Andee and Liz's RV Trip

A long bike ride in Casper

Today was the day we planned to bike the North Platte Rail Trail, which starts about 5 miles from our campground, which was actually in Evansville, east of Casper. We were thrilled to discover, though, that there was a way to bike from the campground to the start of the Rail Trail along the Casper Bike Trail. When we got to it, however, we discovered that it was not paved, but made of largish gravel and sand. This was especially bad for Liz’s road bike – but also turned out to be challenging even for my e-bike, which has wider tires.

I resigned myself to biking on the shoulder of a highway – but in another lucky break, there was a lovely frontage road parallel to the highway, which we later noticed was a very popular biking route. It also had the advantage of going right by a coffee shop, It’s a Grind, which we visited the next morning (more details in the next post). The frontage road took us to the paved part of the Casper Bike Trail, which led directly to the Platte Rail Trail.

I enjoyed the Platte Rail Trail, on my e-bike but Liz was less happy about the uneven pavement. It was also a bit difficult to navigate, as it goes by several bridges across the North Platte, some of which are on the trail and others of which lead an unsuspecting rider onto a golf course or into a neighborhood; we did follow several of those bridges and had to double back. But here are some interesting observations about the trail:

Instead of bike loaner stations, there are life jacket loaner stations (see image below). People apparently float downstream on the North Platte, but there are some dangerous stretches, so there are multiple signs warning floaters to wear life jackets – and places to pick them up or return them. I did wonder if they have to have volunteers shuttle them back upstream every few days.

The trail goes through Acoma Park, a cultural gathering place in Casper. It has a painted labyrinth, a “learning circle,” an archway made of books and one of those life jacket stations.

The trail also goes by the Casper Whitewater Park, a short stretch of rapids that would have been a lot of fun to go through in a kayak (leftmost image above).

There were a surprising number of sculptures along the trail – including one in the middle of the river. (The image above is NOT in the middle of the river.)

We finally turned around and made our way back to the campsite, 30 miles in all. As a reward for our long ride, Liz bought us Klondike bars at the campsite office. But before we could eat them, we had to move to a new site, as we had decided to stay another night. The new site was in the “long-term” area of the campground, where, we think, some people have permanent housing. As one campsite proclaimed, “Home is where we park it.” We had a nice chat with our neighbors at this site – and enjoyed meeting their three dogs: Finley, an old Norwegian Elkhound; Eisenhower, a young, handsome German Shepherd, and Sadie, a little mutt.

Tomorrow, we plan to explore a nearby state park and patronize “It’s A Grind.”

The REAL shake-down!

Before we leave Seminoe State Park, here is a picture of one arm of the reservoir – and a shot of the pronghorns.

Our next destination was Casper, which I had discovered has a remarkable system of bike trails. We COULD have gone back south to Sinclair and taken major roads to Casper, but Liz and I don’t like backtracking and share a sense of adventure, so we chose to drive over dirt roads to Casper. Our first stop was the Seminoe Dam, built in the mid-1930’s, with rockwork still impressive today. Soon after the Dam, we were delayed by a group of mountain goats, many with radio collars on (probably part of the “wildlife management area”). Then many more miles of mostly very bumpy dirt roads, which made our trip to Muffy and Al’s seem like a trip on a city street. When we got to Alcova Dam, where we stopped for lunch and the road became paved, we discovered two casualties: Liz’s fishing rod got unattached from its reel – and one of our gallon jugs of water sprang a leak.

We tried to fix the water jug with bandaids (taking a cue from the CruiseAmerica people who had used bandaids to fix the ceiling of our bathroom in the rented RV) to no avail, so we stopped at the Casper Walmart for another water jug, some seltzer and various other RV needs (like soup spoons). I have to admit I’ve never been in a Walmart before, but I now understand their appeal – there was NOTHING they didn’t have. The quality wasn’t always top-notch (like the 98 cent thermometer that had no mercury in it), but they had an amazing array of merchandise. Also, they are insisting on masks – and they have VERY wide aisles that they’ve made one-way.

We had made a reservation at River’s Edge RV Campground on the eastern edge of Casper – the river in question being the North Platte. The North Platte seems to be everywhere in Wyoming – also in Nebraska and Colorado, so you will be hearing about it again. We waded into the river – or, more accurately, slid down the mud bank. Not the best swimming, but it cooled us off. (See image below of Liz rinsing off afterwards, using our outdoor bathroom access.) We had appetizers looking out on the river from a newly-constructed gazebo and had a socially-distant conversation with a couple from Kansas.

