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Michigan 2022
  • Katboz

Michigan 2022

A 146-day adventure by Katboz Read more
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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Replica water tower for train station behind
    Looking back up the street from that water tower location1Fun art on backside of building

    Lunch in the Haymarket District

    October 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Those is just one of those fun downtown historical renovations. Like many similar districts the train station becomes the hub. It is usually surrounded by older buildings (usually brick) that have all been renovated and been converted to offices, shops and restaurants. It was a perfect day to explore a little, eat and shop. This also becomes the area that a lot of football games are watched and celebrated. Lincoln is home to the corn huskers, Big Red. We bought a shirt and enjoyed the memorabilia. They take their rivalries very seriously, you can even buy clothing and items that say "Iowa corn is bad". And several different "Beat -(fill in rival school name)" buttons. So we bought a "Best Michigan" for laughs.
    At lunch at a Mexican restaurant because we have been missing it....okay food, but either this area gets away with higher prices or I just haven't gone out enough lately....    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    1The Reconciliation quilt. Late 1800s. Notable for social commentary.1Life in Zimbabwe, early 2000, loved the storiesIncluded because of it's incredible block design and colorNow some pieces from the "Water" theme competition1DetailAnother "Water" theme piece2DetailThose one included beads and jewelsDetail

    Intrnl. Quilting Museum & Study Center

    October 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    This was great! the museum looked at the history of quilting worldwide, with it variations and many different uses. (Blankets, clothing, shoes, hats, etc) The collection includes a large number of items from there James family. She was a quilter and together they thought some of defining pieces needed to be saved and studied. The museum included very old pieces and contemporary ones. And quilting is so much more than a blanket. It has risen to a textile art form. There is hand sewing, machine sewing, dyeing, photo transfers, applique, peicing, painting, etc. So much so that many pieces have been created in quilt "studios", similar vernacular as art studios.
    One of current larger special exhibits is entitled "Water". The submittal had only to address the theme. No other givens. The entries were so different from each other. I took pics of my favorites so they look a little more alike. Just a stimulating, visual treat. Made me want to rush home and lock myself in my sewing/office room!

    Back to the RV, Charlie's time and dinner!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Thankful mobile techs- nice guy!
    Diner food at Thunder Road. Owner is a definitely racing fan.Site at recreation areaPond off of river, at end of campgroundIt was a pretty cool morning!

    Drive to North Platte, Ne

    October 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    Woke up relatively early, it was one of our coldest nights on this trip. Probably not 32, but certainly low 40s-high 30s. I got up in the middle of the night to turn the heater on and got nothing. No fan, no heat. I put some socks on and went back to bed...but knowing e would have to solve in the morning.
    Fortunately in the park was a work-camper who also worked as a mobile RV tech. I walked over to his site to get the phone number off of his truck. We called and he came right over.
    He was able to diagnose the problem, but we have a bad part that he could not readily find available in local RV stores. We got the part number and decided to get on the road and deal with it later. We do have our electric heater so we can always just look for electric only sites....
    We spent the driving I-80 west. We had been this route coming out so pretty much just worked at getting to our destination, North Platte, for the evening. We spent the night at the Buffalo Bill Recreation Area. Actually kind of a nice, small, electric only site near the river. Maybe 4-5 other campers. This area is crazy with cranes in spring, directly in their migratory flight pattern. Would love to see.    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Chimney Rock & Visitor CenterScotts Bluff Natl MonumentOne of three tunnels on the drive to the topNorth overlook

    Scouts Rest Ranch & Scotts Bluff

    October 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 41 °F

    Since we were camped at the Buffalo Bill Rec Area, it was only at sort drive to the ranch he had built for his final retirement. (Ultimately he has to sell it when he runs out of money later in life) just a funny historically sore to visit. The grounds were beautiful, and still had many originally buildings, ice house, storage shed, big barn, duck pond. Interesting to have a peak at his life. Lots of "wild west" stories...
    Back on there road and left I-80 and took Hwy. 26, slightly northwest towards Scotts Bluff. We stopped a Chimney Rock for a photo op and then drove on to the Scotts Bluff national monument. Chimney Rock has a small visitors center, but we just looked from the parking lot. You can't get close to the actual rock formation because it sits on private land.
    Scotts Bluff is only about 20 miles down the road and really is a great stop. They have a nice visitor center and you can drive to the top of the bluff. (Or you can hike up) wonderful views, pine and cedars, plus a type of yucca (?) and some cactus. This is a high, dry bluff! Both landmarks are significant points on the Oregon Trail. Especially the bluff, it pretty much set the baseline for the Rockies to come! We enjoyed walking the overlooks, great weather, lots of sunshine.
    Found an RV site close by and got in a shower!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    City RV Park, very close to Scotts Bluff
    Southeastern Wyoming Welcome Center-. Closed?1Charlie spying out the landscape at the WY Welcome Center1Browns new home in Fort CollinsThe puppies played non-stop1Sweetest little basset

    Gering, NE to Fort Collins

    October 9, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Wow! So bummed! For some reason I lost my diary for the day.... arrrgh! Oh well maybe just share the highlights.

