by 539 – KOA. PT site. FHU. Cellular and SL good. It rained hard on the way here today – drove really slow at times on I70.
538 – KOA. Back-in site along the river – beautiful – need to come back and spend a lot more time here. SL and cellular good. FHU. Bath house good. Weather (rain and wind was common this week). Attended last free concert (Tom Petty tribute band from San Diego) in Silt. Next night attended a Tom Petty / Stevie Nicks free summer concert at the top of the mountain (amusement park via gondola). Visited Glenwood Springs for a couple of farmer’s markets and live music in town including really good local ice cream at Sundae. Shopping at REI in town a few times. Drove jeep to park n go lot near Basalt and rode ebikes into Aspen – had great gelato – and went shopping at Lululemons. Great high-end tacos at Slope and Hatch. Really good dinner at Riviera. Drove to Maroon Bells (pre 8am parking permit) and walked to the 2 lakes. Lunch at Tipsy Trout in old town Basalt. Drove to Carbondale for bike ride (but forgot bike keys) – lunch at Village Smithy and walk around town. Lots of patagonia and amazon packages sent to office – picked up items sent to REI store. Live music @ the Colorado Hotel. Great coffee and pastries at Annie’s Bakery. Good coffee at Wild Coffee in town. Visited Rifle Falls State Park, the local fish hatchery and a canyon at the Rifle city park where rock climbing was very popular. Drove to No Name rest stop east of Glenwood Springs, road our ebikes along I70 and the river up to hanging lake – Glenwood Canyon was gorgeous. Need to come back to the area and ride our ebikes along the various paths around Carbondale going in different directions. We will come back for 2-4 weeks in the future.
Rotated jeep tires at Discount Tires – 2 @ 6s and 2 @ 4s – has been about 12k miles since last rotation (~126k miles). Put 6s on rear and 4s on front.
537 – KOA. Back again. Weather a common theme again. PT site. Cellular not so good, SL was good, but TV was having some challenges with signal. Bath house was good. 50-amp and water – there was a dump station. A little bit of road noise at times (could not get the river site but the river did not have much water running). Good dinner near Aspen at Mawa’s Kitchen. Drove to Marble and had good BBQ at Slow Groovin, then went to Redstone where we had good coffee down by the river – nice little town.
536 – Riverdance. FHU. Celluar was okay, SL was good, but TV was having signal interferance. Good bath house. Discovered that there are many bike trails connecting the various towns along I70. Went to Sylvan State Park – John saw a male moose in the water at the far end of the lake. Went to Vail – parking was tough – shopped at a patagonia store – visited Ford botanical garden (saw marmott). Drove to Avon where we had good tacos. Disconnected Jeep for drive – parked at rest stop and ate lunch since the resort charged for early arrival – they had a lot of rules.
535 – Tigers Run. Beautiful resort. Back-in site. FHU. SL was okay, cellular was okay, tv had performance issues. A lot of bike trails in the canyon and valley – rode our bike from Tiger Run to lake east of Frisco as well from Frisco to Dillon (barely got back to RV before the it poured – there was a lot of T&L going on as well. Great coffee @ Dillon Coffee Lab and Expresso – also visited a farmer’s market with a great live music. Enjoyed walking around Breck and Frisco. Excellent dinner at Rootstalk in Breck. Good coffee at RM coffee roasters and Abbey’s coffee. Good pastries (not so good coffee) and breakfast at Butterhorn Bakery and Cafe. Met up with the Tiger Run Jeepers for two jeep trails that were a little aggressive for our JL Sport – had a great time – met David and Carrie and Rex and Belinda as well as many others – saw mountain goat herd at around 11-12k’ peaks. After our 2nd jeep trip, went to Leadville for good mexican food at The Leadville Grill and Cantina – afterwards, went to the Galena clothing store to purchase the long-sleeve outdoor shirt I saw in Salida – we also saw the beginning of a 100 mile bike event. Checked out upgrades to the Jeep at Specialized in Frisco as well as visited the Jeep dealership in Silverthorne. We will come back for 2-4 weeks in the future.
Took Felix for monthly shot at ???
534 – KOA. Weather a common theme. Back-in site. 30-amps and water only – there was a dump station. SL was good, cannot remember celluar. Good bath house. Tough drive from Jelm – the road was quite narrow and bad condition for many miles – should have taken the longer route and spent more time on US route 40. Saw a female moose on the upper trail past the falls. Good coffee and pastries at the lake. Attended a great play at the local rep theatre with professional actors. Lunch at the ??? in Grand Lake. Visited Rocky Mountain National Park a few times – went to the summit where we climbed to the top (saw pikas and marmott) – also visited the meadows for a couple of good walks along the river. Errands and coffee at Granby.
