GA Gypsies – Fulltiming

Sunday, September 30, 2018

We left Buena Vista Friday and arrived at our campground in Monument, CO. The ride from Buena Vista to Pike’s Peak was absolutely beautiful – ranches and rural. Once we reached Pike’s Peak it became very urban and just continued to Colorado Springs and on up the interstate to our campground. We are actually right on I-25 – noisy. A nice campground with lots of trees and shade, but big and lots of people. And we are still an hour away from Littleton. Hope we can find a closer one. Megan met us Friday afternoon and we had dinner together. I got to talk to the little one (in her tummy)! Megan’s belly looks like a watermelon – she’s only gained 10 pounds during the whole pregnancy. Yesterday was a catch up on rest day, then late we decided to drive some off the interstate roads and look for alternate campgrounds. We ended up almost in Littleton, so we called Megan and she was headed home from work. We went to their apartment and went out to eat Mexican, then it was late and dark and we headed back to the campground. Plan to go riding and looking again this afternoon.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Tuesday, we started out on the interstate, crossing into Colorado and planning to just go to the campground in Monument, CO on the interstate, through Denver. However, the campground called and asked if we would be in before 4:00, which we wouldn’t and they said we would be put on a different site and have to be moved to the long term site on Friday. So we opted to take the scenic route south, going through Buena Vista, CO and staying there 2 nights, then going on to Monument. Good choice. The drive was beautiful, the campground is nice, and we have enjoyed exploring the small ranch/mining town of Buena Vista. Today we took a stroll down main street, then went exploring on a county/forest service road. The aspen leaves were falling and blowing and piling up on the side of the roads. We saw lots of mule deer on the drive. Coming back, there were dozens in a field and someone’s private yard – huge bucks with huge racks. We stopped to take pictures and one of the bucks started walking towards the truck, jumped the fence, and came right up to the window. I could have touched him. I think he was anticipating food. Well, we plan to make it to Monument, just a bit south of Littleton (where Megan is) tomorrow. We will see.

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My “friend” who jumped the fence and came up to the window.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Left Moab late morning, driving east across Utah, crossing into Colorado. Made it to Silt, GO, just east of Glenwood Springs. Tomorrow we continue east, hopefully making it to our longterm campground in Larkspur, CO.

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Monday, September 24, 2018

Sunday was all about Canyonlands. Absolutely beautiful. No words – just pictures. Like a Grand Canyon #2 (although I haven’t seen the GC with my own two eyes). Canyons, canyons, canyons, and the Green River on one side and the Colorado River on the other. No arches.

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Today we strolled downtown Moab (my new favorite place!), had a nice dinner, then took a scenic road that paralleled the outside perimeter of Arches and the Mighty Colorado River. We stopped and walked down to a sandy stream bed – it was so quiet and beautiful, the sun was below the canyon walls. With canyons all around us, we felt so small.

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Saturday, September 22, 2018 (2nd Post)

Today our journey took us to Goblin Valley State Park, about an hour & half east of us. Was actually able to get into the valley via steps and walk/hike amongst the goblins. I wanted to make it to the canyon wall, but it was hot (89), in the sun, and my MS heat intolerance kicked in. I had so much fun walking around in the valley before we decided to head back to the truck. When we left, we took a BLM gravel road to another canyon and found a canyon wall that we could park in the shade and had our (late afternoon) picnic lunch. It was so quiet and peaceful there.

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The last picture is a snake – yes, there are snakes in the desert! Non-poisonous.

