Our 2023 Road Trek Adeventure

Our first Roadtrek Adenture in 2019 was a big hit. 6 weeks and 17 National Parks.

We took a couple years off due to the pandemic but we re back at it. Our dark cloud has come back, too.

In 2022 we took a newer, bigger RV to Washington, DC and Florida (for 10 days at Disney and Universal Studios). We didn't make a website for that trip.

Now, in 2023 we're back on the road for a Western Roadtrek Adventure. NH, NY, Indiana, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, New York, and back to NH. Scout Troop 164 is going to Philmont for a 9 day hike in the desert so we re carrying all their gear. We ll meet up in Denver when Philmont Crew 630-9B lands on the 26th.

The new RV went to the body shop in February and came home June 12th. Just as it got home it threw a transmission failure code. A week (and $2000) later, the transmission was fixed.

Then we found a wonky rear camera, a broken water filter housing, and a dead refrigerator. We overcame these challenges and the rig appears ready to go. The countdown is cross your fingers nothing else goes wrong!

Here's our home on wheels for the next 4 weeks.

ENTRIES FROM THE ROAD:

6/20/23

The Scouts have packed all their gear and we're shipping out in the morning! Judith taking over the narrative now. There have been lots of obstacles and we ve definitely scrambled to get here, but we're as ready as we'll ever be. We've opted to overpack. I definitely have way too many hair products and way too much of my wardrobe in this tin can, but there is no reason to be unprepared. You never know when you might need to either attend a garden party, or run into a random summer snowstorm in the desert. You. Just. Never. Know.

June 21, 2023 And we're off! We left sunny Portsmouth at 7:00 AM (only 1 hour behind schedule). Today was a long driving day up 89 through Vermont and a tour of Western NY. We passed signs for Oswego and I smiled and I entertained myself by saying the fun upstate town names - Tonowanda, Cheektowaga, Ticonderoga, etc and then I annoyed Steven and Callum by telling them who I knew from each town from college.

The dog seems to be enjoying his time at camp. And Simon made it to his friend s house without an issue. It was a long driving day - about 10 hours after some road construction in Vermont - still worth it to avoid 495 and Boston commuter traffic. We finally arrived in Westfield, NY at the KOA at 5:30. The people here were lovely and the campsite is great. The campground is right across the street from the shores of Lake Erie. We walked over to see a legendary Great Lakes sunset and while it was pretty, I m sorry Lake Erie folks, you ve got nothing on Lake Ontario from the shores of Oswego.

And just to remind us that we didn't get a chance to do a shakeout trip - we discovered that we have a working hot water heater - but no hot water coming out of the taps. This is fine for the boys who will just shower in the campground shower, but I am going to have a real problem. (Because - me.)

Off tomorrow to Indiana - so another long driving day. Here s hoping Google has an answer on the hot water! Or, we can find someone along the way who knows better than we do.

June 22, 2023 - A new day and a new Great Lake! Welcome to Indiana Dunes National Park on Lake Michigan!

I may or may not have asked Callum to test out the lake water. And I may or may not have said something along the lines of, It can't be any colder than the ocean at home. And I may or may not have giggled as he tested it out, looked horrified, and ran out of the water. It's OK though, because he got frozen custard at Culver's, which is delicious!

As for today s adventures in RV ing - we still have no hot water, and we re dry camping tonight, so this should be interesting. I may be heating water on the stove to wash my hair. We also discovered, at the most inconvenient time of course, that the auxiliary braking system to tow the Jeep also has the added benefit of draining the battery when you re driving. So, that s fun. A super nice man with an Airstream (my dream) gave us a jumpstart. And now we are the proud owners of an instant jump battery charger from the Autozone next to Culver's - two birds and all. We're hoping for a good night's rest, some morning exploring, and a mobile RV repair guy in Nebraska tomorrow.

Also - Steven wouldn t stop at either Chicago - and the Cubs were playing - or Sandusky - and Cedar Point was calling my name!!! We saw lots of farm equipment and passed through Elkhart, Indiana where they make ALL of the RV s. We also saw signs for Gary, Indiana, which, of course, made us break into song because why wouldn t it? On to another adventure tomorrow!

June 23, 2023 We started the day at Indiana Dunes, exploring the park with the now fully-charged Jeep. First we got our Junior Ranger booklet and then we learned that Indiana Dunes is a very small park 15 miles of dunes and beaches along the shores of Lake Michigan. It just became a park in 2019. It s a great place for birders and the dunes were quite impressive. We walked down to the beach sandier than New Hampshire for the record and Callum swam a bit. He got over the cold water. It surrounds a giant steel plant (not very scenic). We saw lots of cargo trains they like their trains here. One had 125 open cars pulled by 3 diesel engines! Indiana Dunes is also right next to Gary, Indiana. Music Man promised me 76 trombones and a big parade, and let me assure you, that is no longer what you might find in Gary, Indiana. It s a little run down and sad now. We got back to the campsite before checkout and set off for Illinois. It was a quick drive today 2 1/2 hours to give us time to explore the park. The drive took us through the Chicago suburbs and into corn country. Hickory Grove campground is set back on a road that looks like it is only ever driven on by tractors. We missed our turn but were not deterred and made it. It s a super quiet campground on the shores of the Hennepin Canal. It s quite lovely. Hot water update still no hot water and our attempts to find someone who can repair our mixing valve have proven unsuccessful. Our method of filling a pot with super hot water and mixing it in the shower with the cold is surprisingly effective. A bit tedious and time consuming, but absolutely worth it for a warm shower and clean hair. Off tomorrow for a longer drive to Nebraska.

June 24, 2023 poor internet connection has delayed publication Today s adventures in RV ing included a drive through Illinois and Iowa, stopping in Nebraska. It is very, very flat here and there corn for as far as you can see. We passed a ton of giant farms with little towns in between and caught a glimpse of Davenport. Other than the city in the distance, the tallest structures we saw were grain elevators and wind turbines. We did stop in Iowa at the World s Largest Truck Stop to fuel up. Unfortunately, they did not have the mixing valve we need for hot water, or the adapter we needed to reattach the water filter. I could have gotten some amazing cowboy boots and in-cab LED lights in every possible configuration, but we left those all behind for the next shopper.

Moving on to Kansas, we arrived at the Grand Island KOA right off Route 80, yet somehow quiet and in the middle of corn fields right around 4:00. We checked in and asked if there was a mobile RV tech around who might be able to help us with our hot water issue. They had a few names, so we made some phone calls while we set up. One was closed, one didn t answer, and we left a voicemail for the third. While we hoped for a callback, we unhooked the Jeep so we could go on a search for the adapters for the water filter. We passed the largest Walmart either of us had ever seen and found an Ace hardware that miracle of miracles had the adapters! (Side note in all this messing around, we discovered that the rubber washers in the connecting hoses are a little bit worn out so we have a working water filter but it s kind of leaky. We'll work on finding replacement washers along the way)

We hit a second, smaller Walmart for a few necessities like band-aids and Benadryl anti-itch lots of bugs along the way and they all bite. While there, the RV tech who we left a voicemail for called back. He won t be back until after we re gone, but he gave us some more helpful ideas to try. Again high hopes, but reasonable expectations of our own abilities abound. The town of Grand Island, or at least the retail section and neighborhoods we saw could have been Anywhere, USA with some of the same chains we have and a few regional chains like Hy-Vee for groceries and Culver s (of course) and a Culver s competitor in the frozen custard field Freddy s. We stopped there and overindulged before returning to the KOA. Conclusion? Culver s has better atmosphere. The food is similar, but Culver s has more choices and better sides. The frozen custard? It's a toss-up. All in all Culver's for the win.