    Wyoming, at least southeast is pretty dang bleak. Nebraska had rolling hills, various crops, cattle, farms or ranch homes.
    Wyoming; grey scrubby brush grazing land, no trees, and lots of snow fencing.

    Loved seeing sunflower crop fields. First we have seen on the trip, wondering how they are harvested. They were all spent, so no golden fields this time of year

    Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center was Closed? It was Saturday....do they think traveling happens only mid week? Had read really good reviews so was disappointed...

    Stopped at Colorado Welcome Center for Colorado maps. I wanted one that noted elevation of passes to inform our route home. Closed.

    Bought Road Atlas (large scale so I could read text) at Walmart. They have much more reasonable business hours.... 😂

    Spent afternoon and evening with Adam and Rachel and their absolutely adorable basset puppy, Babs. Fun to have just the four of us. Puppies played so well!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Map at Glen Echo Resort
    CO 14 Route, and west on Hwy 40Glen Echo Resort, lunch stop1Poudre River, you can see hwy on leftGorgeous day, favorite type of cloudsLots of gold!View towards lake from our site

    Scenic CO Hwy 14, Poudre River Canyon

    October 10, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    We loved this drive! But any drive west through Colorado is going to be beautiful. This appears on the maps as a pretty thin little line, which always makes me nervous about size. But it only had 2 passes, one at 10,200 and the other at 9,400. And the RV mechanic that helped us in Lincoln had mentioned this driver from the time he lived in Colorado. So I called him and asked what he thought about our unit, towing a jeep, would do. He felt it was no problem.
    He was right, long grade up to the pass, good road, lots of "slower vehicle" turnouts, follows the Poudre River. It's a canyon drive so some areas pretty dry. Also looks like there was a pretty big fire up here, and also some beetle kill areas. But still lots of evergreen trees with the beautiful gold of the aspens, rust colored shrubs, tawny grasses, blue skies with bright white clouds. We even had snow flurries at the top. Great drive! We saw some antelope, and I think I saw a moose, but it was far away. This is moose country in this area, known as North Park.
    Found a nice little state park that was still open, many are closed. With Golden age passport, $6.00. No services, and just vault toilets, but still a pretty site. Right by Dumont lake, maybe 8,000    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Dumont Lake in the am
    FrostView of valley from Rabbit Ears Pass, 9400 ft.One of Charlies favorite spy perch.Lunch at the Backdoor GrillLots of gold on the walk to the waterfall1Fish Creek FallsLove these walks!Mural in townView from RV at Yampas State Park

    Steamboat Springs

    October 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °F

    Got up to COLD morning at the campground. Maybe low 30's, frost on the ground. But nice bright sunshine. Enjoyed a walk around the campground with Charlie. Maybe 4 other sites occupied.
    Finally packed up and headed into Steamboat Springs.
    Laundry was first on the agenda. Got the RV parked at a city park and took the jeep to one of two laundromats. Not many in this town! (We talked to a guy who picking up the cash and he said it was packed in the winter with all the temporary help!)
    Then picked up Charlie and headed into the downtown area for lunch. Found a cute grill place with outside seating and were able to sit down with Charlie. She did pretty well, especially since 3 other dogs were on the patio with us. We had a very good bison burger and great onion rings with a local beer. Just nice to sit in the sun, little breeze and golden trees all around.
    After lunch drove up into the hills a bit to Fish Creek Falls. We all hiked out the overlook trail to falls. Only a mile a round trip, but still very pretty. Falls were light, but still some water. Made us wonder what they would look like in the spring.
    Back to town, drove the main street to get a feel, would have loved to do some shopping! But we needed to get on down the road to get a campsite.
    Continued west on Hwy 40 towards Craig, Co. Just short of Craig we found a state park, Yampas River. Very nice, again, hardly occupied. This site had electric which is nice with the cold evenings. Our furnace is not working properly so we mostly rely on the electric oil heater. (The tech in Lincoln, NE told us what was wrong, but it requires a small part to fix....)
    Nice showers, nice clean sites, lots of golden trees!Dum    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Charlie doing her best to make me madRiver view, classic Colorado lookLibrary seatingLoved my seat in the library

