Length of Stay?

PONY EXPRESS RV RESORT
North Salt Lake, UT 84054

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RV LIFE:

When we first began our full time RV adventure, we remembered other Fulltimers' advice about this is not a vacation, this is a lifestyle. So don't try to rush to see everything, take your time.

So, our idea of taking our time was to stay a week, instead of just 3 or 4 days. That would also save us gas expense and usually there is a break with a weekly rate at RV parks.

We quickly realized, one week is not long enough in one area (if we like it). We are a laid back couple. Scott is usually not out of bed before 10am. I am up at 6:30am, but am not ready to go out and do things until about 11 am - 12 noon.

For example, I got up at 7am today. Walked the dogs for 40 minutes. Made a cup of coffee, scanned by emails, sent out a couple. Now the time consumer! I have discovered Facebook games! Ugh! You know I have too much time, when I can spend an hour or two and "just one more" on these games. On the other hand, I still remember my working days, when I wouldn't waste my precious time on these games. Retirement is wonderful!

So now I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee, and still playing games. No wonder my blog has been neglected!

It's now 8:30am and I'm updating this blog waiting for my 3rd cup of coffee to brew and my bread to toast. Now, I'll sit outside at this nice, clean plastic round picnic table with lovely green, green, plush grass and have my breakfast and read. That will be at least 1 to 1.5 hours.

So, you can see how easily the days fly by. It takes a couple of days to acclimate ourselves to the new RV park and town. Research where good restaurants are, grocery stores, vet, etc.  We tend to stay at home on the weekends. NJ has really biased us against weekenders or "Bennys" at the shore.

So, if we stay a week, say we arrive on Tuesday. Wednesday is looking for grocery store, settling in, checking out trails with the dogs. Thursday, we may try dinner, Friday we may try breakfast. No way we can go out to dinner after having a huge breakfast. Then it's the weekend. So now we only have Monday left. If there's any sightseeing, or more restaurants, we only have 1 day. Proof, that a week is too short.

So, 10 days minimum to 2 weeks is our preference.  Of course, if we hate the place 1 week could be too long.  We tend to make reservations about 5 days ahead for a week.  If we like the park and area, we will ask for another week. We have never been told no.

Cleaning: Of course, the bad thing about 2 weeks, is we do settle in. Meaning, the RV gets cluttered, the outside gets cluttered, etc.  The day before moving day is usually my clean up the RV day.

Toilet is usually cleaned after tank is dumped.

Bird cage cleaned upon arrival at new park. Our African Gray Parrot, is in a travel cage, so the cage is empty and can be cleaned thoroughly.

Vacuuming is done either day before, morning of, or before complete set up on arrival.

Sinks are scoured day of travel, while storing kitchen and bathroom items.

Dusting & mold is done while vacuuming on a cool day. It's a real pain to have to move everything to dust and clean the mold that builds up. Not only do the shelves, have to be dusted, but the computers need to get the dust off the fan area and the screens, etc. The mold is something new RV'rs should take note of. I was surprised to find this, as in our Stick & Brick home, this was not a problem.  Mold builds up around the trim of the windows, sometimes on the walls behind furniture, and in our case, in our closet at the head of the 5th wheel. (See photo on March 5, 2012 Post)

Outside cleaning: On a cool day is when I will clean a section of the outside of our RV. Wipe down with water, wipe dry, and then lightly rub PROTECT ALL on it. I just do a section at a time while listening to a book on tape. Do this for an hour every few days and before you know it, the whole rig is clean & ready to start all over again. Well, at least up to about the 10' mark is cleaned.  After that, I can't reach any higher and Scott hasn't gotten around to doing the top part.

Roof: This is Scott's job.  I haven't gotten to the roof myself yet.  Scott is slowly overcoming his fear of being on the roof. It's important to keep the roof in good condition. We don't want any leaks!

Maintenance: This is where we are lacking. I do have a spreadsheet that I've put together and all from other RV sites, but have I looked at it yet? We've been full timing  10 months! I think I need to stop relaxing so much and take a look at that maintenance schedule.  Our slides squeak now when going in & out.  I remember the RV dealer stating the importance of  keeping the slides seals lubricated with silicone spray. Have we done this? Noooo! Time flies.

