Nobody had to push us at the beginning of November 2014 to
hook up the red RAM 1500 to the travel trailer for a trip to the sunny south
after the experience of the winter 13/14 here in Leamington, Ontario, which had
turned out to be a real bummer. Just thinking about all the snow shoveling had
my back hurting again.
Benno assured me that he was fine pulling the trailer with the pickup while he navigated the extreme narrow lane on the Ambassador Bridge toward Detroit passing one after another 18 wheeler because he got his truck driving license at the army. Haha, that was 50 years ago, but I did notice his white knuckles on the steering wheel.
Benno assured me that he was fine pulling the trailer with the pickup while he navigated the extreme narrow lane on the Ambassador Bridge toward Detroit passing one after another 18 wheeler because he got his truck driving license at the army. Haha, that was 50 years ago, but I did notice his white knuckles on the steering wheel.
Crossing the border into the USA was easy. The officer asked this and that and before we
knew it, we parked at the Aldi supermarket in Detroit where we spent a large
portion of our cash to fill up the fridge and freezer, while weeping about our Canadian
Peso.
Next on the agenda was a gas station for a full fill-up
including all 5 jerry cans. That stuff is dramatically cheaper in the USA than
in Canada even with the current conversion.
The first night we pulled up to the Detroit Camping World
store where they rigged an extension cord to provide us with a free electric
hook-up. We needed a few RV supplies
anyway so that was really nice of them and convenient for us. Next morning we
drove on to Shipshewana, Indiana to purchase a 2000-Watt Honda generator at a
fantastic price compared to what they cost here in Canada. Route 66 was our goal and we managed to hug
the Route 66 up to St. Louis, Missouri.
There my iPad spilled out an invitation to visit our longtime sailing
friends, Linda and Steve, now living in Black Hawk, Colorado just past Denver.
We decided that we would postpone traveling Route 66 to another time, and changed course to the Interstate 70. On Sunday Nov. 9th, very late after driving the scenic mountain roads up the elevation of 9000 ft., we pulled into our friends’ property in beautiful 25C/77F warm weather. After our friends had sold their 44ft. PDQ catamaran they found these wonderful 114 acres of a tranquil and forested Mountain View property. In this dreamlike setting they rebuilt and expanded the previous cabin to a magnificent home where herds of deer graze on their very own meadow. Of course we wanted to visit and see. As it happens frequently, the weather changes quickly in these regions we were to find out the next morning as we awoke to snow on the ground. A Polar Vortex was forecasted to sweep through these mountains in a couple of days while the temperature had dropped dramatically over night to a whopping -20C/-4F. Our choice was to either leave while we still could or, stay and wait for the weather to clear up. How much snowfall they would get was anybody’s guess but one thing was for certain, our RAM was not a 4x4 and the truck and the travel trailer had only summer rubbers on and we were for sure not equipped to drive in winter conditions. Gambling with the odds, we decided to stay one more day. Steve and Linda have two ATVs and they offered us to ride with them through their property to show us the sites. Despite the icy wind piercing our faces we bundled up and headed for the woods although the snow came down in biting whirls. The evening news made it clear that we had soon to make a decision to stay or leave.
Early the next morning Steve and Benno headed out to check road conditions and the good news were that the mountain roads were now all plowed and clear of ice and snow. So our choice was made and sadly all our plans of touring the area were ditched as we quickly said our goodbyes with hugs after breakfast.
This picture is courtesy of Linda Kraskey
We decided that we would postpone traveling Route 66 to another time, and changed course to the Interstate 70. On Sunday Nov. 9th, very late after driving the scenic mountain roads up the elevation of 9000 ft., we pulled into our friends’ property in beautiful 25C/77F warm weather. After our friends had sold their 44ft. PDQ catamaran they found these wonderful 114 acres of a tranquil and forested Mountain View property. In this dreamlike setting they rebuilt and expanded the previous cabin to a magnificent home where herds of deer graze on their very own meadow. Of course we wanted to visit and see. As it happens frequently, the weather changes quickly in these regions we were to find out the next morning as we awoke to snow on the ground. A Polar Vortex was forecasted to sweep through these mountains in a couple of days while the temperature had dropped dramatically over night to a whopping -20C/-4F. Our choice was to either leave while we still could or, stay and wait for the weather to clear up. How much snowfall they would get was anybody’s guess but one thing was for certain, our RAM was not a 4x4 and the truck and the travel trailer had only summer rubbers on and we were for sure not equipped to drive in winter conditions. Gambling with the odds, we decided to stay one more day. Steve and Linda have two ATVs and they offered us to ride with them through their property to show us the sites. Despite the icy wind piercing our faces we bundled up and headed for the woods although the snow came down in biting whirls. The evening news made it clear that we had soon to make a decision to stay or leave.
The next 4 pictures are courtesy of Linda Kraskey
Early the next morning Steve and Benno headed out to check road conditions and the good news were that the mountain roads were now all plowed and clear of ice and snow. So our choice was made and sadly all our plans of touring the area were ditched as we quickly said our goodbyes with hugs after breakfast.
No comments:
Post a Comment