    Rest day at Yampas River State Park

    October 12, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We liked this spot so much that we decided to just stay another night. Enjoyed a lazy morning and had some bacon and biscuits for breakfast. After convincing Charlie she shouldn't be digging, we brought her in for a nap and went over to the visitor center.
    Just a small one that talked about the history, the river echo system, and all the various activities available in the area. Chatted with the ranger, he grew up in Steamboat and had lived here all his life. Talked about host opportunities, he is looking for next summer. But Michigan is our temporary summer home!
    Took a walk around the park with Charlie, and then I grabbed my laptop and drove the 3 miles back into Hayden to the public library. We get cell service out in there park, but not enough to fix some of the online tasks. Tom stayed with the RV and did one more load of wash.
    Their library was so nice! Sat at a table with the door open to the outside patio. Beautiful little aspen just quaking enough that I could hear it. They had this nice sitting area with a fireplace that used used by the local book club. Just looked so comfortable.
    Wrapped up work and stopped by a liquor store for wine. I didn't know that you can only buy malt based products (beer and hard seltzers) in the grocery stores in Colorado. Everything else you get in a liquor store...    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Wild. Goose coffee at the Granary
    From Granary to feed store to bakeryEvent space, and they had a larger reception size roomHistoric preservation efforts to saved the Granary

    Breakfast out at the Granary

    October 13, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F

    Well the day before when I drove into Hayden (3 mile) I saw a very cute bakery down the road... And it was only 3 miles away, so I twisted Tom's arm into driving (back!) to give it a try. Very cute, and coffee and delicious pastries, including breakfast burritos. I had a chorizo sausage pastry wrap. Would have got a second ones for the next morning, but they were sold out. Hard to believe that there was enough business in this little town, but there was a steady stream that's came in. The place also provides the space for events. Very rough, but very cool looking!Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Initial visitor center
    Separate exhibit hallExhibits hall enclosed a small section of the digZoom in to see various bones and vertebraeAllasaurus (sp?) found many bones for this guyView of Green River and Split MountainPetroglyphsGreen RiverJosie Bassett Moran cabin

    Dinosaur national monument

    October 13, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Finished our delicious bakery items and got back on Hwy. 40. Next stop was the Dinosaur National Monument. I am not a huge fossil and prehistoric study sort of fan, but this was a interesting stop. (Plus it's free with our Golden Access pass)
    Nice, but really very small visitor center, because it is all about getting on to the shuttle and heading to the large exhibit building which is very informative. Back in the early 1900's a paleontologist discovered some fossilized dinosaur bones. Turned out the ones he found were the tip of the iceberg. This sandstone formation ended up being home to some ridiculously large number of bones from maybe 200 (?) different dinos. Theory is that many died in this river area from a prolong drought. Just dropped dead in various places in the river. Then there was a huge season of rain with a large floods that literally washed them all down into one low zone and they just piled up. Millions of years of erosion buried them. (Overly simplified explanation!)
    The original paleontologist asked that a portion of the dig be left intact for the public to actually see them in place. Hence this really interesting exhibit hall is built over the remaining site. So you get you see the bones as they appeared during the excavation.
    We really enjoyed in.
    Back out to the parking and there is about a 10 mile drive out to other interesting sites, Green River overlook, several locations with pictograms and petroglyphs (dated way later then the dino thing), and the cabin of a local woman who homesteaded at age 40 and lived off grid for about 50 years, dying in 1964. Gorgeous, very remote site.
    Finally left the park after 5 and got an RV site in Vernal, utah for the night, only 20 min down the road.    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Somewhere on our driveHad to follow this guy down the grade at 20mph.

