A Visit by Blazeourwat's Chris Z.

Monday, September 8

General relaxation in the campsite, enjoying somewhat cool but sunny conditions in the morning. It was clouding over and getting a little windy when Chris Z. of Blazeourway showed up in his truck camper rig. 

We chatted late into the evening catching each other up on things that's it's been a while since I've last seen him. 

Chris is enroute home after picking up some equipment for his overlander rig in Michigan. 

Tuesday, September 9

More general relaxation by both Chris and I at the campsite. The local chipmunk infestation have become quite brazen.  

Chris put out some leftover rice from a meal he brought. 

The weather got cool and windy in the afternoon so we just hung out in the RV until dinnertime.

Wednesday, September 10

Sunny morning, relaxing again about the campsite with a brief interlude to try out a popup gazebo purchased by Chris Z :

The only spot of Fall Color within site of camp so far:

We've woken to temps in the low 40s, the last 3 days.

T'Dubing the Four Mile/Buena Vista Area

Friday, September 5

An overcast and rainy day, no riding and basically just staying inside the VRRV to stay warm.

I woke to 51° outside and 58° I side so need to fire up the catalytic propane heater to warm things upon awakening.

Watched less than three camping rigs drive by, heading further up the valley to the campsites that are closer to the overlook points with a view of the Collegiate Peaks.

Saturday, September 6

I woke to 40° outside and 43° inside, not too bad but yeah, ran the heater for a little bit 

It turned out to be a clear but very hazy day.  Still, I decided to ride out as planned to check out Cottonwood Pass, about 22 miles west of town.

Traffic wasn't too heavy which was good since my TW200 was going through high altitude hiccups since I hadn't put in the high altitude jet in the carburetor.

The summit parking area was full of tourists, but the spots I like to use for pics were just big enough for Yagi only:

The view from the pass summit parking looking back the way I came up.

Rode back the way I came, tanked up in Buena Vista and rode back to camp by way of County 315.  I wanted to check how many campers had come in for the weekend.  Surprised to see less than 25% of the sites were occupied.

Sunday, September 7

A nice sunny morning that changed to partly cloudy but warm in the afternoon.

I rode out after lunch after a morning of lounging at camp.

I rode the Lenhardy Cutoff aka County 376 all the way to the Turtle Rock campground area.  Lots of whoop-de-doos on this "road", definitely not RV-able!  Still, not too technical, the only parts that gave me trouble were the deep sand sections where the road used dry creek beds.

At the high point section of 376:

Ended up near one of the camping sites I'd used before.  All sites in the area are now "designated" by signage now, to prevent idiots from making their own sites.

I then rode through the Midland Tunnels to pose Yagi:

The thumb shaped rock at the north end of the Midland Tunnels, there's a small campground there.

I also checked out the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area north of Buena Vista and on the western side of the Arkansas river.  Not bad sites, lots of trees and all the sites were occupied...so apparently popular.

Rode back to camp using the US285 Highway.  Didn't bother auditing site usage along County 315 this time 

Rest of the afternoon was mostly cloudy but nice and warm overall.

Boondocking near Buena Vista, CO

 I left the I overcrowded cesspool that is the Metro Denver area around 10:00 a.m. today. 

Shortly after 1:00 p.m., I was in Buena Vista filling the propane tank on the RV.  I had first tried to fill up the propane tank in Pine, but apparently the heat of the tank prevented the propane dealer from putting more gas in due to pressure inside.

By 3:00 p.m. I had procured that desired campsite off of Forest Road 305 and had setup camp.

It took longer than usual to set up camp, I was also learning to use a couple of driveway alert sensors and how to position them effectively. I'll be testing them over the next few days to see if they are worth anything.

Martha will be joining me in about 9 to 10 days. By then, the Fall Colors should be starting to show, so far nothing was seen as I drove.

Camping at 8924ft altitude, mostly cloudy skies and a brief rain sprinkle.  When the sun is out, it's really nice.

Chores and Relaxation on the Rampart Range.

I like my current campsite, it being atop a hill and at the apex of a switchback, it provides nice sight lines for approaching traffic. 

Here's a view with a campsite with some background rain clouds just prior to Sunset yesterday, Wednesday: 

Sunset was meh.

One thing about not using a real camera with a adjustable shutter is the inability to capture sun rays.  My camera phone just makes it out to be a blob.

Thursday, August 21

Spent the morning working on fixing the case on the Predator 2000 generator.  It had gotten bent and bits had to be reinforced due to my using straps to secure it to the rear bumper when traveling. 

It proved to be a warm day, with a high of 83° f.  I just relaxed under the awning with associated shade screens since the breeze wasn't very strong.  I couldn't quite motivate myself to go riding in the heat.

My view of Pikes Peak this morning:

Tonight's sunset was "mo better":

Displacing to a new site along Rampart Range Road

Martha returned home this morning, I'll be here till Friday morning I think.

Here's Tuesday's sunset display:

Had an interesting experience in the afternoon. A guy walked up into my campsite, I didn't hear him calling out as he approached because I had a Bluetooth speaker going with an audiobook. 

Anyways, I finally heard him when he was perhaps 15 ft away. He was asking for help in charging his car battery jump starter. He needed it to jump start his car, which he was carcamping in the next spot over closer to Rampart Range Road. 

I was a bit rattled that I let someone get that close to the campsite without knowing it, must be more vigilant apparently. 

Anyways I told him I could help, he brought over his jump starter and I hooked it up to the small generator to charge it up for the next 2 hours. 

He returned in two hours, thanked me and left for his campsite. 

He wasn't sketchy at all, just looked like a middle-aged man down on his luck. He said he was waiting for payday to get a new battery for his car. Not sure what he was doing car camping in the forest but what can you do?  I did ask if he was good with water and food and he said he was fine 

Wednesday, August 20

I decided to  displace to a national forest spot along Rampart Range Road 15 mi from my campsite. 

Two reasons, the view and to get some distance from yesterday's car camper. 

He was still there as I drove by in the VR RV so I'm not sure what kind of work he does.  

Anyways, 15 miles of dirt road later I was at the new site: 

Can you spot Uma?

As you can see, the view of Pikes Peak is pretty good since we are closer to it. 

It's a hilltop site so pretty easy to monitor my surroundings. 

The site is at 9242 ft altitude.  Supposed to get as high as 80° today and tomorrow so it should be nice and warm. 

Coming around the rig after some work, I saw a young black bear, checking out a drainage pipe about 200 ft away from the campsite.  By the time I got the phone camera ready, he'd spotted me and run off.  

Shoot Meet

My view from bedside towards the kitchen:

Today, Thing Two and a neighborhood friends couple: Jacqui and Bob, joined us for a little target shooting.

I have to tell you, pictures of people shooting at targets don't make riveting footage.

Jacqui coaching Martha 

On a .22 pistol

Bob W.

Trying a .22 Rifle

We were done sometime after 3:00 p.m., a good time was had by all.

Jacqui, Bob and Thing Two left soon afterwards, trying to get off Rampart Range Road before more possible rain came in.

The sunset proved pretty good once again.

A Relaxing Day with Martha in the Rampart Range

A good day of relaxed camping today.

First, a drive to the Farish Recreation Area to show Martha the sights.

Wedding Hill

We explored FR 320 afterwards, dodging morons speeding around blind curves on a narrow road.  Fun, not!

In the evening, some of the locals and their brood came by....

Sunset was pretty good tonight: