Blogger to Blogger

I began blogging over a year and a half ago. I have really enjoyed the creative aspect of writing posts about what has been going on in my live and having a way that family and friends can keep up with me. Another part of the blogging experience for me, is reading blogs written by others. I have quite a few that I read regularly and a number of these are written by folks that do full time RV-ing. That is they live in their RVs and travel around the country full time. I like to live vicariously through their blogs.

After I posted my last story about possibly getting another RV, I received an email from Lloyd of Wanderin’ Blog fame. I have been reading his blog and following his travels since I started writing my own blog. It just so happened that Lloyd was in the Denver area and he offered to meet with me to discuss fifth wheel trailers or anything else that was of interest to me.

Wow, this was a great opportunity! I jumped at the chance and yesterday afternoon we met at a Starbucks in between where he was staying and my home on the south side of Denver. Lloyd has been full timing for about eight years now, spending the majority of his time in the west and southwest. We spent about two hours chatting about travel, blogging, other bloggers that we both followed and genealogy. I had a great time getting to know Lloyd and hope to cross paths with him again in the future.

I would have visited with Lloyd a lot longer than two hours but yesterday morning when I went to start the dishwasher I discovered that it had given up the ghost…passed on…died…crapped out! Naturally it was full of dirty dishes. I’m scheduled to leave on my next adventure on Saturday morning so I was in a bit of a bind to find a new dishwasher and arrange to have it installed. After leaving Lloyd I headed straight to the local Home Depot. I had instructed The Bride to visit a Home Depot on her lunch hour and pick out a dishwasher she liked. When I got to our local store I call her and got the model number of the dishwasher she wanted. The only hitch is that it will be Tuesday before the new dishwasher is installed.

On the RV front, I’m still searching for a gently used truck so that I can begin the search for a fifth wheel trailer. As I mentioned in my last post, it’s slim pickins’ for quality used diesel trucks right now. I found one in a small town about 20 miles from here that would have worked except for one thing….the former driver was a heavy smoker and the interior reeked of cigarette smoke. The dealer says he is going to have someone come to his lot and treat the inside of the cab with something that is supposed to remove the smell. I’m pretty skeptical but I’ve got nothing to lose. When I return from my trip I’ll go by the dealer’s place of business. If the smell is gone I’ll buy the truck….if not I won’t. In the meantime I’ll be on the lookout for another truck that will fit the bill and if I find one before then I have no obligation to this dealer.

As I mentioned, I’m leaving bright and early Saturday morning for two weeks of Forest Service volunteer projects. I will be out of phone and internet contact for all of that time except possibly Saturday the 19th of September. Next week I’ll be in the Gunnison National Forest, southeast of Gunnison, CO doing an archaeological survey and dig on and 1870’s stage station. Read about it here. This project ends on Friday the 18th and I will drive to the extreme southeast corner of Colorado to participate in another archaeological survey in the Cimarron Canyon area. Here’s the description of this project.

Comanche National Grasslands

Cimarron Canyons Archeological Research Survey 2009

Must commit to full session

Located in the rugged canyon country of southeastern Colorado, the tributaries of the Cimarron River shelter a wide variety of archaeological sites, including prehistoric quartzite quarries and habitation areas, rock art, and 19th and early 20th-century homesteads. PIT volunteers and Forest Service staff will thoroughly explore these canyons to record sites and features. Project tasks will include map reading, artifact identification, basic lithic analysis, photography, site mapping, and botany. Come and explore this little-known corner of Colorado!

Number of openings: 6

Special skills: Must be physically able to hike daily for long distances in rough terrain in highly variable weather conditions; previous experience with mapping, photography, lithic analysis, and/or archaeological survey helpful, but not required

Minimum age: 18 years old

Facilities: Primitive camping at no charge near project area; vault toilet, picnic shelters, no potable water; some space for small campers in camping area; volunteers responsible for own camping equipment, food, and drinking water

Nearest towns: Kim, 25 miles; Springfield, 41 miles

Thanks for visiting.