Dispatch from the Road 2023

 The road home We have been traveling in the truck and travel trailer since May 18 and while it has been a grand adventure we have started to feel the tug of home working on us. I don’t think our lack of planning for the return trip was the root cause of this, but it almost certainly exasperated it.  In the days prior to our leaving Los Alamos we had discussed some stops on the 2000+/- mile journey back to South Carolina. I felt it prudent to have an itinerary to suppress the Beeline syndrome (my title for it) from turning the trip into a race to the finish. The Beeline syndrome is the compulsion to run the shortest and fastest roads when you are on a course for home. Texas was in the midst of a heat wave, so that was out, I suggested Branson Missouri, but Millie said it was the height of the tourist season and it would be crowded. We talked about Florida, but not seriously as that would have put a big bow in our trajectory. We did have to get home in a reasonable time for obl...

 June 23 2023 We’ve settled in at Kamp Kolman, while we are just parked in the driveway it is quite a nice campsite. The most prominent feature is on one side we are bordering a national forest, it’s a fantastic view. On the other side as the driveway angles down from the street it descends a good 15 feet or more, the bank between us and the street is covered in pine and scrub oak trees. We have more privacy than in most campgrounds.  Can you see the Camper? We have water and electric, I installed a 30 amp receptacle on one of our previous visits. On this trip I brought a macerator pump and a custom backwash manifold I made and we can now empty holding tanks into the sewer cleanout which is right outside the RV.  We are no longer constrained by the capacity of the holding tanks and can now stay as long as the family can put up with us! Lol. Looking towards the National Forest We have been doing family things and have already been to Wecks, the family favorite restaurant i...

  June 21 2023 Wednesday We enjoyed our stay in Manitou Springs, well everything except the Garden of the Gods. It does have some nice rock formations, but it was just over run with people. Our campground, our campsite site, amenities were all top notch and all the personnel we encountered were pleasant and helpful. Garden of the Gods RV Park is right in the town of Manitou Springs and is convenient to everything. Too crowded for me. All the trails were crowded with tourists. We departed at our usual 9 am, drove a few miles east past all the marijuana dispensaries and merged onto I-25 south. It’s the only real option for going south through Colorado. I haven’t been writing in detail about routes but about 80 miles south of Colorado Springs we took a new route to Taos New Mexico and it I worth noting. Spanish Peaks At Walsenburg we took Hwy 160 west at the time not knowing that it is a National Scenic Highway. They call it the Highway of Legends where it passes over Colorado Pass. T...

 When I was researching about Colorado for this trip I happened upon a blog posting on a hiking challenge in Manitou Springs. At that instant I knew I would conquer the incline. Not clickable video, just a picture. What is the incline? The facts first, it is an old cog train track that runs from the town of Manitou to the top of a mountain. The rails are long gone as are the original ties, having been replaced with pressure treated timbers.  2744 steps The railroad bed is .90 miles to the summit, the altitude at the base is 6600 feet above sea level, and the top of the mountain is 8600 feet. The journey to the top is a rise of 2000 feet and is accomplished by hiking up 2744 steps. The angle of the accent is always upwards, with an average angle of 40 degrees and an extreme section of 62 degrees. 8600 feet to the summit Hiking the incline started with locals and whiles no longer a low key feature of the town; it is still run by volunteers and not overrun with participants. The ...