Rocky Mountain Pass

OK, it was a little chilly last night but good sleepin'. I slept in until 7:00 & put the coffee on & decided not to ride until we get to Canon City, but we do go to breakie at the All Seasons Restaurant & gift shop. A good meal & the pancakes were FAB! Back to the camper to tear down & head for Colorado. We're all packed up by 10:00 & out of the KOA by 10:15 headed for I-25 north-bound over Raton Pass at 7830'. (Our KOA in Raton was around 6300'.) On toward Puebelo, with a short stop at a Colorado rest area, and pick up Rt 50 westbound for Canon City. Traffic is pretty heavy around Pueblo, but thins out as we go west & pretty soon, we're in Canon City and guess what? A DQ! And also there's a craft fair going on in the park! back on the road and to our Royal Gorge KOA by 2:15 & set up by 3:00 & back to town for the fair. I take my bike and ride a few miles while KK hits the crafts, with pretty threatening weather around. meanwhile the Royal Gorge Train blasts it's horn & heads out for a trip to view the Gorge. I get in 10 miles & no rain and find KK downtown looking for the scrapin' store...alas,it is no more. KK is getting all kinds of texts from the girls on their where -abouts..the excitement begins! Deb & Bruce are at the camp site already, so we head up to shower & meet the others. By the time we get up there the Haws are pulling in, so I go to shower and we're all here. Supper anyone? Off we go for town & K-Bob's & their super salad wagon! It's a pretty good meal & good service. The Haws stayed with the salad bar only; I had the chicken fry; Bruce had a steak; Deb the salad, as well as KK. Now over to Wally for a few things and back to camp by 8:30 to blog, visit & discuss tomorrow's adventures. We can't check into the cabin until 4:00 (WHAT!) so we'll piddle around here , head to Salida to shop at Wally & food for the week & then to Almont. It's now 10:10 & starting to sprinkle so it should be good sleeping. I'll do the coffee & we'll have a light breakfast.

To the Rockies

I'm up at 6:30 & hear the ultra lite taking off, but he flies off to the SE again. No coffee today as we are going to have breakfast in Artesia. Start getting things ready, as KK gets up & we have it all down & ready by 8:00..our best ever! A turn onto 285 north & up to the Chaos Restaurant for some good breakfast..I got the Mexican mix, with chorizo & KK got an omelet, with cheese & onions. Now on the road toward northern NM & I drive first, with KK taking over as we approach I-40 and stop for gas. It's sill pretty hot out but we're gradually gaining altitude and there's lots of storms around, with spectacular lightning shows all around us. We do drive into some pretty heavy downpours, but as we roll into Raton, it stops for a while, so we hurriedly check in at the KOA & setup before any more rain. It's now 68 degrees out & we may need our heater! No problems & we're all set up, so off to eat our second meal of the day. To K-Bob's, with our 10% off coupon from the KOA, even tho we'll be eating at a K-Bob's in Canon City tomorrow. It's ok and the salad bar is fine..I get the ribs (BB) & KK a nice steak. back to camp & I suit up for a quick ride that the owner told me about: out to rt 555 & into the canyon & it is nice, but no varmints. KK goes shopping & looking around & I get back with 17 miles & we decide to go back to the canyon to look for critters. It's getting dark & we're told that the animals come down out of the mountains about that time & sure enough, there's 3 deer, and a small herd of 6, a few others as we drive about 7 miles..pretty cool. And don't forget the black cow (invisible?) feeding on the side of the road. Back to town & a short drive to the DQ for a nightcap...dip cones! This town has lots of "googie" signs & I take pics of most of them..mostly motels. Now we're in the camper, blogging, journaling, uploading pics & charging batteries. To the showers & get another cover! It's going down to 50 tonight! If it's not too cold, I'll ride before we leave for Canon City, as it's not too far from here.

