The Journey Begins

     On Sept. 8, 2015, Debbie and I bid farewell to Mooers, and pointed Big Red in a Westerly direction, and began our Going to See America 2016 adventure.  Seems like we tend to work off of a fiscal calendar instead of a yearly calendar, but that tends to work for us.  Of course, knowing that nasty weather is on the horizon is a wonderful incentive to begin most journeys out of the Northeast in September.  For at least 2 weeks prior, Debbie has been packing and unpacking Big Red, as she decided what was going to make the travel team, and what was not.  Sometimes I was wondering if I was going to make the team, but then I remembered I was tasked with driving.  It took me about 3 hours to get my belongings into Big Red, but t-shirts and shorts tend to fill my wardrobe while on the road.
     Two days prior, we attended a wonderful wedding of our niece Katy, down in Saratoga, and that was quite an event.  Seems like life events such as this are the only times that families get together.

 People seemed to be amazed that Debbie and I are doing what we're doing, but we certainly do enjoy wandering the country and visiting friends and family, and making new friends at every stop.  As we began our odyssey, we crossed paths with our dear friends Randy and Retha from Texas, who were traveling eastward across NY on their adventure.  Amazingly, we met at a rest area on I-90 near Buffalo, NY, but only had a quick visit with them.  We'll meet up again with them in Texas probably in February.  They've been on tour for several months now, and Retha's allowance seems to be holding up quite well.
      Our next stop was visiting the Lagasse clan in Ohio, which involves several days of visiting, drinking and eating.  It used to include shopping, but since space is limited on this train, Debbie has cut back quite a bit.  Families are important to us, and we definitely realize how fortunate we are to be able to be able to do what we're doing.

Bob and Char's grand kids keep multiplying, and it seems like each year we meet someone new.  The new arrival this year was Michael, who already is destined to be a football player.  I picked him up, and I can tell you that he is rock solid!  On Saturday, 9/12/2015, we began our journey westward in earnest, hitting I-70 with the east coast in our rear view mirror.
     Our journey across America's heartland was uneventful, as Debbie worked the "paper charts" and world wide web, locating overnite camping locations.  We soon found that all campsite reviews are not completely honest and trustworthy.  Some that looked perfectly fine online, ended up looking like the front yard to the Bates Motel!  But there is lots of help out there, and our friends on RVillage came through with stopover recommendations along the way. As we started across Kansas, we were met with a 20+ mph headwind which made for a long day behind the wheel.  The wind continued into Colorado, and Utah, as we made our way toward Moab, Utah, our first goal for the trip.  Outside of Denver, we found a nice park operated by the city of Lakewood, called Bear Creek Lake Park.

It is located just a few minutes from I-70, and is a great place to overnite of spend a few days.  Red Rocks Park  is located just down the street in Morrison, Co, which seemed to be like small town America.
     Our next adventure put us back on I-70 heading for the Eisenhower Tunnel, located at an elevation of about 12,000 ft.  Seemed like we went straight up, and we climbed out of Denver.  Debbie commented that we went up 1000 feet in 5 minutes, but the Cummins diesel on Big Red just purred as we worked our way up slow and steady.  The road was quite deceiving and even when it looked like we were going downhill, we worked at keeping our rpm's and speed up.  Something very important to remember should you ever make this trip over the Rockies.  Pressure seems to build in all your liquid containers, so be extremely careful when you open them......even days later!  Debbie discovered this phenomena when she opened a ketchup bottle a few days later, and it literally exploded.  It was quite difficult containing my laughter, as she cleaned ketchup from the ceiling!   I believe Debbie's memories of our previous experiences in motorhomes was evident, as we worked our way up and over the Rockies.  (We did have a wonderful time in "Bummer!")  But on Big Red, the engine brake worked perfectly, and it was actually a wonderful journey.  The aspens were golden brown in some locations, and the views were amazing.  I've got some great video from my GoPro, mounted on the dashboard.  We hit our first rain on the downside which made a mess of the jeep.  But we cruised into the Spanish Trails RV Park Moab, Utah, right on schedule.  And that is where we intend to spend the next 5 days enjoying the fabulous vistas that surround us.
      So that's where I'll stop for now.  We've worked our way through Arches National Park, twice, and attended a star gazing party in Canyonlands National Park.  I'll share those experiences in my next post.  Hope everyone is well.