We have always said that we look ahead at the weather and try to find the “good weather” route. Or at least the least bad weather. As we were sitting in the KOA in Salt Lake City our neighbor mentioned that there was severe winter weather along the I 80 corridor where we planned to go. I looked it up and began to realize that May is still too early to be that far north. Laramie at over 7,000 feet was calling for lows in the teens when we planned to get there. No Way!

We decided to take US 50 through Grand Junction over the Rockies and down onto the High Plains. The last time we did that route was 2008. That was our first visit with Dianne and Marty in Prairie Village, also our first visit with Malena’s sister and husband, Simonne and Steve, in Glade Park CO. I guess after seven years it is okay to repeat a route 🙂 After some time on email and the phone we set out from SLC toward Grand Junction. Not wanting to press too hard we stopped for a night in a WalMart in Price Utah. Made some friends in an RV parked next to us in the parking lot, well, spent a couple of hours chatting about the RV lifestyle and such and offering them some tips on travel to Alaska  by RV. From there on to Glade Park. Access to the town is up the Monument Rd in Colorado National Monument. This road is a challenge, even for us. It is not really recommended for motorhomes as it climbs from about 5,500 feet to 7,400 feet in four miles and has the twists and turns of a snake with indigestion. To cap it off there is a tunnel that is officially listed with a 10 foot 6 inch clearance. we are 12 foot 4 at the top of the air conditioner. We had done it in G2 at 11 foot 6 with room to spare and the sign at the entrance booth said it was 16 foot at the center and 12 foot at the lane edge. I drove up and Carol drove down. The only problem was for the cars that had to follow us as we were in no hurry to see how close to the edge we could get. While there Steve’s brother Kurt and wife Pat were visiting from Kenai AK. So ee got to meet new people with interesting backgrounds.

From there I determined we were “three sleeps” from Prairie Village. We had allowed four or five in our planning. Our first stop was Bandera’s Bunkhouse just east of Salida, CO where we elected to stay two nights. We used the day to drive a 47 mile loop up into the mountains away from the main highway. Not too long after we turned off passed the Middle School in Cotapaxi the town fathers had decided that pavement was an unnecessary luxury. We were climbing from a base of 7,400 feet to 9,800 and the snow line was at about 8,500. We collected a bit of mud on Ruby:

This was the first coat we picked up in Glade Park

It was impossible to get in and out of the Jeep without taking some mud along. I wold love to write a book about Dave and Teresa, the owners of Bandera’s Bunkhouse. He has been a cowhand, is a trained geologist and has worked on drilling rigs all over the Americas and today they run a campground in CO in the summer and spend the winter in Arizona at an RV park where in addition to leading horse rides they entertain with cowboy song. I’m sure I have left something out and may have gotten some of the specifics wrong, but the idea is there. While I visited with Dave his wife was working with a horse that did not like to have his hind legs handled for shoeing and such. He shoes his horses himself.

We did move on again with a stop in Dodge City. We only stretched to reach there because I wanted to be able to write “we had to get of of Dodge” I would not recommend the RV Blue Campground for more than a one night stop. It had the water, sewer and electric and even cable, but I could not reach the water with a 25 foot hose and the place was unoccupied and did  not seem likely to get much better. On the other hand for $10 it was that much better than a WalMart which has no hookups.

As I am writing we are parked in a museum parking lot in Hutchinson KS. This is the Strataca Museum in a monstrous salt mine that is on a salt vein that stretches 150 east to west and 50 miles north to south. The primary vein is 50 feet thick and 650 feet below the surface. We rode the hoist to the bottom where the museum is located as well as the snack bar and the gift shop. I will admit I learned a lot about salt mining and the history of this mine. The other major business located in the mine is Underground Vaults and Storage. At least one major Hollywood Studio sends all their archival prints and material there as soon as they are done with it. They have an exhibit of some of the materiel. If you want to see the clothes worn in Giant or Men in Black or Superman they are among the items on display.

Tomorrow we will camp in Independence MO.