Pikes Peak or Bust

It has taken us over a month to reach Colorado. Here is a map of our route.

Before getting to Colorado Springs, we stayed at an Air Museum in Pueblo, Colorado, which I toured the next morning.

Here is a picture of our trailer in our campground in Falcon, just outside of Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is the mountain between the trees in the center.

We visited with my son, Bill, his wife, Denise, and their two dogs at their home in Colorado Springs. Jake loved their dogs. They later visited with us at our trailer in Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

We also visited with my cousin Jan, her husband Clyde and daughter Kim in their home in Castle Rock.

After visiting with my cousin, we took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park before heading to Longmont to visit Kay's cousin Shelley and her family.

Views from Rocky Mountain National Park:

We did see some elk and deer when we were in Rocky Mountain National Park, but were not close enough to get pictures. Did I mention there was snow above 10,000 feet?

We have also taken a few sightseeing trips such as The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

When we left the Garden of the Gods, we took a ride North on the Rampart Range Road. We traveled about 25 miles as the crow flies, but it took us three hours and many places the speed limit of twenty was way too fast. The road was narrow and many parts of it were wide enough for only one vehicle. Yes, the road had two-way traffic. Too many times the drop off was on our side. There were no guardrails, just loose gravel along the edge and no place to pull over if you met someone coming the other way. The last 11 miles brought Kay to tears because it was so twisty and narrow and she could look down and see how severely the hillside dropped off on her side. What began as beautiful breath taking views ended up being terrifying views for Kay. Her prayers were answered because we did not go over the edge.

We camped in Falcon for one week and we are now camped in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. It is absolutely gorgeous here. Fort Carson serenades us at sunrise and sunset. We were surprised at how load their speakers broadcast the music for the raising and lowering of the flag.

Yesterday was another special time of visiting with family because we had dinner at Rocco's Italian Restaurant with my great niece Alora Wallace and her daughter, my great great niece, Rose.

We will spend one more week here and continue to site see and visit family.

If you are enjoying our blog, leave us a comment. It means a lot to us.

Solar Panels

We have been on the road for three weeks now and we have stayed at several farms and wineries where there are no hook ups. That means that there is no power for the coffee pot, but there is a solution. I had four 12 volt AGM batteries installed to store the power from three solar panels which were installed on the roof. I had a 2000 watt inverter installed to turn the 12 volt DC battery power into 120 volt AC power. It works. I have been able to run the microwave to cook supper and still have enough power stored to run the coffee pot in the morning.

There was a learning curve, however.  What I quickly learned was to only turn on the inverter when I wanted to use the 120 volt power. The first night I left the inverter on and it kept producing 120 volt power which I did not need. It ran the refrigerator on 120 volt power instead of propane and ran the clock on the microwave. I had the hot water heater running on 120 volt electricity as well.  Four batteries could not store enough electricity to power all of that for such a long period of time. Before the first night was over the batteries went dead which meant that now the heater did not work, the refrigerator did not work and the lights in the trailer did not work, because all of those things needed 12 volt power.

I convinced Kay not to turn around and go home. I learned from my mistake. We have plenty of battery power to run the heater all night and enough power to turn on the inverter to make coffee in the morning. Life is good. The road trip continues.

Here are a couple of places where we used our solar power system:

Camping next to the vines at Cedar Valley Winery, Batavia, Iowa.

Russ and Jake at Bodega Victoriana Winery, Glenwood, Iowa

We stayed two nights at Bodega Victoriana Winery. On our second day there, another Harvest Hosts traveler pulled in and stayed the night. Doug and Brenda Grave, the owners of the winery, invited us to come and watch the last presidential debate on their big screen tv in the tasting room. They bought pizza, we bought a bottle of wine as did Carolyn and Gary, the other Harvest Hosts couple. It seemed like we were all old friends getting together to watch a show and chat.

This trip is not just about seeing friends and family. It is about meeting people, making new friends and visiting new places.

Thanks for stopping by today and for leaving a comment.  They both mean a lot to us.

Kay and Russ

Finger Lakes

After leaving Wellesley Island State Park, we made another Harvest Host stop at a winery in the Finger Lakes.  Of course, we could not pass the Finger Lakes by as we head West. We stayed at the White Springs Winery & Glass Factory Brew House in Geneva, New York. If you are not into wines, there are a lot of micro breweries popping up, or as in this one, you get both with just one stop. Naturally, we had to do a wine tasting and we bought three bottles of wine. I like beers, but decided not to try a flight, because I might like the beers, and there is limited carrying capacity in the trailer.

Our trailer parked by the apple orchard at White Springs Winery & Glass Factory Brew House.

