Sedona, AZ

This morning, after our long drive last night into the wind and dust, we move slowly.  I do laundry and Mike catches up on e-mail.  All trip, as we use this newest Advanced RV, we note opportunities for improvement and share them with our designers and craftsmen back at the shop. About noon, we head for Sedona, switch-backing along Oak Creek Canyon Drive and arriving at Rancho Sedona Campground mid-afternoon.  This campground is one of our favorites, set in the valley along a branch of Oak Creek, amid the cottonwoods and sycamores, just a short walk uphill to downtown Sedona.  Lilacs and irises are in bloom. Potential clients, Peter and Bev, who live here, meet us at the campground and drive us to the Village of Oak Creek where we have a delicious dinner at Cucina Rustica, decorated in a beautiful melding of southwest and Tuscan styles, with a ceiling that looks like the western sky.  

Old West, Moab, UT

We are up and out early for the short drive down to Moab.  We eat breakfast at the Jailhouse Café, in a converted – yup – jail and courthouse.  We feel that we are in the Old West, especially after seeing a cowboy ride his horse down the main street.  We rent mountain bikes at Chili Pepper Bike Shop, load them into the back of the Advanced RV Sprinter and head back up Rt. 191, north of Arches National Park, to the trails at Moab Brands.  We take the Bar-M loop and add Rusty Spur for an exhilarating 10-mile ride over rocks, hills and prairie.  The home stretch is tough, with a stiff headwind and red dust blowing in our faces.  As we drive south on Rt. 191, Mike holds our Sprinter RV steady in winds gusting maybe to 50 – 60 mph. The wind and dust continue as we take scenic Rt. 163 through Monument Valley into Arizona.  We keep going all the way to Flagstaff, stopping at the KOA there about 10PM.  

Hiking Fisher Towers

Mid-morning, Mike and I regretfully leave the amazing hospitality of Steve and Paulette and head west on I-70, then south on I-128, the scenic drive to Moab, UT.  The views of mountains, red-rock cliffs and prairie are spectacular.  Mid-afternoon, as we marvel at the thin, tall rock spikes to the east, Mike suddenly turns off at a sign indicating Fisher Towers.  We drive about two miles out a primitive road and stop at a crowded parking lot.  We put on hiking shoes and head up the trail for what is designated a 4-mile hike, averaging about 3 hours, out and back.   The narrow path, over ledges and rocks, is dotted with spring flowers in red, yellow and purple, and low, wind-whipped bristle cone pines.  Two groups of rock climbers are scaling the thin red rock needles.  We rest while chatting with a family from Boulder and then a group of teachers from Pittsburgh.  When we return to the camper, we decide to spend the night right there, parked next to three young scruffy rock climbers.  The girl and one guy, married, are physicists and the other guy is a music teacher, all who live to climb.  I fix us a large salad; we read a while and then turn in early, grateful that we can stop where and when we want in our dry camping EcOasis Advanced RV Sprinter motorhome.

Mountain living

From Niwot we follow Steve and Paulette to Copper Mountain where we are to meet clients at noon.  We did not anticipate the wind, snow and Friday traffic causing delays at the Eisenhower Tunnel as the Denver folks headed to the ski areas for the weekend.  The Advanced RV Sprinter handles the drive well.  After a short visit at Mike and Charlotte’s warm and welcoming mountain home, we enjoy a late lunch at the Copper Mountain ski lodge.  From there, we go on to meet other potential customers, Joe and Leila, at their home in Avon.  These mountain homes are an inspiration to us Midwesterners!   The four of us then meet Steve and Paulette for dinner at Vista at Arrowhead, where we enjoy the pianist who is a friend of Joe’s.  We stay the night at Steve and Paulette’s beautiful home in Arrowhead.  

Buffalo Bill

Today, we head to Golden, CO with Steve driving our Advanced RV to test out the 2014 Sprinter 4-cylinder engine, 7-speed transmission and the VB air suspension.  It was 20-minutes into the trip before he realized that he was driving a 4-cylinder, not a 6.  We give it a good test going up Lookout Mountain Road to the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave.  The road is steep and narrow, with a series of 180-degree switchbacks and scary drop-offs.  Steve was impressed with the handling of the 2014 with air suspension and Mike and I were comfortable belted into the rear sofa bed.  At the top we could see the panorama of the Great Plains and the Rockies.  The Museum was well done, illustrating the life and times of William F. Cody and the Old West.  The original posters from his Wild West show were gorgeous. Potential clients, Dale and Mary Beth, welcome us to their beautiful home in Parker, CO, overlooking the desert and mountains.  They have had multiple off road vehicles and currently own a Class B motorhome.  We learned a lot from them about off-roading and adventurous touring.  At the airport restaurant nearby, the six of us enjoy dinner and sharing more travel stories. 

