Palo Duro Cayon

Palo Duro Canyon 10/26—10/29.

Wild Turkey in Camp

When visiting the Panhandle area of Texas, everyone says, “Make sure you go to Palo Duro Canyon. You’ll like it.” And like it we do. Pulling into Hackberry Campground in Palo Duro Canyon State Park we glimpse wild turkeys and deer skirting around the campsites. Yellow and orange-leafed trees--hackberry, mesquite, oak, and cottonwood, create a classic autumn scene. Our campsite, #20, facing the creek has a fire pit and a covered picnic table and feels homey. It’s November and temperatures in the 70s make us Colorado girls sigh with happiness as we put out our camp chairs and sit down to sip a cup of tea. We settle in and the wildlife show begins. A flock of wild turkeys wanders through making its way among the yellow shrubs. Every so often a tom displays his tail feathers and gets into a tiff with one of the other turkeys. Golden-fronted woodpeckers swoop in and out of the trees showing off their beauty while deer meander through the shrubs below. Later in the afternoon, a wandering covey of bobwhite quail break from the shrubs and cut across near the picnic table. It’s like our own personal wildlife show.

Fun mountain biking in Palo Duro Canyon

We explore the campground checking out the bathroom to see if it has showers (it does!) and look to see what kind of trails we can find close to camp. It’s the end of October and the campground is almost empty. Most of the campsites have decent natural shrub barriers between the sites offering a feeling of privacy. A couple of trailheads are accessible right from camp. Most of the campers we see have mountain bikes attached to their cars or trailers and we see riders cycling back to camp looking tired and happy. We’re looking forward to taking our bikes out for a spin.



Annette and Shug Lighthouse Rock

First thing in the morning we grab Shug and hit the trailhead located right across from the Hackberry entrance and hike out to Light House Rock. The trail is nicely packed and well-marked. We hike out to the rock formation and climb around before turning around to wander back amongst the red rocks, mesquite trees, and quiet desert beauty to camp. We explore other trails off the Rojo Grande trail with our mountain bikes and find trails of varying difficulty and length all marked with simple signs that give the initials of the trail’s name and distance traveled in half mile increments. The visitor center provides a map that shows all of the trails. It’s often hard to find good mountain biking trails, but Palo Duro delivers.

Halfway through our time at Palo Duro, we make a trip into the nearby town of Canyon. There’s a huge and well-reviewed Western museum here that we do not visit this time because we have Shug and we don’t like to leave her in the truck for too long. We do, however, tour around the old downtown which is charming and artsy, and stop in at Palace Coffee Company. Their coffee tastes great and their warm and cozy atmosphere provides a pleasant spot for a bit of WIFI time. Everything one could need in the way of resupply is available in Canyon. A quick trip to the grocery store and a fuel fill-up does it for us and we head back to our camp.

Spider Selfie just in time for Halloween

Camp Rating: 4.5/5 Loved it and will definitely come back—probably during the same time of year

Ambience: Warm and wonderful. Wildlife, trees, and site amenities all great

Tail Access: Excellent quality and variety

Accessibility and size of the campsite: Awkward parking angles for our 38 ft 5^th wheel, but once parked, a well laid out site.

Connections: Zero Verizon connection. 2 TV stations (both were PBS). A few radio stations, including one NPR station

Bathrooms: Acceptably clean, showers could use a little retiling work, but the water was hot and the bathroom was heated.

Negatives: Flies (which may have been exacerbated by our proximity to the trash dumpster).

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Texas

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area  October-23-2015 – October-26-2015

Biggie Moms and the setting sun

Lake Meredith NRA seems to us like one of the gems of the Texas Panhandle area. All of the camping at Lake Meredith is free and there are several different campgrounds to choose from. We camped at Fritch Fortress, a high ridgeline campground that looks out over the lake.  All of the campsites have a covered picnic table, a fire ring, and gorgeous views. The sites are pull-alongs rather than pull-throughs and they are so spacious that even the largest rigs will have no problem parking. Fritch Fortress location has no toilet facilities, but there is a fresh-water fill station and a dump station nearby. An easily accessible boat ramp and parking area about a mile from camp provide ready access for boaters and kayakers. A small dock near the boat ramp offers handicap access fishing. There are outhouses in the boat dock area. We found walking from our campsite to the boat dock and back on the paved road to be a nice walking workout with beautiful views.

Kristy enjoying the view of Lake Meredith

While at Lake Meredith we drive around the lake to visit the other camping areas (one shoreline, and one wooded) and visit the nearby National Monument of Alibates Flint Quarries for an historical tour and learn about flint knapping. We are always on the lookout for good places to walk since our dog Shug is active and used to a lot of exercise. Unfortunately, the Lake Meredith area is friendlier to stickers and thorns than it is to dogs. We do the best we can with dirt and paved roads and promise Shug that better trails will be in her future.

Camp Rating: 4/5

Ambience: Quiet. Expansive views. Beautiful night skies

Tail Access: None that are dog paw friendly. Paved road down to the boat dock = best option

Accessibility and size of the campsite: Huge and relatively level

Connections: Limited Verizon service. No electricity so we didn’t use TV or radio.

Bathrooms: None

Negatives: Slight drone from nearby oil pumps

Starting Our Full-Time RV Journey

Kristy making a new friend in Felt,OK

Starting Our Full-Time RV Journey

We leave Colorado behind on October 18 and point our noses toward Texas. Why Texas? Well, Kristy wants to visit relatives, many of whom she hasn't seen for 30 plus years. Also, we read great things about Texas State Parks on various RV blogs, and it's warm so off we go. On the way, we cross through the NE corner of New Mexico so we can stop at Capulin Volcano National Monument where you can drive a road that circles around the volcano to the top and hike down into the caldera. At the information display at the top they have pictures from the '30s of the man who built the original road with his Ford Model A and a plow.

On to Oklahoma where there's a nice spot to free camp in the town of Felt near the Rita Blanca National Grasslands according to freecampsites.net. Felt, consists of about four roads and zero businesses. It does indeed have a sweet little park at the end of town that looks out across the grasslands. This is our first attempt at free camping and we are loving the experience. We decide that looking for free campsites is similar to a treasure hunt and this is our little treasure for a first night on the road. We google the lyrics to Oklahoma so we can get past the wind sweeping down the plains (And the waving wheat sure smells sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain) and belt it out as we walk Shug around the quiet streets.


Annette enjoy the old swing in Dumas, TX.

Driving from Felt into Texas we feel like cowgirls crossing the panhandle plains. We find another free camp spot in Dumas, Texas in a city park and spend some time trying out all the playground equipment--great swings. There's a Texas Visitor Center in Dumas and the nicest older man who volunteers there loads us up with Texas maps and brochures.

After two nights we move on to Borger to visit Aunt Delpha and Cousin Sheila. The city of Borger offers three free nights RV parking at Huber Park. Since we are new to the whole RV thing, the idea of free sites with water and electricity in these towns intrigues us. We really enjoy walking Shug around the park and the surrounding neighborhoods. There's a great little burger place in Borger called Onions and a county museum with local memorabilia including a tiny electrified marshmallow toaster that is so small we could actually have one in the RVguilt free.

After losing a few tightly contested family games of SkipBo, we drive about 15 miles southwest and find another free camping area at Lake Merideth Recreation Area. The night skies are dark and beautiful and we enjoy the splash of the milky way overhead. All the sites are pull throughs with a fire ring, picnic table, and beautiful views.


Colorado Is a Hard Place to Leave

We said our final goodbyes to Colorado Springs and rolled out on September 13, 2015. Our first destination, Lake Pueblo State Park, is only about 45 miles south of Colorado Springs. Kristy's parents live in Pueblo so we had planned to spend a couple of weeks here, spending time with her mom and dad and kayaking around the reservoir. Our time in Pueblo stretched a little longer than planned when unforseen medical issues and the appointments that go with them required that we stay within driving distance of Colorado Springs. Plus, we decided we wanted to bring our kayaks along on our full-time RV adventures so we ordered a kayak/bike rack from RVKayaks.com and we were waiting for the rack to arrive.

Staying at Lake Pueblo ended up being super fun. Lake Pueblo offers hiking and mountain biking trails,  great kayaking, fishing, and a paved bike path that follows the Arkansas River into downtown Pueblo and beyond. Friends from Colorado Springs drove down to spend a day or even an overnight with us. Sitting with friends around the campfire watching a lunar eclipse was an experience not to be missed. While at the campground we rode the bike path to the downtown River Walk, lunched at Hopscotch Bakery, and brunched at a cute little restaurant at the Nature Center on the river. We loved kayaking and bird watching. From our kayaks Kristy spotted  a sweet little cluster of American avocets on a grassy sandbar. And several times as we paddled around we watched ospreys hover and then dive splashing into the water. Pueblo Lake has camping on both the north and south sides. We like the campground on the south side better because it's closer to the paved bike path, has easy access for the kayaks, and has newer bathrooms with showers.

