Whale Tail Adventures

 But we are still traveling!  Check out the further updates at  www.roveranddover.blogspot.com I leave it with the first picture I had with The Whale, almost exactly 12 years ago.  You served us well Whale.  Now on to more adventures!

If you’re a negotiator, you know you want to be in a position with limited options and a hard deadline.  Oh wait, that’s the OPPOSITE of what you want to be in.  Regardless, that was the position we found ourselves in this morning. Neither Amy nor I got great sleep last night. Imagine that - embarking on a journey that starts with a potentially smoking engine knowing that you need to come back with a different vehicle.  Isn’t that the thing that dreams are made of?!!! Fortunately, the boys DID get a good night of sleep and we had them prepared for a long day in the car (well, cars really we hope!).  So, we fully emptied the van contents into the camper and started our journey. If you looked at yesterday’s flow chart, you’ll notice that one of HUGE questions of the day was whether or not the van would smoke, or potentially get worse.  So, all of us had our noses on full alert, but thankfully, the smell did not return - at least not strongly.  Amy was driving and Brian was frantically t

What a amazing way to start the day.  I had woken up in the middle of the night and had seen the stars and the shadows of the mountain peaks in the distance.  That was breathtaking, but then when Amy woke up, opened the door and said “You need to see this”, the view of the snow-capped, purple mountain across the lake really made the impromptu stop in the National Forest SO worth it.  Just an amazing way to start the day. It turned out that the boys like the camp spot, but for very different reasons.  Robinson discovered that the area was crawling with chipmunk/prairie dog creatures.  While they tried to play “whack-a-mole” with him, he eventually became patient enough to get some great pictures of them as they came out of their dens. Sebastian went down by the lake and started a rock collection of his favorite rocks.  The water there was super clear and rocky - just magnificent to sit and stare at - possibly forever.  However, because of our impromptu stop, we had a long day of driving

For those of you keeping score at home, you'll notice that the day didn't end in Medicine Bow as planned.  More on that, but let's just say there was a reason...... The day started out wonderfully, it was a clear, crisp morning and Jackie and I sat on their balcony to visit and stare at the mountains.  I am disappointed in myself for not having made time to visit with Jackie before, but it was amazing to find out all the things she is doing and what a successful academic she has become.  I really enjoyed the visit with her and am grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know her better.  After our visit, we took Pancake for a walk and then it was time to head to Denver to pick up my family.   I had checked in with Amy before they left Raleigh - apparently Terminal 2 at RDU was quite a hit.  They got lunch there which they ordered and then was delivered to a special locker where they could pick it up - fun!   Meanwhile back in Denver, it was my job to pick up food s

Waking up on Lake Sterling was quite a treat.  There was a cool crispness to the air and the view of the lake was incredible.  I took some time to do some more rearranging in the camper - I feel like a rookie as I make all the changes.  Eventually I was happy with where things were and would be when I picked up Amy and the boys on Saturday.   I headed into Ft. Collins and met up with Jackie and Spencer - my cousins.  I had missed their wedding and they were kind enough to be willing to repeat much of their wedding weekend with me on a bicycle tour of Fort Collins.  So, after a quick introduction to Pancake (dog) and Atticus (cat), we headed out to go get a bicycle rental to start going from brewery to brewery. We stopped at Recycled Cycles and rented a reliable ride to get around town with.  No sooner had I tested the gears than we arrived at the first brewery - Purpose Brewing!  It was mid-afternoon at this point, the sun was shining, and the temperature was perfect.  Great way to spe

 Today was largely scheduled to be another transitional day, but it ended up having a lot more entertaining moments than expected! The day started with doing some rearranging before packing up and getting on the road.  I realized that morning that I had not yet passed North Platte, NE and since I needed to stop anyway for Sebastian's graduation, I figured why not watch the graduation from the massive switching yard of the Union Pacific.  So I packed up and headed that direction. I arrived just in time to dial in and start watching the graduation.  It was a very nice ceremony and I wished I could have been there.  But, thanks to modern technology, I actually got a pretty good seat to the event from more than 1,000 miles away!  At one point there was a song and Sebastian was right up near the camera so I got a great view.  Congratulations to all the grade school graduates. After the ceremony was over, I walked into the Golden Spike tower.  For those of you that don't know what th

