Texas Bound 2009

I have to say leaving Bozeman behind was not easy.  I made some life long friends there and it is never easy saying good bye.  I pulled out the 27th of September for a quick trip to Texas then on to California! I had been listening to the weather and was running about 3 days ahead of the first snow storm of the season in Bozeman.  It was time to head for a warmer climate.  I took Interstate 90 heading to Buffalo, Wyoming.  It would be about 300 miles and all of it easy driving.  I was thrilled to reach the Wyoming State line as I knew that meant I was only about an hour away from my stop for the evening.

I loved my first day on the road as it was pretty uneventful!  Just the way I like my days on the road to be.  I arrived at the Indian Campground in Buffalo early in the afternoon.  Unfortunately they were doing road construction right in front of the campground and I missed the turn in on my first attempt!  I went on down the street about a block and found an easy in and out gas station so I filled up the motor home.  After I got the motor home all full of gas I called the campground and the man in the office told me how to get in. I was assigned site B3 which was easy to pull into!  Always a good thing! This is not a huge RV park but I found it very comfortable.  Ellie and I enjoyed a nice walk after we got settled in.  

The next day I got a fairly early start.  It would prove to be an interesting day!

I planned to spend the night at The Fort Collins North/Wellington KOA in Colorado, a trip of about 320 miles.  I was to spend the day on I-25.  When I got past Douglas I decided to stop at a rest area for a break.  Ellie and I took a little walk to stretch our legs.  Well....all had been going really well until I stopped.  When I cranked up the motorhome and pulled out of the rest area the ABS brake light came on.  I had received a recall notice about this from workhorse and so I was a little concerned...okay a lot concerned.  The motorhome was running okay and I could not tell there was any problem other than the light being on.  I did not want to stop on the side of the highway so I decided to go on to the next rest area which was only about 30 miles away. I pulled in and stopped.  Grabbed the recall information and called the phone number.  While I was on hold waiting to actually talk to a real person I walked around the rig and checked for any signs of a problem.  It sure was windy!  I finally got someone on the phone who said they thought I just had a faulty light as I was not having any other symptoms.  At that time they still had not come up with a fix for the recall problem.  I was given the telephone number for the workhorse repair shop in Cheyenne and told if I had any other problems to call them and they would work me in.  Well, I headed back out on the road and low and behold the light went out!   I cruised right through Cheyenne without having to call Workhorse!  I made it to my campground for the night by the middle of the afternoon.  I was assigned site E-1 however when I got there the electric did not work so I ended up pulling forward to F-1.  I was glad the lady in the office allowed the easy move because if I had to go into another site it would have involved a u-turn. After I got set up I unhooked the car and went into Wellington to see if I could find a good service station.  I was happy to find one as I knew I would be going through some pretty remote areas the next day and wanted to fill up the motorhome before getting off the interstate.

The next day I happily filled up the motorhome in Wellington and then headed toward Denver.  I took highway 52 east to Prospect Valley then hit highway 79 south.  I picked up Interstate 70 east of Denver and they Highway 287 south east out of Limon.  I ran into road construction that had me stopped for about 30 minutes.  While waiting I discovered that I had heat coming out of the floor vents.  Somehow and I still don't know how, the switch for the heater had gotten flipped!  Wow, it was really throwing out some heat that Ellie and I did not need!  I made it to Lamar without any other problems. I spent the night at a Passport America park.  It is called Country Acres Motel & RV park.  I was given site 11 which was a little narrow so I did not put the bedroom slide out that night!  While it is not a fancy place it is a good stop for the night.  

The next day I spent on Highway 287, I traveled about 350 miles. It sure was good to see the sign for Texas! I had a pretty uneventful day on the road!  I discovered a neat place to spend the night in a small town in north Texas. Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV park in Goodlett is a really neat place!  It is easy to get into and while not far from the highway is pretty quiet. I was assigned site #22 an easy pull through.  If and when I pass that way again I will plan on staying there.  

The next day I was excited as I would get to see family!  I called Lisa and we made plans to meet when I got near Ft. Worth.  I stopped at a little Service station while looking for a place to get gas.  I could not get gas there because the canopy was too low however I was able to get the RV and my car inspected.  It is one of those things that I always have to get done when I get back home to Texas.  I did not find a gas station I could get into until I reached Decatur.  That storm I was running ahead of since leaving Bozeman finally caught up with me and it was raining. After getting gas and getting back on the road my check engine light came on!  Uh Oh!  Not good! Hmmm....I decided since the motorhome was running I would keep going!  I was only about 30 miles from meeting Lisa.  We met in a shopping center parking lot. It was a great place to park the RV while we had lunch together and enjoyed visiting.  After I got back to the motorhome I pulled out the owners manual and researched the engine light!  Well it said it could be caused by driving in wet conditions and also by not clicking the gas cap two times after a fill up!  YES!  I had just filled up with gas and was running in rain!  I got out and took the gas cap off and then put it back on making sure I clicked it two times!  The light went off!  I drove straight through Ft. Worth and made it to Mexia without any other problems!  Whew another successful trip!  I sure was glad to see my brother Johnny and my sister-in-law Carol.  I miss my family when I am away for months on end and am always thrilled to see them. 

Bozeman Montana 2009

I have to say my summer in Bozeman Montana was really special.  I love the managers at the Bozeman KOA and will always treasure my time there.  I learned to really love the town of Bozeman also.  One of the reasons I had chosen to work in Bozeman is the proximity to Yellowstone National Park.  While it is about 90 miles to the the west entrance to the park it is a beautiful drive.
One of my first visits to the park was with my friends Bob and Vicki. They were passing through the area on their way to visit Alaska!  

Bob and Vicki and I seem to run into each other often in our travels.  It is always great to visit with them!  Vicki had fixed us a yummy lunch and after we ate we decided to go into Yellowstone.  It was a fantastic day for me.  I was excited for them and the great adventure they were heading out on to Alaska.  
One of my jobs at the Bozeman KOA other than the usual of working the front desk was doing Tye Dye on Saturday mornings.  I loved working with the kids however it sure was hot some days out in the sun!  One of my first projects was to make Tye Dye shirts for all of the workampers.  I grabbed a bunch of old shirts and turned them into works of art!

We had a fun crew and most everyone was willing to wear their shirts on the weekend to promote our Tye Dye craft time.  It was the first time I had ever done any Tye Dye and I must admit it was fun to see how each shirt turned out!
I discovered another natural treasure in the area.  Hyalite canyon is a few miles south of Bozeman.  While it is not a really huge place it is a really pretty little canyon.  There are several hiking trails you can take up to really pretty waterfalls.  My new workamper buddies Nancy and John and I took a hike up to Grotto falls one beautiful summer day.

I was also able to see my friend Shirley from my winter job in Arizona as she lives in Bozeman.  We decided to take a day trip together and went to the ghost towns of Virginia and Nevada City.  When we went it was the off season so there were not many people around.  We had a great lunch at a little hole in the wall place in Nevada City and also discovered a two story outhouse...hmmm.  Not too sure that was a bright idea!

After visiting the ghost towns we went up to Lewis and Clark Caverns.  While I was not sure about visiting yet another cave in my lifetime Shirley assured me that this one was different.  We had to climb about a 3/4 mile pretty steep trail to get up to the Cavern.  There was one guy in our group that I was not sure would make it but he did!  I was glad it was a fairly cool day!  I must admit the climb was worth the trip as this is a unique cavern.  The story of how it was discovered is also interesting.  While it is named after Lewis and Clark there is no evidence they ever were in it!  There are lots of stairs inside and several places where you have to get down to go under low ceilings so I do not advise this trip for everyone.  However if you are in fairly good shape and like caves this one is special.  It was also great fun to spend the day sight seeing with Shirley.
I really enjoyed my summer in Bozeman.  It is a great place to live and work in the summer....not sure I would survive a winter there!  I managed to get out of town 3 days before the first snowfall!

Road to Bozeman 2009

I have to say the trip to Bozeman Montana from Florence Arizona remains to this day one of my favorite!  It was packed with fun days of sightseeing and a great traveling buddy.  I picked up my friend Bo on April 26th from her home near Phoenix. We had not travelled together so were not sure how things would go.  We soon found out that we make great traveling buddies!  I arrived at her home around 9 a.m. and we shoved her suitcase under the dinette table that I had made down into a bed for her.  Stuffed the refrigerator with more food that she thought we might need and hit the road.  Because I am a big chicken when it comes to driving in big cities we took loop 101 North to Interstate 17 around and out of Phoenix!  I must say it was an easy drive on the weekend.  It is always fun heading out to new places but this time was even better because I had a friend with me.  Our destination for the night was The Flagstaff KOA.  This was only my second trip in the motorhome so I was still getting use to driving it.  To give Bo credit I did not seem to make her too nervous.  She is a brave woman!  We were to have a fairly short day as it was only about 140 miles from her house to Flagstaff.  I had a driven about 35 miles to her house.  It was a pretty drive up out of Poenix to Flagstaff.  Very different from other parts of Arizona.  We arrived at the Flagstaff KOA with no troubles.  To my dismay this KOA is very tight!  It had a short entrance and then very narrow roads and sites.  The staff was friendly and I made it to our site and we got set up with no trouble.  Since we had time we decided to drive down to Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon to do a little sightseeing.  I had never been to Sedona before so Bo was the tour guide!  The canyon was very pretty.  We enjoyed a meal while in Sedona then drove around looking at the sights.  When we got back to Flagstaff we went to the grocery store for a few more groceries.  We didn't know when we would have time again!  The next morning Bo had to stand out in the street and guide me out of the tight site we were in.  Not sure I would have gotten out without her help.  There was a tree on one side and a boulder on the other. 
We topped off the gas at a station across the street from the RV park then headed north on US 89.  We were headed to Lake Powell to spend the night. The drive was fairly easy for most of the trip.  We did climb one steep hill with 6% grades.  I was really proud of the way the motorhome climbed without any really slowing.  We parked at the top and perused the wares the Indian vendors had out. Ellie (my dog) enjoyed the little walk as did Bo and I.  The view from the top was also spectacular.  We could see for miles and miles!  Then on to Lake Powell.  We got there fairly early in the day and I must say the place is beautiful.  We had a great view of the lake from the campsite! The site was also really easy to get in and out of another bonus!  On this trip Bo had a little stuffed Gorilla that was named Buddy...he belonged to a first grade class in New York State and was traveling as part of learning geography.
So we took pictures of Buddy and Bo would email them to the class each night!  What a fun way to learn about our country! 

Buddy at Lake Powell



It was great that we got there early enough in the day to do some sightseeing.  Bo had told me that Lake Powell was beautiful and she was right.  I wish we had more time to spend there but it was on to see more beauty.

The next day we went all the way to Glendale Utah....I believe it was about 100 miles!  We spent the night at Bauer's Ranch RV Park, a tiny RV park.  The folks there were great!  We had a comfortable stay there.  After we got set up we headed off to see Zion National Park.  As we entered we stopped to take a picture of the entrance sign.  Some people there offered to take our picture!

Now we could prove we were travelling together!  Zion National Park is a very unusual place.  Bo and I really enjoyed touring it!  One of the unique features of the park is the tunnel that runs about 6 miles through a mountain.  I was glad we were not in the motorhome!  If you take an RV through you have to have an escort and travel down the center of the tunnel as it is too short otherwise!  That would not be a fun trip!  After we made it through the tunnel the road was real twisty...also would not be good for and RV.  We went to the visitor center and took a tour of the park on the west side.  We were able to get off the bus and walk up a trail to the weeping rocks.  They were really neat and worth the hike.

It was really neat seeing water coming out of the rocks!  Never saw anything like that before!  I guess that was my favorite part of Zion.  It was fun standing under the overhanging rock and feeling like it was raining on you!

The next day we drove a long long long way....44 miles!  All the way to Panguitch Utah.  We checked in at the Hitch-N-Post Campground.  We both felt a little uncomfortable in this park but it was ok for an over night stay.

After setting up and walking Ellie we took off in the car to see Bryce Canyon National Park.  I have to say I did not know what to expect but it was awesome.  I want to return there again and walk down in to the canyon. It is a very unique place!

The pictures of this place just do not do it justice. In my humble opinion everyone should see Bryce Canyon.  Bo and I enjoyed every minute of viewing this wonderful place.  When we got to the far end there was still snow.  It was a very pleasant day. 
The next day it was on to Salt Lake City to the KOA.  This KOA is located near downtown only 5 blocks from Temple Square.  Bo wanted to go hear the Morman Tabernacle Choir practice.....I thought that would be neat too.  We had planned the trip so we got there on the night of choir practice.  What we did not know was that they were putting on a mini concert that night also!  So we got more than we had hoped for!  Wow are they good!  I deserved a good night after having to drive through Salt Lake City!  The traffic was intense!  We made it safely and the RV park there is great so all was good!  That was our longest day on the road so far...we travelled about 240 miles! 
The next day we went on to Pocatello Idaho.  A drive of about 160 miles.  We were not real impressed with the campground but we were able to do our laundry and then go to Wal Mart for a few things we needed. 
They were working on I-15 at Pocatello so getting the RV back on the interstate was a little challenging but we made it!  We were headed to West Yellowstone to the Grizzly RV Park.  It was a trip of only about 160 miles but oh what a difference those miles made!  The temperature dropped dramatically.  When we got to West Yellowstone we discovered there was still a lot of snow on the ground!

Picnic anyone?  Well maybe not there at that time!  Wow it was pretty but glad we had not arrived earlier in the year!  We were glad to get there but the real reason for that stop was so I could show Bo Yellowstone!  One of my favorite places on the earth!  She had not seen it so it was a real joy taking her to the park.  The first thing we did in Yellowstone was go see some of the hot springs. 

We ran across this sign while walking around one of the pools and sure hoped the Bears could read!  Trust me we did not go beyond the sign and were thankful that we saw no bears in the area!
After that our next stop was Old Faithful. A must see for anyone visiting the park!

I have seen Old Faithful soooo many times that I am not as thrilled as I was the first time but it is still pretty neat!

The next day we went back to the park and visited the Canyon and Lake areas.  There were still parts of the park where we could not go because the roads were not open yet.  It was a fun trip because so much snow was still on the ground!  Yellowstone is Awesome any time of the year but my favorite time is Spring!

Everywhere you look is another awe inspiring view.  Of course it is always a bonus to see wildlife.  We managed to see 2 bears on one day!

Wow how cool is that!  Of course we also saw our share of Bison!

The next day we made it into Bozeman.  It was awesome taking that drive as it had snowed during the night and there was about 8 inches added to the landscape.  Thankfully the roads were clear!

I was delighted to make it to my summer home!

I went on to have a delightful season in Bozeman and was really thrilled to find the managers to be great to work for!  It was kind of sad to send Bo off to fly home the day after we arrived but we went on to travel together again!