DAY 5 - Thursday, July 18th

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

A fun day touring Rocky Mountain National Park.  Many beautiful views.  We were amazed at the many bikers, and no I am not talking about Harley tough guys (or, as is more common, old guys).  These men and women were powering up the mountain ridges on their bicycles like they were easy rolling hills.  A few were riding along the edges with no guard rails.  The fierce wind was blowing me around like a rag doll.  They have my admiration, but I do believe they have to be more than a bit insane.  We've been eating most meals in the trailer, but decided to go out for pizza in Estes Park.  Found this dive called Bob & Tony's and experienced probably the best pizza we've ever eaten.  The place was loud with lots of young families playing the arcade and pool.  It was good to see families enjoying family time.

Lesson learned:  Parents/grandparents put those damn phones down.  I loved watching the parents laughing, teasing, playing with their kids.  Smiles all around.  Then there were the parents who had their nose in their phones, doling out money so the kids could run and play.  In reality the kids were arguing with each other and generally out of sorts.  Just put the phones down, please.

DAY 6 - Friday, July 19th

WHERE WE GO, NOBODY KNOWS...

On the road by 8:15, it seems we are getting better at this getting up and going thing.  The only problem is we aren't sure where we are going.  So the first stop is coffee and internet.  Coming down out of the mountains from our campsite was easier than we expected.  We finally settled on destination Laramie, WY.

Lesson learned:  Check your car license expiration date before leaving home.  Imagine our shock when we were enjoying an evening outside under the pines and Jim happened to glance at the car license and realized it expires the end of July.  THIS July.  Talk about a wrinkle in the ointment!

DAY 7 - Saturday, July 20th

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Stayed at a KOA last night.  Were very happy to find a place to stay.  Sing along with me.  On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again...  Went as far as Evanston, WY.  We pretty much breezed through Wyoming because we spent quite a bit of time there several years ago.

Lesson learned:  No matter how good camp ground wifi is, it will not work in a tin box.  McDonald's free wifi is my friend.

DAY 8 - Sunday, July 21st.

NOT NIAGRA, BUT IT IS A FALL

Left Evanston, heading for Utah.  We really enjoyed the Panoramic mountain views.  Made it as far as Twin Falls, Idaho.  Once we got settled, we checked out Shoshone Falls.  Years ago I said the first place I wanted to go once I retired was Niagara Falls.  I haven't made it there yet.  But the Shoshone Falls may have given me my Falls fix for now.  Talk about impressive, even though they were flowing at probably 1/2 power because the Snake River was at a lower level than at other times of the year.  Today was a day of extreme temperatures - up to 100 during the day and falling to the 60's at night.  Once again, great sleeping weather.

Lesson learned:  Not every Catholic community has the luxury of several weekend Masses to choose from.  Our plan was to go to church Saturday night or early Sunday morning.  Their only Mass this weekend was 2:00 pm.

DAY 9 - Monday, July 22nd

We spent the day messing around Twin Falls.  The big draw was the Perrine Bridge, best known as the location where Evil Knievel about died jumping the Snake River Canyon.  It was fascinating watching people base jumping off the bridge.  Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Lesson learned:  Thank God for our children.  Greg is watching the home place, especially watching the grass grow, so he can mow it if it gets too high.  I am hoping it has dried up.   Julie took Monday off to take care of our license issue.  She had to run to the house and find our personal property tax receipt, and license info, then to the insurance company to get a proof of insurance card, and then to the Department of Revenue where, of course, the lines were extremely long.  But she got it done.  Now to get an address where she can overnight them.

Free Base Jumper at Perrine Bridge (far right blue at the top of the bridge)

Shoshone Falls

Sunset at Shoshone Falls

DAY 10  and 11, Tuesday/Wednesday July 23rd & 24th

We settled on a two day stay at Baker City, Oregon, so the vehicle license could be overnighted to us there.  Mountain View RV Park (very nice and clean!).  The task of getting the license sent to us was handed off to Tessa.  She picked the package up from Julie's house and headed to the PO with the RV park address.  Easy, right?  Not so much.  It turned out that the RV park is so rural that the PO cannot overnight to them.  It's time to put our problem solving hats back on.  Between the Post Master, Tessa and the Atlas, we were able to find a PO somewhere between where we were and where we were headed to send the package, where they will hold it for us.  I'll let you know whether this worked or not.  We still don't have the car license, but I think we are closer!