Two other notes: Wyoming is a land of wind farms – a good choice, given the winds that howl across the state and the relative lack of people to be bothered by wind turbines. We’ve seen parts of wind turbines being transported everywhere – on the highways and, on our way into Casper, by train.

Part of a wind turbine moving through Casper by train

We’ve also met lots of people who are on their “virgin” RV trip. Not surprisingly, many people have decided that RVs are the way to travel during a pandemic – like us, a large number of them never considered it before. So, the sociology has been interesting – we think we’ve met people along the way who we would never have encountered in an RV park before this year. The folks next to us in Casper were from Marin County and had rented an RV to travel to Michigan – but they had to drive to Salt Lake City to find an available RV! We’ve also discovered that RVG is unusual – most other people have much larger vehicles and are curious to see how our van is appointed. So, RVG is getting lots of attention and well-deserved admiration.

On to a remote reservoir

We both slept incredibly well in Muffy and Al’s driveway, although I woke up several times, considered looking out with a flashlight to see if I could spot some moose, then fell back asleep before I could do anything about it. We had our first breakfast in the RV (see image below), played a bit more with the dogs, then headed off to what we knew would be a less elegant night at Seminoe State Park.

Our first stop was in Laramie for coffee. We have fond memories of Laramie from a previous trip and wanted to check it out again – and we were not disappointed. Laramie is the home of the University of Wyoming, so it has an intellectual vibe, at least in the center of town. The town has also done some serious soul-searching since the Matthew Shepard incident and rainbow flags are hung over many downtown businesses.

We found a delightful coffee shop, Coal Creek Coffee, which proudly claims to be home to “Malcontents, Revolutionaries and Do-Gooders of all types.” Everyone inside was masked, sanitizer was everywhere, and there was a shared outdoor eating space down the street. We took a walking tour of downtown Laramie, including a large number of murals, two of my favorites of which are pictured here.

We proceeded along the “old highway” instead of Route 80, which took us to the town of Medicine Bow, where we stopped for lunch in the parking lot of the Medicine Bow Museum. Apparently, the author of “The Virginian” used the town as a setting for his novel, so everything in the town is called The Virginian. Well, not everything – but the main commercial establishment is “The Virginian Hotel, Eating House, Saloon, Motel and RV Hookups.”

The road to Seminoe State Park leaves I-80 at Sinclair (a company town for Sinclair Petroleum – the one with the green dinosaur mascot) and winds 35 miles through gorgeous scenery to the Seminoe Reservoir. There was nothing on the road until we got to the park, so we were lucky to have gotten gas in Sinclair. Our campsite sat near the reservoir, although the shore was rocky and swimming wasn’t really an option. Most other campers had boats, so we had to content ourselves with wildlife viewing: a group of pronghorn antelopes who crossed the park access road in front of us and flocks of mountain bluebirds, including one who must have considered itself an “authorized vehicle”. We also put up our “dining room table” for the first time and had an elegant dinner, complete with table cloth.

The remains of dinner on our elegant dining room table

“Glamping” in Tie Siding, Wyoming

Our first day’s drive was relatively short – to visit friends in their cabin in Tie Siding, Wyoming. The town is named for its origins: as the site of the closest suitable trees to Laramie, it was the source of lumber for railroad ties while the Union Pacific Railroad was being built. Our friends, Al and Muffy, have a “cabin” (more on that misnomer below) 8 miles down dirt roads from the highway. The directions begin: “make a left across the highway directly onto a dirt road when you see the “Fireworks” sign at Tie Siding.” Proceed down 3 miles of dirt road to a turn onto another dirt road for 5 miles, just past the Tie Siding Volunteer Fire Department, then left onto their road. Much of the second road was very washboard-y, making this a true “shake-down” cruise.

Muffy and Al have a gorgeous house in the woods, surrounded by hummingbird feeders and wildflowers and frequented, they tell us, by moose, elk, deer and various smaller critters. It is full of elegant rugs and artwork, two friendly dogs, and the best dishwasher either Liz or I had ever seen. When we arrived at this “rustic” destination, we had plentiful cocktails and a fabulous dinner on the porch before retiring to our first night in the RV.

Muffy and Al’s “cabin” with RVG in front and Sophie the dog.

Here we go again – with a difference!