533 – Historic Woods Landing Resort. WE site only. No cellular, SL okay. Bath house good. Back-in site was a little steep at the beginning – had to watch the jacks in the rear. Somewhat shaded site. A relay race used the campground during their Fort Collins to Steamboat springs lay-over. Drove around the area including Jelm Mountain, various wildlife refuge areas, drove to Lake Owens, had prime rib dinner in Centennial at Old Corrall restaurant, then picked up Suz’s meds in Laramie. Next day drove to Lakes Marie and Mirror up on the Medicine Bow mountain range (beautiful lakes and views), had ice cream in Centennial then dinner at the cafe in our campground.
Stopped by Houska Heavy Duty for Vista oil change and onan oil change in Fort Collins.
532 – KOA. Back in site, FHUs. Cellular and SL good. Good bath house. RMNP still has timed entry permits – purchased Bear Lake road supplement. Very busy got there around 10:30am or so – had to take the shuttle – spent about an hour looking for parking space – finally parked along side of the road. Hiked up to Emerald Lake (about 14k steps) – saw two lakes we visited in 2020. Went into town – great late lunch at Sole in town – then drove around a couple of meadows looking for elk. Good coffee at Coffee on the Rocks outside of town. Purchased a 2nd pass for Bear Lake road – coffee and pastries at the Spice Rack outside of town, then went to Sprauge Lake – saw a female moose feeding at the lake – lunch at Morriane Meadow (saw a long tail weasel). Suzanne went to urgent care in town. Rain with threats of T&L every afternoon and early evening – have learned quickly to get out and about early in the morning.
531 – Clear Creek RV Park. FHUs. Site ‘H’. Good cellular. Good starlink. Good bath house. Found out that the city office allows mail and package delivery. Hot weather. Went for a early morning walk along the river behind the river – then drove to Lakewood for an errand – then went to woody’s pizza to watch a semi world cup match downtown Golden. Took a couple of early morning bike rides – they are working on over 65 miles of paved trails in different directions. Drove out to Morrison to pickup escapee mail, had good drinks and lunch at The Hungry Goat, visited Red Rocks during the day, then made a few pickup of items in different places. Went to Terrain Brewery for live music, drinks and food trucks. Walked around the town of Golden – good coffee and pastries at Vellichor Coffee Roasting. Watched last pro frizbee game between local team and the Oakand team. Watched world cup final at Tavern 242 near Morrison, then went to Red Rocks to watch Maren Morris with special replacement opening act Brandi Carlisle and Amanda Shires. Went out to Arvada for some shopping. Visited downtown Boulder – great views getting there – beautiful downtown area. Great late lunch at Cozobi (place Graham recommended) followed by shopping at various stores like Patagonia for our future trips. Travelled to Denver airport to complete the Global Entry process. Followed up with Coffee at Metropolis Coffee followed up by savory pastries at Izzio Bakery – went to local Patagonia store to finish sizing for our future international trips (great little downtown RiNo Art district neighborhood) – unfortunately we got a ticket for the 4th wednesday street cleaning but luckily no towing happened. Good dinner at Abejas in Golden – followed by walk around town. Went on the local Coors Brewery tour with samples. Second Red Rocks concert with Darius Rucker and Old Crow Medicine band.
Delayed departure from Royal Gorge until 1pm – expected to arrive at Premier RV in Falcon. Good lunch at Coyote Den Cafe on the way to Golden.
Early morning drive to Transwest in Fredrick for brake inspection (July 14th). Good coffee and pastries at MeCo Coffee Collective. Nice walk in a local park. The Vista brakes are sufficient for another 5k miles or so. Will schedule brake replacement later in the year. Went to O’Reilly to return wrong coolant for Vista – bought new yellow coolant for Vista and Purple coolant for the Jeep.
530 – Royal Gorge RV Park. Beautiful drive. FHU, PT site. Site 10. Starlink and cellular good. Good bath house. Nice views. The Canon City area took us by surprise – quite nice. Drove up to Royal Gorge for a nice hike along the rim towards the city park. Good coffee and burrito at Cafe Belay. Walked the historic town of Canon City, drove up to skyline drive above town (a little scary drive along the ridge) then listened to jazz and enjoyed a local bottle of wine at The winery at holy cross abbey. Went on a short hike to Tunnels trail outside of Canon City – saw the tour train entering the canyon. Went to Coyote Den Cafe in Primrose – enjoyed the breakfast sandwiches and listened to a local music couple – saw the fire to the south. Drove up Phantom Canyon then stopped by Royal Gorge for a six-pack of Ann n Mann’s ice cream. Decided to postpone visit to White Water Bar and Grill after we took the ice cream back to the RV.