Bakers City is on the Oregon Trail.  Very scenic, with a neat historic downtown.  We really enjoyed the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and the scenic drives.  Viewing the exhibits of the Oregon Trail hardships made me appreciate just how easy we have it today, and just how strong and stubborn and people of faith the pioneers were.

Lesson learned:  Best laid plans don't always work the way you expect, but where there is a will, there is a way.

So far, so good

DAY ONE - Sunday, July 14, 2019

Off to a rough start

We went to Church on Saturday night so that we could get on the road early Sunday morning, no later than 10:00.  My stomach had other plans and we left at 12:30 pm.  Fortunately, we didn’t run into any unforeseen problems with pulling the trailer.  Remember... this is our. Maiden voyage!  After being on the road for 6 hours, we began looking for a place to set up for the night.  I am using an. App call Allstays and it showed me a few places where we could spend the night - all of them which we had already passed.  So we pushed on.  Finally as we came close to Seneca, KS, a small RV park popped up on the App.  Really good ratings.  And as luck would have it, they had vacancies!  We pulled in at 7:00 pm and were shocked at what we saw.  This place was the absolute cleanest RV park we have ever stayed at, located on a small lake and Golf Course.  The owners were the sweetest couple.  The cost was only $35.  I wish we could have stayed there a few nights, but we had only covered 299 miles and needed to push on.

Lesson learned:  Don’ worry so much that you make yourself sick.

View from our camp site in Seneca, KS

DAY TWO - Monday, July 15th

We caught Hwy. 36 towards Colorado and stayed on it all the way through Kansas.  So many sights to see!  Corn, soybeans, hay bails, cattle lots, straw bails, silos, wind farms, abandoned farm houses, more silos, cattle lots, soybeans, corn, straw bails and... well you get the drift.  With Kansas being the Sunflower State, you would have thought we’d see at least one field of sunflowers, but that wasn’t meant to be.  Kansas, we won’t miss you.  Kansas always was the dreaded portion of the drive to Colorado and still is.  The only good thing I can say is Hwy. 36 is better than that 70 and the people were nice.

By 6:30 pm we were tired and couldn’t find any camp grounds, WalMarts, or Truck Stops within 70 miles.  As we were driving through Yuma, CO, I noticed a motel with an almost empty parking lot.  Nelson Inn.  We decided to turn around and see if they would let us park there overnight for a fee.  That is when we noticed that behind the motel were ten RV hookups.  I kid you n to.  They had RV hookups!  We “checked in”, again for $35.  The site came with their Quick Start breakfast.  We enjoyed the coffee.  It was a good thing we didn’t plan on doing anything but sleep because it was about the worst site we’ve ever camped in, but it did have electricity and we slept like babies.

Comments about the Cargo Trailer.  We really like it.  It pulls good.  We are slowly working through where everything fits best, the fact that the first thing that has to happen when we get up in the morning is to put the bed back into couch position, the bed sleeps pretty darn good, and the porta pot is working out great.  It isn’t a chore to empty at all (so Jim says... I will never be verifying that.  I promise).

Lesson learned:  Don’t despair and say a prayer.  It worked for me.

DAY THREE - Tuesday, July 16th

Time to head towards Rocky Mountain National Park.  I made reservations at Larimer County Hermit Park, about 10 miles from RMNP.  We were close, but needed a place to stay elsewhere for one additional night.  I found a place, Larimer County Flat Iron Reservoir, about 30 miles from where we had reservations.  It was a very pretty place on a reservoir (hence the name ha ha).  We were able to do a bit of sight seeing of the Upper Reservoir, Lake below, and the whole set up.  The reservoir was visible from our camp site and we walked to the rocky area quite a few times.  Across the water two Eagles sat watching us most of the afternoon and early evening.  They apparently had nothing better to do.

Lesson learned:  Time tends to stand still when you travel.  Check your dates often.  It turned out my reservations at Estes Park were for Day Three (Tuesday), Wednesday, and Thursday.  Not Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as I thought.  Oh well!

Sunset at the Reservoir

DAY FOUR - Wednesday, July 17th (Happy Birthday Julie!)

As I said above, time tends to stand still and dates become meaningless.  We missed wishing our youngest, Julie, Happy Birthday.  I do believe that is a first.  You were not forgotten dear child.  We have spent a lot of our road time talking about family and how lucky we are.

