For the last two days Bob and I just relaxed. We went to the pool - but the water was too cold to swim. Did I tell you I got sunburned? It is still hurting. I must have done a good job. But we got a few things done on Betsy. We washed the awning, which was really dirty and a little moldy. In the process, Bob squirted me with water. To be honest, it was hot enough outside that it felt good. It was so hot that we have to be careful about our refrigerator /freezer. The way we were parked, the sun was shining right on the system. So, Bob said to use gas rather than electric, because gas is better at cooling in these refrigerators. Who knew? The guy who was parked next to us did not. His refrigerator got so hot, it just stopped. Bob went over and took a look. It did work with gas only. The guy did not even know that he could switch the refrigerator to gas. So we put up the awning (newly washed) to keep the sun off the refrigerator as much as possible. But it started to get very windy. Choices - do we risk the awning getting damaged? or the refrigerator overheating? We chose to risk the awning. It is old and will have to be replaced in a few years anyway.
We also fixed the tow dolly again. Bob was having trouble straightening it out. One of our neighbors saw the trouble and came over. (Campers are usually amazingly helpful.) He gave it a few good kicks and it was straight. We cleaned it real well and greased it again. Now it is working perfectly.
Last night we met neighbors who were just there for a day. They had a rig almost exactly like ours, but newer. I must admit that I don't like their layout. They have a slide that opens up the kitchen, but with the slide in, you cannot reach the sink and some of the drawers. As much as we stop at rest areas and Walmarts (without opening the slide) it would be difficult for us. Once again, I am very happy with Betsy. This couple was from Sweden. She had a great need to dominate the conversation. I asked her a lot of questions about their lives. I cannot remember them asking us even one. They did like our tow dolly and the fact that our rig was a little higher off the ground so that it would miss more bumps and stuff. They are interesting people though.
Up early this morning and we went to the "all you can eat" pancake breakfast. Good pancakes for cheap and I did not have to cook or wash dishes before leaving. The highlight (besides the great taste) was that it was an all you can eat and I went back for more. The cook told me to stand about two yards away and hold my plate out. He then threw two more pancakes at me and they hit my plate almost perfectly. I was laughing so hard that I almost dropped the pancakes. Fun. So then lots of people wanted seconds so that they could catch the pancakes - especially the little kids.
Then we took off. We are not sure where we are going or what we are going to do. We are rethinking things because many of the places I want to go, such as Albuquerque and Taos are between 6000 and 7000 feet. We have not decided and will wait and see.
We are now in northern Colorado. The drive took us through western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. The drive started with some very steep narrow roads. Up and down and up and down and around. It was pretty, but hard on the driver. Over the course of the drive today, the landscape changed a lot. There were start rock formations, then rolling hills, with very few rocks. The earth at first did not support much growing, then we started to see grass, and then higher grass, and then finally cultivated crops, like corn. The further south we went, the more cattle we saw. This was all with the Rockies firmly in view - first in front of us and then along side of us (we are east of the Rockies). They are quite a sight. (I can see them through the back window of the rv as I am blogging and they are amazing. Think of what the pioneers thought of them as they walked with their covered wagons. Speaking of pioneers, Wyoming is so starved for tourist spots that they actually have a tourist site of Oregon Trail RUTS. That's right, the ruts of the wagons have been preserved and are part of a National Monument in Wyoming. Now I do love to learn about the pioneers, but I found that viewing the wagon ruts was a must miss.)
We stopped for lunch and then again once we had cell phone coverage. Bob got caught up on his books, checked our accounts, and I checked our email. It was so nice to click on an icon and have something happen right away and not have to wait for half an hour. (It took half an hour to upload the pictures in my last post.) Bob had so much fun with the responsiveness of the internet with our jet pack that he was actually giggling. While we stopped we check out the various Walmarts to decide where to stay. The one in Cheyenne does not allow overnight parking. But we found a wonderful rest area in Colorado - just outside Fort Collins. There is a visitor center here and they are so nice. But everything they suggested involved walking and Bob just can't do it. We will keep trying. More driving tomorrow.
It is very hot now in this rest area. Our refrigerator is handling it, but barely. It is also very dry. I am looking forward to the sun going down and having it cool off. (Bob says amen.)
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