So, we’re back on the road – in OUR OWN RV!!! Liz and I figured that, given the pandemic-caused restrictions on travel and the issues we had with our rented vehicle, we might as well just buy an RV and use it to travel between Colorado and Boston for the next while. As you might imagine, RVs are selling like very large hotcakes these days, so we didn’t have too many choices – but we’re SO happy with the one we ended up with. It’s a red camper van (Winnebago Travato, if you want to look it up). And here it is being christened.

So, if we’re going to christen a conveyance, it has to have a name — and this one’s name is RVG. (Say it out loud if you don’t already get the pun.) I ordered an oval sticker with RVG in red – and Liz ordered a “I Dissent” sticker – so she will be properly festooned by the time we hit the road tomorrow.

She also has the nickname “party bus” because she has a large awning that rolls out from the side and it has LED lights embedded in it. We’ve already had several outdoor socially-distanced gatherings under the festive awning.

We are now in the process of packing up to go on a multi-day vacation to Wyoming – fitting everything we need into all the little compartments. We decided to go to Wyoming rather than southern Colorado because there are only 500,000 people in the whole state – and 5 million in Colorado, so fewer people who might be infected – and lots of gorgeous scenery. It’s a very empty state – especially good during a pandemic. We have good friends who live in Cheyenne (capital and largest city, with a population of 64,000) and when they need to get away from all the crowds there, they go to their quite-isolated cabin south of Laramie. So we’ll spend our first night outside their cabin, then head north.

Yes, you will get to see the inside of RVG as we travel. You’ll just have to tune back in.

That’s all she wrote/some reflections on RV travel

Our campground in Kearney, Nebraska was the most cheerless of all the places we stayed, so we got up early and hit the road, knowing that we would have to stop in an hour so that I could have my phone appointment with my tax advisor. (Little did I think when I made the appointment back in January that I’d be doing it from an RV in Nebraska.) We needed to be stationary while I talked to her only because the road noise if we were driving would have made it impossible to communicate clearly.

We cheered when we got to the Colorado border – almost home. I had hoped for a view of the mountains from Nebraska, but visibility wasn’t great, so we didn’t really see the Rockies until an hour or so outside of Denver.

We finally pulled into our driveway around 3:30 in the afternoon. Then all that was left was the process of unpacking the RV and washing all of our clothes and linens because Liz had gotten a bunch of bites that made us suspect bed bugs in the upper bunk. As if COVID weren’t enough to worry about. Oh – and re-introducing Izzie and Tristan, who had spent several months together last fall, but hadn’t seen one another since. (Update: after two days they are playing together without hissing or growling, so we are optimistic.)

Some final reflections on traveling by RV:

I don’t have too many complaints about “Rocky 2;” it got us back to Colorado safely, stored all of our clothing, food and gear efficiently, and was a venue for several awesome dinners and many adequate breakfasts and lunches. It did have some quirks, though, as I think most rental equipment does. For example, (in addition to the leaky skylight), the bathroom roof appeared to be held together with bandaids.

As mentioned above, we suspected bed bugs (and when you realize that an RV is basically a traveling hotel room, this is not impossible). The tire pressure sensor was broken, so the tire pressure warning light was on for the entire trip; luckily, we had discovered this before we left Boston, so we brought a tire gauge with us. There were also some issues with the sensor for the black water tank (which seemed to think it was always full, even right after we emptied it) and a problem with the black water valve that you don’t want me to describe in any more detail.

What would we do differently next time? We’re considering buying our own RV in order to avoid the problems in the paragraph above. We would research campgrounds to find ones that had more attractive surroundings. We would limit our driving to 300 miles/day. We did a bunch of things right: brought lots of good food and set a formal table with tablecloth and cloth napkins every night. Liz brought two small throw pillows that made the dinette much cozier and our favorite mugs for breakfast. Little touches made a big difference.

And finally, on Tuesday morning, we returned Rocky 2 to the Cruise America office in Denver, where they gave us a refund for one day and paid Liz back for the things she bought to repair Rocky 1. Here’s my final view of Rocky 2 as I followed Liz to the office.

Izzie and I hope you’ve enjoyed taking this journey with us!

Windmills, bad jokes, and infinite stretches of Nebraska

(Spoiler alert: we are safely in Boulder, but I’m a bit behind on the blog.)

