a day of rest

The past three days of driving have been nice but it is good to have a day of not watching traffic, not bouncing over the rough patched roadways, and just being a bit lazy before we get back on the road.

It has been a beautiful day here in Grand Junction, CO starting with a very cool morning in the low 50s.  I got out mid morning and drained our holding tanks to get rid of the flood water that went down the shower drain.  Also refilled the fresh water tank so that should hold us the remainder of this trip.  We had windows open for nice fresh air up until a little before lunch time when we closed up and let the AC take care of the afternoon temps.

Tomorrow we get back on Hwy 50 and head through Utah with our stop tomorrow night right on the Utah/Nevada border.  In fact the campground is "The Border Inn" Casino and RV Park.

a few pics

Here are a few of Jo's window shots from today

The Arkansas River

 snow at high elevations

 Blue Mesa Reservour

US Hwy 50 day seven

Today's drive was the most scenic so far.  We fueled up in Pueblo, CO with mountains in the distance, soon we were into the mountains.  First passing by the Royal Gorge and then the drive up through the Arkansas River canyon with lots of folks enjoying white water rafting.  Then it was up and over the Monarch pass at 11,300 feet and soon along the Blue Mesa reservoir and on to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  There was one other summit along the way at a little over 8,000 feet.

Tonight we are in the Grand Junction, CO KOA and will be here for two nights.  After the past three long days of driving, a day of rest will be welcome.  Our site has full hookups so I will take advantage of tomorrow to correct the tank situation following our flood.  I will dump both waste tanks and refill the fresh water.  When we leave here highway 50 follows I-70 through most of Utah.

We have now completed 2132 of the total 3131 miles

This is our day seven route 341 miles

 

and this is the combined days 1-7

today's flood

No not the result of 40 days and 40 nights but just a half day.  Around noon time when we stopped for both fuel and food as I got out to fuel up there was water rushing out of the bottom of our camper and I could hear the water pump working to pump out more of our fresh water tank.  I got inside and turned off the pump to prevent any more but the floor of our camper was flooded.  After fueling up we pulled to a parking space and opened up all three slide-outs so we could get in to assess what happened.

We started from home with a full fresh water tank and during traveling I hadn't been turning off the water pump as it had not been a problem before, live and learn.  It seems that my rain coat that was needed for several days of the previous trip had been left in the shower just as a place for it to drain.  Jo had picked it up and hung if from the shower faucets which turn down to turn on.  Apparently some of the bumps of this mornings travels added some weight to that force downward on the faucets and turned the shower on.  Also as luck would have it the shower drain was pushed down and as a result the tub base was filled to overflowing.

We pulled the plug to drain the tub so now I need to empty the grey water holding tank.  We turned off the water pump so no more would be pumped out of the fresh water tank and turned on the exhaust fan to assist in drying things out while we made the rest of today's trip.  At today's outside temperatures (103) and with the air circulating things were almost dried out when we stopped at our campground for this evening.  Monday we will have a day of not traveling so I will dump the grey tank and top off our fresh water tank and we should be as good as new for the remainder of this trip.

Just another oops!

US Hwy 50 day six

Today's trip took us through the rest of Kansas and into the southeast corner of Colorado.  There were miles and miles of very little to no traffic with only one hiccup and that was in the town of Cimarron, KS where as we got close to town the police had the road blocked and were turning folks around.  There was a big fire just ahead and the fire trucks needed the roadway to do their work.  Our detour was to backtrack to almost Dodge City before there was a paved road to then go north to another local road that took us back west to get around the situation.  We had plenty of time in the day and plenty of fuel so not a big concern for us.

This morning just a few miles before we got to Dodge City we passed the mid point (by miles) of this coast to coast trip.

we have now completed 1791 of the total 3131 miles

This is our day six route 334 miles

and this is the combined days 1-6

US Hwy 50 day five

After a brief rest stop to do laundry and restock the pantry, we got back on Hwy 50 this morning right where we left it on May 22nd.  Continuing our trek West toward the Pacific Ocean coastline we are tonight half way in the count of days, 5th of 10.

We did have a detour around the KC area due to major highway reconstruction.  Our detour took us from hwy 50 and put us on hwy 150 so we can say (if you ignore the 1 in the front) we were still on hwy 50.  The detour was more direct and much less traffic congestion.

Our campground tonight is on the Kansas State Fairgrounds.  The campground is huge and all sites are full hookups with Electric, Water, and Sewer connections at $30/night.  the sites are relatively level but not a tree in sight so we sit here in full sun and outside temperatures in the low to mid 90s.  Our AC has been working hard since we turned it on and we now have 85 degrees inside.  It should be comfortable by bedtime.