A "La Fonda" Day

Holy cow! I wake up at 5:50, but back to sleep until 6:15..what is wrong with me? The sun is just coming up over the desert landscape & it's another clear & sunny day. A little coffee, cookies & off for a spin on 285. I head north for about 8 miles before coming back to Lake Brantley & to camp by 8:45 with 22 miles & I find KK out riding! grab some cereal, check e-mails & off we go for Artesia to see what we can find. It's about 20 miles up 285 & we're at Main Street & some very large sculptures of cowboys, oilfield workers, cattle & teachers. There's also a very large refinery just east of town & lots of oil referencess about the city..home of the champion Bulldogs! What a high school stadium! (The Bulldog Bowl) We shop a little and go thru an antique store & then decide on lunch right across the street at "The LaFonda Restaurant"..not again! It's a Mexican/American buffet & quite yummy-enchiladas, tacos, chili relenos,chicken blancos & we stuff ourselves for a total of 17.50 (senior discount!). Excellent choice! Back out on main to look at the sculptures, shop a little & to BIG K too, but it is very warm..104..so we head back to the KOA to swim, read & watch some SLC's move in. The Ft Worth girl scouts are back from their caving adventure & it was pretty nasty crawling thru water and taking in their own lights. One of them is bitchin' about the whole deal. Ok, enough,,,I go for some water & meet a guy who was born in Holdenville..small world. The approaching thunderstorms run us out of the pool & we go to the popup & I even take a nap..this early morning stuff is gettin' to me.It does rain a little & helps to cool the place & after it stops, KK cuts my hair..THANKS! Lots of new RV's coming in & a few tenters..oh no, "tent people". And while we were in Artesia, I confirmed our three weeks in Hawaii next Jan/Feb, so we'll meet our friends from Victorville, CA on Molokai. Ok, a very nice sunset this eve, with some lightning around, especially to the SW as we sit out at our table & have supper...bologna, cheese, bread & wine. I take off our reflectors to get ready for our early departure for Raton tomorrow..it's 380 miles up there, so we want to get out asap. Just a little before dusk I hear a loud noise & it's an ultralite, taking off from the KOA..COOL! He buzzes around the park & off to the SE. As we eat, we have a "family" of four rabbits just sittin' by our camper & now with teh dakness coming, a couple of bats (Mexican Free-tailed?) are feeding on insects around our street light, flying counter-clockwise of course.Check e-mails, the net & it's 9:20-when is bedtime?More lightning & thunder & about 10:30 it starts to rain-YEA!. Turn the a/c down & off to bed about midnight

The BIG Room

How hot will it be today? Actually, it is a pleasant morning & I wake up at 6 am& don't want the alarm to beep, so I just get ready and go out for a short ride (11 miles) on highway 285. Lots of pecan tree groves around here & big too. Highway 285 has a nice big shoulder & reasonably low traffic. Up to Brantley Lake & only primitive camping at this spot & a $8 per day use fee. Back to camp at 7:45 & put on the coffee & KK's up reading her Nook. Let's cook a nice breakie & head south to the Caverns. Great breakfast! Now we're set for a big hiking day in the cave, so off we go & take the bypass around most of the downtown construction & it's 44 miles to the visitor center at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Go inside the Center to get our tickets for the day & yes, we get in free! (The senior pass!) I also get our tickets for the guided tour, which I paid for over the Internet, plus a $4 refund. We check out the gift shop & book store before heading off to the main entrance to the caverns & an hour long hike to the Big Room, 750 feet below the surface. We have to wait on a Ranger to give us the rules & off we go, down a long trail, with many switchbacks, wet areas, and steep trails, but we manage to arrive in about an hour & proceed to hike the BIG ROOM. And it is BIG! Over 600,000 sq ft and massive formations of all kinds: stalagmites, stalactites, helictites, columns, draperies, popcorn & many more forms of.....It is an amazing 1 1/2 hours of formations! Now to the rest area where we have some lunch & rest our legs for the 2:00 guided tour of the King's Palace. Our tour group has about 40-50 people and unfortunately, one kid is blowing a bubble with her gum & the "Ranger Nazi" goes bonkers. (But of course, she is not supposed to even have the gum down here-period.) He has only been here 14 months but wants everyone to understand that there are rules, easy rules to follow & please do it, or he will cite you! He will finally get over this & go to some bad jokes. So off we go to the Palace & no pics until we get there..GOT THAT! He opens a gate and we all go in and he gives some history of the cave & the local cowboy who discovered it back in 1898. His name was Jim White & he saw what he thought was smoke coming out of the mountains, but it was thousands of bats & he found the main entrance & started to explore the cave. Th e Palace is excellent & total darkness is witnessed by all & some water dripping onto a formation is awesome in the Ranger's flashlight light! One & one half hours later, we're done & back to the rest area, where we all take the elevator out of the caverns-it's too late to start the walk out to the surface. Oh, the Ranger was over adamant about protecting & caring for the cave- over & over-he must have been a sergeant in the Army. Anyway, it was a good tour & we were glad to see the palace & other rooms. By this time we are shivering, so when we finally get to the surface, it feels pretty good, even tho it's 102 out. A drive back to town, past White's City & it's gift shops & all of the road construction & a search for a DQ (none). So we opt for a "Lot A -burger"-no relation to our Ponca City original & it's ok, but not as good as the old one. A quick stop for gas & ice and back to the KOA for some e-mails & a dip in the pool! It's around 6:30 & the pool feels really good on our sore muscles & the hot tub feels even better! We probly hiked around 4-5 miles today& lots of ups & downs. There is some cloud cover, which helps, but there's so many kids and girl scouts in the pool that the escape to the spa is a relief. A nice shower & back to journal, blog & pop some corn for our supper. In bed at midnight. A great day!