    Driving through Utah, Hwy 191

    October 14, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Today was really just a drive day. But I have to say that we took Hwy 40/Hwy 191 west from Vernal and we're really glad we did. It is noted as a scenic byway and I thought it was a beautiful drive. Oddly the drive did include a number of trucks, stop maybe it's odd a shortcut for some destinations. Two lane hwy with pretty good size shoulders. It followed those little creek, so lots of green and yellow cottonwoods ands shrubs. It went up to just over 9,000 ft so we also got back into pines and aspen. Just lots of great color. The best views were as I drove so I couldn't take them pictures I would have liked to have. Once we got the top of the pass we switched seats and Tom handled the drive down. He is better with downshifting and brakes then I am, especially towing the jeep. I would be the person who just rides the brake all the way down! As much as I enjoy these drives they do eat up your drive time. We only got as far as Delta, (where hwy 6 joins hwy 50!) which is about 100 miles east of Great Basin. Plan is to actually drive "into" this park instead of "by" it!
    Currently parked at the tractor supply in Delta. Walked to a little Mexican food restaurant instead of cooking. Pretty warm when we got here...I just can't believe it is the middle of October?? Where is the fall?    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Trail up
    They haven't all survived1This one is dated to 1230 BC, only one branch still greenTeresa Lake, you have to really zoom in to see!1Some great color. Leaves had dropped in the higher elevations2Zoom in on sign...Seriously?

    Great Basin Natl park

    October 15, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Drove the remaining but of hey thorough Utah to get to GBNP. Approximately 100 miles of sage brush on this drive. I actually pulled my needlework out in lieu of looking out the window, hoping to see wildlife.
    Spent some time days the visitor center, I always forget just how BIG the great basin is. Google it and check the boundaries, but one characteristic is that the rivers in these areas never get to the ocean. They all drain to low (salt-like) lakes, like the Salton Sea, the Great Salt Lake, and Mono lake. These are the recognizable names, but there are many more.
    Ate some lunch in the cart and headed up the My Wheeler scenic drive. Only about 12 miles, but ending up in there parking area at 10,500ft. It was still early enough in there day that I finally decided hiker out to the Bristlecone Grove. Only about 1.5 miles, gradually uphill. Wish I had worn boots with a heavier sole. Trail is sort of rocky and had lots off the roots. Temp was cool, in fact had a lot of shade this time of day from the cliffs and trees. Enjoyed the grove and the twisted nature of the pines up here. They have dated many trees and determined many are 3,000 years old. Yes, BC!
    Took a side trip to little Teresa lake which at this time of year is a puddle. Didn't have time to do the glacier trail, Charlie and Tom were waiting in the parking area. Drove back down, enjoying some of the overlooks. Since it was almost 5 we just stayed in this little RV in Baker. Been here before, could definitely use some elbow grease/TLC!

    Almost forgot, took time enjoy the night time sky...fabulous. we don't often see the milky way these days. Would love to do evening program with the rangers!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler
    Typical view all day
    Up the hillAnd down the hill into a basin

    Over hill and dale through Nevada

    October 16, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    No stops today. Just the long haul across Nevada. We traveled Hwy 50, the "loneliest road in America". Been this way before, but still would rather drive this then the interstate. Hey is just more direct.
    You literally drive over "hill and dale", I think they're after 7 or 8 different passes or summits. So you head you a long grade, not really steps and then since this is the Great Basin your coast down into a shallow basin that usually has the remnants of a old saline lake. Decided on overnighting at a Walmart in Fernley, with dinner at a casino. We played a slot machine- $20- and double our money!
    Almost paid for dinner!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler

    Dinner with the Hibbs

    October 17, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Gassed up one last time in Nevada to avoid fuel prices in California. Not that they were much lower, maybe $5.15 or so. Beautiful drive across the sierras on 80
    No pics because I was driving, traffic not too bad, but definitely busy, and lots of trucks. I just got on line behind this hay truck and we just caravaned through the mountains.
    Lunched in Loomis which makes this trip now Full Circle. We began the trip in Loomis after celebrating Sara and Matt's wedding here. Back on the road and arrived in Sacto to enjoy the afternoon catching up with Kristi and Steve, and then shared dinner with the "old" married couple Sara and Matt!    Read more

  • KatbozMichigan 2022Traveler

    Home!

    October 18, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Breakfast with the Hibbs while they prep for Truckee vacation. Charlie is still looking for her new best friend Olive who was with us last night at dinner. They played really well together. Unfortunately Charlie has left her mark in their living room. Feel bad, Hibbs have no pup any more, but are still cleaning up carpet messes!
    Good drive home, 99 getting better out of Sacto, but the closer we got to Fresno there was less and less repair! Home middle of the afternoon, and didn't try to do any more than shower and have dinner.
    Cabinets almost done, but still not quite. Built in oven and microwave still to be installed and several doors. Hope it's finished this week!
    The poor yard, summ er took is toll! And of course pine needles everywhere! A carpet of needles! But we are HOME!    Read more

    Trip end
    October 18, 2022
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