So when we stay 2 weeks, I need to clean in between...sometimes.  

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RESTAURANT REVIEWS:

We vacationed in Oahu a dozen years back. We loved the "plate" meals. So seeing this restaurant advertising a "plate" menu, we were excited.

GARLIC CHICKEN: This was very tasty. Nuggets of chicken with a batter deep fried. Some "bite" to it.  It reminded me of General Tso's chicken without the sauce. I would order this again.

TERIYAKI PORK: Flavorful but tough.

PULLED PORK: Bland

KALBI SHORT RIBS: The flavor was very good. They had a rub or marinade that gave great flavor. But again, this meat was tough, with a lot of gristle. 

STEAMED RICE: Gloppy bland, but I think that is how it is supposed to be.

MACARONI SALAD: OK, but too much mayo for my taste.

Overall, my husband would return for the Garlic Chicken, but I would not bother.

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Not as good as Panera Bread, but I would definitely return.

3 CHEESE CAULIFLOWER SOUP: Thick and delicious. Came with 2 slices of your choice of bread.

TURKEY CRANBERRY CROISSANT SANDWICH: Ok, would have liked to have thinner & more slices of turkey. 

REUBEN PANNINI ON RUSTIC RYE:  Great.  I'd like a little more pastrami & kraut, but great bread, toasted nicely and delicious.

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Being from NJ, we have only heard of In N Out from the celebrity raves.  

The building was very clean, but just looked like a "fast food joint". There were at least 10 cars waiting at the drive in at 12:45pm.

We opted to go inside. We HAD to check this place out because of all the hype.

I like the simple menu.  When I go to other fast food burger joints, the menu has gotten so large, & the menu board is so confusing.

Oh my gosh! I will now be craving their cheeseburgers!

Difficult to say exactly why though.  There is very little meat in this sandwich. Just a thin slab of ground beef amid the pile of other ingredients. I probably would have enjoyed this sandwich just as much without the beef.

The roll was fresh, and nicely toasted, with a crispiness along the edges. Thick pile of fresh, crispy lettuce, a beautiful slice of tomato, a generous slice of sweet onion. I think there may be mayo or some kind of sauce on the burger also.

The combo makes a delicious, refreshing sandwich.

The fries were slightly above average. They did seem fresh, not frozen, but I wouldn't waste the calories on the fries. I'll opt for a milkshake in lieu of fries next time.

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Breakfast

A lot of reviews state "better than Denny's". It's been a while since I've been to Denny's so I'll have to visit again.

Large, clean restaurant, very similar looking to a Perkins Pancake House,

Coffee was good enough for me to drink black. Very generous with the coffee. Kept returning to refill.

LUMBERJACK BREAKFAST: 3 eggs, 3 hotcakes, hashbrowns, ham, bacon & sausage. Very good meal. Although hotcakes aren't the best I had (a little heavier than I like), they were very good. Ham was delicious, bacon & sausage, both good.

PIONEER: Hash browns are covered with finely shredded cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, sausage and mushrooms. Would have preferred fresh mushrooms, but was still delicious. All this topped with 2 eggs. What a combo. Absolutely delicious! Opted for hot cake instead of toast. We would return if we were here longer.

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BOOK REVIEW:

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It by Thom Hartmann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Explained how the middle class is being screwed by government and corporations. Corporations are becoming so powerful, they are influencing the gov't to believe that they can run things better than gov't. Problem is corporations are out for PROFIT and more money for the executives. Corporations don't care about the average Joe trying to make a living in the US.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:

Alone by Lisa Gardner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good narration by Anna Fields.  Her men's voices are a little "silly", but she does a great toddler!
This story catches your interest quickly. Bobby, the sniper sort of gets me aggravated, with his stupid decisions.
But then, once I realize it's difficult to decide who's the good guys and who's the bad, I was excited to read/listen on to find out.

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A quickie

PONY EXPRESS RV RESORT

North Salt Lake, UT 84054

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RV LIFE:

Another day gone without blogging.  Scott was nagged by Pete in FL, to update his facebook page, so he did that on Friday 5/18.

The weather has been glorious here in UT. Cool mornings that quickly warm up to 70° days.  In the shade I actually need a light sweater.