On to New Mexico

I'm up at 6:45-for whatever reason-and put on the coffee before walking over to the restrooms & some people have already left the KOA! Hey, great coffee! And cookies of course. I head off for a short spin & let KK sleep in, while I ride 11 miles in the cool of the morning. I'm back by 8:30 & we have some cereal & start to tear down & prepare for a journey to Carlsbad, NM. It's not too far & we gain an hour, but how many DQ's will there be on the way? We're packed up & ready by 10:15 & off southwesterly, toward Hobbs, NM & on to Carlsbad & another KOA. Not many trees out this way, but a lot of oil field activity & potash plants. A couple of stops for gas and ice cream & we roll in the KOA, north of Carlsbad about 2:30 & set up in some oppressive heat and very small trees. (Our reflectors will help a lot here!) But one thing, no trains! And no interstate either! The pool looks nice & it's a salt water pool-NO DIVING!- and a hot tub too! I chat with a couple of folks from Durango, who are looking for "Aliens"& other interesting things in this area. To the showers to clean up & go to supper in town & to the Caverns to watch the bats! We're looking for a good Mexican place but end up at the "Whiner Diner". My chicken fry is excellent, but KK does not care for her terriakyi chicken salad...hey, NO WHINING! On to the Caverns & the free bat show! It's still a pretty good drive down to the park & the start of the 7:30 show. It's a short walk down to the "Bat Amphitheater", that seats about 1200, and it's a good crowd to watch the "Mexican Free-tailed bats" come swirling out of the cave opening, going counter-clockwise ( to gain momentum to escape the cave) & for 25 minutes they are non-stop at about 5-6 thousand per minute! They will stay out until dawn, feeding on insects & getting water. What a sight this is! Ranger Mike gives a good presentation & runs a good show. Glad we didn't miss this! back in the auto for the long drive back, but a short stop at Wally for some essentials (right) and thru the cruel construction in town-it's a mess! back to our chirpping alarm, but why is it doing this? I'll just rip it out! Some reading, journaling, & e-mails before going to bed at around midnight...mountain time.

Hot and dry west Texas

It's pretty dry around these parts, but our first night in Lubbock was ok, despite the trains, I slept fine..KK didn't. I got up at 7:30, put on the coffee & go to shower & shave..ahhh, much better, especially since I solved the water leak problem yesterday, and things are ok in the camper. Some good coffee , cookies & journaling before KK gets up-how about a bike ride??!! It's clear & very sunny but not hot yet, so I go out for a few miles & come back to get KK & we go out for a few more. I take a ride over to the drive-in by us to see what's on & it's "Harry Potter" at 9:20!! Shall we go? It's $6 each..well. maybe. I'm back and let's cook lunch! Potatoes, onions, Italian sausage & salad...damn' good! It's fairly cool in the camper but let's go for a swim in our KOA's enclosed pool. A nice respite, and then off to the Lubbock Antique Mall, that is very nice & KK purchases a couple of wine glasses.( No flamingos on site!) back in the car & east on 19th street, past Red Raider Country & to the "Buddy Holly Center"...oops, but first, there 's a "Texas Stop sign"..a DQ!(Ice cream sandwiches , a dilly bar & a dip cone-Chop, eat your heart out!) Anyway, the Buddy Holly museum is very nice & lots of rock 'n Roll stuff & a really great layout of pictures of a lot of famous rockers! A nice stop. Back to camp & lounging in the pool area, but some screaming kids run us outa there...HEY! NO DIVING!!! and we mean it too! No supper for us, as we had a lot of snacks & we're saving ourselves for popcorn at the drive -in. Off we go to "The Stars & Stripes" drive-in-an all digital movie theatre, with 3 screens & a great snack bar/diner area, with a full menu, and of course fresh popped popcorn. Back to the car to eat & get ready for Harry & the wizards. Just tune your car's radio to a certain channel to get the sound in stereo. Some people are sitting in chairs and have their portable stereo set up in front of them. It's a good flick and it really rocks your car, but the two girls next to us almost ruin it as they're laughing all the way thru it...and why? We don't know, but they pretty much wasted 6 bucks each. Lots of fire, exploding things in the movie, but a good story to end the series. And , yea, the cars starts! Back over to camp by 11:30 & read, blog & hit the hay by 12:15. A good day & 20 miles for me & a few chirping prairie dogs too!