We have now completed 1457 of the total 3131 miles.

This is our day five route 345 miles

and this is the combined days 1-5

US Hwy 50 day four

Today's trip brought us back to the Martin Manor RV park where we will rest up for a couple of weeks, restock the pantry and closets.  On June 8 we will resume the Hwy 50 trek and head west which will take us 6 more days to reach the Pacific Ocean.  This is day 4 and at the end of day 10 we will be taking pictures of the Pacific.  Hwy 50 stops somewhere around Sacramento but we will continue to the waters edge.

This project has been quite interesting as except for the route through Missouri we are totally unfamiliar of this route and never know what to expect around the next curve or over the next hill.  Today through the Illinois farming communities we encountered several farm implements on the roadway traveling at 15-20 mph and long stretches of no-passing zones.

Going through St. Louis was interesting and not where I thought Rte 50 would be marked.  I had to turn off Ms Navi and follow MoDOT signing.  It was a bit confusing for awhile but then it all came together and we were on our way.

We have now completed 1112 miles of the total 3131 miles.

This is our day four route 285 miles

and this is the combined days 1-4

hitchhiker

We have picked up a hitchhiker.  Yesterday we had a tree frog chirping somewhere close to our camper.  Apparently he/she has bummed a ride as we now have the same chirping right along with us.  There is the space between the truck cab and the camper where we store some bins and bag-chairs.  I believe that he/she is in that area.  Right now we are having some light showers and our passenger is talking to us.  Not a problem as it is quite nice to have mother nature along with us.  He/she will find a new home in Missouri when we get back and unload.

US Hwy 50 day three

It was a very nice drive today, no showers until right after we got setup in our campground for the night and that was brief.

We got into the Cincinnati area a little before 10 which must have been a good time as we had very little traffic.  Here is our route through that metropolitan area right along the Ohio River.

Then it was continuing our drive westward into and across Indiana.  We are tonight right across the Wabash River from Illinois in the eastern time zone and we will gain an hour as soon as we cross the Wabash.

We have now completed 827 miles of the total 3131 miles.

This is our day three route 261 miles

and this is the combined days 1-3

day of rest

No driving today, just resting.  It's also a very nice day of sunshine without showers.  The current forecast is at 15% chance of precipitation between now and noon time tomorrow, I'll take the 85% chance of none.  Also by noontime we will be past Cincinnati and into Indiana.  Our destination tomorrow is near Vincennes, IN and the campground is the Ouabache Trails.  Ouabache is an old spelling of Wabash as that river is right there forming the border between Indiana and Illinois.

US Hwy 50 day two

Left Romney, WV around 8:30 this morning and continued our trek following US-50.  Our GWF was doing all she could and held the rain to only a sprinkle while we were getting ready to travel.  Off and on all day we drove through showers and an occasional downpour.  We also had a few hours of driving on dry pavement with the sun shining.

West Virginia Rte 50 today was mostly two lane, rural, mountain roadways.  Lots of 15 mph to 30 mph switchbacks and not a lot of straight roadways.  There were a lot of up over mountains with steep downgrades including those switchbacks which required the Beast's decent assist to keep the brakes cool.

We crossed into Ohio a little after noon and not as many mountain roadways but instead a few four lane divided roadways.  Arrived at our campground, Paint Creek State Park, around 3:30 this afternoon.  Because it is a weekend they required a two night reservation so we will have a day of rest tomorrow before resuming out trek on Monday.

We now have completed 566 miles of the total 3131 miles.

This is today's (day two) route 305 miles

believe me it wasn't as straight as it looks

 and this is the combined day one plus day two

US Hwy 50 day one

Today was a long day, hours that is not miles.  We left Ocean City, MD at the east end of US-50 about 8:30 am and 260 miles later it was 4:30 when we checked into the campground.  There was heavy traffic through DC (DUH) and a lot of stopped backups at lights. There were a few small cars tried to run over us and a taxi or two that believed that they owned the street.  With our LARGE vehicle I was able to make one cab driver back up to give me some room to make my turn.

Our GWF was with us all day.  She did her best this morning after a full night of heavy rain it slacked off to just a sprinkle while I was getting the camper ready to roll.  Then when we stopped for lunch again it was just a sprinkle.  When we arrived at our campsite for tonight again there wasn't even a sprinkle.  However during the drive there were several areas of heavy downpour requiring the wipers to be on fast speed.