Boulder, CO

About 7:30AM, Mike and I enjoy a walk on a trail behind the development where our friends live.  In this huge open, rolling meadow, we see prairie dogs, rabbits and lots of people out running with their dogs.  The Flatirons Mountain and Long Mountain are visible to the west.  Later, as Steve and Paulette show us around the area, we pass the Crocs headquarters in Niwot, take a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory in Boulder, and then visit Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art.  This museum, with its outdoor bronze sculpture garden, is a small gem.  We have a delicious lunch of French Onion soup and grilled paninis at Cheese Importers, a funky, colorful French bistro, recently relocated in an old powerhouse in Longmont.  Late in the afternoon, Steve and Paulette take us to downtown Boulder. We drive around Colorado Chautauqua and marvel at the number of people hiking in Chautauqua Park.  We walk Pearl Street, buy some warm jackets on sale at GoLite, and duck into The Chop House for dinner.  We feel fortunate to have Steve and Paulette as our personal, local guides.  

You’re not in Kansas anymore

It went down to 28 degrees last night, but again we stayed comfortable in our 2014 Sprinter motorhome.  We are on the road at 8:30AM under cloudy skies.  The signs along the highway entertain us:  “See the largest prairie dog in the world;” “See live rattlesnakes;” “Pet the baby pig.” We are seeing some green shoots and finally whole fields of green, maybe winter wheat.  The barns painted red give the somber landscape some color.   As we cross into Colorado, we pass more wind turbines.  At first Colorado looks just like the flat, tan Kansas landscape, but gradually it gets hilly, with more green fields.  It is sunny, 45 degrees and windy.   We get a warning “Check Diesel Exhaust Fluid.”  At the next truck stop Mike buys DEF and refills it.  He says it is easier than refilling windshield washer fluid.  We continue on I-70 toward Denver, finally seeing the snow-capped mountains in the distance.  We take E-470 around Denver, arriving at the home of our friends, Steve and Paulette, north of Boulder about 4PM.  We go out to dinner at a cute place in Niwot.  

Tumbleweeds

It is 19 degrees this morning, with a frost over everything.  We stayed warm and slept well.  Chris in Advanced RV upholstery designed a heavy drape for the front of the van that hooks above the side and front windows and hangs to the floor.  With that insulation, plus a cover he made for the ceiling vent and the wool curtains, we were cozy.   At 7:15AM we are on the road, after coffee, oranges, and hard-boiled eggs.  It is sunny, but stays below freezing with a stiff wind blowing tumbleweeds across the highway. At Hereford’s near Kansas City, we have delicious steakburgers with our friends Jim and Linda.  As we continue west, we are pelted with snow and freezing rain for a few hours. Late in the PM, we pass wind turbines on every hillside as far as we can see, maybe of thousand of them, all spinning slowly.  In Russell, KS, just off the highway between Salina and Hays, we camp at an RV park full of construction workers and welders.  We take a long walk and discover horses, pigs, goats, llamas, donkeys, chickens, and dogs along the way.

Heading West

From Cleveland, at 12:30PM we pull out in Mzungu, a 2014 Advanced RV Sprinter motor home with a 4-cylinder engine, 7-speed transmission, VB air suspension and a roof full of low profile, high efficiency solar panels.  We are heading for Arizona, with several scheduled stops in between.  It is 26 degrees F, with snow flurries.  No spring here yet.  Out of Columbus, OH, as we head west on I-70, some sunshine breaks through the scattered clouds and the empty, straw-colored, cut fields lay flat with the remnants of last fall’s hay and grains.  I drive for three hours, enjoying the quiet after the hectic effort of getting ready to hit the road.  Mike catches up on emails.  In Terre Haute at El Camino Real, we eat a satisfying Mexican meal.  About 8:30PM we stop in Montrose, IL at a city campground 300 feet off the I-70 exit, between a small lake, a cemetery and the sewage treatment plant. We are the only ones there.  We face the lake.