The vineyard was gracious enough to let us stay two nights. On the second day we took a trip around Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes.  After stopping for $5 breakfasts we made a stop at the Finger Lakes Distillery where I bought two bottles of their Maple Jack Liqueur. When I owned a home with lots of room for stuff, I would buy a case of liqueurs.  We also stopped at Knapp Winery and bought a case of their Pasta Red Reserve, our favorite table wine. I will not bore you with how many cases I would buy when I had a huge wine cellar. When we got to Watkins Glen, Jake and I hiked Watkins Glen Gorge. Then it was time to return to the trailer. There was no point in stopping at 6 or 7 more wineries as we would have in the past, because there just is not enough room for stuff in our trailer. Naturally I had to come up with a better plan. Here's the plan: stop at as many wineries as we can in every state. Thank you Harvest Hosts with helping us with our quest.

Views from my hike through Watkins Glen Gorge.

Jake and I got to walk behind this waterfall.

Jake leading me through the tunnel cut through the rock on the trail through Watkins Glen Gorge.

Once we returned to White Springs Winery & Glass Factory Brew House we bought a bottle of wine and some crackers and cheese so that we could sit on their patio and enjoy the view.  While we were on the patio another couple sat at a table near us and struck up a conversation. They had a flight of beers that also included a root beer.  They said the root beer was terrific and tasted a lot like A&W root beer.

After leaving the winery we went to Pymatuning State Park in Pennsylvania. We stayed there two days and now we are off to Paper Moon Vineyards in Ohio.

Originally I had planned to go across the northern states before heading South.  Well, the blog is called Destination Unknown. Aunt Shirley wants to see us in Oklahoma, so we will turn South after we visit friends in Iowa. Hopefully I can meet a blogging friend in Missouri as we pass through.

Bitter Sweet

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Today is bitter sweet because we are leaving a lot of friends and family behind as we embark on our greatest adventure ever.  We hope to make many new friends as we explore our country.

It is our plan to coddiwomple across America and see as much as we can on this seven- to eight-month trip. I will let you google the slang term "coddiwomple" :)

Basically, we are headed West across the Northern states, then South to Colorado Springs where we hope to stay for a month or two, weather permitting. When the cold weather pushes us South, we plan to winter in the desert Southwest from Southern California through Arizona and New Mexico.  As the weather starts to warm up, we plan to cross the Gulf states and then turn North when we reach Florida. Then our plan is to coddiwomple up the East coast until we return home to New England.

Our travel plans are based on the 2.2.2. rule. Travel about 200 miles, arrive by 2:00, stay at least two days.

First stop is New York.  I will visit with a friend who served with me in Vietnam before heading further West into the unknown.

We stopped at Bowman Orchards, near Albany, the first night.  We checked out their store and bakery shop.  I kind of think that the few things we bought as being free gifts for camping with them over night. I love the Harvest Hosts program.  Looking forward to stopping in the Finger Lakes soon.

All settled in, in a big field.  Lots of room.  We were the only over-nighters.

Our second stop was Wellesley Island State Park.  I met my friend Walter Ballard, an Air Force Sentry Dog Handler from Phan Rang Air Force Base in Vietnam.  We served together in 1968 and 1969.  A few years ago, we connected on Facebook and now we finally got a chance to meet face to face. We met Walter and his wife Donna for lunch on Saturday. There was an instant bonding between both couples as though the four of us had been friends forever. On Sunday, we joined them for worship at their church.

Walter Ballard and Russell Wallace meeting for the first time since serving together 48 years ago.

Kay and I have a lot of friends and relatives around the country.  I hope that we can connect with ALL OF YOU.  If you are one of our friends or relatives, be sure to message us so that we can plan a route that allows our paths to intersect.  We are totally flexible, weather permitting.

If you are one of our friends following our blog, please leave us a comment so that we know you are there wishing us well.  We know you are there, but it helps us stay connected when we see your comments.  Just leaving everyone behind has been incredibly tough and your comments will help Kay cope.  I'm a tough guy.  Please ignore the watery eyes.  :)

Shakedown Cruise

Much has happened since our last post. Russ retired on September 1st. In preparation for our "shakedown" cruise, we had solar panels installed on the roof of our trailer as well as adding 4 AGM batteries. We then took a trip to Vermont to check it out.

Our destination was Woodford State Park in Woodford, Vermont, near Bennington. Our trip took us through several mountain passes, encountering grades of up to 9%! The truck and trailer handled nicely. We were unable to put our trailer into the site that we had booked due to the fact that the site was just too tight to accommodate our trailer length. The ranger graciously let us choose another site. We chose one that was perfect and easy to access.

The primary goal of this trip was to test out our new solar system. Unfortunately, the solar panels did not charge our batteries. The inverter, on the other hand, worked fine. Each morning and evening, we had to run the generator to charge the batteries and make coffee in the morning and use the microwave in the evening. Thankfully, we were in a park that allowed the use of generators between 8 and 10 in the morning and 4 and 6 each afternoon. 

