fulltime.hitchitch.com Ron and Terry go fulltime

GO  FORWARD    GO HOME

Hear we go again. On the road again. 
It has been a long summer. Terry has been remodeling his sisters house. He replaced their kitchen and den. Ya... sounds easy but this is a an old house which has settled over the years. So had to get things level and remove the plaster and lath and re insulate the walls and start from scratch. Custom matching woodwork. It turned out to be a all summer job. Remember the money pit movie... But this is family and we spend this time on their property. So Terry works at a reduced rate, so it works for all of us.

We plan on heading out across northern Nebraska on US route 20 on into Wyoming. Will see if it stays warm enough to hit the favorite trout fishing holes. On through central and southern Idaho and NV to get to Arizona when it has cooled down enough to be there. End of Oct. should do it. Then boondocking in the good old BLM in Quartzsite.

September 17, 2006

Terry posting... Over the summer we had let things get a little less then ship shape in our rig, so after storing my tools and equipment for the season I had to organize and pack the trailer.  Had a few other small projects that had to be done,  a few black streaks to remove from the sides, windows to wash and a fifth wheel hitch to give a quick coat of paint.  We then went to visit my parents on Friday, and got to help my brother and dad while they cleaned grain bins for this fall's harvest.  Mom insisted we take a few apples when we went as they are going to get a very good crop of red delicious apples this fall. See the sour face on Terry's dad face. They are great people, both now 80 years young. Terry is the oldest of two boys and one girl. Terry's brother farms the homestead.

Finished packing the basement on Saturday and were ready to hit the road on Sunday morning.  Mother Nature had to say good bye, and we had to stow the slides and take refuge on my sister's porch when a line of thunderstorms came through at 2:00 am on Sunday morning.  We finally got to get some real sleep about 3:00, needless to say we slept in and got a very late start.  We left our summer base at 10:45 and headed wet towards NE.  Made it to Onawa IA about 2:30, had lunch then headed out. 

We have landed for the night in the little NE town of Wisner, camping at their city park,  $10/night for an electric site.  After getting set up I explored the park, and found they have put a lot into this little park, with a kid fishing pond, Lion's club rodeo ground, ball diamonds and what looks like a tractor pulling track.  They have lots of camp sites, and they are all under large cottonwood trees.  We got lucky and on the very end of the campground found two sites which are out in the open for the solar panels and satellite dish to work. 

Tomrrow we will see how far we get.  Have to find a grocery store at some point, and will get fuel first thing in the morning.  Evening should find us some where near Valentine, NE where we might have to bondock as the city park offers no services, just a place to park.   aho, down through central Nevada. 
 

September 18, 2006
 

 Got a early start this morning, leaving Wisner about 9:00 AM. We Then headed out for Valentine, and very quickly discovered there was a very strong head wind.  After stops for fuel and groceries we made it to Valentine and camped in the city park for the night $10.00 for water.  No electric or dump station, and no real sites, but it was a good place for the night.

The local bank seems to be doing quite well with a custom brick mural on their front fascade.

September 19, 2006

Made it to Chadron today with perfect weather  (no winds) and are now parked in a commercial campground for the night on the west end of town. The Nebraska National  Forest just south of town had a fire in Augest and much of it is distroyed and we saw a few homes that were no more.  I made it to a Radio Shack and got some contact and curcuit board cleaner for the hard drive connections on my computer. On boot they would not show the drives connected untill I reseated the cables at times. Now with the spray cleaner on the connectors that should put an end to that. Learned that tid bit from reading Tigoa George's travels. We have scouted the area, and  www.frecampgrounds.com  so tomorrow will move to Crawford NE to the city park which offers free camping just 25 miles away but closer to where Terry wants to go rock hunting.

This is a nice city park and free with electric (several plugins on the same pole. 5 each 20 amp and 1 each 50 amp but only a couple of RV units would be able to get close to the pole.  More free camping futher in the park with only water.
Park caretaker was very friendly. So we are parked with 20 amps (need to get a 50 to 30 amp adapter) and satellite looks good to the south and all is well for the night. Oh and did I say FREE 
If you don't mind the train horns from the main line of the Burlington Northern you'll be fine here. Terry went for a walk and found a couple of agates in the parking lot, hopefully this is a good omen for tomrrows rock hunting.

Wednesday September 20
 

Terry on his quest for the perfect rock gem... in the National grasslands just north of Crawford, NE. 
The Forest Service office in Chadron told us where to go look. He even bought the forest service maps. This man is a rock hound.

A view from the bluffs overlooking the grasslandsNE of Crawford, NE
Tonight we will talk about where we are heading next... A shower as soon a I post this and later steak supper. 
Check the weather and make a choice of what is next for us.
That is the fun, no agenda, no tight time frame. Just go and play it by ear and wind up in AZ in a month or two.

Thursday September 21

We got out of town in Crawford, NE under threat of snow storms and headed west into Wyoming to Casper and then on south to Rawlins, WY.

 HWY 220 is a very good road, goes over two continental divide passes both at about 7000 feet. This route goes rightby Indepedence RockWe drove through rain and sleet and cold and have landed at www.westernhillscampground.com
Would you believe this RV park is FULL. People were pulling in left and right. We got a electric only site for $22 
They gave us a $3 discount without a camping club card. May be held up here for a day or two.
We had the heat pump on but it just growled as it was getting to cold for it to run. So the gas furnace goes on.
Think we will spend Friday right here and regroup and relax. It has been a big pull getting ahead of the storms.
Chili for supper, just seems the right thing to have on a cold stormy night.
So now we need to spend time exploring the  Public Lands Information Center site   to see what is in our path that we should not miss.
If you have not been to this web site DO IT. 
More later to see if we are snowed in or not...
We did stop at a market when we hit tiwn and got breakfast stuff so we can look out at the snow, eat well, surf the web, and watch directv.
Somebody has to explore and do this so it might as well be us.
 

Friday September 22

Sitting tight in the RV park. I am reading and Terry is on the web. We can see snow in the mts. but it didn't stick here. 
Terry is making potato rolls and beef stew for supper.
Looking on taking off for Grand Junction, CO onward to Moab, UT on Saturday if the weather allows. 
Will take Hwy 789 from Rowlins, WY and Hwy13 in CO through Craig and Rifle. Sould be no high passes. 

Saturday September 23
 

 We are waiting in Wyoming for the weather to clear.  Awoke this morning to the sight of several inches of snow on the truck, trailer and trailer steps.  It was a heartwarming sight that brought back all the fond memories of previous winters in IA---Not.  The last time we saw significant snow was in late March of 2005 when we had to wait out a late season blizzard in Las Vegas, NM. 

Did a load of laundry this morning and went to the grocery store for a few things.  Tonight we are going for comfort food, a turkey loaf, bake sweet potato, home made rolls, and what ever else we come up with.
 

The sun came out for a quick sunset about 6:30 PM 
Sunday should be nice for travel. We have hold up here for 3 days now.
Tomorrow we hit the highway again, destination Grand Jct. CO.  Wish us luck.