Manitou Springs Colorado - Pikes Peak RV Park

This is a small park with tight spots 20X45 which is pretty typical for this area around the Garden of the Gods. We chose this place because it is a smaller park with no pool ( no kids) and we can walk to the local public parks or to downtown Manitou Springs. Garden of the Gods is close enough that you can ride your bike if you want. We have an unusual site. There are sites all the way around the perimeter that people back into, we have a site that is in the middle of the campground such that we are parked "perpendicular" to everyone around the perimeter, so that there are not any RVs on either side of us.

The weather since we arrived in Colorado Springs has been very comfortable, we have only had a few days of 90 degree weather and that was with low humidity. At nite it cools off so typically we can turn off the air conditioner at night and just open the ceiling vents to bring in cooler air.

Since we moved to Manitou Springs 7/28, it is slightly cooler here since we are right at the base of the mountains. This is also "Monsoon" season here and for the last 4 nites we have had rain every evening starting around 6pm. Typically the rain is light but steady, havent had the strong winds like at the Foot of the Rockies, I think that is because the Foot of the Rockies is too exposed to winds from all directions. We seem to be a little protected from the winds in this park. Fortunately this place has a lot of gravel so we are not having to deal with the mud like we would have if we were staying at the Foot of the Rockies. Weather has been perfect for us, we can usually get by with running just one air conditioner during the day instead of 2 which is due to the weather and the location.

Oh and when we parked the motorhome and tried to put down the leveling jacks, they are really needed to level and stablize the motorhome so it doesnt rock from side to side when we walk around inside or if the wind is blowing, they would not go down. Using the troubleshooting guide it appears to be a shuttle valve which basically is supposed to allow the hydraulic fluid to flow in the right direction depending upon if we are raising or lowering the jacks has failed. Not something I can easily get to so I called a local RV Mobile Repair, Turbo's, and he came out and confirmed its the shuttle valve. This was on July 30. He called back today August 2 to say HWH doesnt have the part in stock and it will be 2 weeks. This is a small $55 part and they dont have any inventory! It is not unusual for this part to fail, so it is disappointing they dont have any inventory.  Apparently HWH isnt building up their parts inventory, it must be due to the economy. So I called the motorhome manufacturer Tiffin and they had the part at a slightly higher price and will send it to me. Part is scheduled to be installed August 5 and hopefully nothing else is wrong with the leveling jack system. I have heard people on RV forums complaining about long lead times for parts from HWH, that is disappointing to hear. They are a major supplier of hydraulic leveling systems and slideout systems for the RV industry.

We were originally supposed to be in this site 4 nites but after looking at the other sites decided to stay here. Our leveling jacks are not working, to be fixed Aug 5, so leveling would be a problem. But this site works for us. We sit on the driver side outside in the shade of the motorhome.

Trees to the passenger side (south) keep the afternoon sun off of the motorhome.

Parking along back row, you look into your neighbors windows

Sites along creek are 30A only and the road is right behind the creek.

Colorado - Tebow Country

This has nothing to do with RVing, however...

We went to the Colorado Springs Flea Market (more like a garage sale than a flea market) today and I noticed a few people wearing Tebow number 15 jerseys in dark blue, I was viewing the back of the jersey and thinking to myself, "Gee this is strange to see Tebow fans up here??". Then one of the people turned and it was a Denver Broncos jersey. I had forgotten all about that.

There was one guy selling new "official NFL replica jerseys" for $60 for Tebow but they looked like they had been worn, they were stained.  Then there was another guy selling new ones for $139, they both had the official NFL tags with the hologram. The guy selling them for $139 said the $60 ones were fake holograms and his were real. So when we got back to the motorhome I went to the NFL webpage and Tebow replica jerseys will ship in August and they are $80.00.  The other thing I found out while searching the web is that Tebow jersey sales are expected to set a record for a rookie, or they already have. Regardless, Tebow continues to have a huge fan following.

Go Gators...(My daughter, a Florida grad,  said this is required anytime you mention Tebow).

Foot of the Rockies RV "Resort" in Colorado Springs

Here are some pictures from our stay at the Foot of the Rockie Rv "Resort". It does have larger spaces than the other Rv Parks around here, but it is very hilly with really no place to walk the dog. Its a Resort only in that it has large sites, but that is it. They need more gravel on the sites, the sites get muddy when it rains.

This RV Park is along the side of a hill near the intersection of I25 and Colorado 24.

Colorado Springs 6000 feet elevation

On I70 near Kansas Colorado border

Today we left the Wakeeney KS KOA at 9:45am, destination Colorado Springs approximately 300 miles. This morning the weather was comfortable 77 degrees with a nice cool breeze and no humidity. Just about 20 miles north of us a thunderstorm was producing quarter size hail, we were lucky it didnt move south.

The temperature stayed in the upper 70s and lower 80s for todays trip, first time since we left Florida that we have driven when the temperature wasnt in the 90s. We got into Colorado Springs at 3:15pm Ks time, 2:15pm Colorado time. Air temp here was 85 degrees with a nice cool breeze and very low humidity. Nice to be able to sit outside again!!!!

We saw lots of corn for at least 100-150 miles today and that is not an exageration. We also saw a lot of sunflower plants.