529 – Monarch Spur Campground. FHUs, PT site. Needed 2 jack pads under each front tire. Family run campground. Good bath rooms. SL good – no cell service – using cronitor tool. There is smoke in the valley for first have of the week but got better. The first night, they had a trio of performers – great music. Next day we went to Salida for a great 4th of July parade (coffee at Topo Coffee and drinks at Bensons) – listened to two high school bands along the river. Ate a hamburger cookout dinner at the campground – they went back to Salida to hear a great band called Santa Rios. Visited Buena Vista for a nice town walk and short hike around the river front. Went to park arts show. Late breakfast at Cool River – after hike had great scone and coffee at Buena Vista Roasting company. Went back to Buena Vista for great coffee and pastries at Buena Vista Roasting Company – took a 18 mile bike ride along the river thru train tunnels – afterwards, visited the local Mountain Spirit Winery – rained for a while as we drove back to the campground. Visited Browns Canyon National Monument – parking and facilities managed by Colorado State Parks. Great hike along the river where we watched many rafts go down river – water levels were high enough in many places while other places made the guides work harder. Went into Salida to window shop – great dinner at Shavano – went to the park to enjoy their weekly music. Bought Colorado state park pass at the local office in Salida.
Driving from Alamosa to Salida, towing the jeep, was fine over the pass; however, the drive down the mountain pass, the engine was in 4th and rode hard even with the engine break. The F53 did not have time to recover the altitude and steepness before going up hill again from Salida to Monarch Spur (7300 vs 8600′) – could not get above 45 mph. Will take the Vista back to Salida without the jeep to see if the problem was temporary.
After the experience with the mountain pass, reviewed the plan for July and August. Decided to postpone Steamboat Springs visit – the pass from I 70 to steamboat springs then back to I 70 seems to be unwieldly and tough on gas engines – the last visit we came from I 80. Booked 4 nights at Riverdance near Vail and added 3 nights to Glendwood Springs KOA.
Will look at staying for a month or so at Monarch Spur in the future – found a really nice RV resort south of Salida (towards Canon City) called Salida RV resort, really nice but expensive place.
528 – KOA. Nice campground. FHUs – PT site. SL and cell were good. Good bath house. Could see fire from the campground. Visited the Great Sand Dunes NP – it was a good visit seeing the dunes and people sledding – had stopped by during COVID but it was closed. Long day trip to Creede and Lake City – two very nice mountain towns. Lunch at Vida – Eat to live. Went over a really high mountain pass – we had visited Lake City from previous visit many years ago during COVID. Saw a shiras moose along the side of the road – it was gone when we turned around to see it. Visited a couple of water falls around the open areas toward Lake City.
527 – KOA. FHUs. Stayed just the one night. Good bath house There was a great brewery with food within walking distance – Kaktus Brewing Co.
526 – KOA. Back again. Upgraded to FHU and PT site. Site is level in middle but not front or back – had to drive to dump station to disconnect. Back still hurting. Really long day (over 8 hours driving – Suzanne drove 2-3 hours. Cancelled 1 night KOA in Needles CA due to hot weather forecast – was 111-116 but only 102 when we drove by. Really windy drive – lost a lot of time and fuel. Got gas in Kingman – a little tight getting out but getting to pump was easy. Fire in Pocket Canyon NW of the road between Sedona and Flagstaff – level 2 – fairly smokey 1st and part of 2nd days. Went to get coffee at Cedar House and walked downtown – not too bad.
525 – Orange Grove RV Park. Back again. Hurt my back with all the moving of stuff between the Vista and Vista Drive. Long day. Got gas @ Sam’s club west Bakersfield – had to disconnect jeep since the exit was a zig zag. A lot of city driving with hard to understand truck routes. Need a new spot for the camera – slide knocked off the suction cup.
