our journey. We turned south in Cheyenne where Wyoming melts into eastern Colorado and beds of black-eyed susans border I-70 through Colorado and into Kansas, the sunflower state. For a short time on this leg of the trip, we saw silhouettes of the Rocky Mountains. We will spend some time there in the future. On Monday, September 1, the temperatures stayed in the 60's as dry prairie grasses and other grains polluted our sinuses. Fields of sunflowers and milo (millet) dried in the summer sun. I even saw four long-horned steers! Our "Catmobile"We sneaked a peek at our RV at Horizons on Tuesday. It's far from finished, so now we play the waiting game. While we are waiting, we worry about towing that monster trailer and if it will be too weighty for our GMC Sierra 3500 Duramax dually. Tom says we can just not eat and go naked to save the weight of clothes and food. NOT! On Thursday, we took another peek and it's coming along. All of the kitchen appliances are in and the office area is looking good. The cat apartment is complete except for the doors. Because of this unique feature, we will call our RV the "Catmobile." The slide-outs are being built and some additional electrical work is needed. On Tuesday, the truck will be equipped with the towing package and the satellite system will be installed. The Horizons crew will work on Saturday in an effort to get us into our RV and on the road by late next week. We plan to stay at a nearby lake campground, Milford Lake, for at least one night to try everything out, including driving it! Side Trip: Iowa's Covered Bridges
Our First Few Nights in the CatmobileBack at Horizons on Tuesday, 9-9, much more work had been completed on the RV. Dylan, the satellite installer, worked for more than 7 hours without success. New parts have been ordered and he will return to complete the installation. That was disappointing because now we will have no internet access while traveling back to OR towing the RV. We have made frequent visits to Horizons to answer questions and now the target delivery date is Friday, 9-12-03. We have been displaced from our hotel in Manhattan because of a KSU home football game. Ready to move in! We moved into the RV tonight on the factory parking lot. We give this campground a 10 for helpfulness, a 3 for scenery, and a 1 for quiet as we are right by I-70 and operational train tracks. We brought basic linens and kitchen items with us. The first thing we did was make the bed. This is wise when moving any time anywhere. Then we went to get some basic food items. We are making a list of items to be completed before moving off factory grounds. We processed paperwork for the mortgage loan through Ganis and on Saturday we were given an orientation by Ken Ullmer. Tom has all of the manuals to study for questions on Monday. If everything is finished on Monday, then we will go to Milford Lake to get some peace and quiet away from I-70 trucks and RR trains. Too Heavy for TowingDisappointing news, Tom's worries were validated: we can't tow our new covered wagon home because it's several thousand pounds overweight. So, we are making contacts to trade in our new truck for one with more towing capacity. This will cost us money because we have only had the GMC Sierra for four months. Although it is the highest end of the light weight duty trucks and we like it a lot, we need more power! Lesson learned: overestimate weight! First impressions of our RV: light, functional, airplane toilet, roomy shower, comfy bed, great office on wheels. Tom's "liking it." It's a cloudy, rainy, cool day so we are resting and learning how to live in this small space. I spent the first full day and night in the RV sick with another intestinal bug. I became very familiar with the toilet. Tom worked many hours until very late on organizing a rat's nest of wiring in the electrical cabinet left by the satellite installer. He isn't sleeping well because of the noise from the trains and trucks, setting up the RV, listing items yet to be done or fixed, and thinking about ordering a newer truck. We have dumped gray water and added white water. We have much more to learn. If we can't get a truck soon, we may pay to have the RV towed and delivered to Brookings. We will drive the GMC Sierra back and order what we want. This will give us more time to move into the RV and out of the rental house. Change of plans: Back to Oregon We Go, Without the Catmobile!After spending six nights in the Horizons' factory parking, we have decided to head back to the cats and the ocean while electrical glitches get worked out in the RV and we order a bigger truck. Yesterday, we drove through Western Kansas and Western Colorado which were flat and unremarkable except for a herd of antelope and buffalo, then desert. Tom commented that driving through this area was like being in an old western movie. A brown haze of pollution clouded Denver as we approached the Rocky Mountains. The mountains were sprinkled with early fall snow. The aspens are just beginning to turn gold and rust tinges the evergreens with early fall colors. The ski areas around Vail are America's Switzerland, very beautiful. I could live here. The Rockies are replaced by canyonlands then flat-topped volcanic buttes as we approach Utah. Some of the buttes have eroded into sand dunes. Dry creek beds are sprinkled with salt and other natural minerals. Green River is our stopping point tonight before we head north on Route 6 toward Route 140 in Oregon. As we drove through these states today, I thought about how tough this must have been in the covered wagon trains. No paved roads, scarce water, no Arby's, no hotels to stop in for a shower and bed. Desolate desert followed by monstrous mountains to climb, then gigantic volcanic rocks, and Mother Nature's heat and storms challenged, tortured, and killed many of those who attempted this journey. What courage they had to continue in search of their dreams! |
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