Tiny T@B Travels

Today was the last full day of T@borado.  I got up early and decided I wasn't going to try to wait out the weather on my last day so started packing up today. I'm staying an extra day here so that I can drive to Arches National Park. But I don't want to spend 4 days driving with wet equipment in the back of my car so it was a breezy cool morning and things dried out pretty well so I started taking down the tent. It was very overcast and I thought it could rain any minute and thunderstorms were in the forecast but it held off and I got everything packed back into my car that needed to go in there. During the middle of the day there was a swap meet up under the tent. Anything you wanted to get rid of or that you had made and wanted to sell or wanted to trade people set up tables. I got a little USB blender which of course I didn't need but it was pretty cool.  We had a little free time in the afternoon so I drove to one of the local orchards and bought some fruit and some...

Let's start with the dry part of the day first.  NuCamp, the makers of these tiny trailers had tech talks today. They split groups into three 90 minute sessions, the T@Gs, the T@B 320s, and the T@B 400s.  It was all a question and answer session and people could ask anything about the Campers or maintenance or how to do certain things. There's a lot of misinformation and opinion online, and I don't need to tell you that, and so it's good to get the information straight from the factory people. They were very nice and very patient with all the questions. I got the answer to my window questions and that is shades fully up and windows fully locked not half locked for traveling. Later in the afternoon we had a painting party and here is what I made and yes of course I used a stencil, I have no artistic talent. and my real camper doesn't have blue on the outside but the blue will match my bedspread :-) In the Nucamp gatherings this night is usually a potluck ...

Another stormy wild ride last night!  This one came in the overnight hours. I awakened to a noise and the trailer moving and of course I immediately thought it was a bear. :) I'm quite terrified of bears and the last thing I remember before I went to sleep was wondering if I had cleaned my camp stove well enough so that no bears would visit my campsite. I slid my window shades open a tiny bit and saw lightning and then realized we were in for another storm.  That's a picture of my normal tie-down strap, a 6 gallon water container sitting on the tent edge, and a ratchet rope tying my tent to the car.  This morning my Clam Quick-set tent is standing proudly and as I look around, that's not the case with everyone else. One of my fellow campers just walked by toting his broken and battered awning to the garbage dump.  It's an absolutely gorgeous morning. The sun is just clearing the top of the mesa, mountain, rock formation?  I turned my air ...

I started my morning early. Up and outside by 6:00 a.m. to try to right the damage that occurred yesterday from the storm.  This time, I staked down my tent. I not only staked it down but I tied part of it to the trailer hitch of my car.  My neighbor Verna had an extra ratchet strap and so she tied it to my bumper. That way if the storm happens again and my tent does not hold at least it won't blow into my neighbors. Speaking of my neighbors on the other side, Bea and Steve, they're professional stilt walkers!  They're going to entertain at our Hawaiian party tomorrow night. They're really nice. So far everyone has been really nice. Everybody's willing to help other people and it's just a friendly group. So I got my campsite all set back up in time to grab a shower for the postponed rescheduled opening comments ceremonies.  And they drew the first of the raffle ticket winners. I put my raffle tickets in lots of jars but I wanted to win the Whiskey with Mandy Lea...

 I saw some T@Bs on the interstate the last 100 miles.  Some honked and waved.  I pulled into the Basecamp RV Park behind two other T@Bs checking in.  I just couldn't quit smiling. One, because I MADE IT. And two, because it's just so darn cute to see the little T@Bs in a line. I checked in and went to work setting up camp.  I'm going to be here 5 days so I have all my camping, and cooking, and relaxing stuff.  I put up my Clam Quik Set tent so I could have some shade because it was HOT. I put down my rug inside the tent, set up my Sherpa table and Everest Camp Stove and Slim Fold Table, my lounge chair and my other chair.  I got out my solar panels to charge my solar generator which spent the trip out keeping my food cold. I put up my visor which I call her Bonnet.  I put up a patio umbrella to shade the dog pen area and one on the front of the tab. I put on my picnic table cloth tied it down.  And it all looked good like this: Then it was t...

 After having the road to myself for days, I merged into I70 and Denver Suburbs and Denver morning rush hour and construction. What a rude awakening. I don't mind city traffic at all when I'm just in my car, but with the trailer, maneuvering is different. My trip was mentally sectioned into 3 parts - 100 miles to the summit, 100 miles to the Glenwood Canyon, and 70 miles to Palisade.   It's a steep climb west of Denver and comes on quickly.   For a while, there were three lanes which puts me right in the middle.  The speedy guys in the left, the trucks crawling in the right and me in the middle.  Then it merged into two lanes.  I got stuck behind the realllllly slow trucks quite a few times.  The summit of I70 is at the Eisenhower Tunnel, at 11,158 ft.  followed by a 5 mile 7% grade descent.  There are several truck ramps along that 5 miles.  It would be terrifying to have to use them! Through the tunnel and down the steep desc...

