Back in Colorado

After a lot of talking back and forth between visiting Dee in Illinois or Lisa in Green River, UT, we chose Utah for economic reasons. Not only was it less miles to drive but it’s still within close proximity to the gas fields in Wyoming and Colorado, and we wanted to be in a good position when they finally kick back off. Plus we spent April last year in Utah and absolutely fell in love with the Canyonlands so not only would we get to explore the areas we missed, but this time I get to see Lisa, too. Win, win.

So as we’re at the gas station, literally filling up to head east to Colorado, Joey got a call asking him to come to Colorado to help out with a couple drilling station moves, lasting probably a couple of weeks. yee haw…can’t ask for much better than that. A slow, easy start back to work after a whole year off with a broken arm and leg, plus no set schedule.

We pulled over at The Truck Stop and consulted with the cows

 

Of course we were going to go, we just couldn’t believe we got the call….right when we really needed it. We just had to pull over to convince ourselves it was real. But…are we really going to go back to the mountain that almost killed him?? Yep!

We took the same route down from Rawlins as we did last week, but this time we stopped and had a roadside lunch, this time stopping at Fortification Rocks instead of just cruising by.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw a FOR SALE SIGN! This gorgeous chunk of land with it’s volcanic uplift of rocks on it, that were used by several Indian tribes for fortification before battle…is for sale to the public! You’ll have to fight the rattlesnakes for it, but it could be yours.

We’ve stayed in three different RV Parks on the Western Slope of the Rockies in Colorado, so we decided to try out a fourth one. We cruised through it a couple years ago and I swore I would never stay here, but seeing as they’re the only one with a spot available we really had no choice. Luckily for us, it was under new management and had been much improved. We got an end spot, at the very back of the park, just yards from the Colorado River.

We were just in time to watch the leaves change, and our site happened to be the only one that had flowers still in bloom. The flowers were on a weed, but a flowers a flower to me. I took it as a sign we were meant to be there. Then this amazing rainbow appeared. Colorado was welcoming us back! :)

Another good sign was the on site chicken coop. The coop is nestled in the trees at the end of the rainbow, and houses eight chickens, three ducks and a huge white turkey. They belonged to another family but Jonas and Jewel visited them almost daily and Jewel caught this funny picture of the turkey!

While we were still playing in Nebraska Joey expressed his concern about staying in the bus. He was tired of the cramped corners, of dealing with water pipe issues, having to dump the sewer, lack of privacy, and so on, so we agreed when he went back to work we would get a house to rent. But by the time we got to Colorado and we were happy enough with our RV park, instead of moving out we redesigned our bedroom in order to get more space and stretching room. When we first moved in it was a small full size half way walk around bed. We then made the entire space a platform and put a queen size bed on it, where we had to crawl in and out of it. The crawling got real old so now we turned the bed 180 degrees so our feet are pointing out the back door instead, and cut out the platform. Now we have lots of walking space, even room for Joey to do sit ups and push ups, and easy access to all the cupboards. We also moved the TV to under the rear cabinets, so now I can watch TV and watch the river flow by at the same time! What a difference a little shifting can make, and I’m thinking now maybe we can stay in the bus all winter.

Then two weeks later I get a call from Joey, “I found this great house……………..!”

Colorado - Home, Sweet Home - For now

We've been back in Colorado now for exactly three weeks. We chose not to go back to Battlement Mesa with it's full hook ups, on site laundry, and Pepsi machine, in favor of the rural campground with the private lake.

This time I have a car, and a working refrigerator, and working Internet. We left the satellite dish in Texas at our storage unit, I mean parent's house. I now have a small Verizon USB modem that works ten times better than HughesNet ever did. The only downfall is only one person can be online at a time, but so far it hasn't been a big deal at all.

The lake doesn't require a fishing license and is catch and release only, so Jonas finally got to try out his new Rocket Fishing Rod he got from Grama for Christmas. It took an eleven year old to figure out how to work it, though, since it came with no instructions.

I gotta say, It's so much fun! No one else even cared to fish, and they do their usual huddle around each other all watching one pole.