I spent ALL DAY outside cross stitching! I keep thinking, how can I do this for hours & hours?? I listen to a decent book on tape or podcast and just pass the time cross stitching. It's very relaxing for me.  It reminds me of coloring and filling in pictures without going outside the lines.

So, because I have been relaxing outside, the blog has not been updated.

I came in about 6pm and then had to catch up on my Above & Beyond English Setter Rescue applications and record keeping.  Then comes dinner and before I know it, it's 8pm. That's about the time I start thinking of heading to bed. Yes, I go to bed early.  Some days I'm asleep by 9pm, other times I knit in bed while watching TV and read a book during the commercials. When I do that I may stay up until 11pm.

Being in the Western US, is pretty cool because our Direct TV is still on East Coast time. So now, I get to enjoy Jay Leno, and Jimmy Fallon at 9:30 my time.

We have yet to see the Salt Lake. I saw reviews that said it smells and there are a lot of bugs. But hey, who knows when we'll be here again. Hopefully, we'll stop by for a view and photos tomorrow, Sat 5/20.

It's 8:50pm. Past my bedtime!

PONY EXPRESS RV RESORT, N. Salt Lake City, UT

PONY EXPRESS RV RESORT

North Salt Lake City, UT 84054

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Lovely, lovely park! WE HAVE GRASS!!!!!! It's been so long since we've been anywhere with grass. Both Scott & I had to take off our shoes and wiggle our toes in it!

This park has beautiful lawns. The sites are really crammed together, with some sites no parking for vehicle. They have a separate area to park your vehicle. Our site has a "car pad". Very tight fitting our dually in the spot, but it worked.

There is a 10'x10' patch of grass with a picnic table at every site.  New trees, so not much shade, but the trees also don't get in the way of rigs and slide outs.

We happened to be at the end of a street, so our lawn is much larger. We are loving it!!! Decided to stay an extra week and take advantage of our "yard".

Full Hook Ups, swimming pool, shuffle board, basketball.  Great paved bicycle path right outside the park. This path goes on for 40 miles!

Dog friendly, with a walking path around the park and a couple of spots with poopy bags supplied.

The folks are quiet at this campground, but we do hear some traffic noise. But with the beautiful lawn, landscaping and privacy fencing, it's easy to block the noise out.

Great bathrooms/showers, not that we used them.  They are each a private unisex room with toilet, sink and shower, just like "home".

Nice laundry room. Everything is immaculate.

Very cool "family room" at the office, with large leather sofas, a fire place, pool table, large TV and DVD player, and small library.

Free Wifi works great.

I would return here in a heartbeat!

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DOG PARKS:

Jordan Dog Park: 1060 S 900 W  Salt Lake City, UT 

This was wishful thinking.  We drove to this lovely park, but no dog park.  This is a beautiful park with lots of people walking their dogs on leash.  Lots of nice paths to walk through different themed gardens.  

We spoke to a "local" and he said a dog park was planned, but never came about.  He said there is a dog park near our RV Park, so we hope to check that out this week.

Herman Frank's Park: 1350 South 800 East  700 E 1300 S Salt Lake City, UT

This was an ok dog park. Fairly large. Ground was covered in wood chips, which our prissy Lyla didn't like walking on.  She preferred the cement sidewalk around the perimeter.

Bags provided, water provided. Some lawn chairs and benches. Some shade.

Nice group of people and dogs.  No separation for small dogs.

We saw a motor home parked on the street in front of us.  We wondered if they were at the dog park. As luck would have it, I befriended an old boxer/bull dog? Got to talking to the owners and ends up THEY were the motor home owners and have been full timing for 2 years. 

