Rocket Run to Denver and Back With Fuzzy Phone Pictures

To pick up a small new pop top camper for our new truck, we made a quick run to Denver. One day we drove 600 miles which we do NOT do anymore! Due to other obligations, it had to be a rocket run so now real pictures were taken --- just some quick snaps when I was not driving using my phone through the windshield. Just some observations and fuzzy pictures through a dirty windshield :-)

Highway 80 in Wyoming --- long stretches of wide open spaces. We saw a few semi trucks in the ditch which was probably due to falling asleep. In the old days when John took a hiatus from his real life, he drove a semi cross country for 3 years. He said that during the winter when there were storms, ice and wind, he often saw MANY trucks in the ditch. Today, when the weather is bad, they close the highway. There are several places where there are gates ready to come down with signs to return to the last town. Not much snow for this time of year.



The famous Eisenhower Tunnel on Highway 70 built in the 1970s and named after a President who believed in building infrastructure. I am always glad to get to the other end of a tunnel.



So good to see snow in the Rockies as we have so little of it here in California, but glad we beat the coming storm.



We love highway 50 and think that highway 6 is really the loneliest highway. :-)



Not so long ago we would have loved seeing these prices, but this was the most we paid anywhere on the trip --- Austin, Nevada in the middle of nowhere so no choice.



Then came the worst part of the trip --- TERRIBLE wind storm in the Sierra Nevada ---- gusts up to 73 mph! After we traveled this way, they closed part of 395 to ALL traffic. If we had a full brain between us and time, we would have stayed in Carson City for a couple of nights rather than just make a quick out of the way Costco run

Topaz Lake looked like an ocean and our new windshield now has many sparkling little rock chips and the truck a scrape from a flying branch. We really disliked driving by the Cottonwood trees!



This 5th wheel trailer must have gotten through before they stopped all campers, RVS and big trucks. They allowed our pop up camper to go through.



And here, the driver was okay, but I am sure he is sorry he got through.



And then coming down the Sherwin Grade we suddenly smelled smoke. And yes a wildfire had started in that terrible wind! It was spreading fast and two communities north of Bishop ended up evacuated. While it did burn about 20 structures, the weather decided to save the day. It started to rain in the middle of the night!



The wind calmed down closer to our home and we noticed these clouds out in front of us. To us, they looked rather angry and yet they had a fake look to them. We thought they looked like a painting where the painter just didn't quite capture the reality.



It was such a quick trip that I never took out the camera! And when Tommy gets really tired of riding in the truck or car, he now grabs my phone and takes a selfie.



We will cover all this ground again --- slower, and with a camera. And the next time there is a high wind alert in the Sierras, we will go NO FURTHER.

It is time to do some real travel --- and no more rocket runs!




[Edited on 2-8-2015 by DianaT]

I was in Colorado calling on customers this week. Tuesday it was 65 degrees in Denver. Wednesday morning I woke up to 3-4 inches of fresh snow in Greeley. Snow stopped around lunchtime and it was cold overnight. Flew out of DIA Thursday afternoon it was 62 degrees. Crazy.

Quote: Originally posted by elgatoloco

I was in Colorado calling on customers this week. Tuesday it was 65 degrees in Denver. Wednesday morning I woke up to 3-4 inches of fresh snow in Greeley. Snow stopped around lunchtime and it was cold overnight. Flew out of DIA Thursday afternoon it was 62 degrees. Crazy.

Quote: Originally posted by tripledigitken

Diane, Now you can't tease us about getting a new truck and not post a picture of it. Camper too! Toyota or ???????

Here it is at the camper factory.



This will be for special trips and for off road locations due to the terrible gas mileage. But it will be fun.

We still have our Subaru as we won't part with it and will still use it for other trips. And we can't find a reason to part with our 2001 Echo, so we are now a two person family with three vehicles. On second thought, my Montana son is here right now and with his Monster rebuilt 1984 Land Cruiser and his Dogde 12 value truck, we are a family of three with 5 vehicles.

And anyone who wants to see what this camper is like in Baja, check this out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQJ_TnshIjY&feature=yout...

We opted for some different options --- Each camper is made to order and they only sell factory direct. And because we now own one, it is obviously the best camper anywhere. :-)

And I promise, there will not ever be 5000 pictures of the Tundra --- maybe a few of the inside of the camper for anyone interested in this type of camper.












[Edited on 2-8-2015 by DianaT]

Quote: Originally posted by rts551

where are the pictures of the tire tracks? no selfies other than Tommy? come on ... details about the best truck in the world. After all you are a NOMAD.

Hey, no tire tracks yet because it still has the crappy tires from the factory! And no selfies as we are far too haggard after this trip.

Now I could tell you all the reasons this is NOT the best truck in the world, but I won't. It is just the one we settled on --- damn, trucks are expensive!

Quote: Originally posted by DaliDali

Any particular reason you can share why you selected this Outfitter camper over a 4 Wheel camper model that has the factory near Sacramento? Reason I ask is because I just bought a new 4 Wheel Hawk model for a 6.5 bed Ford F150 4x4

Nice camper! Note to self: don't let wife see that video.

Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.

Diane---------- Congrats on the new truck and camper-unit. Out of curiosity, did you take a look and compare the NORTHSTAR campers like Nomad Neal Johns has recommended and has? elgatoloco --- Danny seems to also be in love with his truck! I love his enthusiasm. Churro --- we can't wait to actually use it and not just punish it by driving it through a major wind storm! Barry

The Northstars are nice, but a lot heavier. They also have prettier interiors. I believe they are a good product. But we really wanted simple and lightweight and this one has a dry weight of 850 lbs. Remember, Tundras are not exactly known for their payload specs.

We looked at all the pop-ups before and settled on the Outfitter Caribou which we really liked --- but this time around, our wants were different --- simple, simple, very low profile and lightweight. If it would not have been this Caribou lite, it would have been the 4Wheel Hawk.

They all have their pluses and their loyal following.



[Edited on 2-8-2015 by DianaT]

Young and foolish

While working on the Titan missile sites east of Denver in 1960 I made 4 r/t Guided Missile runs to San Diego. 1100 + miles each way in an average of 22 hours non-stop before there were any Interstates.

Quote: Originally posted by durrelllrobert

While working on the Titan missile sites east of Denver in 1960 I made 4 r/t Guided Missile runs to San Diego. 1100 + miles each way in an average of 22 hours non-stop before there were any Interstates.

Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.

The fire north of Bishop that Diane mentioned in her first post within this thread has spread: 40 homes have now been destroyed-----fire 65% contained. There are some absolutely beautiful homes in the subject area. http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?... Barry

Thanks for the "ride" ...

We used do make "runs" too ...

WOOF !! ... important consideration when traveling IMHO