.

Had a great visit with my sister and got stuffed with several turkey meals after Thanksgiving and decided to go back to Douglasville, GA and get the problem we discovered on my rig fixed. After more investigating and some engineering discussions, the fix was decided on and I got the work done which involved quite a bit of welding on the frame of my 5th wheel home. Thanks to the proper diagnosis and repair, all was fixed and my problem is history. Once the work was finished, I knew it was time to head for my winter quarters in southern Alabama as the weather was really turning cold.

Summary: Elk Lodge Rv parking: 59; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 59; National Parks: 70; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Repair on the 5th wheel

Repair on the 5th wheel

Repair on the 5th wheel

Repair on the 5th wheel

Douglasville, GA

After a nice visit with my friend in Douglasville, it was time to move to SC for a visit with my friend Mike and his family. When I got there, I put my rig in storage and stayed with them for a week. The visit was great and I had a good time bonding with their 2 year old daughter. What a beautiful little girl. All to soon the week was up and we caravaned down to my sisters home in Sun City for Thanksgiving. She cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with all of the traditional food. Mike and his family returned to their home and I stayed for a nice visit with my sister for a few days.

Summary: Elk RV Parks: 59; Escapee Rv Parks: 26; Public Rv Parks: 58; National Parks: 70; Ships: 17; Forts: 30.

I have had some problems with the slide out on my rig and a year ago, my friend Bob had engineered a fix for it. He had invited me to stop on my travels east at his sons factory to see if we could evaluate the problem and do a more permanent repair on the problem. I agreed and drove to Douglasville, found the factory and was able to park there with a water and electric hook up. One of the guys working there has had a lot of experience working on RV’s and and after inspecting it, discovered the problem was a cracked eight inch I beam which was responsible for the sag in the slide out room. Because I was due to visit my friend Mike and his family before Thanksgiving, I left Douglasville with the plan to return and get the problem fixed after the holiday.

Summary: Elk Lodge Rv Parking: 59; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 56; National Parks: 70; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Douglasville, GA

On November 11, I left Vicksburg and drove across I 20 east through Mississippi and into Alabama and stopped in Anniston, Al at the Elks Lodge. Got parked in the back parking lot with no problem. Found out that I was close to the Talladega Speedway and drove out to visit it. When I arrived, I was the only visitor there and was able to take a van tour of the facility with a couple of the women that worked in the huge gift shop. The track facility is one huge place and it is the longest track in the NASCAR race series. The facility, I think is larger than the Daytona race track.  After the van tour, I spent a few hours in the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame museum. They have many race cars that have run here as well as cars from the very early days of NASCAR. An interesting series of displays are several race cars that were in serious wrecks and all torn up. They also have a Hall of Fame where people who have made an impact on the sport were honored. A nice museum and if you are interested in this sport, you should see it.

Summary: Elk Lodge Rv parks; 59; Escapee Rv Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 55; National Parks: 70; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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November opened with me in a dumpy RV park in Texarkana, AK. so I quickly packed up and moved down to Shreveport, LA. This ride took me on secondary roads with little traffic except for big heavy gravel trucks. From Shreveport, I connected up with I 20 and drove east to Vicksburg, MS and found the Elks Lodge with no problem. Parked behind the pool building and settled in. I was surprised that the lodge was closed in the evening. Vicksburg sits right on the bluffs on the Mississippi river and was the site of one of the major battles of the Civil War.

It was interesting to see the amount of barge traffic on the river. They were huge with 20 or more barges lashed together with a large tug boat pushing them up river against the current. At Vicksburg, the river takes a tight turn and the barges made it with no problems which was quite an achievement. There were several small casinos located on the banks of the river and I visited them with my typical luck. (not) On Sunday I finally saw some folks at the lodge and was invited to join them for the NASCAR race. We had a great time with good food and company. I got a crick in my neck trying to watch the race and the Patriots game because the TV’s were in opposite ends of the room. The race was good and my Patriots won their game.

While in Vicksburg, I visited the battlefield and took a 16 mile driving tour all around the site of the battle. The battle at Vicksburg was the final link in the defeat of the Confederate forces controlling the Mississippi. With the victory here, the Union forces held the river and the Confederate supply route was gone. General U.S. Grant was up against General John Pemberton who was in charge of the rebel forces holding the city. With the Union army circling the city from the east hammering the city with many batteries of artillery and many gunboats blasting the city from the river, Pemberton held for 46 days under siege before surrendering the city to General Grant.