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RESTAURANT REVIEWS:

We went to an Old Spaghetti Factory years ago in Hawaii. It was excellent and finally came out west to try again.
I was somewhat disappointed. The atmosphere is still very interesting, although it was so dark, I couldn't read the menu.
Warm sourdough bread was brought to the table. Sourdough? At an Italian restaurant? If I liked sourdough bread, I think this would be rated very good, but I was expecting an Italian bread.
Hubby had meat lovers meal. Pasta with meat sauce, sausage & meatballs.
Pasta was cooked correctly, not overdone. Meat sauce was tasty. Sausages, nothing special and large meatballs were pretty good.
I had Mizithra Cheese & Browned butter, which was pasta with olive oil, garlic, butter sauteed mushrooms and topped with mizithra cheese.
On the whole this was good. The mushrooms were fresh, not canned and delicious.  The mizithra cheese was excellent. I've never had that before. But the whole meal was VERY DRY.  I suppose I should have asked for some extra olive oil to be drizzled over it.
Strawberry lemonade, was delicious.
I would not go out of my way to return, but if hubby wants Italian, I'd tag along.
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Hubby wanted to come here because of triple D show.
From the outside it looks kind of dumpy. Once you get inside you're reminded of an old soda fountain type diner. Cute atmosphere. But upon walking in we were told by a very relaxed young girl sitting ON THE COUNTER, to seat ourselves.  I felt that was a little too casual. Please, don't let us interrupt your conversation.
Once seated our male tattooed, server was very nice and efficient.
Started out with onion rings. Nice sweet tempura batter & sweet onions. Very large serving. Not the best onion rings but not the worst either.
Hubby had hot roast beef open sandwich.  He said it was very good. Served with garlic mashed potatoes.
I had the meatloaf. I thought the meatloaf was very good and hearty.  I liked the slight crispiness around the edges.  Definitely tasted home made with lots of ingredients. I would order again.  Meatloaf was served with horseradish mashed potatoes.
Both orders of mashed potatoes were so so. My pet peeve is instant mashed potatoes.  I don't want watered down mashed potatoes. When I go out, I want to indulge and have creamy, buttery REAL mashed potatoes. These potatoes were weak, with chopped horseradish thrown in as an after thought and not even mixed in. I got a clump of horseradish is one bite.
The mixed steamed vegetables served with both meals was a pleasant surprise.  Carrots, zucchini and broccoli, steamed to perfection. A generous amount also.
Another surprise was the salad.  Cold, fresh, crisp mix of lettuces, cherry tomatoes, cukes, sprouts, marinated artichokes, green peppers. I'd go back just for the salad.
Overall, nice meal, but not sure I'd return for dinner.  We need to try breakfast!

Butch Cassidy RV Camp, Salina, UT

Butch Cassidy RV Camp

Salina, UT 84654

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PARK REVIEW:

We only stayed here overnight which was fine. Small park with gravel sites close together and shared electric pedestal. Surprisingly, our site was level. All pull thru sites.

Nothing fancy about this park. Fine for overnight or a few days. Unfortunately, our electric kept spiking and shutting off, so that was a major negative.

Nice tent camping area with shade and grass. No one was camping, so this is where we walked our dogs.

The park also is a mobile home park which wasn't a problem.

There is an "aviary" on site. Basically, it looks like there are chickens and a turkey, which was kind of fun to see them strutting around and the turkey gobbling.

Lots of "domestic" rabbits running around. They seemed healthy and happy, but drove Devin nuts!

Over all, we'd stay here for a couple of days if needed, but check the electric first.  It was kind of depressing, because right next door you see the OLD mobile homes, with plywood add ons, etc. You know these folks don't have much.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:

The Reversal by Michael Connelly
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Good narration by Peter Giles.
Child abducted & murdered. Man convicted, but then with DNA evidence, he is released after 24 yrs in prison.
Now he is immediately up for trial on the same murder.
Sounds like a good book, right?
Wrong, boring, boring, boring. Even the court scenes were boring.


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Harassment!

Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing.

From Wikipedia

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This post will be totally off topic from RVing & crafts. You may not even want to read this and hear about the crap an ex friend in NJ is pulling. So be forewarned, this is not a pleasant post.