524 – Del Valle Regional Park. Site 2. Front driver tire took 4 blocks of wood and front passenger took 2 jack pads. FHUs. SL working well – no cellular. Bath rooms clean but spartan. Hot weekend. Had a challenge with flies inside the Vista. Mike and Marsha visited for the weekend in site 3 across the road. We visited the lake – busy weekend. Only a few visitors during the weekdays. Visited First Street Alehouse to watch game 5 NBA finals. Dropped off Suzanne’s ebike to Superfly repair shop in Pleasanton (install tcd replacement). Suzanne spent time planning for Yvonne’s 90th birthday. Researched new batteries for the Vista – went to O’reilly and bought a chassis and two coach batteries. Took Yvonne to Social Security in Concord, coffee at Gratitude and then Suzanne and I had a great lunch at Sidebar in Danville. Took Suzanne’s mother to dentist 2x, great coffee and pastries @ Tellus coffee. Lots of errands. Great doctor visit for checkup for the both of us – we really like Dr Velpuri. Took Graham, Cameron and Meghan to a great dinner at Pomet in Oakland – after visiting with them and Lulu and Gus at mother-in-law’s house – dogs in the pool. Smoked brisket and ribs at Yyonne’s house on saturday – was a little dry – the resting gives me problems with timing. Took Graham to Oakland for a walk along the Berkeley Marina and had a great lunch at LuLu’s – great bowls before dropping him off at Bart in Oakland. Good breakfast of pastries and quiche at Wingan’s in Livermore.
Given the lack of cellular connectivity at the campground – enabled wifi calling for cell phones and installed cronitor.io on my laptop and smartphone – sends a heartbeat from laptop’s powershell to the cloud every 5 minutes – seems to work. This gives us a backup for Marcel when we do not have verizon connectivity. Also, realized that I can monitor power at the campsite by checking Starlink’s status remotely thru my smartphone’s starlink app. Bought and installed Eufy solar camera – I was a little nervous about how isolated we were as well as not trusting the new cronitor tool.
Drove to Oakland Airport to complete our Clear+ application at their kiosa – went to good chinese food in Hayward afterwards.
Looked at Vista’s front brakes – confirmed they do need replacement in near future – appointment scheduled in Colorado Springs while we stay in Golden. Also- need to get maintenance on the onan 5500 genny.
Suzanne became part of a scam attempt associated with Wells Fargo and Zelle – we shut it down – escalated to Wells Fargo.
523 – Costanoa (formerly koa in pescadero). Back-in site. FHUs. SL good and cellular is fair. First weekend was crazy, crazy, crazy – so many families and kids with their bikes and resort buggies made the place look like grand central station. Went to Half Moon Bay twice for nice visits – lunch at la costanera and drinks/tapas at Jettywave Distillery – good music at both venues. Nice walk around HMB marina and downtown areas. Great musician at the Costanoa. Nice local hike above the resort. Took Felix to Ark Animal vet in Santa Cruz for his monthly injection and consult on his seizures – coffee and pastries at Verge. Good visit at Ano Nuevo State Park to see the elephant seals. Went to Quest in Scotts Valley in preparation of my doctor visits next week. Great quiche, pastries and coffee at Companion in the industrial section, bike ride along the coast near lighthouse, true farmer’s market downtown then great ice cream at Marianne’s in the industrial section. Watched kite surfers at Waddell creek. Drove to Pescadero to pickup pie and bread for this weekend with Mike and Marsha, beach visit to Davenport, then good dinner at Copla in Santa Cruz.
As we attempted to leave Carmel by the River this morning, we could not start the Vista. All three batteries were drained sufficiently. We reconnected the Vista to shore power – it was enough to get us to Costanoa. After much troubleshooting, we isolated the problem to coach 2 battery. Also, realized that the chassis battery is underpowered and sized and part of the problem (bought in emergency in key west April 2024). Will replace all 3 batteries in Livermore at Autozone.
522 – Carmel by the River. FHUs. Celluar and SL okay. Bath house okay. Smallish sites with high hedges separating sites. Campground located deep in the valley near lots of farms and houses – last 1/2 mile narrow country road. Lots of walks on the beaches in various places in Carmel and Pacific Grove. Visited Carmel Valley – visited Folk Tale and Twisted Root – great musci with former Doobie Brothers performer and a local guy. Took ebikes on the bike trail from north Monterey to north Carmel. Pastries at Ad Astra then lunch at Ocean Sushi and Deli – tried various Japanese food items in preparation for the Japan trip. Coffee at Stokers and the Bookstore – farmers market in Pacific Grove. Good lunch at Sandbar and Grill. Another great dinner at Dametra. Found an opportunity, without heavy marine layer, to visit Big Sur. We had a very very very nice prix fixe dinner at Aubergine (Michelin 2 star) restaurant in Carmel – good experience. Ordered new TCD for Suzanne’s ebike – Livermore – had connectivity issues on bike ride.
Installed bitwarden and ente auth on both laptops and galaxy smart phones to increase security as ease of using a vault for password management across multiple devices and accounts – took a few weeks to get it working properly.
