We thought about making the drive back to Glenwood Springs yesterday, just so we could drive through Glenwood Canyon in the van, but it was very windy for much of the day.  We had such a backlog of paperwork and e-mails to wade through because we have been busy with the wedding the last few days, that we decided to act like grownups and stay home and work instead. I don’t like being a grownup!

But just because we had to work doesn’t mean you can’t do some virtual sightseeing. Colorado is a colorful place, and here are a few pictures we took the other day that I’ll share with you.

Between Eagle and Vail, Interstate 70 passes through some awesome red rock formations. U.S. Highway 6 parallels the interstate through here, and we took the slower route just so we could pull over and take in the dramatic scenery.

When the sun is setting, the cliff faces just seem to glow. It’s really something to see.

We even saw a covered bridge, though it is not as old, or has the character, as the ones we have seen in Indiana, Iowa, and New England.

Sunday night we were treated to a beautiful sunset, and Miss Terry managed to capture a couple of good shots of it.

I mentioned the other day that Terry’s son, Cody, is the accountant for one of the major developers in the region. Besides allowing him to live in this outdoor sports wonderland, his job comes with some pretty neat perks, including these gondolas that he can ride right from an upper floor of his office building to the top of the ski slopes! How cool is that?

As promised, yesterday I posted a preliminary schedule for our upcoming Gypsy Gathering rally on our Rally Registration Page. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the seminar lineup. I will be making some changes and adding more seminars as we go, but we have over 50 listed now, so there is sure to be something for everyone!

Today we will be heading east on Interstate 70, through the Eisenhower Tunnel and down into Denver. I’m a bit apprehensive about this stretch of highway, which tops out at 10,666 feet at Vail Pass, and then follows a lot of steep downgrades as we descend the Rocky Mountains.

As I’ve said before, while our Winnebago diesel pusher climbs the mountains much better than our old MCI bus conversion did, the exhaust brake on the motorhome is not nearly as effective as the Jake brake was in the bus. My Mountain Directory shows that there are several places on the eastern descent where the speed limit for heavy semi-trucks is 32 miles per hour. I plan to be in the right hand lane poking along with them all the way down!

For those of you who get concerned when I write about doing long days on the road, here’s fair warning that we’re about to do it again. We want to stop at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa and have some work done on our coach.

Since the Winnebago Grand National Rally is in Forest City, Iowa this week, I wasn’t sure about the chances of getting in for service. I  called Winnebago to ask about an appointment, and was told that they do not make them during rally week or right after, but if we arrive by Friday at 3 p.m., we can put our name on a list to get service, and we should be able to get in by Tuesday or Wednesday. But, we have to actually be there to sign up, they won’t take our name by telephone.

It’s 940 miles, so we can do it easily, and we’ll scoot right along, so we can hopefully catch up with some of our friends who are in Forest City for the rally, before they hit the road.

While we were out taking pictures and attending weddings, Bad Nick was home posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled Who’s The Racist. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

We picked up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal Wednesday, and Miss Terry has been busy stuffing envelopes to get everything ready to go in the mail.

We’re excited because this is our 10^th Anniversary Issue. Where did the time go? And we’re just getting started, there is still so much we want to see and do. We won’t be hanging up the keys anytime soon.

One thing we do hope to do soon, though, is to replace our bus with a different rig. The bus has been a great home on wheels for us for eight years, but we’re to the point where we’d like something a bit newer, and with a slide or two. As our granddaughters get older, it’s getting pretty cramped in here when they come to visit us.

The bus would make a great coach for someone who doesn’t put on the miles we do every year, or who spends most of their time east of the Rocky Mountains. In fairly flat country it runs fine, but out here in the mountains, it slows way down on some of the steep grades. If you’re interested in a nice older bus, check out the ad link for it under this Bus For Sale link.

We’ve looked at several replacement coaches, and we have a couple of options we’re considering. One coach we have not actually seen yet is an American Dream diesel pusher. I really don’t like anything to do with Fleetwood products, but my pal Mac McCoy from Fire and Life Safety has an American Tradition, and he tells me that the American Coach line is a completely different animal than other Fleetwood models. Who else out here has an American Coach? I’d like to hear your feedback.

Whatever coach we eventually end up with, we know that we’ll have to do some customizing to accommodate operating our business on the road. One place we’ll be checking out is a company in Decatur, Indiana called From Trees to These, which makes custom cabinetry and desk units for RVs. Mac McCoy has had them do some upgrades to his coach, and I’m really impressed with the quality of their work.

Something that comes up frequently when talking to wannabe fulltimers is what to do with everything they can’t take with them. Someone on the Escapees forum was commenting that he can’t get nearly what he paid for some of this stuff, and is wondering how best to sell it.

When we were selling our stuff off years ago to go fulltime, we took the position that yes, we paid $400 for something, and all we can get for it is $150. But we had the fun of using it, and that counts for something. Whatever else we lost was the price of buying our freedom to hit the road.

I talked to Walter Cannon from the Recreational Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF), and he says things are coming together very well for their new  RV Lifestyle, Education, & Safety Clinic, which is scheduled for September 13-16 in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. If you regret never making it to a Life on Wheels conference, make your plans now to be in Harrisburg for this new educational opportunity

Thought For The Day – Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally