Monday, August 15
Early this morning the crew and I leave camp at Beaver Creek on a mission. We’re going to drive through two national forest campgrounds located nearby on Route 160 south of South Fork, Colorado, to see if we want to move to one of them.
I have my Verizon jetpack with me in order to check what kind of internet signal is available.
Our first stop is Highway Springs Campground.
Right away I know this isn’t for us. There are a few primo sites, one with a lovely view of South Fork of the Rio Grande. The best sites are occupied. The campground is nearly full and today it looks like “shantytown” to me.
Of course, at another time, this campground might have a different atmosphere and I’d be happy to camp here. Timing is everything. Camping fee is $7 a night with senior discount ($14 regular).
Right now, on this particular day, Highway Springs doesn’t impress me. I don’t bother to take photos or check if there’s internet signal.
Next stop is Park Creek Campground, a few miles further south.
“This is more like it!” I exclaim to the crew. “Pretty campsites right by the creek!”
I jump out of the PTV, grab the crew, and together we scope out this campsite.
“I like this! There’s even a little beach. It’s kind of dark now, but in an hour or so there will be plenty of sunshine .”
I turn on the jetpack and pick up a signal. Great! With the antenna it will be stronger.
Hmm . . . It‘s Monday morning, a popular day for RVers to move camp. I don’t want to bring the BLT over here and find that someone has grabbed this campsite.
At the pay station I write a check for $9, the fee with senior discount (regular fee is $18). I deposit the pay envelope in the iron ranger, drive back to the site, and put the pay stub on the campsite post.
I throw a tablecloth on the picnic table and set out my cheap camping chair before leaving.
There! We’ve staked our claim!
We return to Beaver Creek where I hitch up the Best Little Trailer.
We zip over to Park Creek Campground — It’s only a few miles — and I set up camp.
The next photo shows our home from across the campground lane. I think this is the first time I’ve positioned the Perfect Tow Vehicle like this, in relation to the Best Little Trailer.
I do this in order for the solar panel to catch the early rays of the sun as they reach through the evergreens and hit that spot. Having Starlight Solar in Yuma make an extension cord a few years ago to connect the PTV and BLT was a good decision. I use it a lot!
I put out the blue mats.
They look kind of funny, like a grand promenade from our front door!
There’s a reason for this mat madness.
The pines here — I don’t know, maybe they’re spruce or fir, whatever — have short needles about an inch long. I know from experience that these little needles easily find their way inside our home. Another reason for Big Outdoor Room is Bridget tends to pick up pine sap when she lies down in areas such as this and that stuff is the devil to remove.
Well, okay . . . That’s not the ENTIRE reason.
To be totally honest here — It was fun setting it up like this, kind of like playing house. I never had a Barbie dream house and one tends to compensate for deprivation experienced during childhood.
Here’s Her Royal Highness holding court . . . .
Okay, so I’m distracted while playing house with the mats.
Reggie is on 50 feet of tether which enables him to go out into the campground lane. (Don’t be alarmed. Speed limit is 5 mph and a vehicle hardly ever comes down to this end of the campground.)
Well, all of a sudden there’s a commotion on the other side of the BLT. I hear Reggie barking and a woman laughing.
I run around to see what is going on.
Here’s a woman standing in the lane with her feet together and with Reggie’s tether wound snugly around her ankles three times!
“I can’t move!” she exclaims, laughing. “He’s tied me up!”
Reggie is at the end of his tether next to her feet, excitedly hopping up and down, eager for attention from the new friend he’s captured.
Bridget comes out to join in the fun.
I share a good laugh with the woman as I pick up Reg and carry him around her three times, unwinding the tether.
I find out she and her husband are from Kerrville, Texas. They’ve been coming to this area for forty summers in order to escape the Texas heat. I ask about Kerrville and she explains it’s in the hill country in the general area of San Antonio. They have a manufactured home in a retirement park next to the Guadalupe River.
We enjoy a nice chat with the crew wandering around nearby.
“It’s like Paradise here,” I remark about the campground. “I love it.”
“It is like Paradise!” she agrees. “There’s road noise, but you get used to it because there’s so much that’s nice about this place.”
Tuesday, August 16
Here’s he comes, zoomin’ ’round the bend . . . .
We’re in a weather pattern — cold at dawn, followed by a sunny morning, then a rainy afternoon and a cool late afternoon. This pattern is broken by . . . .
Hail! Lots of hail! For a long time!
The longest hailstorm I’ve ever experienced!
From the open doorway of the BLT I zoom in on the creek and take the photo below.
When it’s over I notice the PTV and BLT are gleaming.
Clean after all these months of rolling around dirty! Even the bugs are gone from the hood! There’s something to be said for procrastinating . . . .
South Fork is only about five miles up Route 160.
We go into town for groceries. While at Rainbow Grocery I notice they have an RV supplies section. I buy a solar shower. You know, one of those bags you fill with water and let the sun warm up the water and it has a tube coming out with a nozzle on the end.
I’m in a habit of using basins for sponge baths.
This works okay. However, this method is hard on the back and neck when washing my hair because I have to stick my head in the basin. I’m hoping the solar shower will make wetting my hair and rinsing it easier.
I want replacement shelves for my refrigerator door but they don’t have any. I’ve managed to smash all three of them while hauling the BLT over rough roads.
Wednesday, August 17
I’m not sure what we did on what day. Maybe it hailed on Wednesday, not Tuesday, and what happened on Thursday shows here on Wednesday. I guess I should take notes, but that sounds too much like school.
For a little change, after the daily rain, the crew and I go to Coller State Wildlife Area for a late afternoon walk.
Here’s the Rio Grande as seen from the bridge. The river is well-named, dontcha’ think?
Bridget and Reggie have a great time poking their noses here and there, walking in the mud.
A man goes by with a fishing rod and tackle box. Otherwise, no one is around. There’s so much water in Colorado, I imagine it’s rare to be crowded while fishing in your favorite spot.
rvsue
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