We left the park and headed back to Green River, to the campground. I wanted to stop at the restaurant we had eaten at the night before to get a light meal – I wanted some Indian fry bread! When we went to enter the restaurant, a young man behind me opened the door and said, “How’s that Utah hospitality for a couple of Georgians?” I guess he saw us get out of the truck and our tag. I thanked him, he asked where we were from in GA and we asked where he was from – Marietta. Then he had moved to California. So we went our separate ways – there was a 30 minute wait and when we were seated, it was at a table for 6. About 1/2 way through our meal, the hostess brought our new friend to be seated at a table for 6 right behind us. I heard him say he didn’t want to take up that big table for just himself, so I reached around and grabbed his shoulder and said, “Hey, GA boy, come join us.” And so he did. And here’s the really cool thing. He was helping some friends in the area as a river guide and he was telling us about places to see in the area. We had told him we were full time RVing. The conversation continued and he asked if we had children – that’s when we told him about Megan and expecting our first grandbaby and then we told him about Thomas. And then he said his occupation was a traveling trauma nurse who did contract work for certain periods of time, then traveled around the world until time to work some more. He was interested in “our story” about Thomas and spoke several times about how good God is. I’m certain God put Michael in our path – before we left he got up and wanted a hug and I told him to remember us and Thomas when he was working with his trauma patients. God IS GOOD, always. We’ve been kept safe and we have seen so much of His beauty. Thank you, Father, for all Your blessings.

Until tomorrow.

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Yesterday, we drove to and around Moab and then went into Arches National Park. We hiked a couple of short, easy trails. It was pretty warm – in the 80’s. Words can not describe what we saw, so I’ll just show you pictures. We weren’t able to hike to the most famous arch – Delicate Arch – it was only a mile to get to it but it was rated strenuous and was just too much to risk with my knees and heat intolerance, so we went to the overlook which was closer to hike to. We also decided we needed more time, so we stopped at some campgrounds in Moab and we were able to add 2 more days there, which will be much closer to go into Canyonlands.

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Delicate Arch is one of the most photographed things in America. It is so iconic, it is on the Utah license plate.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

We stayed two nights in Delta, a really sweet little cowboy town. We left today around 12:00 and drove to Green River, UT. The terrain changed and began to look like we were in a John Wayne western – there were plateaus, gorges, mountains, hoodoos, etc. God is a Master Creator – the pictures do not do justice to what we experiences with our own eyes. And speaking of our Creator, the thinking it took to create different ecosystems with flora & fauna that are created for each ecosystem. It is mind blowing. And we have only seen a small portion of the US & Canada. Thank you, Lord for allowing us this journey that I have dreamed of for so long. We are staying here in Green River 3 nights and plan to go to Arches and Canyonlands. There is so much to see and do – you could stay here a year and not have time to see everything. Some pics from our drive today.

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Last picture is a view from our campground. The others were taken from lookouts on the side of the Interstate – you could park and get out and walk out on the rocks and ledges. Watched for rattlesnakes.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Saturday we left Olympic Valley late morning, driving on the interstate through Reno and Sparks. We then got on Nevada Hwy 50, known as the lonliest road in America. It is one long, straight, long, straight, flat road until you hit a mountain range, which you can’t go around, you must go through. I read that there were 8 mountain ranges across this road, so we climbed, climbed, climbed, then went down, down, down, then straight and flat until we reached Utah. Saturday was a very long day – we stayed in Eureka, NV in a nice little campground. There were apple trees everywhere and the wind had blown quite a number of apples on the ground. The park owner told us to take all we wanted. That night, deer came into the campground to eat the apples. Sunday, we left for Baker, NV with plans to stay two nights and go to the Great Basin National Park. Stopped in Ely, NV for a late lunch. Oh, wow – the best food we’ve had since we left GA! I had a pulled pork quesadilla and Tony had a pulled pork sandwich. Delicious. On to Baker. We arrived at the campground mid afternoon. Monday, we headed into the park, which was only about 13 miles away. I didn’t know much about what to expect, so I’ll give you a geography lesson. Most all of Nevada is known as “the great basin” and it is high elevation desert, with big basins that don’t have any way to drain what little water they get. There are 8 mountain ranges across the area. The Great Basin National Park is right on the border of Utah and is the only “cold” desert in the U.S. due to altitude and elevation. When we got in the park, we were at about 7,000 feet and we drove to above 10,000 feet. We went from sagebrush, through different ecosystems at different altitudes, all the way up to alpine meadows at the top. We are in the Snake Range and the basin is considered to be an island surrounded by mountains. There is also a cave system here in the park, but the tour was sold out for today. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we start across Utah. We aren’t going to do all of the national parks right now because we want to get on to Colorado. Depending upon our time, we may visit Arches and Canyonlands. The sign for Welcome to Utah is in the parking lot of the campground we are at. As soon as we cross into Utah, we are back on Mountain Time. So we lose an hour within 1 minute of pulling out. First set of pictures from the Great Basin NP.