Apparently when Robert Frost wrote about the road not taken he must have been in Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado on US 36 West. I spent most of my driving day as the only person on the road. It's pretty amazing how desolate it is. Western Kansas looks a lot like Wyoming where there's just miles of scrub brush and hills and cows. I chose US 36 West as a road where I could see more of the country and the scenery without worry of traffic and hurry. I certainly got what I bargained for on this road! Although Eastern Colorado flattened out a bit and brought back the fields of yellow interspersed with green, it soon got back to the nothingness.  I almost got in trouble with gas. There are no towns and thus, no gas. My rule out west is always when your tank is half full, fill up. I didn't listen to myself because when my tank was half full I came across a gas station and it was really sketchy so I didn't stop. And then there was no more ...

July 27.  The beauty of a State Park lies in its simplicity. Someone identifies a beautiful place, and then no one messes with it for commercial gain. Because I'm on the Western side of the timezone, it was light here after 9 pm. And the sun didn't rise till around 6:30 and when it did, it was a stunning red ball creeping up over the horizon. Ah, there you are, East. And dawn ushered in a perfect temperature treat of a morning with the only sounds being the crickets and the birds.  Nature puts things in perspective. I'm enjoying my coffee to the soothing sounds of nature. I have a short driving day today. I wanted to position myself close enough to Denver that I could make the climb up the Rockies to the Eisenhower tunnel in the morning tomorrow. There's not a lot of camping spot choices around Denver. Surprising.  There was one spot about an hour closer in but the pictures showed campers squashed in side by side. Yuck. And my backing ability leaves a lot to be desired....

I landed for the evening at Prairie Dog State Park in Norton, Kansas.  Humidity is only 38%!  I'll admit, it was the name that drew me here.  There's a Prairie Dog community numbering over 300.  Apparently they were imported here. I may try to find them on the map on my way out in the morning. It's too much work to unhitch, put the stabilizers down, and the hitch and wheel locks on so I can drive around. And it's 94 degrees.  The dogs and I sat outside and I called my dad while the trailer cooled down.  When it was cool enough, I put the dogs inside and went for a walk. This is a beautiful park.  Because it's a State Park there's lots of room between campers. I'm the only one in my loop.   I took some photos with my Nikon, but I have no wifi here to transfer they the pictures so I will add some tomorrow when I have wifi at my next stop. My impression of Kansas was flat, wheat, and sunflow...

  Sunday, July 25 - Day One of the Great Adventure - my first long solo camping trip. I had no idea what to expect for travel times.  I chose to take US 36 W and that was a GREAT choice.  I55 was busy and bumpy but once I exited onto I72/US36W at Springfield and headed west, the road improved greatly in both traffic and road quality.  At Hannibal, MO, I72 ends and US36 continues.   US36 is a 4 lane divided highway and has much less traffic than 70 or 80 which were my other choices for this trip.   I figured I'd be slowing down going though small towns but I didn't. It didn't actually go through any towns.   It also made me start wondering where I was going to get gas, being used to the interstate and gas/food/lodging signs at every exit.  I noticed there were towns indicated every 30 or 40 miles but some were miles off the highway.  Good to know - and THAT is where my gas will be. I asked Ryan to build me something so the dogs ...

I70 Closures      https://www.denverpost.com/2021/07/23/glenwood-canyon-interstate-70-closure-flash-flood/  I'm panic-planning some alternate routes to and from Palisade through the mountains.  I70 has been been closed multiple times the last couple weeks - maybe 10 times.   There's not a lot of options through the mountains.  It looks like Westbound I70 has a better chance ot being open so I'm planning an alternate route from Palisade to my stop on my first night home-bound, Cheyenne, WY. It looks like most options take me 100+ miles out of my way.  I've started following CDOT on Twitter to get the latest updates.  A group of Palisade-bound campers have formed a message group so that each person traveling through can alert the rest on what the interstate conditions are.  And starting to wonder how fast the AC will make the T@B livable once I reach my nightly stops.  I have stops in Missouri, Kansas and Eastern Colorado on...

Two years ago, my family took a 4000 mile trip to the west, visiting the Badlands, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and back home (Illinois, Indiana, and Florida).  I created a Travel Blog so friends could follow the exploits of the stars of the trip, my dad and his wife Carol, then 92 and 90.  They wanted to follow my big solo trip the way people followed our family trip so I'm putting this site together really quickly.  I'll make it prettier later...promise. Note:  WHEN I post exact locations of my stops, it will be on days AFTER I have left that location to insure my security while travelling alone. T@BORADO is my destination.  It will be held in Palisade, Colorado.  Roughly 100+ owners of these little trailers will converge in Palisade for 4 days of fun.  I'm sure 100 of these little beauties will make for some fun pictures.  T@borado is hosted by Mandy Lea and Kenrick Callaway, stars of the T@B world. Yep - there really are stars ...