Our reservations were for a primitive site in the mountains, Larimer county Hermit Park, Bobcat Campground.  Even the toilets were primitive.  No running water.  But I have never experienced cleaner out houses.  They had no foul smell to them at all.  How is that possible?  It is a mystery.  We are here for two nights (it would have been three if I hadn’t messed up).  So we are making the best of the time we have.  The camp site is nice, nestled among Aspen and pine trees.  The flies are mean little devils.  They bite like I am the first piece of flesh they have seen in forever.  We used our Coleman Stove and Lantern that Gregg and Alicia gave us, for the first time.  We were able to spend a few hours driving through the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  The temperatures dropped to the 60’s at night.  Talk about awesome sleeping weather.

Lesson learned:  Take time to appreciate the sights, sounds, and all around beauty everywhere around you.  I’ll never forget the sounds of the Aspens as the wind whispered through them.  We were surrounded by wild flowers and beautiful sights every time we turned around

Are Ravens bad luck?

What could possibly go wrong? Right?

We begin our journey tomorrow morning.  Sunday.
What we thought would be a simple cargo trailer conversion has been anything but.  Getting to this point has been full of good news/bad news.
❌The manufacturer was 7 weeks late on the delivery and apparently interpreted our very specific design plans as suggestions.
❌We are embarking on this trip a month later than planned because of the delay
❌The 36 inch back door that we requested so we could easily get bikes or other toys in and out of the trailer turned into a 32 inch door
✅Because the smaller door was put in, we now had room for a nice cabinet that can be rolled out onto the deck for cooking, etc.
❌The 12 inch overhead cabinets we ordered were almost installed as 18 inch head knockers
✅ We caught the wrong cabinets before they were installed
❌The outside outlet was installed inside
✅ We got an extra outlet when they fixed their mistake
❌The salesman promised the generator could be installed outside on the tongue of the trailer; the installers said it was too heavy and they would have to build an insulated (sound proof) slide out box on the inside.  That wasn’t possible because of the size of the trailer.
✅ We went from a 14 ft. To a 16 ft. to accommodate the slide out box for very little additional cost.The additional room is very welcome!
❌The wrong generator was installed.
❌The right generator was installed in such a way that we were sure to die the first time we used it; plus it was extremely loud (they didn’t sound proof the box, as promised) and too heavy to move.
✅We replaced the loud generator with two smaller, very quiet, generators that are light weight enough that even I can move them away from the trailer (Anybody in the market for a powerful, but loud, 8000 BTU Generac generator?)
❌Overhead lights were supposed to be on two separate switches so we could choose which lights to have on.  That didn’t happen....
❌The salesman promised clear glass windows on the doors; the installers educated us that they aren’t available in clear glass.
✅We find we like the frosted glass after all.
The list of things that we had not thought of, or we thought they would have done differently, was extensive.  Fortunately our neighbor, Matthew, is an extremely talented man who understands everything mechanical and was willing to spend quite a few evenings helping Jim sort through the mess, and get things like the brake controller, wiring for the inverters, and on and on, done right.  We owe him big time.
The good news is we are loading up miscellaneous stuff and clothing today and heading out tomorrow morning, as planned!

In case you are wondering, hidden in the rolling cabinet and lockers is an oven, instant pot, and an induction cook top.  We also have a Coleman stove.  Our plan is to cook a lot of our meals.

View from front to rear door leading out onto the deck.  Plywood walls are ready to be painted.  The box on the right houses the generator.

Indoor/Outdoor carpeting on the rear deck.

Cabinet on the left houses the inverters and pull out slide with the bottle that captures the gray sink water in the back and trash can in the front.  The refrigerator is behind the door on the right.

View from front to rear.  Drop down table on the left, futon with inner-spring mattress on right, back left is a cabinet on rollers with a butcher top.  It can be rolled out onto the deck for outside cooking.  The curtains are black out curtains so we can get some shuteye during the Alaskan 24/7 daylight.  I’m not a big fan and will be making new ones when we return.  

Lockers on the left provide much needed storage.  The porta pot is in the bottom of the back one.  There is a shower curtain that pulls from the lockers to the v-nose area.  Sponge baths only in this trailer.  Park showers or YMCA will be used as available.  (Lord help me!) 

The metal strips along the wall are e-tracks that will be used to secure everything during travel.