After another cold night (during which we were smart enough to turn on the heat, which works well), we spent a few hours as tourists in Amana, strolling on a bike trail that connects Amana with Middle Amana and searching for a latte on their quaint main drag. In other times, I would have been all over the antique stores looking for souvenirs and Liz even said that I could buy a quilt if I saw one, as it would fit in the RV, while a new rocking chair wouldn’t. But it’s pandemic time, so I stayed in the RV and looked longingly – then sent Liz into a bakery to get me coffee (and, it turns out, really yummy gluten-free cookies).

The next several hours we drove through relatively sparse countryside peppered with literally thousands of wind turbines. The Iowa rest areas, at least in the western part of the state, even have wind turbine themes. We saw several trucks carrying parts of turbines – either the uprights or the remarkably large blades. We pulled off at one point and turned off the engine to hear the ghostly low-pitched sound they make when they move.

From other drives I’ve taken across the country, I know that Nebraska is the cruelest state. Not only is it over 400 miles wide, but I-80, which is the most direct route across, meanders north and south (following rivers, I think), rather than getting down to business and heading straight West. To top it off, there really aren’t very many interesting places to explore along I-80. I was interested in visiting Carhenge, but it’s much further north. So, we were thrilled to discover an unexpected sight: large sculptures made of farm equipment, displayed along the highway. I didn’t react quickly enough to get a photograph, so this one, taken from the Kinze company website will have to do. Kinze is a large farm equipment manufacturer, clearly led by someone with a good sense of humor. The call this piece of “yard art” the “grain cart stack.”

The grain cart stack at Kinze Innovation Center

The next thing worth writing home about was a sign at a gas station we pulled into. It’s a bad joke – but perhaps it’s the best you get in Nebraska.

Finally, we found this monument, stretched over I-80, right before our campground exit. It’s The Archway, a museum and heritage center about the pioneers who followed the North Platte River to explore the West.

And that’s it for Nebraska.

Huge Wisconsin hospitality

Our time in Wisconsin Friday night and Saturday was marked by large hospitality in two ways: we had multiple wonderful meals with friends and the Cedar Lake group are, themselves, a very large – that is, tall – family. That’s not surprising given the family’s genetics; both Cindy (Liz’s teammate) and her husband are tall and athletic, having met as Olympic rowers. All three of their children are similarly proportioned – and athletically talented. And the additional friends from college who have been quarantining with them keep the average height of the household on the very high side. You can see from this picture how puny I look. And even Liz, who is six feet tall, was feeling short.

The Rushers (left) with Liz and me (right)

After a cold night in the RV and more sitting on the porch near the fire pit watching sailing races, we left for Madison, where another of Liz’s teammates (the coxswain – so not very tall) lives. They offered us their downstairs bathroom, which they certified as unused by anyone else and very recently cleaned, for showers. When you’ve been in an RV for 5 days, that’s not an offer you turn down.

Socially distanced selfie, after wonderful shower and meal.

We then had yet another yummy meal that we didn’t prepare ourselves, being careful to socially distance while we ate. I realized that this was the first house other than my own I’d been in since the middle of March, which is a very strange state of affairs. This picture is a “quarantine selfie,” with us way in the background.

The rest of the day was a long haul, through Wisconsin and into Iowa, through Dubuque, the point where Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa meet (did you know there was such a place? – be honest). We chose to stay at a massive RV park near the Amana Colonies in Eastern Iowa. If you don’t know about the Amana Colonies, do look them up. While their story bears some resemblance to that of the Amish, they’re quick to point out the many differences – most notably, that they embraced technology after the second World War, when they abandoned communal living. One especially clever member of the community realized that after prohibition was over, there would be a need for refrigeration for beverages and designed the first commercial refrigerator. You’ve likely heard of Amana appliances; they started here in Iowa.

The Amana RV campground was relatively bare, although it did have a library and community room which I would have loved to explore if we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic that makes such exploration foolhardy. There were lots of dogs around, and Izzie kept busy watching them while we made dinner. As we ate, we heard what we first thought was a loud radio playing oldies. But then at the end of each song, we heard applause and car horns. We later figured out that it was a drive-in concert (i.e. the audience was in their cars) with a live band that covered songs by the Beach Boys and other groups from the 60’s and 70’s.

By the way, our “steed” hasn’t yet acquired a name, although we anticipated that it would have by now. The best we’ve come up with is “Rocky,” since it does rock quite a bit – and it’s the sequel to the first RV, like “Rocky 2” was the sequel to “Rocky.” But even that hasn’t stuck.

