73 replies to this topic

[PaulT]

 

Consider a spare. I have a backup plan in case I can't make coffee the normal way.

A ZipLock bag with a dozen Folgers coffee bags is my backup for emergencies, in case I run out of Major Dickasons blend, filters or misplace the Melitta filter cone.   Gotta be a real emergency, though.

 

Paul

[hoyden]

Hi all! Made it to Kansas! I have some lovely photos that I can't post. Silly technology. No snow so far, except some leftover still on side of the roadways. Luckily, I'm headed to southern Illinois, so hopefully will avoid snow. I don't have chains, but burly tires, four-wheel drive, and a teen-agers sense of responsibility.
I once drove through a blizzard, past many sidelined cars, in a 30 year old Volvo sedan with questionable brakes.

Good ideas on bringing backup for coffee!

[Kolockum]

Looking forward to the photos. I am not a coffee drinker but still pack "back up" coffee for my co-travelers. Mainly because I have seen what they look like in the morning with out coffee and lets just say that is something I rather avoid.

[craig333]

Looking forward to the photos. I am not a coffee drinker but still pack "back up" coffee for my co-travelers. Mainly because I have seen what they look like in the morning with out coffee and lets just say that is something I rather avoid.

Lol

[hoyden]

I forgot that with an iPad, if you go elsewhere, you lose anything unsaved in the current window. Bother.

Pugsly and I made it safely to lovely Carbondale, IL! I have photos and will post more and some tales later! In the meantime, here's a photo of me parked at the folks' house.




Sent from my iPad using Wander The West

[mitch h]

Hey Hoyden, did you grow up in southen il. ? Did you ever go riding in Shawnee NP? Use to be a great place to ride dirt bikes. Mitch

[hoyden]

Hey Hoyden, did you grow up in southen il. ? Did you ever go riding in Shawnee NP? Use to be a great place to ride dirt bikes. Mitch

 

I did - but when I started riding motorized bikes, it was all street. I'm hoping to bring my DR200 out here this coming Spring and/or Summer for some playtime. I did a lot of camping and hiking in the Shawnee tho! 

[hoyden]

It's been a long time since I did a trip like this. The funny thing is, when I was younger and people would marvel at me driving cross country - alone! (gasp!) they'd think it was some great feat. But really, you just get in the car and go. And when you are hungry, you stop for food. And when you are tired, you find a motel and sleep. 

 

Driving half-way 'cross the U.S. in a camper is a little different. I found it to be wonderful to have my 'home' on my back, but more difficult for the "when you are tired..." part of the equation. Unlike driving to a motel, I wanted to stop before it got dark so I could set up and also see my surroundings. During winter, that's pretty darn early. It gets dark around 5:30 or 6:00pm! (that's 17:30 or 18:00 to yous weirdo 24 hr clock people) 

 

But I digress. To start at the beginning....

 

Pugsly is a not-terribly spry 11 year old pug. She's typical of the breed - super sweet and sheds like four Great Danes (now someone will chime in that Great Danes don't actually shed very much. Kinda like when you say that someone "eats like a bird" meaning that they don't eat much, but in reality birds are pigs. I don't mean that birds wallow in mud, are terribly smart and have curly que tails. They eat constantly and a lot!) 

 

She helped me pack. And by "helped me" I mean smell-tested everything I put in a box to see if it might be edible. 

 

 

The first night was just about three hours. I wanted to leave after work Friday and give myself a little bit of breathing room for the rest of the trip. It worked - today (Monday) was just five hours! 

 

Even though I sent my mom my "This is my final map for the trip, please check it out" map, apparently she didn't check it out because it wasn't until Saturday that she said "KOA?! That's like the Wal-Mart of campsites. You probably would have been better off staying in a Wal-Mart lot, actually." Thanks for the advice, mom. Now I know.

 

 

The KOA didn't look too bad at 9:30 on a Friday night. I got parked and set up. It wasn't until I tried to sleep that I realized that what seemed to be "far enough" distance of the highway...wasn't. Noisy. 

 

I had a terrible night sleep, but I did find my little French Press hiding where I'd smartly stored it - in the sink. Of course.

 

 

Pugsly isn't very good at sharing the driving duties, and she isn't much of a conversationalist. 

 

 

Love me some plains! (Pugsly took this photo. She's good for that. I swear.)

 

 

Not a great pic, from a small town stop-sign Main Street, but one of the things that I love about road trips is seeing the towns along the way. It's so easy to get tunnel vision where you live and forget that these odd places exist. A lot of these little towns I drove though in Oklahoma and Kansas were terribly depressed. Main Street store windows broken out, empty and forlorn buildings that once housed businesses. What happened? What do the residents do now? 