I’m not going to complain that we are tired, but I did happen to slip on a pair of black and white checked capris with a black and white striped top to go to church tonight.  Fortunately, I looked in the mirror before I headed out the door.  Will post more as I can!

Thinking outside the box

Our family has always camped.  Every summer we’d load up our tents and camping gear in the station wagon, Land Cruiser, Van, or whatever jalopy we happened to be driving at the time and head to one of the State or Corps of Engineer camp grounds - usually Alley Springs in Eminence, MO. Once the kids got older and had families of their own, the camping bug kind of left us.  Other than a couple of family trips to Alley Springs, we were camped out.

Then in 2013 our son and his family invited us to go camping with them.  Sure!  But we needed to have something to camp in.  Tents were not going to cut it.  Our good friends, Patti and Bernie, had us looking in the direction of a cute little trailer like theirs.  The Casita.  We fell in love with the simplicity and just plain cuteness and had to have one.  We quickly discovered Casitas have an almost cult following and once they are on the market, they don’t last long.  It took awhile, but we finally found our Casita and enjoyed trips to many State Parks, NC, Indiana and other places I am sure I've forgotten to mention.

Fast forward to 2019.  I started planning a road trip to Alaska and Jim started trying to figure out how to make the Casita work better for us.  Things that we didn’t use, such as the shower, kitchen, and furnace, were taking up valuable space.  That is when we started looking at Cargo Trailer Conversions.  We (sadly) sold our Casita and got serious about getting a cargo trailer just right for us.  We put a lot of thought into how we wanted it set up and ordered one on March 5th.  Though we were promised an 8 week delivery date, 15 weeks later, June 14th, we picked it up and began putting our finishing touches on it.

The back of the cargo trailer with the ramp secured

The ramp lowered, exposing the trailer wall, screened back door.  The ramp itself will have indoor/outdoor carpet on it and will be used as a back patio.

The inside is a work in progress.  Photos to come soon.   We originally planned on leaving for Alaska in mid June, but the delays now have us currently heading out on Sunday, July 14th, if the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise.

Supermarket flowers

I received this text from my youngest with a link to this beautiful song.  Way to make a “mum” cry.  As I get older it feels like time has hopped onto a locomotive barreling down the track full throttle.

From Julie:  This song makes me think of grandma Haslag and Hood. It makes me think of you to but your not gone from this world thank the good lord lol”

Ed Sheeran Supermarket Flowers

I’m just a coyote....

This story may be a repeat, but we just watched a news story about a spunky 105 year old, and it reminded me of my 85 year old friend,  Dorothy.  This story is one that needs to be told over and over again.    

On most Tuesdays Dorothy and I quilt side by side, along with four other ladies.  There is no telling where the conversation will go during the two hours we are together.  Quilters lips are sealed about what is discussed while quilting... except the coyote story.

Years ago hubby Jim and I hosted an annual Christmas party with two other couples.  Folks were encouraged to dress up and enjoy the fancy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and conversation.  I took a picture of Jim and Dorothy at one of these parties.  Both were dressed to the nines and smiling big.  It was a frame worthy photo, so I gave Dorothy a copy.  We got to talking about how much fun those parties had been and Dorothy grinned and said she loved “that picture” and had it on her bookshelf.  I couldn’t resist teasing her that she was “hitting on my man”.  She batted her eyes and said, “you know, I’m just a coyote”.  Errrr I think you might mean cougar?

I have changed the name of my blog from My Loves, My Lives to Golden Wanderings.  Sheepishly, I admit this was done by accident.  But, as is often the case in the world of technology, once that OK button is hit, there is no going back.  At first I was bummed, but then kind of pleased with the change.

When I first started blogging many years ago, my focus was on the day to day family happenings.  We seem to have entered a somewhat different phase of life now.  Where we used to see our kids and grandkids weekly, and sometimes more often,  we now see them on the major holidays, the occasional birthday, and big events like Graduations, and soon to come, the first wedding of the new generation.  The distance of thirty to sixty miles seems more like 1,000 when it comes to the busy lives of our family.

We find ourselves more at loose ends.  I seem to wander from project to project, as does Jim.  We also find ourselves more involved in Church (because we now have the time) and taking long drives, just because we can.

We sold our loved Casita (Tubby) several months ago.  I still have a bit of regret over that decision, but within the next week or two we will take possession of our cargo trailer that was built to our specifications.  Our expectations are that it will function better with our camping style.  More on that as we figure things out.