Until I ask them to smile for me.

Why can't they just BNrml??

When I'm not taking pictures of them, I can be found here:


I have an extra one for anyone that wants to join me.

Sharks in Colorado

We were all set to go sledding near Powderhorn a couple days ago, that was until this latest snow storm started. I couldn't even get to Rifle to get a new router that I've been desperatley needing. Yes, I do need it, and ever since moving into an RV ten years ago, I've been pretty good with just getting what we need. That's one thing that this lifestyle will teach you, whether you want to learn it or not, you don't get it unless you need it. OR, in order to bring home those new shoes you have to get rid of a pair you haven't worn, in say...two years. But I'm getting off track. What I'm trying to say is, it's been snowing long time. But we finally got out today, and am happy to report that my new router works wonderfully with my new cable internet. I had it with the satellite. I downgraded my service, and got Comcast...with no contract, and for only $33 a month. I'm paying three dollars more a month for both services, than I was for the fastest package I had with HughesNet that wasn't any better than dial up. I now have a dish and modem for sale..any takers?

The drive to Rifle was absolutely beautiful! We didn't see asphalt for four miles.

All the way down our "hill" and crossing the Colorado.

Nothing but white.

Errands done, almost everything on my list accomplished, we get to head back to our mountains. Maybe I'm biased, but I think ours are the best.


The second we walk in the door, Jonas is jonesing to get outside. Which is quite a shock since I've been wishing they'd get outside more. Jewel has a fever and cough so she's not up for anything but napping. I even found some sledding hills nearby which I never knew were there before today, but we have to stay home wth Jewel. Instead the boys build fortress walls to hide behind during snowball fights.

Too bad Jake was aiming for me!

What's a shark doing in the middle of the snow?


Watch out snow swimmer!

There's three more behind you!


The whole RV Park has witnessed the carnage. It's not safe at site "17".

Powderhorn on Dwellable

U.A.'s, D.O.T.'s & S.O.B.'s

The day after buying the second welder, the guy backed out and said he'd pay us back on payday, so Joey had no choice but to take his welder into the shop in Grand Junction.....and take a couple forced days off work. Normally we may spend the time testing how well the memory foam mattress actually remembers, but this time we decided to be a little more productive. Joey got his U.A. done so he can work at a Chevron, or is it Exxon, Plant. He also got his welder registered with the state of Colorado. We've never heard of this before, but when he got stopped by DOT the other day he asked where his welder registration sticker was, so he figured he better get it before he gets caught using it without one. It only cost $12 but when I called the courthouse she said it could be a couple hundred, makes me wonder what she was talking about now. I'm sure I did some important stuff, too......hmmmm.

I drove along to Grand Junction to pick up the welder, and enjoyed a not so common view of snow on the mountain range east of town.


Long time friends of my blog may remember the mountain range from the last campground we were in, the rural one with the private lake.

I love these ever changing views, I never know what I'll get from one day to the next.

Of course, now Mr. Flakey wants to go ahead and sell Joey the welder, but after having more time to think about it he realized taking a couple days off to fix a welder occassionally... is a nice thing. We don't need the headache of maintaining two machines and two trucks, so we're also selling his Ford F-350. Lessening our schtuff makes me ecstatic.

He went to Utah for a job his first day back, and there's not many things he likes more than a road trip, especially since I just got his Sirius radio going again after his free trial stopped weeks ago. People have been telling us for years that we should get satellite radio, but we refused to pay for radio....until we tried it. Why'd we take so long?!

THEN the snow started.

Rendering us unable to escape. (Not really, but when we can't even see our neighbors trailer, we'd be stupid to get on the roads if we didn't have to).

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Sleet

Winter Rv'ing in Colorado

I assumed I knew how to make the hat so I started it, and then got all the way down to my last knit before I read the instructions on how to cap it off. Turns out I did it backwards, I had the top where the brim should be, and no brim where the top should be. Oh well, I ended up unschooling myself through the rest of the hat and we love how it turned out.