A land of RV’s and horse-drawn buggies

Elkhart, Indiana, just down the road from Middlebury, is the home of the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/. The “MH” stands for Motor Home, for those of you who are uninitiated. No, we did not visit – but there were scads of RV sales and repair places around Middlebury – a far cry from the density around New England, where we discovered they are few and far between when we needed one. If we had needed a repair here in Indiana, we would have had lots of places to choose from.

Liz had noticed on the area map provided by the KOA that there was a coffee shop in Middlebury, just a few miles away. Yesterday, she had unsuccessfully tried to get me coffee several times – first some cold brew at a gas station (it turned out to be flavored, really badly), then at a Starbucks that turned out to be closed, so we decided to go into town in search of a real latte. It was a really good decision. The Legendary Grind was the real thing and had a special recommended drink: a honey latte with oat milk. Liz got me a large one, which lasted several hours and was even better for having been anticipated for days.

While I waited for Liz in the RV, I heard the distinct clip-clop of hooves – and there was an Amish horse-drawn carriage steaming down the main street. Another one soon followed, in between motorcycles, RVs and convertibles. When Liz came out, she insisted we drive around the block so she could show me the horse and buggy “parking lot” behind the café. Here’s what we saw – including the horse equivalent of “oil slicks” where other buggies had been parked.

Our destination for the day was Cedar Lake, Wisconsin, where Liz’s teammate from the 1988 Olympics has a lovely large home right on the lake. But first we drove through Chicago, stopping to see a friend of mine from high school at a park in Skokie. She and I were two of the three girls in AP Physics back in high school. We had a lovely lunch in the park and caught up a bit.

Our sojourn in Cedar Lake was special. We parked in the driveway, plugged in, and finally got outside of the RV for an extended period of time. (We finally figured out how to get in and out of the RV without Izzie escaping – using treats and a squirt bottle – the proverbial carrot and stick.) We took a walk on conservation land and Liz went on a boat ride on the lake. Then we had dinner outside on the porch, kept warm by a fire pit, and ate food that had not traveled with us in the RV for 5 days – a real novelty.

View of Cedar Lake from the porch where we had dinner

Travels with Izzie

Other possible titles I considered: “An alternate view of Zooming” and “Izzie finds a tunnel”

We had a very slow morning at our campsite, sleeping in, drying out soggy sheets and recovering from the previous night’s traumas. We also introduced Izzie to a harness and leash; she wasn’t so happy about the harness, but she LOVED being outside on the leash, so we’re hoping that she starts to associate the harness with the fun of being outside.

We did all the necessary RV errands – dumping, filling up the fresh water tank and topping up the propane that runs the refrigerator and stove. In the process, Liz went to a hardware store (thinking we could get propane there) and we toured the little town of Hubbard, OH. Masks are intermittent here – about 20% of the people I saw going in or out of the hardware store while waiting for Liz to emerge were wearing them.

Not much exciting happened after we got on the road, so this post will be mostly about Izzie. She’s an amazing traveler – adaptable, cheery and generally resilient. She’s happiest when Liz and I are both around and both paying attention to her and/or when she’s eating. She keeps us constantly amused. Here are some tidbits of travels with Izzie:

One of Liz’s friends introduced us to a wonderful grooming tool called a Zoom groom, pictured below. Izzie absolutely loves it; she will sit for a long time to be groomed and insistently rub her face on the “Zoomer.” I hadn’t realized until just this week that “Zooming” has become such a big part of our lives – but Izzie provides a different take on Zooming. See her blissfully partaking in the photo here. Maybe we should all emulate her when we Zoom.

Izzie has found her favorite spot in the RV – a nest we made for her in the upper bedroom, using a soft robe she lies on at home. She’s at her cutest when she’s curled up there.

The first day we were on the road, Izzie seemed distracted and over-stimulated by the traffic going by, so we’ve taken to closing the curtains on the large “picture window” above the dinette table. This worked well until today – when she realized that the velcroed-shut curtains created a perfect tunnel that let her squeeze between the curtains and the window and watch the traffic going by. She went back and forth in her tunnel multiple times today.

Tonight we are in Middlebury, Indiana, about 2 hours from Chicago, in a KOA. This one is quite well-maintained, supposedly has wireless (but it’s insufficient to allow me to post anything) and has a fishing pond, mini-golf, volleyball, corn hole, pedal boats and nature trails. People clearly stay here for weeks on end (see the elaborate set-up shown below) – but we haven’t quite wrapped our heads around what they do all day when they’re here. At any rate, they’re very friendly, wave when we walk by, and FaceTime with their grandchildren loud enough for us to hear them.