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Above – the lonliest road. Below – cattle signs in Nevada – they look like the bulls used in bullfighting – no other state we’ve been in has this picture!

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A pumpkin patch outside Delta and a dry lake coming through Nevada.

Saturday we left Olympic Valley late morning, driving on the interstate through Reno and Sparks. We then got on Nevada Hwy 50, known as the lonliest road in America. It is one long, straight, long, straight, flat road until you hit a mountain range, which you can’t go around, you must go through. I read that there were 8 mountain ranges across this road, so we climbed, climbed, climbed, then went down, down, down, then straight and flat until we reached Utah. Saturday was a very long day – we stayed in Eureka, NV in a nice little campground. There were apple trees everywhere and the wind had blown quite a number of apples on the ground. The park owner told us to take all we wanted. That night, deer came into the campground to eat the apples. Sunday, we left for Baker, NV with plans to stay two nights and go to the Great Basin National Park. Stopped in Ely, NV for a late lunch. Oh, wow – the best food we’ve had since we left GA! I had a pulled pork quesadilla and Tony had a pulled pork sandwich. Delicious. On to Baker. We arrived at the campground mid afternoon. Monday, we headed into the park, which was only about 13 miles away. I didn’t know much about what to expect, so I’ll give you a geography lesson. Most all of Nevada is in what is known as “the great basin” and it is high elevation desert, with big basins that don’t have any way to drain what little water they get. There are 8 mountain ranges across the area. The Great Basin National Park is right on the border of Utah and is the only “cold” desert in the U.S. due to altitude and elevation. When we got in the park, we were at about 7,000 feet and we drove to above 10,000 feet. We went from sagebrush, through different ecosystems at different altitudes, all the way up to alpine meadows at the top. We are in the Snake Range and the basin is considered to be an island surrounded by mountains. There is also a cave system here in the park, but the tour was sold out for today. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we start across Utah. We aren’t going to do all of the national parks right now because we want to get on to Colorado. Depending upon our time, we may visit Arches and Canyonlands. The sign for Welcome to Utah is in the parking lot of the campground we are at. As soon as we cross into Utah, we are back on Mountain Time. So we lose an hour within 1 minute of pulling out. (Typing on Wednesday) Tuesday we made it to Delta, UT and stopped at a quilt store. After shopping, we had planned to drive on to Salina, but we decided to call the campgrounds before leaving Delta. Guess what? No sites available, so we stayed here in Delta. This morning I was still really tired, so we have stayed another night in Delta and have spent the day trying to find campgrounds around the national parks in Utah. Finally found a spot in Green River (near Arches), so we are headed there tomorrow for two nights and there is NO campsites available in or around Littleton/Denver for October and November. We finally found a private spot about 10 miles east of Parker, which is about 20 miles from Littleton. So, we have a temporary long term home, if all works out. I need a rest. All this traveling has worn me out! Plan to be in GA the middle of December to see doctors. Rest a while, then back on the road again.

Pictures won’t load – internet too slow. Will try tomorrow.

Friday, September 14, 2018

Packing and cleaning today. We leave our last housesit tomorrow, headed eventually to Colorado. Moving everything to the camper and will sleep out there tonight. Fall has come to Truckee – the temps are in the low 30’s at night, 60’s in the day, wind blowing leaves and pine needles everywhere. Yesterday we drove all the way around Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful – windy and lots of whitecaps on the water, not many people out on the water. We keep hopscotching between California and Nevada. Truckee is in California, Reno and Sparks are in Nevada. Everytime we go into Nevada, when we come back into California we have to stop at the agricultural inspection station. And these are called “flying saucer” clouds – it’s a phenomena that happens out here in these mountains often. And beautiful Lake Tahoe.

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