Bellies full, we returned to install the water filter and try again to fix the hot water. Leaky filter installed; we tried bleeding the line again. Warm then cold, then warm, then cold. So, we tried adjusting the valve below the sink same result. We found the mixing valve but did not want to mess with it for fear of an indoor leaky situation! We decided that we were done messing with it, and that we should use the water we needed so we could shut the leak off under the RV. Two loads of laundry later, we were done with the water and Steven tried one last thing to fix the mixing valve he shut off the water and opened up all the faucets, let the pressure relief valve open, and opened up all the drains. Then, once all gurgling noises subsided - he reversed that order and tried the hot water again. IT s A MIRACLE!!! The problem appears to have been air in the line somewhere along the way and NOW WE HAVE HOT WATER!!! YAY!!! All we have to do now is fix the leaky water filter and we will be in tip-top shape!

June 25, 2023 Nebraska is surprisingly long. It took us about 5 hours to drive from Grand Island to the Colorado border. When we were in Colorado in 2019 we stayed one night at the Denver West KOA and it was spectacular. The views of the mountains and the scenic overlooks were unbelievable. So, when looking for a campground near Denver and the airport (to make Scout gear transfers easier), I thought that the Denver East KOA would be just as spectacular. Welp, as it turns out, I should have done more research. It is on the Scouts way to their first stop, but it is NOT scenic. It s clean and the people are nice, but it s a highway campground. Oh well, we re not here forever. If we had known far enough ahead of time where the Scouts would be camping their first night, we would have just gone there. You live, you learn. Making the best of the situation, we took a trip into Aurora to continue to work on our water issues -this time a leaky connecting hose - and then on to Denver to walk around and see a few things and get some dinner. We walked around the Coors Field area, admiring the 1800 s brick buildings and those designed to look like 1800 s brick buildings. We grabbed a quick dinner at Wynkoop Brewing Company and explored the city a bit before heading back to the RV to get the water going. We meet up with the Scouts tomorrow for gear transfer. And I get to see a dear friend who now lives in Boulder.

Monday, June 26, 2023 - Troop 164 Scout Arrival Day! The Philmont Crew had a leisurely plane ride with the inconvenience of a 4:00 AM bus ride to Logan, only to arrive in Denver around 10:00 AM Mountain Time. They were about an hour away from us, and had to get rental cars and eat lunch before coming to retrieve their gear from us. Steve and Callum took that time to ready the gear and have some campground pool time. I took advantage of the time window to take the Jeep and go grab some bacon with a bestie! My dear friend Joanna lives in Boulder and I was so glad she had the time to meet for brunch at the Bacon Social Club.

Crew Photo

pending permission.

I beat the crew to the campground by about 10 minutes and then they pulled in all uniformed up looking very official in their white Suburbans. All they needed were Ray-Bans and a greeting of, Hello, we re here from Troop 164, we re here to help. But. they re kids and they were hot and needed to use the bathroom, so it was a bit more casual. 30-ish minutes later they were all geared up and ready to go - only missing 1 pair of Crocs.

Taking advantage of the afternoon, we got reservations on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It is very steep and much quieter than the steam-powered Cog Railroad on Mount Washington. The train we were on had two diesel-electric engines and the views were great. There is a conductor who narrates the trip and it was a much more pleasant experience than driving the auto road in the Jeep. We, unfortunately, didn t have time for the Garden of the Gods, but we did pass most of the places the Scouts will be visiting on their pre-Philmont adventures. You do really notice the 14,000 feet of altitude up there, but it was fun to look out at Colorado.

The little town of Manitou Springs where the train takes off from is adorable with lots of fun little shops and some elaborate Victorian architecture. The streets are steep and narrow. And someone built a castle up there at the end of one of those tiny little streets. I cannot imagine who the first person was who said, Hey - this looks like a great place for a little town - which will definitely get snowed-in and completely isolated in winter. Also - it will be very difficult to get building materials here on the backs of horses and mules. That sounds Amazing! Let s do it! But it really is very cute and looks to be thriving.

June 27, 2023 We left Denver East and drove past Pikes Peak, the State Park the Scouts were staying at, and Colorado Springs to get to Alamosa, CO where Great Sand Dunes National Park is. It was about a 4 hour drive. Our elevation topped out around 9,000 feet on a 2, sometimes 3, lane state route. The RV was not loving the inclines sometimes topping out at 45mph. And not for nothing, speed limits are crazy around here there are roads with 65 or 75 as the limit that don t really seem safe at anything over 50 for a car let alone the giant trucks that were all over the place, but I suppose you get used to it.

We drove past the entrance to Great Sand Dunes and all the campgrounds closer to the park (that I was too late to book) and arrived at our KOA. Once settled in, we took the Jeep back to the park, using our handy-dandy annual pass and got right in. We stopped at the visitor center to get the lay of the land and grab a Junior Ranger booklet. Callum has reluctantly agreed to indulge me in a quest to get Junior Ranger badges at every park we visit.

The sand dunes themselves are so crazy! It s mountain, mountain, mountain, prairie, prairie, prairie GIANT BEACH with no lake or ocean. The most fun to be had is sledding down the dunes. We re going to save that for tomorrow when we have a full day at the park. We took the park road around to explore a bit and came upon a 4wd only road through the sand toward the back of the park and into the preserve. And since we dragged a Jeep all the way to Colorado, we might as well use that 2-inch lift and the big tires to have a little fun. According to the park map the road goes all the way up to a pass, but we didn t see anyone on the road after a while, it was getting late, we were at a tank of gas, had lowered the tire pressure to 20 lb and had no idea where there was a place to get air except in the Park. At the second water crossing which looked a bit harder to navigate than the first, we decided to turn around. Steven probably would have kept going, but there were signs all over the place for bear activity and I did not relish the idea of being stuck somewhere out there. So, back to the Park we went.

The Park is open 24 hours a day but the Visitor s Center closed at 4:30 and the gate shed was shut when we went by. We stopped on the way back into town for some gas it s a remote little shop with 2 pumps from the 70 s, a gift shop, and a tiny restaurant. Their credit card processing was done of dial-up hilarious! Exploring downtown Alamosa for some dinner and minor grocery shopping was next on the docket. We didn t have high hopes driving into town, but we found a cute little Main Street with a pizza place, brewery and other fun shops. Driving further, there was a new-ish shopping center with a Safeway, Starbuck s, Sonic, and all the usual suspects. The adorable tiny campus of Adams State College was right next door.

We decided on pizza from the Purple Pig Pizzeria and Pub and it was pretty tasty. We returned to the campground after picking up our groceries and crossed over the Rio Grande which is a little less impressive at this location more like a country stream.

June 28, 2023 We spent the morning preparing to sand sled at the Park and completing some of the Junior Ranger activities. Sled rentals were available at our campground, so $40 later, we were armed with 2 sleds for sharing, a chunk of wax, and a sheet of helpful hints.

