Category: Tips and Tricks

This our set up at Mt Shavano Campground in July 2017. We spent like 5 days here. You’ll notice there are two vehicles parked in the space. That’s because we were making trips back and forth to town. We’d go back to town for appointments or new supplies or from a bike ride then come back up for the evenings. It was really quite comfortable. It rained almost everyday. I think this was one of our better setups. Even during the rain we were able to move about the site and stay dry. You could go from the back of the truck through the 5 x 7 and into the kitchen dining area without getting wet.

Our first outing of the year. Packed up in less than 45 minutes and we were on our way to Penitente Canyon Campground in the San Luis Valley. Going to see Sandhill Cranes tomorrow. This is sort of a shake down cruise for us. We forgot a few small things but we are amazed at how self contained we are. Set up our new 5×7 side room fairly quickly but had to adjust a couple times to figure it out.

Back View

Front View

The Chef

We stayed in this exact spot three years ago in our Silver Shadow. This pic however was taken on October 13, 2016.

It is a nice quiet spot in their lot, well as far as traffic goes anyway. No cars drive by this corner. After staying in a few Wally Worlds this trip we’ve learned that the way to tell if a Walmart is good to stay in or not is if there are other campers or RVs parked there as well. If there are none, there might be a reason. There were a couple tractor trailers and a camper van already parked in this lot when we arrived. By morning there were like eight new trucks. Some leave their engines idling, but it’s become white noise to us by now.

Campsite 32 is a primitive site and cost is $11. We bought $6 worth of firewood which ended up being enough to last all night. It felt heavy like it was still green, and it was difficult to get stated but seemed to burn a long time. We even threw a couple of pieces on it in the middle of the night and it was still burning in the morning. The temps that night got down into the was into the 30s. The campground is back in the woods and like the other places, hardly anyone here. Nice bathhouse with hot showers. Simon liked it here cuz he disregarded the leash law and followed Susan to the bathhouse. Guess he’s learning to be a criminal on this trip. We are heading west and south to meet up with Dana parsons at Missouri teardrop trailers where we got our T@G last summer. Maybe he’ll help us with a couple of “mods” we want to make to the trailer. It’s Rick’s birthday after all.

Left Terryville and Rick’s family today around noon. Our intended destination was Pittsfield, MA with a couple of sites to see along the way. The drive was beautiful with typical New England towns along the route.
When we arrived in Pittsfield we planned to stay at Walmart. No deal. No overnight parking. A quick check with Siri showed another store 38 miles away in Troy, NY. Another beautiful route through the Berkshires but alas no overnight parking at this store either. Another Siri check and one more store 45 minutes away. This time we called and yes, you can park in the back for just one night. Works for us. Arrived by 7 pm and found our spot. Next time we will call ahead!

Tip: Call ahead if you can.

We switched the canopies putting the white larger one over the “living space.” Gave us much more room!
Thoughts on Collegiate Peaks CG: we lucked out with this site with its large space and relative privacy. Although the CG FULL sign was out there were two available sites right near us. We call the smaller wooded sites the “inner city” since they are so crowded with lots of families and kids. We are “out in the county” here and prefer it. Doubt we will be back here this season. Too many other places to go.

Spent the night in Elko, Nevada. We were on our way to Winnimucca but decided to stop here instead. We were getting tired and must have misjudged the distance. The Walmart Super Center in Elko seemed quiet and safe. They lock the doors of their Auto Center, Garden Center, and Pharmacy entrances at night which ends up making a huge section of their parking lot vacant. They don’t allow trucks to idle after 9 pm and so it gets quiet. We restocked on some food, grilled up some steaks, had some pie and rested for the night.

During the night it rained pretty hard with lightning and thunder so sleeping in the Little Guy was nice and cozy. We did learn one thing about leaving things on the ground in the rain. Even though our plastic bins keep stuff nice and dry, the rain drops splattered dirt all over the sides, even on the pavement. Not really a big problem, just wiped things off with rag. Something to consider though before going in for the night.

Tip: Rain will splatter dirt on things if they are on the ground.

This park is midway between Lake Tahoe and crater lake. It’s $12 for a campsite and free entry with seniors access card otherwise it’s $20 to get in and $24 for the campsite. Lassen has been devastated by fires and drought so lots of dead vegetation.
We were nearly out of gas and the campground ran out. But rather than wait till 11:00 we took the risk and went to Old Station where we paid $3.69 for gas. Yikes!
We were going to head to lava beds national monument but after looking at the map thought we would push on to Klamath falls to re supply.