I woke up early this morning knowing that I had a lot of repairs to complete and a long drive ahead of me. Fortunately, the camper/van repairs went remarkably smoothly! We fixed the rear bumper on the van which involved removing the entire bumper and then smoothed out the dent that was preventing the door from opening. Then we put some electrical tape on the plug of the electrical cord that had tried to jump out the side of the camper during travels the day before. Finally, we put the door back on the tool box which had fallen off the day before. Successes all around! The last task for the day was to get the laundry done. There were more loads than anticipated and so I got a later start than I had anticipated. However, it did leave time for my dad and I to jump into the canoe for a bit and paddle around the little pond in their backyard. No fish, but still good to get out there and try. Once ready, the long trek to Denver was underway. I had about 6 hours of driving straight o

I started the morning in the peaceful country air.  For some reason, I woke up at the crack of dawn, but it gave me a chance to get outside and hear the country wake up.  While there was the sound of a few cars going down the road, the dominating sounds were frogs, cows, and the neighbor's rooster.  I also decided to try the fishing and - first cast, got a small crappie. After a bit, I saw Uncle John on the other side of the pond so I walked over to join him.  We inspected the far side of the pond and then came back and launched the boat.  It was a pretty successful fishing outing with a big crappie and a good sized bass.  Not a bad way to start the day Once we were done fishing, we came back in to an AMAZING egg and sausage casserole breakfast.  It was absolutely delicious - thank you again Aunt Cathy! After breakfast we did a bit of a town tour.  We stopped by the family property to water the vegetable garden (it was DRY!), explored the bottom acres a bit, and then drove through

So today is the first day I'm not going to work.  It felt pretty good, can you tell?   After a quick sunrise tour of the lake, I walked back to start the pancakes and eggs in the camper.  The boys had talked the process up so we wanted to ensure that the grandparents got a chance to experience this.   Since the day didn't seem to have too long a drive - especially compared with yesterday, I took off to hike in the woods.  There was supposed to be a waterfall, but since there hasn't been any rain in the area lately, there also wasn't a waterfall.  But it still looked pretty nice even if the waterfall wasn't there. The drive to Effingham began much as the prior day ended - lots of twisty, turny, up and down country roads.  Good times, only not.  Finally we found our way to some highways.  We took a short break because our youngest was receiving an award at school.  Totally worth the stop - especially since it was at the Audubon park.  This papa is pretty proud.  It

After a few more middle of the night rain showers, we woke up to sunny skies.  With the rays of sunshine sneaking through the canopy and the sounds of birds, especially woodpeckers, it sure felt like a great way to wake up. Since we were near the Blue Ridge Mountains, we thought we would take advantage of seeing the sights.  So we had a quick breakfast of oatmeal before heading out to see the sights of the mountains.  We drove over to the park headquarters, saw some raptors, and then headed up the hills.  It didn't take us long before we were gifted with some magnificent mountain views. We then proceeded to the Rhododendron gardens.  While they were still a week or two away from full bloom, it was still a great place to hike.  We were at 6,000+ feet so hiking was a bit of a challenge.  At the end of the trail was the overlook, but with the Cloudland trail living up to its name, the view wasn't so spectacular. It was getting close to checkout and so we headed back down into the

The adventure has officially begun, though a bit later than anticipated.   Perhaps I shouldn't have waited until the day of departure to start packing, but let's call that a lesson learned for the next adventure.  In this one, that lack of preparation delayed the start by a couple of hours so we got going a bit later than anticipated.  After a third attempt to get the grill that attaches to the side of the camper going, it still wouldn't give off enough heat so we are officially going without. The drive to Roan Mountain went largely without issue.  It included the usual traffic on interstate 40/85, but that was expected from the get go.  The most exciting parts were when the road would go uphill near Boone.  There were some long runs at high gradients and the van was put to work.  But it managed and we got there in the end. The challenge for the day started when we found our campsite.  While the website described that the sites were on a slope, it didn't mention that th