May 26 2013, Lasalle pass Colorado

A much milder ride for us on the 26th up to the top of Lasalle pass.  Kinda wished it was a little more challenging but that's OK.  A beautiful day and after all four of the grandkids were with us and it was Sunday.  What better day for a Sunday afternoon drive.

The Aspen hadn't even started to leave yet but what a beautiful day for a drive! 

May 25, 2013, Hornbek Homestead and the Florissant fossil bed

After a day of four wheeling on the China Wall road Jennifer and Craig and their two kids arrived quite late Friday night the 24th and didn't get their vintage camper trailer set up until the wee hours of the morning so we spent the next day ambling around the local tourist sights.  Visits to both the Hornbek Homestead and the Florissant fossil bed were both educational and relaxing. 

Rosebud and I discussing world politics

That's Rosebud and I playing around

Craig's Jeep is temporarily out of commission so they pulled the camper up with their pickup truck.  A cute little camper it came fully stocked with vintage appliances and cookware.  Quite a steal actually.

 This is a giant petrified Sequoia tree stump

So is this.

And what remains of another petrified tree stump gets scrutinized by Madison'

 

The Florissant fossil beds reminded us that this beautiful country has not always been the way it is today.  Once very active in volcanic activity the area used to be a massive forest of Sequoia trees, tropical plants and exotic animals.  These are petrified Sequoia tree stumps from a couple million years ago.

May 24, 2013 Sammi is back in its element after a long winter

The first ride of the season.  We left camp after lunch on Friday headed who knows where.  Initially we decided to take a ride over Lasalle Pass and take in some scenery but on the way there we saw a turn off for China Wall that looked interesting so we headed that way.

The trail was marked as an easy one so I knew the stock Samurai would have no problem.

A stop at the top to take in the beautiful view.  Pamela and I and our Samurai and the daughter and her family in their Jeep.

Pamela doesn't really like the bumpy roads much but so far this one was giving her no problems at all.  I try to take it easy so she can enjoy herself.  If I didn't she would refuse to go and that wouldn't be any fun.

When we run into terrain that is a little on the bumpy side she likes to get out and walk to avoid the discomfort of the bumps.

Ooops, there was one spot on the trail where I suppose I misjudged my track.  I suppose I should have taken a different approach.  A bit of a problem when you balance the thing on the transfer case. 

A little playing around with it with Jered bouncing on the bumper and I managed to get all four wheels back on the ground and was off again.  At this point I was hoping that we could find another way out of the canyon because I wasn't sure I would be able to get the Sammi back up that little hill around those boulders.

Jered and the Jeep had no problem negotiating the area.  A little more horse power, larger tires and a bit more ground clearance.

The Samurai does pretty darned good I must say.  The small foot print makes it real easy to negotiate the tight corners and get around things.

 

Turns out there is no other way back out of the canyon so we had to come out the same way we went in.  When we got back to the spot where I high-centered there must have been a dozen spectators standing around because they had had some difficulty with the area too.  I didn't want to embarrass myself by not being able to make the hill but I didn't want to hang around all day waiting for them to leave either so with an audience at hand I came back up.

I was pretty impressed with the way the Samurai made it.  You'd be surprised what it will do if you wind the rubber band tight enough.  Jered spotted for me so I wouldn't hang up on the transfer case again on the way up.

 

I guess the audience was impressed to.

 

Ok, I was a bit puffed up myself.  Let the testosterone flow......

 

Still on my list of needs:  Lower gears, a little lift and bigger, better tires.

May 23, 2013 Our first outing with Sammi's Big Brother

We busted our butts to get everything ready but we made it.  We did our first outing with the RV and the Sammi towing behind on Memorial Day weekend.  The replacement for the brand new fancy on-demand water heater that didn't work came in that morning but we had been messing with it so much that we knew it inside and out so it was no problem to replace it with the new one within an hour.  Most of that time was spent driving to pick it up.

We hitched the Sammi to the back of the RV monster and headed south to Colorado Springs and then west on highway 24 toward Lake George, Colorado.  There is a real nice massive area of BLM land just to the west of Lake George that we decided we were going to use to try out our new toy and do some boondocking.