Unlike Gettysburg the driving tour at this battlefield does not allow you to visualize the flow of the battle due to heavy tree growth through out the tour. It is however, well marked with signs explaining what and where the attacking and defending forces were located. I read somewhere that this battlefield has more monuments than any other Civil War battle site. It seems that every artillery and infantry location is marked with a monument of some type. Some are simple stone markers while others are very elaborate tall statues or tall spires. The highlight of the tour is the U.S.S. Cairo Museum where they have on display a Union ironclad gunboat which was sunk by Confederate mines in the river. It was salvaged in the 1960’s and found to be reasonably well preserved. It has been reconstructed and well presented. The museum has on display many of the artifacts found in the ship when it was raised.

Summary: Elk Lodge Rv Parking: 58; Escapee Rv Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 55; National Parks: 70; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Vicksburg, MS Elks Lodge

Vicksburg, MS Elks Lodge

Vicksburg, MS Elks Lodge

Vicksburg, MS Elks Lodge

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Vicksburg MS, Nat'l Park

Left Midwest City and continued south and east to Texarkana, Arkansas where I had some difficulty finding the RV park there. The ride down was boring with nothing interesting at all. Lots of Baptist churches on this leg. The RV Park was an afterthought set up on the edge of a very large old motel complex which has been converted to one room rentals. Real tacky with the railroad right across the street and loads of barking dogs all around where I was parked. Did not plan to stay very long there. So ends October 2007 in not so lovely Texarkana, AR.

Summary: Elk Lodges: 57; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 55; National Parks: 69; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Sterling Crest RV Park, Texarkana, AR

Sterling Crest RV Park, Texarkana, AR

Leaving Russell, KS. I decided to take secondary roads down to Oklahoma City and camp at the Elks Lodge in Midwest City. The ride down was through flat plains all planted with new crops. The fields were all green and wooked almost like lawns because the crops had just been planted. No idea what the crops were. I passing through the tiny towns I found more brick paved streets in the central parts of the towns and boy were they rough and bumpy. Another thing I noticed was the lack of chain stores and resturants. The only ones I saw were Pizza Huts and Subway stores. Every town did have a Dollar Store however. In this part of southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma the churches were mostly Methodist and little else.

During my stay here, I took a short drive over to Tinker AFB and checked out the Air Park located just outside the base gate. The planes were well displayed and in great shape. Sure looks like they take good care of them. A B1 bomber was the prominent plane on display. What a big bird it is. While in Midwest City, I watched the Red Sox win the World Series in 4 games straight. Way to go guys!!!!!!

Summary: Elk Lodges: 57; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 54; National Parks: 69; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Midwest City, OK Elks Lodge

Midwest City, OK Elks Lodge

Midwest City, OK Elks Lodge

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City

The ride from the Denver area to Russell, KS. took me quickly away from the mountains and into the great plains. Talk about flat, miles and miles of totally flat land with very few trees to break it up. Scarce fuel stops and few small towns. I left with a big weather front coming in from the west and it followed me into Kansas. It got very cold and windy as it finally caught up with me in the evening. Glad I have a good satellite TV system as I was able to see my beloved Red Sox win the pennant and the Patriots win another game.

Russell is in a large oil producing area and next to the RV park has a small oil museum that I visited. Not much to see except a lot of old drilling rigs rusting away. An interesting thing I discovered was that the fence posts here are all stone. Because there is a lack of trees in the area, the early settlers were forced to make the fence posts out of locally quarried chalky limestone. When freshly quarried, the stone is soft and can be sawed, notched and drilled or shaped with hand tools. After prolonged exposure to air, it hardens and becoms weather resistant. The stone was used in the construction of many buildings, homes and yard ornaments in the area. It is bedrock and found near the surface in eight to nine inche thickness. Russell is the childhood home of Bob Dole and Sen. Specter. The main street in town and most of the side streets for one block are all paved in brick and are a bit rough when you drive over them. It is the heart of “Post Rock Country”.

Summary: Elk Lodges: 56; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 54; National Parks: 69; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Stone Fence Posts, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Oil Patch Museum, Russell, KS

Stone Fence Post, Russell, KS

Triple J RV Park, Russell KS

Flat Kansas

Triple J RV Park, Russell KS

Triple J RV Park, Russell KS

After a recent storm that went through the area, all of the high mountains behind me to the west were snow covered and I decided to take a drive up to see them closer. From Westminster, I drove up through Boulder and into Estes Park. This small town sits right at the entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Driving into the town, I passed the town park and noticed quite a crowd had gathered watching a herd of Elk who had gathered in the park beside a pond. I parked and joined the crowd and was within 10 feet of these beautiful animals. It was interesting to watch the head bull sniffing around the many females and bugling from time to time. When any of the other males showed any interest in the girls, he would give them the evil eye and they would either leave the area immediately or he would just strut towards them and they would take the hint and leave. Boy, he sure was the boss of the herd. There must have been 50-75 elk there, mostly females and smaller kids.