Oh and we scored big at the Colorado stateline, they have a tourist oriented rest stop with lots of tourist info for all of Colorado. I picked up about 10 pounds of printed material. Colorado is definitely tourist oriented.

Elevation here is 6000 feet. We will need a day or 2 to adjust to the higher elevation.

Topeka to Wakeeney - Finally cool weather

Finally some cool weather this evening and no humidity. It was 80 degrees with a slight breeze and no humidity at 8pm, it has not been that cool at that time of night since we left Florida. Even the dog, Teddy, was running while on the leash and enjoying the weather.

Saw a couple of windmill farms along the way. We have an automotive style rearview mirror that shows the temperature and the direction of the vehicle. Today it showed 99 degrees while we were driving. We were on the road from 10am to 2:15pm today for our 238 mile segment, typical speed was 65 mph.

When we got to the KOA in Wakeeney there was only 2 rvs here. At 8pm I counted 20 rvs and 4 tent campers.

Driving from Rogersville, Mo to Topeka Ks

Missouri DOT decided to shutdown a portion of I435 West where 71 and I435 and I470 meet for some kind of construction work around 1pm today. What a disaster. They closed the road before getting up the proper signage about a detour for I435 West. We were heading north on 71. There was just one sign along the road about 1 mile before the turnoff which said something about I435 but the sign was not pointed at the correct angle to the road and the letters were changing at such a slow rate so you didnt get the complete message. They needed better signage and more of it. This is a fast paced section of the loop around Kansas City and they were way too lax about traffic control. The I435 West and the I470 North exit share the same turnoff and everyone got forced onto I470 and there were resulting accidents as a result of their lack of planning. They should have setup the detour path first and had the traffic flow going the right way before they shutdown the road. We were lucky that there was a hole in the traffic when this happened to us. Traffic moves really fast through this area and they dont make room for a 40 foot motorhome towing a vehicle.

Golden Arches - Old School

Found this McDonald's in West Memphis Arkansas. Reminds me of the original old McDonald's building style. There was no sit down area in the original McDonalds, just a walk up counter with several windows to order from.

Tom Sawyer Campground - West Memphis, Arkansas

Here are some pictures from the Tom Sawyer campground, West Memphis Arkansas. This campground is across the river from Memphis Tennessee, The above is right after a rainstorm.

The big tugboat in the picture sounded like it had 2 or 3 locomotive size diesel engines in it.

The campground put benches out at the river's edge so you can sit and enjoy the Mighty Mississippi.

Motorhome Remodel

New recliner in place of sofa. Much more comfortable and watching TV  in front of motorhome is a whole lot easier, dont have to sit sideways on the sofa anymore.

We left Florida June 16, stayed over nite at Oaks and Pines then went to Topsail Beach for 2 nites then onto Benchmark RV Park in Meridian Ms for 1 nite then on to Tiffin Service Center for 21 nites. After sitting in an asphalt campground for 3 weeks, we decided to try the Tom Sawyer campground in West Memphis Arkansas and liked it so much we decided to stay for 6 nights. The 3 weeks in Red Bay was our decision.

We were originally going to be there just 10 days but we got a chance to have Chris Berry do some custom cabinet work for us so we redid the front of the coach. We had a booth and a sofa in the slideout, we had Chris take those out and put in a dinette for us with cabinets that are 12" deep inside the cabinet, which is slightly bigger than the standard size but smaller than the computer dinette. Then we had him put a bank of narrower cabinets, 7" depth, along the wall where the sofa was. At the front of the slideout we had him put in a cabinet that was 24" wide by 23" tall by 30" deep. We also had him extend the depth of the cabinet that houses the directv box and the home theater system, the original one was not deep enough for today's electronics.

Original layout with booth and sofa

Free standing dinette with table that extends for a 44" long table to seat 4 people plus we have the 13" counter space over the cabinets for serving dishes, etc.

Water and soda used to be stored under sofa, now it stored in these cabinets. Printer used to be under sofa, now it is always available and with the antiskid mat under it, it stays in place while driving.

When we bought the motorhome there was a J couch here which I took out and replaced with this recliner for our trip in 2008 since Debbie was having back problems and needed something more comfortable.

Now with the addition of these cabinets, Debbie has storage for all her books and things right next to her recliner

Directv and home theater electronics were a tight fit in this cabinet so I had a 3" extension put on the front of the cabinet to give it more depth

July 4th at Bay Springs Lake

We went to Bay Springs Lake and did a picnic at the West Damsite Recreaton Area Picnic area. Its free and during the week there is no one there. On the weekends there is more boat activitiy and people there so be there before noon. We went July 4th and were able to sit on the grass at the edge of the water and in the shade, very refreshing. We went back a few days later during the week and we had the place to ourselves. We took our chairs, packed a lunch and a lot of beverages. Dogs are allowed on leash.


Map to Bay Springs Lake
 
 
The above map ends at the turnoff, a right turn, to the picnic area, I couldnt get google map to let me place a location pin at the actual picnic area. But there are signs there, just follow them and it will take you to the picnic area at the water's edge.

Nobody is watching me, so I can do what I want.

We went back a few days later, nobody there, see below.

Deb is seated in the same place we were at July 4th.