 Although we were having a great time in Pueblo we were anxious to start our road tripping in earnest. From Lake Pueblo, it's only about an hour and a half drive to Lake Trinidad State Park so we headed south again. We had made reservations in advance which we realized was a mistake when we got to the campground and saw that our site was going to be our biggest parking challenge to date. The road through the upper part of Lake Trinidad campground is curvy and narrow, but we mustered our courage and gave it our best shot. After backing and forwarding and angling and rebacking and trying several different approaches, we gave up.  Admittedly, we were backing novices and we were just plain out of our league. We found a different site in the lower part of the campground and had no problems backing in. Then we encountered a new problem--our fifth-wheel hitch wouldn't release. Annette looked up information on a user's forum which gave us a strategy that saved us: Pinch the trailer brake and hold it, back up a tiny bit and kick on the emergency brake. It worked like a charm. We're grateful to knowledgeable RVers out there who share their expertise. (We've had to use this strategy a few times since when the ground that the truck is on is uneven and works every time). We  won't be making reservations for awhile so we can choose a site to match our backing skill level. After our ignominious beginning at this campground, we enjoyed kayaking and hiking at Trinidad Lake State Park and got a kick out of exploring the little town of Trinidad.      

I'd like to give a shout out to Ray at loveyourRV.com who posted a video on how to back a fifth-wheel. His video clicked for both of us and transformed our backing technique almost instantaneously. After watching Ray's video we improved by a factor of 10 and just felt less stressed out.

Colorado Trail Thru Hike

Left to right: Annette,Shug, Kristy, Carolyn and Lynn

Celebrating the Transition For years we had talked about completing a through hike of the Colorado Trail, but had never been able to take off that many weeks from our jobs and home duties. So now that we had no jobs and no house what better way to kick off our retirement than to plan and do a backpack trip on the Colorado Trail. The Colorado Trail runs from Denver to Durango--a 500 mile backpacking trek through the mountains and valleys. Two friends joined us so we were a group of four women and we gave ourselves the trail name of Wander Women. Our dog Shug joined us with an appropriate trail name of Trail Boss. Our Colorado Trail trek began in Denver early in the morning on June 28, 2015. We had the time of our lives. Our friends and family gave us support along the way, picking us up at trailheads and driving us into our resupply towns. Hanging out on our rest days in the little mountain towns of the beautiful Colorado Rockies and engaging in unlimited calorie consumption was a blast. Our favorite times during the trek were hiking and camping in the alpine zone above 12,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain tundra. Over the seven weeks we were hiking we met great people and wandered through incredible beauty. Along the way we were able to find several places to spread Melody's ashes. The journey was a healing time and also a celebration of life. We finished the trail on August 18th walking into Durango with tears, laughter, and an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Kristy placing Mel's ashes amoung the Aspen trees.

Walking the Colorado Trail became a living metaphor for walking into the next chapter of our lives and we were psyched. We were ready to hit the road with Biggie Moms. Unfortunately, Kristy got sick a week before we finished the trail, suffering with stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. After several more weeks of assorted testing, a course of antibiotics kicked in and her symptoms disappeared. But then to add to the confusion, the gallbladder tests that Kristy had initially taken showed that she needed to have her gallbladder removed. Then her routine physical showed questionable results that required a breast biopsy. UGH!!

Completed the Colorado Trail

Finally, two months later on October 17, 2015, with all the medical appointments behind us we left Colorado and headed for Texas. We were on the road rolling out onto a blank canvas anxious to create our new life. All of the research time and hard work, the ending of careers and saying goodbyes, all the planning and preparing are behind us now. We are free as birds.