I am used to small cars so it was a little white knuckle to get this monster there.  The RV is 29 feet long, the hitch for the Sammi is another four feet and I guess the Sammi must be six feet so all and all we're talking 39 feet of vehicle headed out for a Memorial Day weekend camping trip.

My daughter Jaime and her husband Jered convoyed with us.  Jennifer and Craig were to meet us down there the next day.

 

 

We learned a lot about the new RV toy in the four days we spent living in it.  The new water heater didn't work any better than the original.  We made the decision that we would forget the idea of having an on-demand that didn't work and replace it with an old fashion water heater with a tank that we knew would work.  But for now here we were for four days with no hot water. 

 

 

It was a beautiful setting secluded behind some boulders out away from the crowd.  A little dusty but secluded.

 

It turns out there was no black tank on the beast.  How we could have missed that while we were doing so much work on it I have no idea.  More expense I suppose.  Another new water heater and now a black tank. 



February 17, 2013 (Sammi's big brother)

The wife and I have been keeping our eyes open for a reasonably priced RV so we can move up from the in bed truck camper to something larger.  We finally found one we thought we could afford and tackle to fix up to be our own.


By today's standards it's pretty old.  A 1993 Road Master on a Ford E350 chassis.  So far I think we picked it up for a song.  $5000 was the asking price but we got it for $3500.  Can you believe 1993 was twenty years ago?  Wow!  That was yesterday.



She had a few issues but she runs real nice.  65,000 mile on the chassis, Mechanically she has a warped brake rotor, needed an oil change and a little Freon (or whatever the new stuff is) in the air conditioner and new tires. 

Cosmetically some paint, some polishing and some love.  The living area (cabin) had some pretty extensive plumbing problems, an exploded water heater, a few connections that showered the thing when you added water pressure and a few screws tightened.  I decided when I grow up (which won't ever happen) I want to be a plumber. 

(My experiences with this thing have given me a new respect for that profession.)

The wife (Rosebud) and I have spent just about every free weekend working on it since we purchased it.

Thank God my son-in-law Jered is real good at paint and mechanics, and fabrication and restoration and the like and thank God his parents, Jeff & Peg are gracious enough to let us store it on their property.  We live in the mountains with a couple acres but nothing flat enough to park her on.

At any rate someone lived in her for a few years so she was well used and needed some love but all-in-all not in too bad of shape.  Our budget was upwards of $10,000 so we had some wiggle room to get her on the road.  So far we have maybe a total of $5000 into her.  Maybe $5500.

We started with a good cleaning and some paint.

The Kitchen beforehand:

And after a little paint and love:

 

 

The dinning area before.

The dinning area after:





 

Turned out pretty nice don't you think?

 

Now if we could only get through the water heater problem but that is another story.



 



November 2012 through April 2013 (The Winter months)

Wow the winters are long in the mountains of Colorado.  I wrapped the Samurai up in its blanket for the winter at the end of October when the first snow came down.  Unfortunately it doesn't do to well in the snow and ice.  Not the best tires in the world and not the heaviest vehicle either so it doesn't dig in for traction to well.

There it stayed all wrapped up November through April when the snow started to melt away and the roads were mostly always clear.  Throughout the winter on a nice sunny day I would take it for a local spin and then wrap it up again for a few weeks until there was another break in the snow.

I'm not a winter fan..............

Our adventures through winter were pretty much local.  Halloween celebrations and trick or treating with the grandkids, Thanksgiving celebrations, Christmas celebrations, swim meets, choir concerts, school performances with the grandkids and stay-at-home entertainment.

We did manage to squeeze a trip in to Tempe, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, a little drive along route 66 in New Mexico, a Georgetown Christmas, and the annual Breckenridge snow sculpture during the dreary winter months however.  It's always nice to go south into the sun shine when the Colorado Mountain weather is so depressing.  (I guess you can tell we aren't skiers).  If you have never had a chance to see what can be done with snow you have to visit the annual snow sculpture contest in Brekenridge.  Amazing what can be done.  I'm not sure who won this year.  Check out some of the sculptures here http://photosbygeorge.smugmug.com/Art/Brekenridge-snow-sculptures/29698680_dJsmLN

Unfortunately the Sammi stayed home the entire time.... waiting for warm weather all wrapped up in her little warm blanket.