Saskia and Richard's RVing Adventures

We have spent most of August in the lee of the Grand Mesa, in Colorado.  Our RV park was located in Cedaredge, which hails itself as the gateway to the Mesa, where the cedars thin out and the pine forest and the aspens begin.  At over 10,000 feet above sea level, the Grand Mesa is the highest plateau in the USA, a basalt outcrop that retains water in over 300 trout filled lakes. It is a fishing canoeing and kayaking haven for some, for others somewhere to run wild with ATVs in summer, snowmobiles in winter.  For Richard and I, it was a place to hike, admire the views, the wildflowers, and the wildlife, and cool off from the near 100 degree summer heat of the cities of Delta and Grand Junction located some 6000 feet in the valley below,  which we only visited when stocking up on food and other essentials (you know, things like wine, and beer, and more wine). Temperatures at The Shady Creek RV camp we were in, situated 4000 feet below the Mesa rim, were no...

Now I know I am prone to exaggeration, but I truly am beginning to see a pattern. When we arrived in Texas in early 2014, Austin’s eight year drought ended and in the course of the year Texas suffered the worst floods in over a decade.  Add to that the flooding we encountered in Wichita in July … Well, I can tell you, within a day of arriving in Colorado on Sunday, 10th July, to take part in the preamble to the bi-annual Gully family reunion which was to take place two weeks later, I was beginning to feel a bit like Forest Gump – you know, accidentally being in THE place of historic significance. A fire had just flared up 20 minutes before we drove into the Bighorn RV Park in Coaldale.  High temperatures and a lack of rainfall during spring meant the wilderness area that lay to the south was a tinderbox waiting for a lightning strike. At the time we arrived, we did not know that the clouds of smoke that billowed over the mountains would become termed The Hayden Pass...

Coming from Scotland, I have seen my fair share of rain.  I have even endured Arkansas rain, but I have never experienced rain such as the deluge I encountered in Wichita. The raindrops were so fat they glinted like diamonds on the Queen’s tiara as they thumped down onto the pavement.  They also obviously contained some kind of rubber, for on hitting the ground they bounced back up at least two feet.  This meant you got hit on the head on their way down and your legs were pummeled on the way back up.  They fell in such multitudes from the sky that I was drenched top down and bottom up within the two seconds it took for me to get out of the car and put up my umbrella. Eight inches (20 cm) fell within eight hours on the Saturday of our week in Wichita, which was to be an opportunity for us to catch up and stay with a former US Navy buddy of Richard’s over the July 4th celebrations. A sudden furious thunderstorm lashed Benny, our intrepid truck, and the Jet, our 3...

The vast green lush fields of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri stretched as far as the eye could see.  Communities grew smaller and further apart as we traveled further and further west in our intrepid truck Benny, pulling our trusty 5th Wheel, the Jet.  How different our lives to those pioneers who came before us, in their ox-pulled wagons.  No fear of starvation for us, as we pass Walmarts in nearly every sizable town.  No risk to life or limb for us, as traffic eases and the locals prove friendly.  As we pass through Independence, Missouri, I recall this is where Brigham Young set off from with his Latter Day Saints, searching for Deseret, which he found westwards in Utah.  Earlier traders and pioneers had followed the Santa Fe Trail south west. The Santa Fe Trail was set up to trade with that city which was once in Mexico.  Santa Fe is now in the state of New Mexico, territory won from the Mexicans as a result of the American-Mexican War which e...

Living in water a-plenty-Scotland for over 40 years, I've taken good drinking water for granted. But not all water is equal.  It’s something I’ve learned the hard way since RVing across the USA.  It’s not necessarily bad to drink, it’s just bad tasting.  I do generally use it for cooking though.  However, the well water in the Stars in Your Eyes RV Resort Park we have been staying in for nearly a month, has made it necessary for me to keep within easy access of a toilet pretty much the whole time we have been here.  Despite switching to bottled water for cooking and teeth brushing, I still have to plan any excursions to include restroom facilities. I should say that Richard remains unaffected by the water. I do wish they had warned us on our arrival that the water is not drinkable.  I wondered about the strange metallic swampy smell when I took my first shower.  Don’t get me wrong, the park is OK, though a little aged.  WiFi is pretty awful, ...

So we left the rolling hills of New York State, Pennsylvania and West Virginia behind us and crossed the great Ohio River.   My first impressions of the state of Ohio: countryside with gentle green hills well into spring.  This is fertile farming country. We spent a very interesting week in a small RV camp near Cochocton.  The Colonial Camp Ground subsists on two types of customers: weekend campers and full time workers who conduct their business in the local area.  On the whole these were younger men and couples, who spent their working weeks based from their trailers. Whether located here on a permanent basis or moving to wherever their work takes them, I’m not sure.  They worked long hours and did not seem to have time to enjoy the campground, in the way the weekend visitors did.  Adults sat chatting around their campfires in big groups, whilst their children played volleyball, horseshoes, and a popular game we have come across but whose name w...