As for the first day of our US-50 trek we now have completed 261 miles of the total sea-to-sea length of 3131 miles.  Here is the first sign in downtown Ocean City, MD.

And our path through downtown Washington DC alongside the Washington Mall

almost from the Capital Bldg to Lincoln's memorial as seen in this picture.

Sea to shining Sea

Tomorrow begins our trek to cross the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific following US Hwy 50.  If there was a belt put around the waist of the lower 48 States it would look like this.

The East end of Hwy 50 is in the center of Ocean City, MD at the X, just a few yards from the beach

and tomorrows route will look like this.

Good afternoon

We got out at noon time and went for a fresh seafood lunch, very good.  Then we drove through some more of this island seashore park looking for some of the horses.  We only saw two or three at one spot, off to the side where there were several cars parked on the shoulder of the road to watch them.  There was no place for us to stop but I believe that at least two of them were the same ones that I took pictures of this morning.

I took a walk this morning to try and get a picture of some of the ponies and here is what I found.

When we got back to our campground I stopped at the office and found a site in the electric loop that we could swap for and so tonight we have electric hookups and don't have to worry about the capacity of our batteries or the fact that clouds and fog don't let our solar panel work it's magic.

Tomorrow morning we have an early departure to begin our US Hwy 50 trek.

Good Morning

Our GWF (good weather fairy) was on the job yesterday as we were packing up and stopped the rain long enough for us to load the camper and dump our tanks before it started up again.  Then when we arrived at the beach she cleared up long enough to get all set up at our site.  Maybe she could have had the fog to go away but perhaps that's asking too much.  This morning the skies are cloudy but the fog has lifted and I went our for a few pictures.  Haven't seen any ponies yet but their tracks are all around in the sand.

 a brave paddle boarder out riding the waves

 from atop the dune between us and d'ocean

down at d'ocean

Left our campground near Phyllis a little before noon this morning.  Had to load the camper on the truck and then dump our holding tanks and then headed southeast toward Assateague Island State Park.  We have two nights here before beginning our trek west on US 50.

This afternoon there is a heavy fog over the campground so not good for taking pictures.  Hopefully tomorrow will clear up and we can take a few.  Also need to get a picture or two of the wild ponies.  Our campsite is just behind a sand dune from the Atlantic beach.  At this campground we do not have electric hookups so no AC or microwave, otherwise everything else works off of our batteries including our TV which has a bunch of channels and only one of them is a network channel, ABC.

Game 4

I suggested that we stop at game 3 where each of us has a win so we all had bragging rights.  I told Jo and Phyllis that if we played another game someone would be able to brag and the others would feel bad.  They twisted my arm and got out the cards so we did play game number 4 this afternoon.  Now "I" have full bragging rights to this weekends games as champion, winner of games 1 and 4.  😃

Playing cards has always been a pastime enjoyed by our whole family.  Win or lose it passes time and as parents neither Jo nor I ever purposefully let the kids win and they always enjoyed whenever they could beat us, which happens quite often.

Sadly this visit with Phyllis has come to an end and Jo & I head out in the morning for the Atlantic coast.  Our campground tomorrow night is the Assateague State Park just south of Ocean City, MD right on the beach.  There is a herd of wild ponies that roam the island so should get a picture or two.

game three results

Phyllis worked until lunch time today and has the same schedule tomorrow.  This afternoon we completed game three of our card game challenge.  This time Phyllis was the winner so now the score is one game each and we may just let it go like that and not unbalance the wins this trip.

Coming back to the camper right at sundown this evening we were in a thunder storm and we both got our shirts wet running from the truck to the camper.

Happy Mother's Day to all

It's been a good day here with Phyllis.  It stormed during the night last night but today has just been light sprinkles occasionally.  The forecast for the next several days here includes a 40% - 60% chance of rain so we might as well get used to it.

Since we had our "Mother's Day dinner" Friday evening we have just taken it easy today with no need to fight others for a reservation to dine with Mother.  I stopped at Popeye's on our way in to her house and took a sack of chicken and sides in for lunch time, it was good.  Phyllis said that she had tried them occasionally but this was our first time trying their version of chicken, will definitely do it again.

For our card game this afternoon Phyllis and I let her Mother win, it was her day.

Our campsite

Here are a couple of pictures of our campsite here in Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicott City, MD.

dogwood trees in the undergrowth from our front door

 Our campsite in the Maryland woods

This is the same campsite that we were in last year for that visit with Daughter.
A rare forested find among the populated urban area.