 

 

 

My third night was a start reminder of the fears of being a solo female on the road. The plan was to camp at Cimarron National Grassland, near Elkhart, KS. I drove out to the campsite - drive a few miles out of town, turn left onto state route some number for a few miles, turn right onto a gravel road for five miles and turn left into the camping area. It was lovely. Nested in a grove of Cottonwood trees, right next to a small lake, it was terribly picturesque. The sun was in its final decent and I was feeling rushed, so I didn't get a photo. There was one other camper there. A solo beat-up '80's pick-up truck, a pop-up trailer tent camper, a few camping items on the wooden site table and a single camouflage chair.

 

It would have been fine, I'm sure. But I was road-weary, and didn't favor the idea of being in the middle of nowhere with one other person only. So, I turned around.

 

I went back to the small town and found a paved 'rv park' off the Main Street / highway. I looked like all I would have would be the nighttime two-lane highway sounds, so I set up. Unbeknownst to me, there seemed to be some kind of factory hidden behind a benign tree stand across the road. It was noisy until at least 11pm, when I finally fell asleep. Luckily for me, the safety street light was quite bright.... Needless to say, another night of lousy sleep. But damn, love the plains on the other side of my campsite. 

 

 

 

Oh! I almost forgot to mention my port-a-potty woes! 

Apparently, the instructions to fill up the top part with water, fail to mention the copious amount of spillage you will have once underway, no matter how securely you affix the water cap. It doesn't screw on, mind you, it just 'fits' on top of the spout. Luckily, like any good geek, I don't go anywhere without my towel. It helped me sop up the spilled water (just water!) I re-secured (I'm doing air quotes now) the cap and went on my merry way. Next gas stop I checked it and water everywhere. What's the definition of insanity? Yeah, well, not again. I dumped the water out! Grrr. 

 

On to Sunday! Pugsly is not much of a morning dog (more of that on Monday), and since I forgot to bring my travel coffee mug(!), we had to stop for gas station coffee. She's a bit of a coffee snob and wasn't too pleased. 

 

 

Sunday brought us to lovely Emma, Missouri. 

Yet again, I struggled with "in the middle of nowhere alone but with a solo truck near me" issue. This time, I said "**** it" and stayed. It's hunting season, and this one had the markings of a hunter, so I figured he'd leave around dark anyway. It was just a truck, no camping gear. 

 

And what a beautiful spot it was. 

 

 

I took a bunch of photos before closing up for the night. 

 

 

My sunset view through my Fleet window:

 

 

That night, I listened to the coyotes howl in the forest. There must have been a family off to the West of me because while I heard a lone howl to the north, there was a whole jabber of replies. It sounded like angry quail. And terribly cute. Have you seen that video of puppies learning to howl? It reminded me of that. Except I don't think these pups would let me pet and cuddle them. 

 

The red Tundra from the night left, as I'd predicted, just after sundown. I was awakened by a new truck pulling in and parking around 05:00. I lay still, listening. After hearing two men amicably chatting, I sat up and went to take a peek. I forgot how loud velcro is. I pulled up a few inches of my thermal pack window cover and scared the bejesus out of one of the guys. I heard him chuckle and say "that scared the **** out of me!" I smiled to myself and got up to make coffee. 

 

By the time I had my coffee, breakfast, and got dressed, the hunters were gone. It was time to get on the road. This beautiful pre-Dawn greeted me when I clambered out of the camper. 

 

 

Monday, and Pugsly was none to happy about the lack of portable coffee.

 

 

She's a bit of a drama queen. 

 

After navigating through Kansas City, and St. Louis, I was reminded of how glad I am that I don't live in a bigger city anymore. There are things that I certainly miss (culture, variety of restaurants, people watching, museums... crap. I miss living in a bigger city)

I crossed over the Mighty Missip and was clearly getting closer to home. 

 

 

We made it in good time, parked in my folks' Carbondale, Illinois home just in time for lunch today!

It's a perfect mid-west Fall crisp and cool and fallen leaves to run through. 

 

 

Things I've discovered: 

 

1) I already knew that I am a messy cook but i forgot to bring decent clean up stuff. (I'm a "clean as I go" person)

 

2) I quite like having running water. (didn't fill my water tank for fear of freezing. I don't care now - I'm filling it for the drive back)

 

3) Pugsly is good camper companion but I'd feel safer with a bigger dog. Alyosha was a great guard dog (R.I.P.)

 

4) I need better containers for my clothes. 

 

5) need a fridge thermometer cuz I'm paranoid of my mayonnaise.

 

6) port-a-potty isn't as simple as it looks. 

 

7) find the 3M hooks and put up so have a place for my coat. 

 

8) need better containers for kitchen stuff

 

On that note, I need a good nights sleep, so au revoir and sleep well!

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Nice report, I'm glad you had a safe journey. Have fun with family, safe journey home.

[hoyden]

Thanks! 

I'm hoping to take a different route home - perhaps south through Arkansas? Will work that out this week....