July 1, 2010.

I had an appointment at Colorado Springs Dodge for some service on my truck. My truck now has 10,500 miles on it. When we began our full time adventure in October of last year, I had just had my first oil change at 2500 miles. So we’ve put on 8000 miles in 9 mos. 3 of those months we were workamping! The really astonishing part is that we don’t drive the truck much except for pulling our Carriage Cameo fifth wheel.

So today I scheduled my third oil change and the truck’s first fuel filter change. The owner’s manual says to change the oil at no more than 7500 miles or when the “change oil” message appears. It had been about 5K miles since the last oil change. The manual also says to change the fuel filter after 15000 miles, but I decided to do it earlier.

I had an appointment for 10:00 at Colorado Springs Dodge. I was there a half hour early and yet the service writer didn’t get to me till after 10! Not impressed with their lack of prompt service.

So after the oil and filter change and the fuel filter change, I was out the door of the dealership with a $199 bill. Geez and I had supplied the oil! The labor for the fuel filter change was $128! I’ll probably not go to a dealership next time! The truck smelled like diesel when I got in it. I checked to make sure it wasn’t leaking from the filter. They must have spilt some diesel on the undercarriage. Hey what do you want for $128 an hour labor! 

Thankfully, the emissions issue that turned on the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) must have corrected itself after the other dealership in Salide reset it under warranty about 150 miles ago.

That afternoon, I washed the Carriage Cameo before it rained and then wiped the truck down after the rain. 

Joyce had done laundry while I was at the dealership and then went with Karen to the base commissary for groceries.

Joyce and I have decided to not go on with my father and Karen towards Denver. We will be spending some time with my sister and her family driving to their home from here, at The Academy and thus we don’t want to spend a week in an expensive state park near my sister’s house. Colorado State Parks would charge us the $20 or $25 a day camping fee plus the $7 daily entrance fee, plus another $10 for our second vehicle each day. But more importantly, we are ready to have our lives back and “do what we wanna do...go where we wanna go...”

That evening, Joyce and I went looking for other RV Parks in Colorado Springs for when our stay is up here on the 6th, but the pickings were slim. We’ve decided that on July 6th we will likely go back to Buena Vista for a few days to visit a former co-worker and neighbor and then press on towards Gunnison or Montrose Colorado.

Travel Day to The Unites States Air Force Academy

June 30, 2010.

Today was a travel day to The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It was a beautiful morning, cool and perfect for traveling. We were packed up and ready to leave Pleasant Valley RV Park by 10:00.

Well some have said, “It’s not if, but when...” While backing up to the fifth wheel king pin, I hit the king pin with my tailgate that was down (at least it was down and not up). My heart sank after realizing what I had done! I put a pretty good dent in the top of the tailgate. I deviated from my routine which probably contributed to the accident. Usually I lift the front of the fifth wheel before backing up to it. I had meant to just get close but got distracted by a tree next to me as I was backing. Our site slopes from the front to the rear, thus in a level position the front and kingpin where unusually low. Damage done, I still had to take care of business and get hitched.

It was going to be a bit of a struggle to get out of our campsite. We were all pretty close together, but my site was compounded by that large tree by my driver’s side door and the concrete slab on the passenger side that rises about 3 inches above the ground and is pointed. You can't see the tree but it's on the passenger side of the jeep.

My concerns were: 

1. I wasn’t going to be able to make a left turn out of my site because of the tree.
2. A right turn would be difficult because of the concrete slab and potential for cutting my trailer tires making the turn and the swing of the trailer might hit the tree.

I decided to go with the right turn and was assisted by Steve the campground owner. I couldn’t make the turn with out the end of the trailer hitting the tree. I ended up pulling out and then jack knifing the rig to get it backed onto the slab and then made a right turn. It sounds easy but it wasn’t. It took a few minutes and I was surely providing entertainment for everyone around!

We finally got on the road with Joyce following me in the Jeep. In turn she was followed by my father and Karen pulling their fifth wheel. 

View Larger Map
It was a beautiful drive on Hwy. 50 along the Arkansas River in the Big Horn Sheep Canyon.  The road was curvy with some bling curves along the canyon walls. Before long we drove past the Royal Gorge but weren’t able to view it. We then took Colorado 115 with its steep rolling hills towards I-25 and Colorado Springs.

We arrived at the South Gate of the Air Force Academy around 1:00 and Joyce and I got passes to the base for our week long stay. Next stop was the Fam Camp. We were assigned sites 100 and 101. $25 a night for 6 nights. We quickly got set up in the shade of the pine trees.

We have a nice corner lot.

It’s a nice park in a forest of pines with gravel roads and sites. 

Some of the sites are far from level but our pull through site is not bad. The sites have full hook-ups and 30/ 50 amps.

We are the closest site to a very active railroad, complete with horn. Actually the train adds a certain charm!

That afternoon, after getting set up, I took a hammer and some tools to the dent on my tail gate and pounded it out to where it’s not so noticeable.  

BUT I KNOW IT’S THERE! and I'l see it whenever I open the tail gate!