Walking out to the dunes is hard work! It s mostly soft sand with parts that are more handpicked due to the stream that runs opposite the wind across the dunes and redistributes the sand. But once you get past that, the sand is super loose and it s absolutely insidious. The wind is strong - blowing sand in your face and hair the whole time, so beyond whatever beach you re bringing home in your shoes, you will be checking pockets and scratching your head until you take a shower. It s harder to walk on than beach sand because the grains are larger so they move more - almost like walking on teeny tiny marbles. Needless to say, it took a few minutes to get from the parking lot to the dunes that were large enough to sled.

Sand sledding, as it turns out, not that fast. Steve and Callum took the first run, and it was a lot of pushing the sled down the hill with their hands - kind of like end of season snow sledding when you need to push over the grassy spots. They waxed their boards some more and tried again with not much more luck. And walking back up the hill - not so fun. All in all, we probably took about 5-10 runs down the dune, and then it was getting hot, and we d gone through two big Hydroflasks of water, so we made the long trek back to the Jeep to get as much sand out of our shoes as we could. It involved hitting shoes on the tailgate many times to shake sand loose and removing the footbeds of our shoes to even get most of it out. Callum wore Crocs, which we initially thought was a bad idea. As it turns out - brilliant.

We used the park map to help Callum finish up his Junior Ranger booklet and went back up to the Visitor Center to get him sworn in. He got a badge AND a patch because the Ranger was too nice to him.

Once Callum collected his goods, we followed the entrance road out to the road to Zapata Falls. It was advertised as a very difficult to travel road with a mile rocky hike to see the falls. The drive was paved, and not bad at all - in fact there is a campground up there with some small trailers. The campground is new, and we think the road may have just been paved and the signage is old. However, the trail was rocky and uneven as advertised. We thought about attempting it, but Callum was only wearing the aforementioned Crocs and did not have an appropriate pair of shoes with him, Since we do not have time for a broken ankle, we decided to forgo the hike.

Callum was ready for a break and Steve was ready for lunch, so we took a midday break for some grilled sausages and pool time. We also took advantage of the midday lighter wifi use to sync our photos.

After pool time we went back into town to get some rolled ice cream. We wanted to stop last night, but it was closed. The place was super cute and the people working were very friendly. We really enjoyed it. We drove around town a bit more looking at the trains in the train yard and decided that it really is a cute little college town that once was a train town.

On the way back, we drove through the Alamosa Wildlife Preserve. The office was closed, and you could only go so far into the property, but we did see a very cool hawk who was kind enough to pose for photos on top of a telephone pole. If I had had my good camera with us, I could have gotten a better zoom.

The Preserve is just a minute from the campground so we decided to call it an early night. The boys watched Star Wars (Again!) while I cleaned up around the RV and ran a couple loads of laundry so we would be ready to go first thing in the morning to New Mexico. We will be arriving in New Mexico the same day as the Scouts, just several hours earlier than they arrive.

June 29, 2023 The ride from Alamosa, CO to Cimarron, NM took us through some lovely little mountain towns like Red River, NM and a few others near the Taos ski areas. It was a bit of a roller coaster with the RV with our altitude starting at 7,500 -ish, going up to 9,900 and down again to about 6,400 feet above sea level in sometimes surprisingly short amounts of time.

New Mexico Route 64 follows a river in Kit Carson National Forest and travels through pine trees and sheer rock faces. They ve done a really cool thing, which is that every couple of miles there are little campgrounds on the side of the road, giving access to the forest and the river. They re small, but look very popular. They don t have a lot of amenities, but do look to have paved spots, picnic tables, and grills at the spots. It made us wish that there would be more of these types of mini campgrounds in the White Mountains.

We made it to Cimarron early afternoon, which as it turns out, was too early to check into the RV resort. We found a spot to wait at a local drive in restaurant and had some lunch. Luckily, after a quick email to the RV park, we were able to check in early.

Once we had a chance to get set up, we took a quick ride to historic Cimarron (it s not very big) and continued up the road to Philmont Scout Ranch. We had a small bag of things for Simon, but were told there was no place for them to hold it, so let s hope he is not in need of moleskin, or foot powder while out on the trail.

It was raining, so we decided to visit the National Scouting Museum. Callum wore his Class A uniform to show his Troop 164 pride. We walked through the museum and found some really cool artifacts, and some that are a bit cringey. And we learned about the history of Scouting. Steven s favorite part was the spy aspect of their origin. It was an interesting place to visit.

By the time we were done in the museum the rain had stopped and we decided to do the walking tour of Historic Cimarron. As it turns out, there s not much there, but I did find some old cast iron pans at an antique store.

We had dinner at the St. James Hotel. It s a very cool old hotel with some cowboy history. The building is pueblo style and inside the original Victorian detailed woodwork and tin ceiling have been maintained. There is an actual saloon door to the restaurant and the wooden bar takes up a whole wall. It was certainly a very upscale place back in the day.

You see Scout groups and Philmont staff all over the place, and it is clearly the dominant business in town. Other than a school, the New Mexico State Engineer s office, and a couple small restaurants and gas stations, there is not much here.

The Troop 164 Crew hits the trail tomorrow after their ride down from Angel Fire. I don t think we ll see them. Hopefully, they do not run into the kind of thunderstorm that we had tonight while they are on the trail. It was so bad that there was rain pouring into the RV from the top of the door. We ll be going back up to Taos to explore Taos Pueblo and walk around there and hopefully spend a bit more time in Red River. The town looked like it had some fun shops to explore.

June 30, 2023 It s finally Philmont day for our Scout Crew. Our camping spot is a block away from the entrance road, so we tracked Simon s phone and waved to them as they drove by. We had no expectation that they would stop or we would even catch them, but timing was on our side and they were kind enough to pull over. So we got to wish them luck and say Happy Birthday to Simon.

They continued on down the road to Philmont to begin their journey. We had already been down to the registration area to ask if we could leave something for Simon (assuming we would not see him) and we saw all the 15 passenger vans, mini vans, and normal cars in the parking lot. Our crew is going to look a little extra fancy pulling up in those Suburbans!

That amusing thought in our heads, we left Cimarron to visit Taos - specifically, Taos Pueblo which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. It was about an hour and a half through the Kit Carson National Forest. (Who, by the way, sounds like he was pretty awful to the Native people, so I do not understand why people like him so much around here.) We did not turn off to go see Red River, but we did pass through Angel Fire which is where the Crew spent the night before their trek. The ride is part of the Enchanted Circle scenic byway. And it is definitely very scenic.

Taos Pueblo is on the edge of Taos proper. It is a walled Pueblo that has been continuously inhabited for over 1,100 years. You pay admission to go into the Pueblo and then there is a guided tour given by volunteers from the Tribe. Our guide told us about the history of the Pueblo starting with how they were a successful community because they were walled and it was a defensible community. They always had 7 years of food stored and up to 10,000 people lived in the community at a time.

They were fierce warriors , specializing in bow making and marksmanship with bows and arrows. They were surrounded by Apache, Comanche, and Sioux and would have to defend themselves from these other tribes routinely kidnapping their women. This was a common practice among all the tribes in order to expand the gene pool. And the people of the Pueblo also did it.