I have an EX friend in NJ,who has been harassing me via emails asking for payment for her pet sitting services.
Last year, I had a foster dog, Ollie that I needed someone to pet sit for. Since this person pet sits for extra money, even though she is on disability, I asked if she would pet sit for Ollie. As payment, my husband would put a decent working & up to date computer together for her.  She had a 5-10yr old computer from a previous employer. All agreed.
Pet sitting went well, we brought over the computer and set it up for her.  We warned her that this was a computer put together with spare parts, so some components may wear out. We mentioned the battery specifically.  Sure enough, she only had the computer a week and it wasn't working correctly. The cable guy was installing her cable and told her not to use the computer because it sounded like it could catch on fire. So with that in her head, we took the computer back to fix it.
Ended up it was the power supply, which do wear out, as do mother boards, etc. We replaced the power supply. We did not charge her for the NEW power supply because we felt she hadn't had the computer long enough to warrant having to pay for a repair. Scott tested the computer and all is well.
But all ex friend can think about is that it's going to catch fire. Her friends that are supposedly computer savvy said not to take it. So ex friend will not take the computer back.
My husband has built a number of computers for friends and relatives. He ends up being their "computer support". We told ex friend that we would not be computer support, but of course we did fix the computer which was the right thing to do.
I offered the perfectly working computer to her a few times and even had mutual friends try to talk her into taking it. Ex friend refused.
Now ex friend is harassing me that I owe her money for her pet sitting services!!!! Every couple of months she sends an email with a new bill and is threatening to take this further.  This ex friend has a history of taking people to small claims court.
She refused the payment we all agreed on by refusing the working computer.  My parents now have the computer and have been using it since Oct. 2011. And guess what? It hasn't caught fire and works great.
Soooo, here's is a video of our foster dog, Ollie, who has now been adopted. We spent $5400.00 on surgery for bloat 2 days after we took him into our care. $1900.00 was reimbursed via donations or from our rescue. So we ended up paying $3500.00 out of our personal pocket. Ollie was worth it.
In this video is a digital voice mail of ex friend specifically stating, not to worry about the computer or payment. That we could use it as a donation to rescue or to help pay for Ollie's medical bills. This is stated at minute 1:08 and also at the end.

Yes, I guess you are only hearing MY side of the story, but after listening to ex friend's voice mail, what do you think?  Leave a comment.

ELECTRONICS, WOES

So we are having our fill of electronics troubles.
We LOVE our Tivo. We have a Tivo receiver in the living room and in our bedroom. Both Tivo's can record 2 programs while we watch a recorded program. We are spoiled by always having something to watch, when we want, without commercials. Our living room Tivo unit has been acting up lately. So we can only record 2 programs in the bedroom and we have to share the TV! Horrors! Lucky for us, we do not get bored easily and I'm fine with being on the computer or reading while Scott hogs the TV. In reality he would let me have the TV as long as he's not in the middle of a hockey game.
Scott, being the computer geek he is, has added more memory to our Tivo's in the past. He increased the Tivo's recording time 10 fold! We went from 30 hours recorded programs to 300 hours! So when Tivo isn't working, we are not happy. So as I said, Scott, being the computer geek, figured that the power supply was broke. Ordered a new one and wham, bam, thank you maam, IT WORKS! $70. gone!

Great, all is good. Then while in Rifle, CO, where it is very windy from 11am - 6pm, our Direct TV satellite dish blows over and yes, it's broke. Dumb, dumb, dumb! I checked it 5 minutes prior and didn't want to lay it down because then Scott would have to align it up again. Lesson learned, lay it down just in case.  This is the THIRD dish we have lost to wind. Have I said how much I hate the wind? If you've read my blog, I'm sure I've mentioned it before!

Our first Direct TV dish was the larger "slimline" in case we upgraded to high definition.

That blew over, so we bought a smaller (non HD) model, for $79.
 Still on a tripod. That blew over.  We purchase another one at $79.! That blew over!!!!
So, we need a new dish. There are no Direct TV dealers near us, so Scott drives 50 minutes to Grand Junction, only to find they do not have the correct dish for us.  So, change of plans. We will now be heading North to the major city of Salt Lake City in search of a new dish.

We stop in to the Camper's World in Salt Lake City. Scott decides to try the Windgard Direct TV dish, that is smaller and lower to the ground and folds up compactly in it's own case.
Hopefully this won't blow over.  So far it works fine, even though it is a much smaller dish. We'll see when we get some rain how it works. $180. gone!