And that is my final post on knitting, we will now return to my usual blog of half assed travel stories and bus living.
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To answer Stacie, we are currently on the western slope of the Rockies in Colorado, where the temps have been averaging around thirty for the highs, and hovering in the teens at night. The next four days we're expecting four to six inches of snow daily, with temps getting down to two. Just for shits and giggles I'll even take you on a mini tour of our RV park as it's been lately, and ever since we got back here, end of December. They say last year the snow lasted about a week. It's been a coooold winter. Yet, we've been able to keep toasty inside.

Directly in front of the bus, looking towards the northeast.

Standing in the doorway of the bus, looking North.


These mountains not only serve as a nice backdrop for my viewing pleasure, but they also house all the oil drilling rigs that my husband currently works on to bring in money, also for my pleasure. I gave him a camera to take some pictures up there, where he's often welding in the middle of blizzards. When I get some from him I'll post them along with a little more information on his current job, which he feels compares alot to unschooling.

Alternative Transportation

We still haven't gotten another car. Not only haven't I gotten a car, Joey's been leaving his truck up on the mountain, which means we have NO car. One day I borrowed his buddies spare pickup to take Jonas to the dentist in Glenwood Springs, otherwise we've been completely car less. I haven't minded it at all.

In an effort to get at least one of the kids to ride with me the one mile to the gas station, I accidentally bribed them with candy. My plan was to get Jonas to come with and then Jake could stay with Jewel so I didn't have to haul her, and her forty pounds. Must never bribe them again.

The way up (all up hill) we took the main road there but discovered an excellent path that led in and out of tunnels made of aspens, weaving obscurely through the neighborhoods. Not only was the ride home beautiful, it was fast...it was all downhill.

The RV park also has a free shuttle service that runs four times a day, anywhere in town I want to go. All for free. It's basically a little old guy driving little old ladies, and four hippies, to the Senior Center, library, store, and Activity center, in a minivan. It's nice and all, but I have to go by their schedule, and well....I don't even wear a watch.

Once we rode three miles to the Activity Center. The kids were determined to go, but we missed the shuttle, and they said they could do it on their bikes. I never thought they could do it, but I figured since I was hauling Jewel I'd need a lot of breaks, so I'd just wait up for them then. HA! They smoked my ass! It was eighty percent uphill, and I walked/pushed the bike sixty percent of it. They had to stop and wait on me. Finally they asked if they could just meet me at the gas station. If I weren't hauling a six year old, I'm convinced I could have kept with an eight year old.


This view made me tell Jewel that I could actually live here, here in the place they call "The Colorado Dream". I thought she'd agree with me, instead she said, "YOU'D live in a house??" She knows me so well.

We pushed on from the gas station another uphill mile to the grocery store. I thought I'd have the kids convinced to just get some groceries and then go back home since we already had such a good workout, but no.....they wanted to go to the activity center still. I soldiered on, savoring every sweaty second I have riding with them. I don't know how I did it, but I finally made it to the top, the very top.


You can see the path we came up, and the mountains that Joey calls work.

After that long, hot, sweaty ride, can you believe we forgot our swimsuits? A cool plunge would have been nice, instead I worked out about ten minutes and then joined the kids in the game room for some Foosball and air hockey, before introducing them to racquetball, and how painful it is to get hit by one. Sorry Jonas.

Joey and a coworker were driving by on their way home from work and saw these two blond girls and a woman that looked like they were DYING, pushing their bikes up a hill. It was actually his sons and his wife, but we forgive him. He gave everyone a lift home, including the extra weight I added with groceries after the gym, except me. Now that I was lighter and I had done all the hard work and all that laid ahead of me were downhill slopes, I was finishing what I started! I walked it one more brief minute, but other than that it was me with the wind in my hair, fleeing down the path, oohing and aahing and pointing out the sights to Jewel....who was already back in the bus.

Glenwood Springs on Dwellable

Gone, but not far

We moved again.

Gone is our beautiful lake. Gone are the days of children being forced to carry their own weight.


Gone with once a week sewer pump outs, or having to scrounge quarters to take a shower at the campground.