He touched on the forced Catholic conversions by the Spanish Conquistadors and how they attacked the Native people because the believed they had found the city of gold. However, it was just the mica and the straw in the mud used to build the Pueblo that reflected gold and silver. It was not actually El Dorado. During the Mexican American War the Pueblos (which he said is a Spanish word, and not accurate to describe their communities) were able to coordinate and defend themselves against attacks. However, later on, in the 1800 s they were not as lucky against the American Cavalry, and the local people took heavy losses, including the Cavalry, having promised to give shelter to women and children in a church, bombing it with no survivors. Taos Pueblo, because of its wall, and access to fresh water, was one of the few communities to survive on their land, albeit with much diminished numbers.

Teddy Roosevelt made their sacred land public land, making it difficult for the people to practice their ceremonies because they were constantly having to chase hunters and others away from their sacred sites before ceremonies and it was dangerous. It was Richard Nixon who returned the Sacred land to the Tribe. It is amazing to see how the original buildings have all been maintained and continue to be maintained. Only about ten people live in the Pueblo currently, and there is concern that eventually they will run out of people with enough blood connection to the Pueblo to inherit the houses and maintain the buildings. They also do not have electricity or running water, and cannot in order to maintain the integrity of the buildings. The only allowable modern convenience is gas - like a gas stove or lighting, because it can be installed with just a small hole drilled through the wall.

Currently, they make their money from charging tourists entrance fees and individual pueblos house fry-bread and bakery stands and quite a few artists. But it is definitely a community that is financially suffering. There are also a bunch of friendly (but definitely in need of a bath ) dogs who wander around the Pueblo. They are all very chill, and will definitely beg for fry-bread.

We finished up our tour and drove into Taos proper. The downtown is very cute with a mix of pueblo style buildings and Old West architecture. Again, there are a lot of artists and galleries and museums and touristy things. There were a few stores that specialize in outdoor gear - one very high-end, and one that was an exchange for used outdoor gear (that one was a bit outside the historic downtown). We looked at the architecture, browsed a few stores, and found a place for lunch. Finding a lunch spot was a bit more challenging than expected. It seems that they have a lot of breakfast and lunch places, and a lot of dinner places that open at 4:30 or 5:00. We finally found a nice restaurant and enjoyed a lovely lunch on their patio. Side note - for a Ski Village - I cannot figure out for the life of me where the ski mountains are. No signs, nothing to indicate where you ski - just a few places to rent skis and snowboards in Angel Fire.

After that, it was time to make our way back to Cimarron, with a small side trip to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. This very tall metal framed bridge crossed the river at the place where the river has worn a canyon that is hundreds of feet deep. The Rio Grande was not running as high as we would have thought considering their record snow this past winter and the spring s record rainfall, but it also was so far down that depth was difficult to judge.

We returned to Cimarron with one last update from the Philmont Crew that they had made it through orientation and would be going out on the trail at 1:00 PM and they would be incommunicado, as expected while out there.

We prepped for our drive into Santa Fe and plan to get a fairly early start.

July 1, 2023 Happy 12th Birthday to Callum! He had his cranky pants on because I did not have a freshly baked cake ready to go at 6:00 AM, but we did eventually find him some ice cream and that made him feel better.

The drive from Cimarron to Santa Fe is only a little bit over 2 hours, but it is along a narrow, sometimes windy 2-lane state road, similar to the one we had to take into Cimarron. The biggest difference was that this road was not through the mountains, but rather through the plains and that made it much more wind-prone. The occasional gust would come by and make it tricky to keep the bus on the road. (It really is too big). However, the weight of the bus did seem to help a little bit.

We made a surprise stop about way at Fort Union, a Civil War era Union fort built in the adobe style. It was HUGE! And a good reminder that the Civil War was fought this far West. Although the soldiers at the fort did not see any action in the Civil War, they did participate in some battles with the local tribes. The fort was decommissioned in 1896 and was made into a National Monument soon after.

We did not spend nearly enough time there to see the whole fort and I would like to go back, but it was definitely a worthwhile stop. (We got a Junior Ranger book, but we ll have to complete it and mail it in.

The KOA Santa Fe was only another 45 minutes or an hour past the Fort and we arrived there by about 12:30. We have a deluxe spot here so we have shade trees and a little patio with chairs, a grill, and a fire pit. It s lovely.

We re about 15 minutes out of Santa Fe proper, and it s completely rural. There is almost nothing here except desert landscape and then suddenly you re in a major city. There is definitely a lot to see in Santa Fe and there are a ton of museums. We took a quick tour of the plaza in the center of town and then, on recommendation of a few people, we went to Meow Wolf which is very similar to City Museum in St. Louis. Local artists designed 70 rooms of their visions surrounding a full house inside an old bowling alley. It is a very strange place with rooms looking like everything from a space-age Yeti to a very trippy New Orleans to a fun treehouse with access to the house. There is a mystery story about a family who somehow got lost in this multiverse and there are a bunch of clues in the house about the family and how they disappeared and actors to help guide you along that path. We didn t participate in that aspect of the story, but rather just took in all the crazy rooms and followed secret passageways.

After our Meow Wolf experience, we went back into town to get some dinner. We ate at the Plaza Cafe after struggling to find parking for a while. And then we walked around the plaza and its immediate area. We saw the Governor s Palace and the Georgie O Keefe museum. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and we were too late to see the insides of the buildings.

Once back at the RV, we tried to find where the fireworks we kept hearing were coming from. And we played a couple rounds of Spot-It (I won) before sending the Birthday Boy to bed. Off tomorrow to Bandelier National Monument and Los Alamos.

Sunday, July 2, 2023 We woke up early and had French Toast in the RV and then set out for the drive to Bandelier National Monument. It was about 45 minutes on the other side of Santa Fe. We went through the outskirts of the city to follow the road t to the White Rock Visitor Center which is the starting point for the mandatory park shuttle. This visitor center is a place to get information on all the local historical parks and national parks. They also have a first-come, first-serve RV park there that is free. It s a no-frills parking lot with just electricity (necessary for the NM summer sun) but it s a great idea and very convenient for people looking to see the local sites who don t want to commit to paying for a campsite. Our bus might be too big though.

Bandelier National Monument is a series of cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. You can walk a 1.5 mile loop with stairs and ladders to get inside some of the cliff dwellings. The place had been continuously occupied until the Manhattan Project came to Los Alamos, which made it very difficult for the people to stay and very difficult for them to practice their customs, so they were displaced. The cliff dwellings are pretty fascinating - they are not as detailed as some that have been preserved, but they are still a fascinating and enlightening look into how people lived. Just as we came off the trail, we began hearing thunder in the distance and felt a few drops of rain. We could see some ominous skies over the mountains.

Luckily, we were just returning to the park s Visitor Center, so we took a few minutes to watch one of their educational films and, much to Callum s chagrin, complete the Junior Ranger booklet. He begrudgingly answered the volunteer s questions, but didn t want to take the Junior Ranger oath again. She was kind and gave him his badge anyway.