Now, Scott's computer is on the blink! While traveling from Salina, CO to Salt Lake City, UT, we had to break heavy because the cars in front of us did. What! Geeze, what are you breaking for???? 2 goats decided to cross the road and the cars in front, didn't want to hit them. Of course I agree, but it has cost us dearly. When we opened up the RV, Scott's computer case was laying sideways on the floor.  That's bad enough, but again, Scott being the computer Geek he is, he has a water cooled computer! When we lived in NJ, he was really into gaming and he needed a lot of power to handle the graphics, videos, etc. So water cooling is the way to go.  It is much quieter than fans. But, since his computer case fell over, his water cooled system leaked and no more working computer. I have no idea what needs to be replaced, but Scott will "need" the best for his computer.

RIFLE GAP STATE PARK: May 7, 2012

RIFLE GAP STATE PARK

Rifle, CO 81650

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PARK REVIEW:

Beautiful park, plenty of room between sites. Beautiful view of green blue resevoir & mountains.
We basically head back inside around 11am. The wind kicks up and stays until early evening. The wind shakes the RV, blew down our Direct TV dish.  Every since Lubbock, TX, we have had wind, wind, wind.  I'm really quite sick of it.
New England is looking good right about now.  Nestled amid pine trees with a stream nearby and NO WIND!

This park is fairly new and well planned out and well maintained.  There is a camp host for every loop of approximately 10 sites. Host made a point of introducing himself and offerred any help necessary.

Park is black top roads and many sites have cement pads with gravel picnic & fire pit area. Many sites have a heavy duty metal roof over the picnic table.

Lots of room between between sites and many are easy pull thrus. No trees really, but that is the nature of this area. There is a park loop right on the resevoir shore and also park loops up on the rise, so there is a gorgeous view of the reservoir in the gap between the mountains on either side.

Bathrooms are very clean and smell of "Pine sol". There is even a street sweeper to keep the roads clean!

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RV LIFE:
It is so windy here during the day, that our Direct TV blew over again. This is our 3rd dish broken by blowing over in the wind. You'd think we'd learn our lesson! Scott is looking into the Windgard Direct TV unit, so it will be protected and closer to the ground. Scott is desperate to get another unit soon! It's the hockey play offs and the Flyers are playing the Devils. Our internet connection is very slow, but Scott managed to listen to most of the last game on the internet.

Still have some congestion in my chest and difficult to take deep breaths, but I'm getting better. Scott seems to now have some allergy type congestion.


SIGHTS:
Yesterday we visited RIFLE FALLS in Rifle Falls State Park. We were able to take our dogs along for the short hike. Gap Falls is another Colorado State Park campground, but not really big rig friendly.  It's fine for pop ups or maybe 20' & shorter.  Another very nice park.
We drove through the park to the small parking lot for the Falls.  We could hear the roar of the Falls as soon as we left our truck.  Just a short walk on a nicely maintained gravel path, led us to the 50-75 foot high triple falls.  A family with 3 kids were having a grand time running around in the shallow pool at the bottom of the Falls.

There is a path that goes up, over and around the falls.  GREAT HIKE! Not really strenuous.  The short hike was a BLAST! It took us up next to some small caves, some protective overhangs that led into caves. The drop in temperature was amazing! It was an open area, but overhung with rock.

What's in there?

 I hope the view is better looking inside, than the view outside!

The path took us above the Falls. There was a walkway the jutted out over the Falls and we could look down, well, Scott could look down. After my episode with heights at Pike's Peak, I'm did not want to venture out onto that little bit of overhang.  Then the trail led us to behind the Falls.  There were benches to rest in many areas and many photo opportunities.  Well worth taking a drive to Rifle Gap Falls.

At the top of the falls in a cave.

Top of falls looking down

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BOOKS:

If the Slipper Fits by Elaine Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the others stated, this is sort of a "Cinderella" type story.  I enjoyed it quite a bit. I did have a difficult time understanding how 11 yrs can pass without contact with someone you love.


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Personal Protector by Debra Webb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yes, this is a Harlequin romance, but there was a mystery involved also.
As far as the romance, it was typical, beautiful independent woman can't resist hunky guy.
But the mystery part was interesting, with hunky guy protecting the beautiful woman.  One by one reporters are killed. Will the beautiful woman reporter be saved? Who is behind this terrorism?
I guess I have to finally admit, I like these happy ending romances.