Gone with six mile bike rides to get a Pepsi.

Gone with late night laundrymats and grocery store runs.

Gone with the isolation.

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I thought I could handle it, but there's only so much a girl can do in the middle of nowhere. As usual we couldn't get our Internet up and running, and after swimming in the lake and biking, there wasn't much else to pass the days besides TV. A lot of TV. I was to the point that I was wishing Big Brother was back to six days a week. I was on the verge of running away when the other RV park called and said they had a spot for us. I didn't care that Joey was working a twelve hour shift I loaded up everything I could and made him move us immediately. I hadn't checked out the park before hand but I knew it had full hookups and it was closer to Joey's work, and a grocery store. It turned out to be way better than that.

I now also have onsite laundry, paved roads (nice to keep the mud out) and a membership to the Community Activity Center. The whole development we're in is completely new, and resembles Country Club living. The Activity Center is a full on Health Club with a huge indoor swimming pool, weights, game room, Yoga, tennis, raquetball, basketball court and even an indoor running track. Plus the older ladies that work there are super nice..such a bonus.

It's mostly retired seniors but there are a TON, and I mean a ton, of workers out here, with their families! It's still shocking for me to see other families because when we started I swear it felt like we were the only ones. Everywhere I look I see tween boys, although ours haven't ventured out to meet any of them yet.

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There's a Pepsi machine only yards away.

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I hired a professional installer to set up our Internet dish today, only to find out the problem has been theirs all along! And even though I'm on right now, it's constantly losing signal. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate HughesNet? Yah, if you're considering them, come talk to me first.

Nebraska, tastes a lot like Iowa

Nebraska is so lovely this time of year. I think what attracts me most to the midwest is the sheer vastness of green. Growing up mostly in deserts, I never seem to get enough of bright green rolling hills of grass, especially with little black cows dotted all over the countryside.

I have this picture set as my desktop. Doesn't it kind of remind you of the original Windows background?

Anyway, it's a good time to be in Nebraska, and we couldn't have picked a better place to be right now. Joey's work is with a company he enjoys working for, and it's less than two miles away. He's not using his welder on this job so someone else picks him up in the morning, brings him back for lunch, and then back to work and home again. This means I get the truck everyday, but of course, I don't even need it here. The campground isn't the most ideal:

But having multiple playgrounds and a swimming pool as our front yard, leaves little room to complain. Our backyard is also the fairgrounds which hosts car races every friday night. Last week we watched them from our campspot:

We talked about going inside to watch tonight, so we'll see.

We bought a family pass to the pool, so the boys are able to come and go as they please, but Jewel has to wait for me to take her. If she could swim without floaties she'd be able to go with the boys, until then I'm forced to go and lounge around poolside, leaving all chores behind, while absorbing the sun and getting a deep dark healthy tan. Meanwhile, the bus needs a good scrubbing. But hey, I'm tan!

Even the local Museum is in walking distance. It is, however, like most small town museums, pretty boring. Jake thought it was awesome, though, but I'm sure it's only beacuse they got free access to this old caboose:

He obviously wasn't thrilled to be sitting in an old school desk:


Lately Jewel's been wanting me to take pictures of her. Here she is on the porch of the old school house where she does her common "only one pose, and hold it for five minutes."

I'll take what I can get. Even if it includes her jumping in front of my camera while I'm trying to get a shot of the park.

Further proof that the best things come unexpectedly.

Another first

Things to do in a Campground
Originally uploaded by jakesmome.

Normally right now we'd be gone. When the job is over so is our time in that area, but something about this place is drawing us in. The weather has been absolutely beautiful, with warm days and cool nights. You know, open window weather. ahhh.

The decision to stay here was an easy one, it was the first in many years that we didn't have a house to get back to or famly we were desperate to see. Today we get to just BE. The biggest thing almost nine years on the road has taught us is how to relax, and take time for ourselves. We're in no hurry to get anywhere. We can take as long as we want, that next location isn't going anywhere. We're no longer on a quest to see and do everything.......and that feels good.


Things to do in a campground.