We enjoyed a leisurely week taking in all that nature had to offer within the park and what the nearby communities also offered. We cut our trip short by one day to return to the RV dealership that had installed our solar panels for a bit of trouble shooting. Russ was able to watch this process and gained knowledge that will serve us well later. This time, it was a simple fix in that a wire on the solar controller had come loose. Everything is working well now and we are ready to depart on our greatest adventure on September 26th.

Now for a few pictures from our trip:

Kay and Jake relaxing beside our trailer after setting up camp on Site 20 in Woodford State Park.

I used the built-in outdoor kitchen for the first time, featuring pan-fried marinated chicken and steamed cauliflower with shredded cheddar. Yum!

Finally, it was time to relax by the fire.

Adam's Reservoir from the beach inside the campground.

Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont. It was an obscure victory for the rebels of the American Revolution that you will not read about in the history books. The monument looks taller than the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston.

We experienced a lot of colorful wildlife in Bennington.  This is just one example.

Why We Bought Our Trailer

Inspired by Mark from Missouri, I decided to explain what went into the process of buying our trailer.

1. Research on line:  We found the perfect trailer, a Dutchman 315BHSS.  We went to our local dealer and they no longer carried the Dutchman line.

2. We visited several RV dealers in the area in August and September.  Just looking. We were not planning to buy until Spring. We found a Rockwood 8311WS with a great price and even better trade in on our worn out trailer.

Bottom line, it had to meet our needs.

1. Outside kitchen:  It had to have a pull-out cook stove and sink.  Counter and cabinets would be a plus.  A portable grill in addition to cook stove would be even better.  
The Rockwood did not have a counter and cabinets, so it was not the perfect choice. The refrigerator was tiny and electric only. It did have a portable grill with a bracket for portable shelf and grill.  Both the grill and stove are tied into the trailer propane tanks. No need to carry loose propane tanks.  I removed the outside refrigerator because I plan on being off the grid more than hooked up to power. I will re-purpose that space to carry my pots and pans.

2. It had to have a gas/electric refrigerator.
It does.

3. Bunkhouse: It had to have a room with a table for Kay's art studio.
It did not have a built in table in the bunkhouse, so I had the dealer remove the couch.  I will build what we want in that space this summer before we hit the road.

It also has many other great features that I did not have in my 10 year old travel trailer and were not included in my must haves.

1. The entertainment center is Bluetooth.
2. USB charging station on the nightstand in the bedroom.
3. LED lighting under the awning.
4. Power awnings that automatically dump the water if they load up with water.
5. Outside entrance for bathroom.
6. TV bracket under awning with cable and power outlets. Just take TV from inside and mount outside.
7. Outside marine-grade speakers tied into entertainment center.
8. Slide-out wardrobe, providing more closet space
9. Power jack for hitch
10. Aluminum frame and totally-enclosed undercarriage
11. Outlet to connect solar panels for charging the battery.

Our choice in trailer was based on the criteria listed above, price, and availability.  The trailer is not perfect, but we will reconfigure the space to meet our needs.

Thank you for visiting and for leaving a comment. Both are appreciated!

Russ and Kay

Our New Trailer and Truck

One phone call from the RV dealership and the best laid plans of mice and men were shattered. It was our plan to swap out our old trailer and have the new trailer delivered in May of 2016. The day before we completed the paperwork for the purchase of the trailer, our salesman called and told us that he did not know what he was thinking when he agreed to swap out the trailers in May. He said that the dealership would own our old trailer the next day and that they wanted it now, not in the Spring when it would be a model year older. We saw his point. Because we still wanted the new trailer at the agreed-upon price, we had the trailer delivered on October 2nd.

It sure is a beauty. Over the summer, we will be planning on where to go first, or at least a general direction. I am leaning toward New York and the Finger Lakes so that we can stock up on wines before we turn South for the winter. I think Kay still does not believe I am retiring since, for the last six years, I have been saying that I would retire in two years!  Kay is waiting until the date gets closer to believe it is really happening.

I was also planning to wait until Spring to buy our new truck, but we started looking at the end of October and began to be lured into the 2015 year-end pricing. We got a great deal on a GMC 2500HD Sierra Denali with a crew cab.  This way we have two vehicles and Kay is not trapped in our winter rental while I am at work.  When we get ready to hit the road, we will pass along the Chevy to Bryan, Kay's son.

I am spending any free time reading and joining RV blogs.  I am really interested in boon-docking and tips and tricks others have learned along the way. Next, I need to decide what RV clubs to join and then start planning our route.

Thanks for visiting and for taking a moment to leave a comment.  You can also follow us by e-mail (upper right-hand sidebar) to keep up with us.

Russ and Kay