From there I entered the Rocky Mountain National Park and found out that the road was closed due to snow but was open up to 10,000 feet. Up I went into the snowy mountains and the views were beautiful. At the end of the road where it was blocked off, I stopped and checked it out. I noticed how high I was and really puffed a bit walking back to my truck. On the return ride, I decided to take another route back which had 14,000 feet mountains to my right. Continuing south, I finally came to the old mining camp of Black Hawk which was loaded with small casinos. needless to say I stopped and made a small contribution to the local economy. The road soon entered a beautiful canyon with high craggy rock walls on both sides. The creek that ran beside the road was loaded with gold way back then and resulted in the establishment of Black Hawk.. Nice day with beautiful sights. 

Summary: Elk Lodges: 56; Escapee Parks: 26; Public Parks: 53; National Parks: 69; Ships: 17; Forts: 30

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Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Rocky Mt. NP

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Estes Park, Co. Elk Herd

Rocky Mt. NP

Rocky Mt. NP

Rocky Mt. NP

Rocky Mt. NP

Rocky Mt. NP

After a great 2 weeks in Moab, UT., it was time to move on. The weather is getting cooler and storms seem to be building up in the west so it’s east and south for me. Because a serius storm was expected come in this evening I decided to get on the interstate and get to the Denver area before it hit. Looking in the rear window of my truck, I could see the dark clouds building behind me and fortunately I won the race with pleanty of time to spare.

I 70 into west Colorado is a beautiful drive as you drive up the west side of the Rocky Mountains climbing all of the time. Higher and higher we went and as I passed through Beaver Creek, I flashed back on the good times I enjoyed there in the 1980’s. Skiing all over the different ski areas in that part of Colorado and even getting married in the condo at Beaver Creek. On the long down hill from the top of the pass west of Denver, I heard metal to metal sounds as I was braking and knew instantly I was in big trouble with a brake job ahead of me before I left Denver.

With the help of the GPS, I found the Elks Lodge in Westminster with no problems. Westminster is a suburb a bit north west of downtown Denver. The Lodge has recognized the financial benefit of a semi campground for the traveling brother Elks and heve built a facility that can handle 30 rigs with full hookups. Very rare for a lodge.

My top priority was to get the brakes fixed and once I drove my truck without the 5th wheel behind it, quickly concluded it was not the truck but was the trailer. After looking around, I found a RV repair center that could fit me in the following week. Brought the rig over to the repair center and left it for the day with the understanding that they would have it fixed by the end of the day. I went off and visited the Air and Space museum in Denver which was crowded with a Christmas craft sale going on inside. Booths all over the floor crowding the aircraft and preventing good picture taking. From the Air Museum, I went into the center of Denver, parked and walked down to the US Mint only to find that the tours were already booked so I took a picture and headed back to check up on the brake job.

Found out that the 19 year old brake equipment had finally died and that the only safe thing to do is to replace the whole system. I was shown the problems and agreed to go ahead and do the job. $$$$$. Unfortunately that meant the rig would have to stay with them for another day so I went out and got a room at Motel 6 and crashed for the night The next day, while fueling up, I noticed a rear tire looked a little low. Reached in and found it was flat so I drove over to the air hose and figured I would try to air it up. After putting air in for a few moments, I noticed I was getting nowhere and when examining the tire found a hole in the interior sidewall. Oh crap, what’s next? good chance that I damaged the tire on my 4X4 adventure back in Moab and most likely drove all of the way to Denver with it flat. One of the benefits of having a dually. Found a Goodyear dealer thanks to the GPS and had a new tire mounted. back to the repair center and waited for a couple of hours for the brake job to be finished and back to the lodge for the night. Whew, what an expensive day that was!!!   

Summary: Elk Lodges: 56; Escapee RV parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 53; National Parks: 68; Ships: 17; Forts: 30.

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Westminster, CO., Elks Lodge

Westminster, CO., Elks Lodge

Westminster, CO., Elks Lodge

Westminster, CO., Elks Lodge

Westminster, CO., Elks Lodge

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Denver Mint

Denver Mint

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO

Wings over the Rockies, Denver, CO