Whoever thought????

How could moving from 1 little travel trailer to 1 little 5th wheel be so stressful & difficult?  We made it to Dillon last Wednesday night (just as James was getting off work), and despite Sarah's working, we were able to meet up with her at an Italian Restaurant in Keystone and the 4 of us enjoyed a wonderful meal.  Thursday morning dawned with James & Sarah already back at work, but James & his trainee (Buddy) were able to join us for breakfast after a romp with the dogs...

James & Sarah are currently dog sitting Juno & Scout.

Bill & I then headed to Wheat Ridge, where a few things had to be completed on the new truck & RV before we could move and be headed home by 5PM ...HA!!!

In addition to the hitch (they initially put in a 16K instead of a 20K)....

AND installation of the Trailaire hitch...

(an air cushion platform that attaches to the trailer...a recommendation of Bill's friend Bradford), we had to get the actual MOVE completed. 

The new equipment install was not finished by Thursday's end, so the RV dealer put us, and the girls up, at a local  motel (it was very nice).  Bright and early Friday AM we were at the gate ready to go......When we first began I would carry something over & neatly put it away.  Then around 4:30 PM an employee appraoched us to say "we have to lock the gate at 6PM", and that we could not "boondock" overnight.  At that point, we just started throwing things in every nook & cranny.  At 7:40 PM we were about 20  minutes away from being done when our saleslady (who had held over for us) came out and said she had to close up.

With 20 minutes left, we had to exit and find a Walmart to overnight at.  At the 1st Walmart there were 3 other RV's already on site.  So, we thought we could stay there...BUT our practice is to personally make contact with THAT stores manager, and when we did, we were told it was against City Ordinance.

So we drove on to the next closest store where we had approval set up ahead of time.  We were the only RV there, until, in the middle of the  night, I was awakened by a loud diesel

engine, and upon peeking out, observed an antique "hippie bus" with a sketchy driver.  This bus had previously been seenby us at the other Walmart.  I figured the cops had shagged them out, but, when we drove back past the 1st Walmart the next morning  we found 5 RV's still there, who appeared to have overnighted.  Why the hippie bus had moved and the 5 other "nice"  RV's had not, I can only speculate.

Now it is Saturday, and we arrived at the gate @ 7:30 AM, completed the last and headed "home", hot, tired and in need of a hot shower.

It is now Wednesday, and after 3 additional days of pulling it together, organizing and making the best use of space, I am starting to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

OH, and the word on the street is..."you are moving to Ponderosa Campground on Friday" :-)

Funny how much simpler life has become...NO I AM NOT JOKING, it is all relative...when such changes can make a person so happy: 

1)  I can wash my face without having to wipe up the entire bathroom floor

2) I don't bump the shower control knob every time I raise my arms up (causing the water to go scalding hot or freezing cold)

3) A "real" toilet

4)  The bed can be made without crawling on top of it

5)  Real drawers for clothes

AHHHHHH the simple pleasures of life!

Speaking of...being from Chicago, we had just about givne up on pizza...most of what they call pizza elsewhere in the country is inedile.  Luckily, a ranger  referred us to a new place in Montrose (where we now go every Monday night for my Weight Watchers meeting) called "Colorado Bobs".  One bite and we looked at each other and said "Italy"!  We will be hitting it every Monday night from now untill Labor Day.

Frank & Marie (volunteers at Cimarron) will be joining us, as Cimarron is halfway between us and Montrose.

Yes, I was inspired by Sara Reif and rejoined Weight Watchers (best success I have ever had). I had a very encouraging start in week #1 with 3.2 LBS lost.

140 here I come!!!

... to make it even easier and better, Kay 

(another volunteer at Soap Creek Campground), who will soon be our next door neighbor, stopped by to invite me to join her several days per week at Gunnison's Rec Center for fitness classes and swimming.

And our Father's Day adventure turns into a shout out to our friends Tom & Linda Alford:

Some great kayaking out here guys!

NEXT TIME ( hopefully) coming to you from Ponderodsa Campground, where we will REALLY be off the grid...25 miles up in the mountains, west of here!

Come visit, we will have a resident bear, and at least 1 resident Mountain Lion!