June 28, 2017

Grand Junction to Buena Vista

After completing the closing on the house on 6/27, Misty, my Maine Coon cat, and I headed to Grand Junction to spend the night.  This was the first time Misty had stayed in a hotel.   Due to alot of traffic up and down the hall all night long, she was very scared and kept me awake most of the night. 

Our appointment at the RV dealer was at 9am.  So we were up early to get packed up and headed over there.  On the way I stopped and filled up the tank on The Beast (my 2015 F250 pickup).  I think the bane of all new travel trailer owners is having to stop for fuel and fearing getting stuck. I am no exception!  I had a plan worked out so I would not have to get gas while hitched up for at least 3 weeks.  🙂  I think it was actually at least a month before I pulled into a gas station while towing the Nash. 

After completing the paperwork and inspection at Humphrey’s RV, we boarded Interstate 70 and headed east.  I dislike driving on the interstates and make it a point not to do that if I can.  However, I-70 is really the only option to get back across the mountains.  So that’s what we did.  The traffic isn’t very heavy on this part of the interstate so I didn’t mind the drive. At Eagle we exited at a visitors center and took about an hour break for some lunch and so I could think about what I was going to do that night.  It was extremely hot, so I knew I had to get to higher elevation.  My reservation at the RV Park was for 6/29 arrival.  So I needed somewhere to stay on the 28th. 

After lunch we got back on I-70.  Just west of Vail, we took US Hwy 24 south towards Leadville.  I had looked online for an RV park or maybe a forest service campground that was not off the highway very far, but hadn’t really come up with anything.  Going thru Leadville I had my eye out for a place I could stop for the night.  Nothing really looked good though.  So we kept going.  About half way between Leadville and Buena Vista, there was a small parking area on the west side of the highway.  I’m not sure if it’s public or private property, but I pulled in there.  I was able to park pretty level, so decided to stay there for the night.  The side road went up in the hills and I guess there were quite a few homes up in there as there was a fair amount of traffic going in and out.  I could see people looking at us as they drove by, but I was hoping no one would complain to the sheriff and I would get a knock on my door in the middle of the night!

My Camping Spot on the first night in my Nash

Thankfully, we did make it thru the night with no knocks on the door.  And that was my first night in my new Nash 17k travel trailer.  The next morning we drove the rest of the way into Buena Vista.