Colorado or BUST....and it was a little bust....

Saturday off to a "rock - ee" start!  We both were pretty disgruntled at our departure from Normandy Hlls.  Once fully loaded and ready to take off,  Don pulled away and scraped the rocks in the driveway!  Pictures below.

Little fender bender

Ouch!

Lots of lessons on this first day of travel. Our friends Larry and Joy reserve the day before take off for getting the bus ready-we promised ourselves to do that NEXT time.  It was a hot morning and we were putting things in "the basement" of the RV, getting clothes on board, and Don thought we should fill up the water tank.   We had water...but it was getting low.  He pulled the RV in the circle drive in front of the building where he knew there was a hose and it would reach the RV from the building.  In the heat were we going in and out of the RV, up and down stairs, and we were dripping wet...getting everything in the RV or under the RV in storage and ready.  When working inside the RV, no matter how hot you get - and no matter how much you fooled with the thermostat -, the air conditioner wouldn't run and you won't get cooled down without turning on the generator!  Lesson #2.

Don has gotten really good at hooking up the car.  We have a standard RV hitch with pressure release arms that sometimes don't want to release (which happened when we stopped in Des Moines) but all in all they are very easy to connect and disconnect the car from the RV.  The two bar system works great, the car tracks along behind the RV as we drive and we really don't have to do anything special driving, we don't even know we're towing the car!  We just have to remember with the help of your NAGivaTOR, that you can't back up!  When we heard the crunch of the RV hitting the rock, Don's immediate reaction was to back up off the rock when Pat yelled - DON'T back up....to which Don replied, Oh, yea!

The SMI braking system for the car is great.  Nothing looks different in the car around the driving area and there are no special procedures that you have to go thru, not even a switch to throw.  The new Honda CRV came real handy to cart things back and forth from home to the RV the day we packed up, too, as we had parked down the street in an empty lot overnight.  The car will really come in handy when we get to Colorado, as we'll park the RV and have a small vehicle to get around in for the week.

The first day driving was pretty uneventful.   Don says the RV view is  more interesting as we can see the top of the corn, not just the sides!  We drove from Northbrook, IL to Des Moines, Iowa, approximately 339 miles.  Left Northbrook about 2 pm, pulled in to Des Moines, Iowa about 8:45 pm.

Our first experience stopping at a truck stop for the night was interesting and more challenging than we expected.  Not knowing how far we could or would want to drive in a day, we stopped at a Flying J gas/truck stop.  We have to enter in the truck entrance, towing a 40 ft. bus with car.  There were NO parking spots left - and hundreds of trucks!  And we were hungry, had skipped lunch and just had  snacks in the bus earlier in the day.  We found a spot along an outside strip near the truck parking but after eating (Love's truck stop restauurant  - I wouldn't recommend the Arby's food) and getting back in we learned we could not turn aound to get out - not enough room for the RV/car.  So, we had to drive thru the TRUCK gas lanes in the wrong direction - to get back out.  (no one was looking, we hoped!)  Lesson #3.

Next we thought we would be able to pop out the sides, so we could reach drawers and things in the bedroom.  Well, Flying J said we could park the bus right in front - in the car parking lot, not back in the truck lot where there were hundreds of trucks for the night.  And I mean hundreds!  So we pulled around and the RV took up about 6 spaces - horizontally.  We decided NOT to pop out...it was late, we were tired and needed to shower and get some sleep.  It was 10:30 pm!!

The shower and bathroom is totally accessible without the popouts extended, so we were able to shower and find pj's and go to sleep.  Our sleep was interruped at 5 am with a horrendous storm...pelting the roof and windows but all in all we slept pretty well.

Sunday morning we hit the road at about 9:30 am after sleeping in a little, enjoying breakfast in the RV (we brought cereal and fruit).  Iowa is a little hilly and interesting but once we hit Nebraska - oh well, I thought we were back in Illinois with the flat farm fields on each side of the road.  Our goal was to make it to North Platte, Nebraska, about 411 miles.  We pulled in to the Holiday RV campground park about 6 pm in North Platte.  First on the agenda was to disconnect the car so we could drive to a dinner spot.  We're really appreciating having a car along at this point!  And the hitch to connect the car is really easy to connect and disconnect and at this point Don is pretty expert at it!

We are ready to start our second day on the road.  I can't say that I feel like a camper yet.  Sleeping in the parking lot of a Flying J without rolling the slides out blows the ambiance. Still, we are grateful that it is an easy to find, and free, place to stop overnight. 

The morning routine was pretty easy.  Got the car hooked up, had a little breakfast with Pat in the portable dining room, and off we go.  Nightmare On Elm Street.  The first thing Don did was look at the backup camera to be sure the car was tracking behind with no problems.  Then his brain started playing what his kids used to call the Bumpty Bump music.  There was a giant insect sprawled across the car.  Then he realized there was a grasshopper clinging to the backup camera.  He wished he could have taken a picture of that screen, but we were underway and it was too late to stop. 

There is a lot to learn about the RV life.  Fortunately there are a lot of friendly people available for questions, and Pat is a great list keeper so we don't forget what we need to ask when we have an expert available.  Enough of my chatter for the day, and Don is quick to say - Let’s Roll.

Driving from North Platte to Aurora, Colorado wasn't exciting.  On this trip for the most part, we don't have time for many side trips or exploring.  Nebraska is flat and once we got into Colorado we could see horses and rolling countryside.  Not too much to say. 

Holiday RV Park and Campground in North Platte was a GREAT stop, we found at the last minute and called from the road earlier in the day and made a reservation for that evening.  We were able to hook up to both electricity and water.  Dinner nearby was at Ruby Tuesday - too late to search further.  We were tired and hungry.  Our first night in a real campground was interesting.  There was an assortment of fifth wheel campers, buses, trucks and tents...OH!  and a few motorcycles that arrived with tents.  

We left North Platte and headed for Aurora, Colorado early Monday morning.  Once we were settled Monday afternoon at Cherry Creek State Park we enjoyed a  visit with Don's son and his family nearby in Parker, Colorado.

Mountains off in the distance, beautiful lake/resevoir.

Driving in to the park one evening - taken on my iPhone!

Next stop - Beaver Creek, Colorado for Ochenrider wedding!