South to Texas

Ok, we're back in the USA & off for a two week adventure! We're all packed and ready to hook up the camper, but first, I get in 13 miles on the two-wheeler & now we're off at about 10 am headed for Lubbock ,Tx. Don't think we forgot anything as we're overflowing with "stuff." We are going to eventually meet up with three other couples for a week in a cabin in Almont, CO, but first we have a week to ourselves & a new spot: Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We've never been there so we're looking forward to a little "spelunking". A couple of DQ stops on the way down to Texas and set up the camper by 6:30 & damn', we have a leak in the water system! I finally figure it out & it's only a loose connection under the slide out area, where the pump is located. Yea! I love it when things work out! So we go over for a quick swim, before a few miles on our bikes, before dark. As we went south out of Amarillo, it was like South Dakota..no services for miles & we're running low on fuel..even "Happy, Tx" is shut down, so on we go to Tulia and coast in on fumes to a Conoco station. Now on to our Lubbock KOA & lots of happy RV'ers. It's pretty dusty down here & we even saw two different dust storms -very large dust devils-on the way down. Off to find a Wally World & some needed items & a sandwich for supper..not until 10:30! Man, I'm tired & of course there's trains right by us, so we'll turn the A/C on high. Not a great day, but OK.

Italy-Epilouge

Was it a great trip? YES! Without a doubt. The trip home was the worst of course & it took us a week to get over it & then Dottie got us sick so it seemed even worse. And KK coughed for a month! Our "guide" was the best! I think every one's favorite spot was Pompeii, with the Colosseum a close second. mainly just how old they all were and how long they have lasted. I had seen a few documentaries on Pompeii, so I was very interested in that spot. It was so ahead of it's time, with all of the fountains, sewers & bath systems & it was all lost in a volcanic instant. The Euro Trains were a welcome surprise & were very easy to ride & get to your destinations. (And without any security checks or Uzis.) Will we go back? probly..I'll keep yinz posted.

A variety of photos of our trip to enjoy! Mike , KK, Cami

Day Fourteen-May 24th

We're all up early-6:45- and get all of our luggage down to the foyer & go to the breakfast area for some coffee & croissants. Our taxi is here & Guido is having a small break next door while waiting on us. Ok, let's go! Off we go toward the airport, the back way-what narrow streets! Finally out onto the main road & past the Colosseum, Forum & a few other "old things", and in about 50 minutes, we arrive at the terminal-or at least one of them. (55 E for us three.) And I thought Honolulu was bad-check in's, passports, security, Uzis, military, but finally we get thru it all & have one hour before boarding our 777 to Dulles. Great, our flight is delayed for what looks to be a new battery. We shop a little while the wait continues, but here we go-over an hour late, so safer I suppose. We sit a little longer as they "troubleshoot" & off we go, just over an hour and a half late, and it's a 9 1'2 hour flight anyway. We'll have to hammer it to make our connection at Dulles. It's a long flight but two meals are served, plenty of drinks & we get up and move around after some sleep & a movie. Cami is snoozin' & has her "blinds" down. Ouch! I get a cramp & have to get up and move around..where's some water? We cruise over the Boston area & start our descent into the D.C. area & we're only 45 minutes late, but wait! There's immigration & believe me, it's a nightmare-almost an hour to get through this mess, grab our bags, drop them off again, go thru security--AGAIN- and run to our gate. We make it! Right onto the plane with a bunch of military kids-but no Uzis. I set beside a guy from Wilkes-Barre, PA & a big Penguin fan & headed for Ft Sill, in Lawton, OK. we run into big storms on the way & have to land in Little Rock to refuel, before we take it south toward Waco, Tx and finally up to OKC & Will Rogers World Airport by 9:30. Our parking people pick us up & since I didn't have my ticket-it was in my billfold-the person at the desk just says"you've had it bad enough-no charge"!!! Well, thanks pardner, that's pretty nice. David comes to get Cami, so we're on our own now. We did miss a lot of tornadoes in the area, but no damage to our auto. Out of the parking place & a quick stop for a fountain drink before driving on home by11:00. Unload, shower & to bed by 1:00-what a day! And what day is it really?