High point on Colorado Trail

Trail Boss and Wander women high in Colorado

Annette and Kristy Lake Ann Pass CT

Catching up to May 2015

Catching up to May 2015 As we moved forward with our plans to retire and become full-time RVers, we failed to keep up our blog posts so here's our catch up. Our much loved downtown Colorado Springs house closed on October 24, 2014. We both agreed that it felt better to sell a house than buy one. After the closing, we walked directly from the title company to the bank feeling free. The bank teller deposited our check and at the same time told us that we pre-qualified for a new car loan. Ha ha NO THANKS.

Sergeant Melody Burns

Beginning in late summer, Kristy's sister, Melody, started having health problems. Although her symptoms were severe, visits to doctors and hospital emergency rooms failed to find a cause. Finally, a 105 degree fever and an aggravated cough forced another emergency room visit and a hospital admittance. After several misdiagnosis and pain filled weeks, Melody was diagnosed with metastic melanoma cancer. Melody, a police sergeant and lifetime athlete fought a warrior's fight against the cancer and couldn't beat it. She passed away February 8, 2015 at age 52. One thing we are grateful for is the extra time we were able to spend with Melody in her last months. Because Kristy had already begun the process of closing down her practice and cutting back on hours she was able to spend that time with Melody. Melody's death left a gaping hole in our lives, and we move forward with her in our hearts.

Garden of the Gods RV Park in Colorado Springs

Life got a bit disorienting during this time. We started living full time in our fifth wheel, Biggie Moms, in mid-December at Garden of the Gods RV Resort on the west side of Colorado Springs. The learning curve for starting one's full-time RV life in a Colorado winter is pretty steep. We did not know how Biggie Moms would fare with the freezing temps, but we armed ourselves with internet research and tips from the park manager, put a space heater in the pass-through and some heat tape on the pipes and hoped for the best. Of course, the winter ended up being one of the coldest and snowiest in decades. Waking up to temperatures like -13 or -17 can be pretty scary for first timers. However, not only did we survive without freezing the pipes or tanks, but we loved our winter camping experience. Biggie Moms became a refuge in that painful time in our lives. Fortunately for us, Garden of the Gods RV Park is close to Manitou Springs home to the Mate Factor cafe, one of our favorite comfort spots where we spent many early mornings sipping Mate, eating muffins steamed with butter, and talking about life and death.

Spring dragged her feet and stayed cool and wet for weeks on end, but eventually May rolled around and Annette finished her last semester as a high school librarian and officially retired. Before we left Garden of the Gods RV Park, we threw a big retirement party for ourselves at their event center. With some really good BBQ and some local mico brew our friends and family shared in our excitement in starting this new phase of our lives.



Becoming Full-Time RVers

If everything goes according to plan, by this time next year we'll be trekking the Colorado Trail,  our preamble, literally, to a new life as full-time RVers. 

Kristy has begun winding down her mental health therapy practice. And, in another week, I'll begin my last school year working as a high school librarian. All our worldly possessions streamed out of our house and into the homes of other people via gifting, garage sales, Craigslist, and ARC Thrift donations. A FOR SALE sign standing in the front yard marks our final phase of switching from conventional to out there.

How did we get here? A couple of years ago, after several meetings with a financial planner, we realized we were ready to bail on the American dream of maintaining a big budget lifestyle in perpetuity (perpetuity is a word one never uses until one goes to a financial planner). Maybe we didn't need all of this stuff to be happy.  After those financial meetings, we plunged into our "What if" phase: What if we sell the house? What if we want to travel for long periods of time? What if we stop living the conventional consumer life--what then? What if we could spend most of our time roaming the earth and being outside? Once we said "spend our time outside" aloud, we both knew we had hit on an idea that would work for us. In that moment, we went from being women who had never even considered having an RV and who knew absolutely nothing about RVs, to women embracing the idea of a full-time RV life.

House under contract

Don't get me wrong. We love our lives. Both of us enjoy our careers and feel good about the work we do. We take wonderful trips, share great friendships, and live in a town and a state that offer us opportunities to do the cultural and outdoor activities we love.  Neither of us feels like we are running away from our lives, but instead, that we are pushing forward into a new version of our lives where we spend less time having and more time doing.

New lives do not just pop into being. Weirdly, the act of de-possessing takes more energy than the act of possessing. Giving up careers feels disorienting. Moving from the known into the unknown is not without its discomfort and things like pianos and LazyBoy recliners are sorely missed. And yet, there's a current of excitement bubbling along in both of us that feels thrilling. We are stepping out of our comfortable life into the unknown and it feels good.