Badge in hand, we went out to wait for the shuttle. Both Steven and Callum took a little nap whilst I took in the scenery coming down the mountain. We returned to the White Rock Visitor Center and on the way, we noticed what looked like snow on the roofs of the houses. How could that possibly be??? I mean, we know it gets cold in the mountains at night, but it was 80-something degrees, so it seemed unreasonable for snow to be on rooftops in the afternoon. Upon exiting the bus, we looked down and noticed that it was not snow, but rather pea-sized hail. Apparently, that storm we were hearing in the distance was pelting our Jeep with hail. No damage done to Jeepy, we ate some pre-made PB&J sandwiches and frozen grapes.

Next stop: Manhattan Project National Monument. A mere 15 minute drive away. We drove past the actual Los Alamos National Laboratory - and guess what - we were not gaining entrance there any time soon! The Manhattan Project National Park is actually three locations - Los Alamos, Oakridge, TN, and Hanford, WA. Each one has its own part to the story.

This Park is spread out throughout the town, with some of the houses used during the Project now being private homes. We started in the Visitor Center to get a walking tour map and other information. The volunteer there, when we asked for a Junior Ranger book, asked if I wanted one too - and Y-E-S I wanted one! It s so fun! She confirmed that we can ask for two books from now on so I can do it with Callum to encourage him.

The Los Alamos Ranch School - a western boarding school for rich kids from back East - made the perfect location for Oppenheimer, and the dining hall still stands. It is an excellent example of the rustic style of architecture also used at a lot of National Park lodges. Those fancy families sure paid a lot of money to look rustic!

We also learned in the dorm rooms above the dining hall that Boy Scout Troop 22 was founded by the boys in the school and that they were the first - and only - Mounted Patrol. The Park Ranger confirmed that yes, Troop 22 still exists, and yes, they still ride horses.

We completed our books by Bathtub Row (where the high-ranking people had houses fancy enough to have bathtubs) and some pre-war homesteaders house exhibits and went to be sworn in. New Junior Ranger Badges in hand, we moved on to the Bradbury Science Museum. I wanted, so badly, for it to be named after Ray Bradbury because the irony there would just be so delicious. But, alas, it was rather deservingly named after a scientist named Bradbury who took over the lab when Oppenheimer retired.

The museum was small but very well put together with two films explaining the Lab during Project Y and the current work of the Loa Alamos lab. The film also explained why the location was chosen. (Oppenheimer had vacationed in the mountains near Los Alamos and liked how remote it was. Being able to snag the boarding school buildings for the War Effort sealed the deal.) There are life-sized models of Fat Man and Little Boy, and a nice tribute to the women who worked on the project. There are examples of the calculators used (YIKES - the size of a typewriter.) and a really detailed timeline of the events surrounding the development and testing of the bombs. There is also a nice exhibit on the work the lab does now.

One last thing we wanted to find was the legendary white entrance gate. A replica has been built and is maintained by the Los Alamos Parks Department. It is now a tiny public park with the entrance facade. The building itself houses public restrooms which is kind of hilarious.

It s totally a movie set.

We hit an Albertson s on the way home for some basic groceries, and made dinner in the RV. (Albertsons btw has choices like Hannaford, but prices like Market Basket.) We finally made a fire in our fire pit - taking advantage of our deluxe site and Callum got to make a couple s mores before bed with a lovely rainbow backdrop.

On tomorrow to Albuquerque and a tram ride up to Sandia Peak.

July 3, 2023 We left the Santa Fe KOA around 8:30 AM for the short ride to Albuquerque. Unfortunately, we arrived at our new campground way too early to check in, so we drove over to a local Walmart parking lot to wait for a little while. There wasn t another safe place to leave the RV. Steven ran inside for some necessities, and Callum and I sat in the A/C.

We added some bug-cutter windshield washer fluid for the RV. The bugs out here are out of control! It s weird because you normally associate mosquitos with wet places, but they re here too - in droves. We had a snack and by the time we had everything figured out, it was time to head back to the KOA to check in. It is an urban KOA, right in a neighborhood of houses and industrial buildings. The neighborhood has definitely seen better days, but the KOA is a little oasis and they re definitely on top of keeping things nice here.

The spot we re in is paved, which meant that in the heat here, we had to take one of a few trips to the local Walmart to get pads for under the leveling jacks. Otherwise, we would have sunken into the pavement, causing damage. This is the first really hot place we ve hit since the start of our trip. And it s in the high 90 s during the day.

We finally got settled in and made our way to Sandia Peak, which is a ski mountain in the winter, but in the summer, they run the tram for hikers and sightseers to go to the top of the mountain. We had an arrival time of 3-5. You get in line with your ticket, and then you wait until all the people who had an entry time of 1-3 have made it on the tram. We were a little early, so we made it on the last tram of 1-3 entries. Once you get to the top, you can stay as long as you like - which is different than the Pike s Peak train where you only had 30 minutes at the top of the mountain. New Mexico seems to be even more chill about time than Colorado.

It is a narrated ride up the tram, with an operator pointing out the interesting points along the way, like big canyon and a rock shaped like a golf ball. Once you get to the top, you can explore all the trails around the ski mountain area, and beyond. You can even get a one-way ticket so that you can hike or bike down the mountain. We only saw one person who was hiking down after riding up. And he planned on taking the ramainder of the day and part of the next day to get back down.

It was fun to see all the ski runs and lifts out of season. There are a bunch of hiking trails, but I was completely unprepared to hike and wore my Birks. Plus, at 10300 feet it took us all a minute to catch our breath - you know because we live like 10 feet above sea level. We did walk a wait out into the trails to each side of the tram station. There is also a fine dining restaurant at the top of the peak with amazing views called Ten3 (and yes, I needed that name explained to me - duh). We got on the waitlist on a whim, and even though we were told it would be a 2 hour wait, we got a table in 45 min or so. The food was great, the atmosphere was very cool. The water glasses were made from re-used wine bottles, which was super fun, and the design was a modern ski eclectic in a good way. We enjoyed our meals, and bellies full, got in line to go down the tram. We were the last people on that tram; giving us a window view out the door.

We returned to the RV so we could get an early start on the 4th before the excessive heat warning kicked in.

July 4, 2023 The plan was to go to Petroglyph National Monument - stopping first at their Visitor Center and then going to the location that had the most bang for your buck. There are three sites to the monument scattered throughout the city. One of them had a warning about car break-ins and it had no developed trail system. We decided to skip that site.

The NPS app and website both said that you would not be able to find the Visitor s Center using GPS - it would send you to a neighborhood. So they listed gps coordinates. I had found the Visitor s Center on Waze - which is usually accurate, but we went with their coordinates on Google Maps. As it turns out. those coordinates took us past the Visitor Center - we saw it, but could not get to it - and on to the site we had planned to explore anyway. We chose Boca Negra Canyon because it has 3 short trails - 1 strenuous and 2 moderate but all together totalling under a mile with over 200 petroglyphs to see. We followed the signs for the strenuous trail first. It is a loop trail going up a small volcanic cone with probably 75 petroglyphs along the way. The angle of the sun and the wear on the rocks can sometimes change how well they can be seen, but most were very clear and thankfully, appeared to be untouched by vandalism.

On the lower trails there were rocks that had been carved into by visitors. They did not seem to have damaged any of the original petroglyphs, but it is always disappointing and disheartening to see when people are so disrespectful. There was a group of Native Americans (how they referred to themselves in all our tours) having a gathering in one area of the trail, so we gave them some space. Overall, we probably spent an hour and a half exploring - including a break in the middle for granola bars and watermelon. And we probably drank 2 gallons of water. It was about 85 degrees when we arrived and it was about 95 when we left. The sun is brutal! And I don t care how dry the heat is - that s hot.

We made our way back to the Visitor Center to get our Junior Ranger booklets. They have a Senior Ranger booklet there too for people over the age of 13. (For the record - they make it very clear that Junior Ranger is open to people of all ages.) Callum worked on his booklet while I did mine and we both got sworn in and collected our gear! He got a badge, a sticker, and a patch. I got a badge and a gold pin. It was super fun and Callum liked doing it more when I had a harder book to do.

Badges, stickers, pins, and patches in hand, we sought out sustenance on our way back to explore Albuquerque proper. It was already near 100 degrees, so another strenuous outside activity was not in the cards. Callum was in the mood for breakfast for lunch, and luckily for him, we found a local Weck s - a small southwestern breakfast and lunch chain. We had some yummy brunch food and continued our explorations. Old Town in Albuquerque is tiny with a smaller plaza than Santa Fe, and other than that small neighborhood the city itself seemed very unwelcoming. I much preferred Santa Fe. Old Town had a couple restaurants and some touristy shops, but not much else. We went for a couple minutes but quickly moved on. I am sure we missed something, but it was too hot to wander around.

We started back to the RV when Steven remembered that he wanted to find a particular RV place to see if they had a part for our rear camera that has never really worked properly. And for the second time in one day, Google Maps failed us. We ended up on an access road to the Tempurpedic Mattresss factory (who knew?), an Amazon distribution center, and a Fedex distribution center. We could see the RV place, but you could definitely not get there from here. I switched to Waze, and we found our way out. The place is on old Route 66, so we did see some fun and nostalgic signs and a sad looking casino. Of course, we were all reminded of Cars and compared the area to Radiator Springs. And, of course, they did not have what we needed to repair the camera and Steven didn t want to spend $500 to replace the camera. We will continue to look for a solution.

Back through the city we went. It really is shocking how quickly you go from completely rural with nothing but scrub trees and bushes to a developed area to nothing, to a city. We made it to the RV in time for Callum to swim in the pool for a little bit and since none of us were hungry for a real dinner, we went to the Freddy s we discovered down the street for a concrete (a really thick version of a DQ Blizzard) before bed.

July 5, 2023

It s time to go to White Sands National Park - in Alamogordo, NM. This is the furthest we will be from Philmont. It s about 2 hours from Albuquerque. The road to White Sands runs parallel to the train tracks. I have never seen so many long, double-stacked trains. There were all kinds of cars, from open coal car type cars to double-stacked Amazon and Walmart branded containers. Trains really are the most efficient way to move lots of materials across long distances. We clocked the trains we passed to see how long they were, and every one was at least one mile long. Most had three engines at the front, and one even had an engine in the middle of the train. None of us had ever seen that before - just engines pulling and pushing long trains.

We went through historic Lincoln County of Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid fame. I had forgotten it was in New Mexico. And we passed a sign for Smokey Bear State Park. I had forgotten he was from New Mexico too. We passed it in the RV and decided to go back with just the Jeep. There were also signs posted that if there is a missile test at the White Sands Missile Sight that U.S. 70 would be closed for an hour while the tests are completed. That s not disconcerting at all.

We made it past the World s Largest Pistachio to our KOA, which is a lovely little campground with a pool and gravel sites to prevent sinking. We even have a little patio with a table and chairs, a grill, a fire pit and lights.

Once settled, we unhooked the Jeep and went back to Smokey Bear State Park. Good thing we hadn t brought the RV - it s a tiny place with a small parking lot. The museum there is super cute, showing Smokey s history and a bunch of his memorabilia. There is also a nice tribute to wilderness firefighters.

The gardens out back representing all of the types of foliage found in New Mexico s different climates is very well done. And it is the burial place for Smokey. They have a really sweet grave. They also have a burial place for a Smokey Bear hot air balloon that had a tragic end in a bad gust of wind. The balloon was shredded when it ran into a 700 foot power pole. Luckily, the pole had a ladder attached, and the pilot and two passengers were able to climb down.

We went across the street to a gift shop since the official museum store was closed and got some Smokey goodies. We did not buy one of his signature ranger hats, but we totally should have.

On the way back to Alomogordo we stopped at the World s Largest Pistachio and - coincidentally - winery to pick up some New Mexico hot sauce and wine for my book club. This book s food theme is Mexican, so when in Rome

We drove through Alomogordo, past the street our campground is on. We were actually surprised to see all the national chain restaurants and strip malls along the main drag. We found the old business district behind the strip malls and saw a really lovely old Western-style Main Street and a modern, but nicer than a strip-mall looking grocery store. We will probably go there before leaving town to stock up on the essentials.

For dinner we snacked on some fresh watermelon and fresh local chips and salsa and settled in for the night. Steven and Callum went up to the front desk to snag us some sleds - which in this case are just snow sleds - and wax for the sand dunes. We will go super early so as not to burn ourselves on the sand. And we re hoping the gypsum sand will be a more successful sledding surface.

July 6, 2023

We got up early to go to Great Sand Dunes before the heat really kicked in. I had found 3 short trails that the Park Service recommended to get a feel for the different aspects of the park - wildlife, gypsum sand, and the crystals that are formed underneath the sand. The Visitor s Center wasn t open when we got there, meaning we would not be able to get our Junior Ranger booklets until later.

The Dunes Life Trail was first. It s a one-mile trail climbing up a steep section of dunes in soft sand and then snaking around through some hard-packed sand and some soft sand. It is well-marked with informational signs.

Unfortunately, a lot of the had fallen victim to the bright sun and sand and poor Katie the Kit Fox (the mascot on the signs) couldn t tell her whole story. It was both beautiful, with lots of different plants and animal tracks in the sand, and also the most unsatisfying walk to Robert Moses Field 5 from the parking lot ever! You absolutely felt like there should be a beach coming up soon the whole time. But noooooo, just more sand and brutal sun. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

We continued along the Dune Road to find a good spot to try sand sledding again. And to find the other two trails. The whole park had a slight sulphur smell to it, stronger at some points than others. It was particularly strong at the boardwalk trail. They were also emptying the pit toilets when we got there, so we decided to move on for a while to come back to that spot.

The Dune Road is paved for a while and then it just becomes hard-packed sand. There are lots of places to stop with large parking areas and picnic tables with shelters over them. We found a good spot to try sledding and Steven and Callum climbed up a small-ish dune to test out the toboggan and flying saucer - waxed, of course. Sand sledding here was definitely smoother than at Great Sand Dunes, and they did have some success at it, but I think you would need to go deeper into the park to find higher and steeper dunes to really get going.

The gypsum sand remained surprisingly cool to the touch even though by the end of our time in the dunes, it was well over 90 degrees and we had gone through over 100 ounces of water.