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AUDIO BOOKS:

Monday Mornings: A Novel by Sanjay Gupta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Christian Rummel. Good narration, although Gato Grande was a little over the top, but so was the character.
I always find it interesting to learn about the inside workings of  lives, business, etc. that the "average" person is not privy to.
I hold Doctors in very high regard. There's no way I could have graduated medical school and nor would I want to put the time and study into it.
This book covered the professional and personal lives of a few surgeons at a teaching hospital. The book explains their through process through surgery, treatment, the outcome and the effect it has on the surgeon and patient.
Very interesting.


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A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Good narration by David LaDoux
This book seems to be well liked by most folks. I thought the story line was drawn out. Over & over to have an affair or not, over & over and obsessed with the other woman, but need to make my marriage work.
The story got better once the court scenes started, but still only held my interest just enough to keep me listening, but was glad when I was finished.


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COLORADO SPRINGS KOA: May 1, 2012

RV PARK REVIEW:
April 23 -May2, 2012

COLORADO SPRINGS KOA  Fountain, CO 80807  

Site # 143 Approx. $32./day

Our rating 3 out of 5

This KOA would be a nice park if it wasn't so close to the highway and if they didn't squish the rv's into one section.

Large campground, but right on the highway, so get highway noise and railroad horns.
We requested a site away from highway, but yet, they just pile every one in from the highway inward.  The sites away from the highway were empty. Seems they kept using the same section of the park to make it easier for them to clean. We would not return.

- Sites are close together. Gravel, dirt, a little grass.
- Highway traffic noise
+ Full Hook ups (50amp)
/ Laundry was fine. 4 machines each, but very small room so tight if more than one person there.
+ Pet friendly: Small dog park, lots of dogs in the park
+ WiFi: Free, good for the most part.
+ Verizon internet: good
+ AT&T (Deb) cell: 5 bars
+ Verizon (Scott) cell: 5 bars
+Sights: Lots to see in the area of Colorado Springs & Manitou Falls.
 We would only stay here again, if we wanted to come back to this area.
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RV LIFE:

I have been sick with the flu for almost 2 weeks.

Devin still gets me up just after sunrise, so around 6:15am I am walking the dogs. At 6:30am every morning I hear "revelry" from the local Fort Carson. This brought back childhood memories of my yearly week at Camp Sandy Cove in MD. I had great times there.

We've both been sick with the flu. Miserable 10 days. Achey, tired, burning eyes, fever, chills, stuffiness, cough, congestion. I just couldn't bring myself to really do anything.
We were only going to stay near Colorado Springs for a week, but with being sick, we extended so we could see a couple of sights.

While lazing around and napping in my wonderful swivel rocker/recliner, Scott spotted a bird building a nest on the rung of our ladder hanging on the back of the RV.  Oh no! We don't want to be stuck here until the eggs hatch! Luckily, the birdies were just building it and nothing was laid yet. Scott moved the nest to a tree. We don't know if the birdies ever found it.  They sure were confused when they returned to the ladder and their nest was gone! 

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SIGHTS:
I wanted to take the COG RAILWAY up Pikes Peak, but because of being ill, I was not sure I could take the altitude. So,we drove (Scott drove) up PIKES PEAK, in case we needed to descend before the summit. Once was enough for me.  18 miles of serpentine road, mostly without guard rails and a deadly drop within a couple of feet of our dually wheels! Going up, up, up to 14,000 feet and the drop off on my side of the truck.  My stomach was topsy turvy and I leaned over to the driver's side of the truck and held white knuckled onto the center console. I do not want to make that drive again.  I was terrified!!!!

But even though I was terrified, it was an amazing drive up to the top.  What an odd feeling to be on top of this huge mountain and looking down at all the other huge mountains. It was below freezing at the top with a wind chill that made it even colder!  

There is a gift shop and a cafe at the top. It reminded me of a ski lodge cafe.  The food prices were very high. I suppose because it is difficult to prepare food at that altitude.  I had a hot chocolate and a Pike's Peak Donut.  I couldn't finish the donut.  I guess it's a fried donut, but because of the altitude it's so crispy it breaks apart when you bite into it.  I ended up giving the crumbs to our dogs. Yes, dogs are allowed on Pike's Peak.  Scott had a french vanilla type coffee, which was only luke warm.  He also had a $7.00 bowl of chili.   At least it was good.