Tip: Get gas when you can.

Love our umbrella. We move it around as needed.

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State campgrounds aren’t really our thing, but national forests tend to be fairly off the beaten path and harder to find. The official U.S. Government website is almost useless when traveling down the road and looking for a place to camp for an evening. There’s just too much info to wade through. There ought to be an app for that but have not looked for it yet.
We took Simon for a run this morning on on our road bikes. He totally enjoyed it. 😀
We’ll be on our way to Winnamucca, NV right after we use the park shower facilities and pack up what little needs to be. We’re pretty settled in where all the stuff is where it belongs and easy to find. Not having to set up a canopy is a huge time saver.

Tip: If using an umbrella it helps to bungie it to the handles of the galley lid. The umbrella is not very tolerable in the wind.

Standard back up to table.

Great views from up here.

We were pleasantly surprised to find almost all the camp sites open in the Colorado National Monument. It was about 4 o’clock when we arrived. Again setting up with the umbrella is sooooo much easier than a canopy. Great view from our site, number 38, loop B, of the valley.
We picked up a bundle of firewood in Montrose, but can’t use it here. No fires allowed. We have some charcoal, but probably won’t cook with it tonight.

Tip: Forget the firewood. No open fires here.

We got out of Salida around 1:30 after a morning of reorganizing and packing.  We realized that carrying the bikes on top of the truck would free up alot of room inside so Rick modified his ladder rack to hold the bikes.  Nice job!  We got to Gunnison to stop at our favorite camping store, Gene Taylor, and found our stadium chairs and a replacement skillet for the one we forgot.  Back on the road we ended up at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park campground and set up in Loop C.  A beautiful rainbow and yummy grilled veggies for dinner was all we needed.  It rained off and on and our new umbrella worked really well – just moved it wherever we needed it to be.  Simon is dealing with his new environment and will most likely get more comfortable as the days go by.

Today we are on our way to Grand Junction and Brown’s Cyclery to consign my Trek mountain bike and shop with the credit I have there for selling my Pinarello.  Should be a fun day!  Not sure where we will be tonight.  Stay tuned.

Tips:

1. Bikes don’t go well inside the pickup topper because we need that storage space for camping gear and they are too hard to get out. Bikes are better outside.
2. Square frying pan works better on a propane stove with wind guards.

Soaking up some sun this morning in the Colorado National Monument, Saddle-horn campground loop A. It was a little chilly last night but a down comforter for each of us kept the cold out. This is our first trip of 2015. Some lessons: don’t move boundaries in national forest campgrounds, choose your site carefully, if you plan on eating out find a campground closer to town, don’t forget the boombox. However this was intended to be a shakedown cruise, so all is good. Learning to chillax.

Tip: Don’t move USFS campground boundaries because the man in uniform gets upset.

After two restful nights at Schoolhouse Canyon Campground (highly recommend) we packed up and are heading toward Lake Tahoe to see Susan’s sister Rosemary. Here’s a few observations for future trips:

• We’re thinking disposable dishes and utensils would make for easier cleanup.
• Privacy popup/potty works great as intended.
• RV parks are less desirable because they are too crowded and we don’t need the hookups or extra services.
• Watch for dirty/dusty ground surfaces when selecting a site. We and the dog brought extra debris into the LG.
• Firewood can be an issue since you can’t carry it from state to state, so be on the lookout for good firewood to buy.
• Keep an eye out for Top That Yogurt. The best treats and our new favorite.

Dusty dry but easy. It was getting late and we were getting tired. Found this US Forest Service campground called Hikison Petroglyphs. There was no water, but we carry at least 5 gallons in our Coleman jug. We didn’t even unhook the Little Guy. Just cooked our dinner, cleaned up and crawled in for some welcome sleep. We found the air was so dry that condensation inside was not an issue at all. Even though we turned the ceiling fan on a few times during the night, I don’t think we really needed it.

I think we were a little anxious when we chose to stop here. If we’d gone another hour we’d have reached Bob Scott US Forest Service campground. We stopped to take a look on the way by it this morning and discovered it was higher in elevation, had more vegetation, and seemed way less dusty. Oh well, next time through there we’ll know. In other words, I’d recommend Bob Scott over Hikison Petroglyphs campground.