We went back to explore the boardwalk and take a few more photos before returning to the Visitor Center. We stamped our National Parks Passport and got our Junior Ranger booklets. It took us a little while to complete the booklets, but we did it, got our badges and park stickers and left the park while we still had a little water left, passing the sign warning drivers that if the lights are flashing, Route 70 would be closed for an hour so that missile tests could be completed. That s not disconcerting at all.

It was still early in the day, so we grabbed a quick lunch, and decided to go to Roswell today rather than as a stop on our way back up to Cimarron tomorrow, since that will be a long trip to begin with.

It was almost two hours through fields and the occasional tiny town or casino or gas station to get to Roswell, which we knew would be a tourist trap, but we did not expect what we saw. It s actually a decent-sized town with the usual suspects of strip malls and chain restaurants. but it also has a beautiful old municipal building (with the Ten Commandments out front) and a place that they acknowledge the ranchers in the area.

We walked up and down the main drag of alien-related silliness and weat into the International UFO Museum and Research Library. The have taken their alien encounters very seriously here with some history and documentation and interviews with witnesses. However, there is definitely an element of kitsch and the town does not take itself too seriously. The streetlights have alien eyes on them, so there s that.

Were we glad we went? Yes, because if we didn t go we would be curious forever. But if we d known exactly how ridiculous it would be before we went, we might have reconsidered.

We returned in time to hand in our sleds and for Callum to go to the pool. We tried a local custard and hot dog place for dinner, and prepared the RV for our return to Cimmarron.

Friday, July 7, 2023

It was finally time to go back up to Cimarron to meet up with the crew and collect their gear before heading east.

We are using an RV GPS, and so far it hasn t steered us wrong, but today made us question a few things. It could just be that there are not a lot is North South roads in New Mexico, but our trusty GPS sent us down New Mexico Route 3 which was clearly ill-advised. Perhaps the sign that told us that the road was not recommended for large trucks should have been an indication of such but there were not any other good options, and Steven just said, we re already here now. so we continued and made it down the ever-narrowing road with, quite luckily, a very small amount of traffic. The tiny switchbacks going down the side of a cliff with almost no discernible guard rail were particularly concerning, but we made it!! And eventually, Route 3 got us to I-25 where we were able to relax a bit for the rest of the trip.

We saw a sign for Fort Union, the monument so nice we decided to visit it twice, We stopped to complete Callum s unfinished Junior Ranger badge and get that one under his belt. He still wouldn t do the Junior Ranger pledge, but he was not-so-secretly happy to get the badge. It was a group effort. We have two more badges to complete - Indiana Dunes which we will mail in, and Smokey Bear State Park which they emailed us. We will need to print it out and email them his responses.

We made it back to Cimarron around 3:30 and checked back into the same RV park we were in before. After settling in we looked up local restaurants, knowing full-well that our choices would be limited. We found the Colfax Tavern and Diner just outside of town in what they like to call Cold Beer, New Mexico . Thet had a big selection of beer on tap, and we all know Steven was super psyched for that - but they did also have some locally brewed root beer on tap. I, however, tried a small flight of local beers and it was delightful. The place itself is kind of a barn with the rodeo on TV and an indoor and outdoor stage. There was a big patio and a woman yodeling country music while playing the banjo outside. It was kind of perfect for the atmosphere. We had some pizza and onion rings and made our way back to the RV so we could relax, and Callum could take a shower and get to sleep. Off to visit Red River tomorrow morning. It seems a little like North Conway - a little ski village on a river with cute shops and restaurants. Then we wait to hear from the crew coming off the trail tomorrow.

Saturday, July 8, 2023

We woke up relatively early for our ride to Red River about 45 minutes away through Kit Carson National Forest. We arrived around 9:30, after stopping at the coffee shop owned by the same couple who own the RV park we re staying at to get Callum some breakfast. We found some free parking on the street and started walking through the various gift shops and other touristy places. It s legal to drive ATV s on the streets in downtown Red River. There were a few rental places open and a ton of them already on the street.

Steven wanted an early lunch so we went to Red River Brewing Company. It was too early to try their brews, but not too early for food. If there is one thing we have come to realize on this trip, it is that we are super spoiled with the quality of food we have access to in New Hampshire. Lunch was OK, but nothing to write home about.

My understanding of the plan for the day was that we would wander around, maybe get a souvenir or two, perhaps ride the ski lift up the slopes the lift is connected to the main drag very convenient, and head back to rest up for our long drive tomorrow.

But nooooo . not with Steven around. There were a couple places offering Jeep tours of the area and we looked at them. One was closed for the day and the other really wasn t a Jeep it was an F-250 with seats on the back. Both were expensive and not at convenient times. With all the ATV s around, Steven surmised that there must be trails anyone can use. So, it was off to the Visitor s Center to confirm the trails were all safe for a Jeep and to purchase a map.

The map was moderately clear, but the signage once we found the inlet road was very clear and led us up a very bumpy trail to Greenie Peak at 11, 145 feet and great views all around. It s a narrow path and you need to pull over to allow for other drivers to pass and it s very, very bumpy. But Jeepy was up for the task. As Steven said in Great Sand Dunes, If you re going to drag a Jeep half-way across the country, you might as well use it. Callum loved bouncing around in the back seat on the way up, however, he was very quick to move to the middle seat for the trip down to avoid any chance of bumping his head on the door. I had to work pretty hard not to bump my head too. According to the Jeep s panel the highest roll we got was 25% and the highest pitch we were at was 15%. Not enough to roll you over, but definitely enough to make you grateful you opted to wait on the ice cream. The views were spectacular both on the way up and at the top of Greenie Peak.

Not one to repeat himself, Steven opted for a different trail down. It was a bit smoother and allowed us to see Midnight Meadows which was lovely and probably full of deer or elk at sunset. The only drawback was that by the time we got back to the access road into town, we had taken a very circuitous route to get there. 47 hours (minutes) later, we made it back into town to discover we had a message from the Scouts. We texted back and then called and talked to Simon. He sounded happy and said he loved every minute on the trail. He has many stories to tell us when we get home.

We stopped in a local grocery very pricey due to its remoteness and picked up a few things for the ride. Then, it was back to Cimarron to prepare to collect the bags and head out to Oklahoma it will be a long ride.

We made arrangements to get the packs after breakfast. They ll load them up in a Suburban and bring them to us (maybe even with Simon). Once we have all their gear, we ll start the 9 hour drive to Oklahoma. And hopefully once again dodge the predicted severe weather.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

We had hoped to leave Cimarron by 7:45-ish, but the crew was on New Mexico time and the bags did not show up until 8 or 8:30. We finally got on the road after loading the gear and began our 9-and-a-half-hour journey to Oklahoma. We had emailed the campground ahead of time to check the weather and let them know that we would likely need a late check in.

It was interesting to come down from the mountains to closer to sea level and all the roads flattened out through Texas as we got closer to Oklahoma.

The drive was relatively uneventful. We stopped for gas a couple times and had some snacks on the road. Steven was tired by the end, but we made it to Oklahoma by 7:30. The office was open until 8, so we were able to check in and I made the boys chicken parm using the microwave convection oven and then it was early to bed to prepare for the next day s long drive.

Monday, July 10, 2023

We got up and at em in the morning and started on our way to Tennessee. This ride was a bit more interesting with some slowing down due to accidents and a State Trooper standing on the side of the road at one point telling people to slow down and narrowing the road by a lane.