The drive down was not as scary. Scott gave me a lesson about putting the truck into tow haul mode.  As we descended, Scott would tap the breaks which would make the truck's engine downshift to slow us down.

We stopped part way down at a flat area that had quite a bit of snow.  Scott wanted Devin to have some fun in the snow, which he did.  Devin would grab a chunk of snow and toss it in the air and try to grab it again.  He is still very much a puppy.

Pike's Peak is definitely a sight to experience if you are in the area.

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After Pike's Peak, we stopped at GARDEN OF THE GODS.  By this time, I'm really ready to just go back to bed. I'm still not 100% feeling ok yet. This is a multi activity park. There are hiking trails, bike trails, horse trails, & rock climbing.  The parking lot was pretty full on a Tuesday, but the park is so large, that everyone was spread out and it didn't feel crowded. There are lots of walking trails through out the park. Scott took a short hike to view some rock climbers.

I stayed in the truck and rested my eyes. We also stopped by to see the balancing rock. 

This is a beautiful park and worth taking your dogs for a hike here.

We also took a tour of MIRAMONT CASTLE, which was built by a Priest. Later donated to Nuns to be used as a sanitarium for TB patients.  This is still a work in progress, interesting, but still needs more donations for furnishings, etc.

Miramont Castle is in the town of Manitou Springs which is a very cool town and worth a visit to.  Lots of cool little shops and eateries. Old town, with odd neighborhood layout and some Victorian type homes.

As you walk through town, there are spigots where the underground springs pour out their water. Very cool.  We tried one that was slightly bubbly.

Here's a link to all kinds of things to do in the Pikes Peak area

Come back on Wed, May 9th.

Finally feeling better, but now here in Rifle, CO, we have VERY SLOW internet, so I'm not even going to bother to post.
We'll be heading overnight in Salina, UT on Mon, May 7th. Then heading to Salt Lake City on Tue, May 8. Figured I'll be settled in and can enter a full post on the morning Wed, May 9th.

Delayed

Colorado Springs KOA
Fountain, CO 80807
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We've extended our stay near Colorado Springs, CO because Scott & I have been sick with the flu all week!!! So instead of leaving Monday, we'll be leaving Wednesday and hope to squeeze in some local sights in 2 days. We were hoping to take the 3 hour PIKES PEAK COG RAILWAY, which looked beautiful, scary and exciting. But since we are both still somewhat congested, we aren't sure how our bodies would handle the 14,000 feet altitude. Scott read that they have finished paving a road up Pikes Peak and that it is safe. We'll probably try driving and see how high we get before we think our heads will explode. Plus, we can take the dogs with us then. It's always more enjoyable in the company of our pups. And, yes, I'm starting to feel a slight bond with our Irish Setter, Devin after adopting him 6 months ago.

It really hurts to keep my eyes focused on the computer. I haven't been doing any reading. Just a lot of tv watching and sleeping. It's really been a miserable week for both of us, BUT we are still so very fortunate in that we didn't have to worry about getting a Dr's note for being absent from work!!! We have the luxury of being able to just lay around and let our bodies fight the illness. The most difficult part was having to walk the dogs. Sure wish we could just let them loose in the yard. The dogs were really good during our illness. Although Devin didn't let me sleep  past 6:10am, once he went for a very short walk in the morning, he stayed quiet and let us be until at least mid afternoon! That was bliss. One day, I just couldn't walk them, so in late afternoon when Devin started pulling on his leash to go out, I simply put them out on the tethers and sank into a chair outside and practically fell asleep. I was so sick, I didn't care what I must have looked like out there. Scott was feeling well enough that afternoon and took them for a walk. Poor dogs, deserve an outing to Pikes Peak.

Hopefully, we'll be fully recovered in a couple of days and I'll report on the KOA and the surrounding area.

Craft week went to hell also.

CRAFT WEEK (Day 5): Different way to present content

This blog post is part of the 3rd

KNTTING AND CROCHET BLOG WEEK

3KCBWDAY5

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Always in my heart & keeping me warm.