Florida to Colorado, 3rd - 14th September 2015
We headed to Florida to collect Harvey-the-RV, say goodbye to Green Cove Springs and relocate him to the West Coast.
Our trip wasn't without incident. After boarding our plane in Manchester, we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half, when the baggage system failed. With a tight connection in Philadelphia, we expected we'd have to be rescheduled. With some luck and a certain amount of sprinting, however, we made our connection. This surprised the gate staff, who were already busy re-allocating seats. Ours were luckily still available and we were able to board. One of our bags was not so lucky.
Minus half of our luggage, we arrived at the marina in Green Cove Springs to find that Harvey had been moved from the storage area. However the engine battery had been completely dead, requiring a jump start from the friendly staff.
It was hot, we were tired and after putting the battery on charge, we were ready to get some sleep. At this point we discovered that the air conditioning aboard was making a loud clanking noise and we were forced to choose between quiet and cool. Quiet won out but not much sleep was to be had. We spent the next morning on the roof, discovering the problem was merely a slight warping in the fan blades, making them strike the housing as they turned. A slight adjustment with a Stanley knife left us able to cool off.
Our lost bag was duly delivered but somewhere along the line, a jar of curry paste it contained had been smashed.
Enjoying
traditional southern fare with Harry and Jane.
We were saying goodbye to a place which had been our US home base for ten years and had some good friends we needed to see first.
We got together with John and Leanna for lunch and were invited to dinner with Harry, Anju's favourite welder and his family. Two meals in one day took some stamina, but we were easily tempted with Harry's cooking. After spending the night outside Harry's house, began our trip north.
It was already September and concerned about the possible imminent arrival of cold weather further north, we travelled as far as we could manage every day. After two nights of Wally-hopping, we decided to stop at Glen Elder State Park in Kansas for a much needed shower and to enjoy a stunning sunset in beautiful surroundings.
Naturally, a visit to the World's largest ball of twine in the nearby town of Cawker City couldn't be missed.
Glen
Elder State Park
Cawker
City's claim to fame.
Another long day of driving and we made it to the mountains of Colorado.
From there we headed to a favourite spot, excellent for free camping and huge fish, North Delaney Lake.
As with many other fishing spots we were to visit, this year was trickier after the drought conditions. Phil fished from his float tube, managing some success even if the fishing was slow.
I
can smell the mountains from here!
The wind blew, as usual, driving Phil to fish from shore instead. Here he ran into Colorado residents Rick and Susie, who were having better luck using Parachute Adams flies from the bank.
Not only did they pass on their know-how, they also handed over some of their flies to help Phil out and soon he was landing some huge trout.
Delaney
Lake Resident Antelopes
South
Delaney Lake View
That wasn't the end to their generosity, however. They stopped by offering us some Sage Grouse they had shot earlier, warning us to look out for shot. It was delicious. Next day they called in again, proffering home grown produce. It was time to cook them a dinner in Harvey before we moved on to Montana.
Rick was determined to stay at Delaney until he'd caught a fish bigger than the one Susie had hooked!
Dinner
with Susie and Rick