This time we stopped for lunch, meeting Steven s coworkers from Jacksonville in Little Rock for lunch at Freddy s. It was nice to put faces to the names I have been hearing. (All good things )

It was a quick lunch and we were back on the road. It was nice to get back on the real interstate system and off of back roads until we got close to McMinnville and we were back on smaller country roads. We got to Steve s sister s house around 7:30-7:45 making the ride longer because of lunch and a couple stops for gas.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

We got up early to go to Nashville and walk around and do touristy things. We parked by the hockey stadium and walked over to the main drag with bars everywhere and even at 10:00 AM, there were live bands in every window with young musicians trying to make it big in Nashville.

There is never a cover charge at these bars and there were bouncers and other people trying to get people to go in and listen to the songs. Some of them were family friendly, and some, not so much. We walked up to Printer s Alley by way of the river and saw a replica of a historic fort along the river and then had an early lunch at a burger place.

Steven was convinced that years ago he had walked to the Grand Ol Opry from downtown, and we had to explain to him that what he saw was the old theater which is now the Ryman Auditorium. So, we walked back to the car to see the real Opry across town. On our way we stopped in a couple touristy shops and then we, by chance, walked by the site of the Christmas Day bombing. It was awful to look at all the destruction and it doesn t look like any reconstruction has begun yet if it will be happening at all.

We walked back to the car it was HOT and drove across town to the Grand Ol Opry. Callum was just about done with grownup stuff by then, so while Steven and I took a backstage tour, Aunt Jen and Jeremy took Callum across the parking lot to Dave and Busters to play video games.

Backstage at the Opry was very interesting as a theater person. There were big sound boards and lots of rails and so many cool theater things. We then saw the backstage area and the dressing rooms are super cute with themes based on who spent the most time there, or the performer coming in. It could be a first-time performer or a new inductee as a Member of the Opry.

It was very nostalgic to be in the theater, especially with the giant picture of Minnie Pearl by the artist s entrance.

We needed to get back to McMinnville to let the dogs out, so once we collected Callum and Jen and Jeremy from Dave and Buster s, we hit the road.

McMinnville has a cute little downtown in which there is a cute little restaurant called Begonias. After we let the pups do their business and play a bit, we went over there to grab some Italian food. The garlic confit appetizer with crostini was so yummy! And everyone really liked their meals. Jen and Jeremy hadn t had the chance to try it and liked it enough that they said they would go back.

After dinner, it had cooled down quite a bit, so we sat outside for a while and then Callum chose the comfy be inside and Steven and I returned to the RV which was finally a comfortable temperature after being beaten on by the sun all day.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

I have been scouring Prime Day deals for enameled cast iron and have not had much luck. Somehow, in the course of the cast iron conversation, it came to light that the Lodge factory and museum with the Big Bad Breakfast restaurant is within an hour or so making our Wednesday plans a no-brainer!

We woke up ready to shower and get going. This has been a good experiment to see how long our electricity will last just on just battery in a very sunny place with minimal usage. And how many days we could make our water last taking showers, using the bathroom and sinks as normal but with conservation in mind especially while showering. The sweet spot seems to be 2-3 days for 2 people with the water. The power lasted the whole first night, no problem but we d been on the road all day charging those batteries. On the second night, the power lasted until morning but shut off as we were getting ready. We were lucky because we hadn t left yet. Our biggest concern, clearly, is the fridge. We ran the generator for a little while to get the batteries charged again and then let the solar take over. We will probably run it again for a little while tonight to top off the batteries and run the a/c for a few minutes to take the temperature inside the RV down. During the day, you could feel the heat coming off the side of the walls.

OK so back to our Lodge adventure. We started the day with a quick snack at the Vanilla Bean Baking Co. in McMinnville. It was super cute and their baked goods and coffee type drinks were a delight. Steve and Callum had cinnamon buns that were super fluffy and smothered in frosting. Jen had a strawberry muffin, and Jeremy had chocolate chip coffee cake. I only had two little lemon cookies because I knew we had some Big Bad Breakfast coming our way. Callum and Steve shared a frozen hot chocolate that was quite good, Jen and Jeremy had coffee drinks, and I had an iced chai. It was lovely and just the sustenance we needed to get to Lodge.

We hopped back in the truck and made our way to the Lodge factory. The museum is a big yellow building with the Lodge logo and you can see the factory behind it. Unfortunately, they do not offer factory tours yet, but it sounds like they re thinking about it because it is on a survey you fill out on the way out of the museum.

You walk through the store first. It has every type of cast iron they make and accessories that go with them. They also have a factory seconds wall of pans that are truly just as functional but may have a cosmetic flaw. You can save a ton of money there.

We went into the museum first, and even though they do not offer a factory tour, they do have a really nice little exhibit that shows the process of making the pans. They have a section about collectors of historic cast iron and the brands of cast iron that used to be common in the U.S. but have since gone out of business, like Griswold. They showed a lot of respect for the history of cast iron in America. Lodge is the only early company left in business, though there are other manufacturers now. They also talked about how now that the pans come pre-seasoned, their business has really taken off again.

There was an exhibit on the Founder a rugged individualist for sure. And exhibits where you could build your own recipe book to have emailed to you, watch people make recipes, and a place where you could type in your own cast iron story. OH and most impressively the World s Largest Cast Iron Skillet! It s very cute. Overall, the museum was well put together and fun to walk through.

After the museum it was lunch time more like brunch time. We walked into the Big Bad Breakfast restaurant and had some quality breakfast goodies, including chicken and waffles, classic pancakes, a buttermilk waffle, biscuits and gravy, a plain biscuit, a breakfast scramble, and lots of bacon. It was de-licious.

Then we went SHOPPING!! Since I am getting a new kitchen with an induction cooktop, I have been eyeing cast iron pots and pans. This seems like a golden opportunity! We walked out of there with everything we could possibly need! Now to get some all-clad saucepans.

We were back to McMinnville in time to hang out with the puppies, ride some quads, and have a fire out back to make some S Mores after dinner.

We ll be off to bed early tonight for the long road to Ohio tomorrow.

Thursday July 14, 2023

Aside from a sleepy driver, the drive to Ohio was largely uneventful - but we did find a Buc-ee s along the way!

The KOA in Ohio was super nice and Callum enjoyed the pool before bed time, We had a quick dinner and went to bed.

Friday July 15, 2023

We drove to Herkimer, NY and dealt with some fiascos with the KOA but persevered and then went to dinner after jumpstarting the Jeep again and troubleshooting some post-jumpstart issues. Dinner was at a little local restaurant. Tomorrow we go home! Aside from a quick storm in NM, this was the first sign of rain we ve had all trip. There were some loud boomers and a bit of rain overnight.

Saturday July 16, 2023

Mass Pike update: traffic lots of traffic. Not only was there a lot, it was a lot of go-go-go then sudden stops. As we got closer to Boston the traffic got heavier and heavier. We drove the Mass Pike all the way to Natick where we disconnected the Jeep and split up: Judith and Callum went to the Cape and Steve drove the RV home.

Now reality will start to set in: grass to mow, unpacking, cleaning, replacing cracked windshields, and soon enough: back to work.

Thanks for reading and following our 2023 Road Trek Adventure!