The Route to Denver … and TWINS

July 28th was a travel day as the family wished each other well and safe travels, after our time in Shasta.  All are now safely home, except us.  We have another 6 weeks, or so.

Our next stop is Denver either via I 80 or via US 50.  It was an easy decision to take US 50 … “the Loneliest Road in America” ... again!

We stopped in Alturas for diesel and a good thing as the next diesel was in Fernley 220 miles distant.

We came this route to see the Fly Geyser.

Fly Geyser

The Geyser has always been on private property, which is now in the hands of Friends of Black Rock (aka Burning Man).  One of the Tenants of Burning Man is Immediacy, which was fairly strictly enforced on Fly Ranch, where my camera was returned to the RV.

Silly as one of the artwork pieces was a 40’ Narwhal Whale easily seen from the road ... but no pictures allowed ... They have satellite Internet, but a point and click camera is forbidden ...

I asked if the photos on the web had been enhanced with Photoshop.  Our docent was quite firm that she has not seen any that have been.  The geyser changes colors with the seasons.  It's green and more robust in the spring, more rust in the summer with a lesser flow, more white with steam that cam be seen for miles in the winter.

web photos

No matter the season the water temperature is 175F.  There is no sulfur content, hence no unpleasant smell.

Gerlach was in full crunch mode with 80,000 guests coming for Burning Man, just a few weeks away.

Elon Musk is a big fan of Burning Man and  is hosting it again this year.  He has donated StarLink devices for use at the event and at Fly Ranch.  He has also provided equipment, including a tractor, to help it become self sustaining.  There is a lot of info on the web if you want to do your own Google search.  

There’s a lot of info available on Nevada US 50.  We did it last year in 4 days.  That blog is HERE. 

We zipped all the way to Cold Springs Station RV Park <website is not secure>.  Sorry the pictures did not turn out.  The camera settings were totally messed up … one too many drops.   There are a dozen FHU sites for rigs of any size, a restaurant with a full service bar and good WiFi.  The WiFi is not secured, but I use Norton’s Secure VPN.

We stopped at the Hickison Petroglyph Site a great spot for a leg stretch.

There is a campground with a host there. But alas no trail brochure for the interpretive trail.

The trail passes unusual rock formations with some very faint glyphs

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Then climbs to a viewpoint

The trail forms a loop as it returns to the parking lot where there is a special set of glyphs on a large rock.

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Our next stop was Green River UT for fuel and melons.  We’ve had great luck with the Vetere Melons and have not used another vendor.

They are honest and expect the customer to be so too

in addition to the Honeydew and Cantaloupe, we always get their watermelon.  We added a ‘black watermelon’ as the the staff said it was best suited to survive the trip to Ohio.

We stopped in Grand Junction for the night at a newer RV park.  Canyon View RV Resort

The gravel sites are large, each with a concrete patio and picnic table.  Some even with a private dog enclosure.

our site backed up to I-70, but with the wall freeway noise was not a problem.

Free Pickleball lessons are offered twice a week.  Fran was the first to signup!

After some basics and drills it was time to play.

One thing we learned was how to know which side serves first.  The game was first played on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, hence the side closest to Seattle serves first.

This is a 5 star place, for instance the showers are your own private bath room.

Oh yeah, it is totally Fran approved!

If we had not stopped for the Fly Geyser we could have been in Palisade for the Sunday morning farmers market.  

But it was a good one-n-done stop.  Not to worry the Palisade west slope peaches are readily available.

As was the Olathe Sweet Corn.

Our last stop was again at FS Heaton Bay Campground.  I lucked into a nice site in an Aspen Cathedral.

No hookups, but a strong cell signal.  A local humming bird checked on us.  Totally Jeff approved.

We pass the Littleton Golf/Tennis Club on the way to Chatfield State Park.

A nice stop for Fran to hit a bucket of balls.

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We’ll be at Chatfield State Park for a few days, as we need to do some laundry and meet those twins!  If Chatfield is in your overnight plans, be prepared that very few sites offer shade.

TWINS

We've met Lucca a few times before.  We brought her a couple books and a dozen socks.  She so loved the socks!

Is that 'Double the trouble', or 'Twice thee fun'?

Fran is getting an idea of a what it might be like for a busy mom.

Identical twins Robin and Rowan

Rowan konks out while I feed Robin

What a great pleasure to hold and feed them.  They did not fuss in the least.  After feeding Robin fell asleep, with a soft snore like a kitten purring.

We are now making good time to Ohio.  With an engine check light indicating EGR error.  UGH!

Road Trip 2021 - Moab to Denver

With US 50 closed in Utah due to flooding, we had to backtrack to I-15 south to I-70 east.  Our ultimate destination was Devil’s Garden in Arches National Park, where we had reservations for two nights. 

But, we like to detour through Green River for watermelon. They grow some of the best.  With the melons safely stowed in the shower we were again looking forward to Arches.

I’d like to share the pictures from our stay, but alas my fat fingers hit something they should not have and those two days are now just fond memories.

We did do all the ‘roadside’ sights and short hikes between being hammered by yet another thunderstorm of Biblical proportions.

Down in Moab we picked up some grocery items at City Market, did laundry and washed the RV.  The photos begin at the RV wash, everything prior are just memories.

With everything cleaned and tucked away, an overnight in Palisade awaited.

Palisade has the absolute best peaches.  Valley Fruit is on the way into town, convenient and a good selection.

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We were the only shoppers there, when a load of fresh fruit arrived from the orchard.  Easy choice!

With peaches and other fruit we stopped for lunch at Riverbend Park, which has a FREE Disc Golf course.  

I had made reservations months earlier at Palisade Base Camp, just a few days before the T@B Teardrop folks booked the entire park for their Tab Rally.

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We definitely felt like an SOB (Some Other Brand) there.

The view out of our dinette window.

The reason to spend Saturday night, or arrive early on Sunday, to Palisade is their top of the line Farmer’s Market.

Yes we bought more peaches, didn’t I say they are the best?  And we also picked up Olathe Sweet Corn.

It was here we learned of that I-70 was completely closed … indefinitely!  Another Biblical thunderstorm sent 240 tons of water, rocks and debris onto the freeway.

The official detour is north and around via Steamboat Springs.  Visit www.cotrip.org for current conditions and detours.

There is major road work on Monarch Pass weekdays, but it is open on weekends.  We decided to give that a try ... and drove right thru Olathe!, but already had our corn.

Little did we know following the Gunnison River was a white knuckle experience not for the passenger but especially the driver!  But WOW what views.  Sorry no pictures, it takes both hands to hang on.

Reaching Leadville we could finally say “Whew! What a ride!”

We spent a very peaceful night with temps in the 60s in Heaton Bay Campground.  A perfect stop after a long and a bit of a scary driving day.

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The Olathe corn and (San Felipe) shrimp salad tostada were all we wanted for dinner.  Yummy!

We had reservations at Chatfield State Park near Denver.

A gettogether with niece Laura, husband Andrew was arranged so we could meet their daughter Lucca.

Ain't she a cutie?

We are now heading to Dayton OH, at our best possible speed.  Not as much fun, but work needs to be done on the house there and we need to be there.