First trip west

[buzzman]

During the summer of 2007 all of you on this WTW forum helped me decide what kind of truck camper to purchase, what options to get, and the great places to visit. Your trip reports have been a strong motivating factor for me and the GF, Sherri, to get our butts out west to see the sites. In Oct 2007, I purchased a new 2007 FWC Grandby through Sean Dempsey (www.go-anywhere.us) in Eagle WI, to use on my recently refurbished 1977 Chevy "heavy half" pickup. The FWC has been a great purchase.

This "first trip west" is not really the first trip with the FWC, but it's the first significant trip and the first trip west of the Mississippi River. We departed on Oct 10, 2008 on this open-ended trip. The old truck covered 6500 miles during the 29 days of wandering through the states of AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, and UT. We probably did not do as much back country camping or "free camping" as some of you do on your trips, and definitely not as much as Sean Dempsey does, but we did stay in some fairly isolated places. We are still new to this and are learning the tricks. We camped in SP's, NP's, RV parks, USFS/BLM camp grounds, friends back yards, and even a couple nights in hotels. We didn't try Walmart, truck stops, or rest areas, etc. I did appreciate the suggestions, offers of dinners, and help from WTW members like erod, TT, pvstoy, the fisherman, Sam, John D., EdoHart, and Stan@FWC, Sean, and others.

The initial travel plan was to head west on I-40 to get out to northern NM quickly and spend several days touring the sites there and then head into southern CO for several days and then into southern UT, which is where I really wanted to explore. I like geology. The route didn't work out exactly that way due to weather and other things, but we are very flexible, and as it turned out we found some great surprises out there.

I have been sorting through the numerous pictures we took on the trip and posting some of them in the WTW member's gallery.

So here goes: Our first night out we camped at Brushy Lake SP near Sallisaw OK. Very nice place and we camped next to another couple in a truck camper. A first for us. No big deal for all of you who often "wander the west" but TC's are not common in the eastern half of the country.

 

[buzzman]

On our second and third day out we made an unplanned visit to Palo Duro Canyon SP just south of Amarillo TX. This was a gem in the middle of the flatness of north TX. The weather also turned wet, windy, and cold. It always amazes me how much earth a small stream can carry away given enough time.

 

[buzzman]

I need help DirtyDog

DD,

I can't figure out how to post pictures into a thread from my photos in the member's gallery? From what I see on the other threads, I should be able to grab them right from the gallery. Is that right? Also, how do I insert a note above each picture in the thread?

I can attach the pictures directly from my computer files okay, as you can see, but I can't figure out how to put a comment above each picture.

Help!

 

[John D]

I see you on line uploading reports on your trip and I'm watching TV awaiting each new post. Your truck is great!

 

[buzzman]

Hi John D.

I think I'll quit for tonight until DD can get back to me with answers to my questions.

The old truck worked very well overall. It could of used about 100 more horse power when out there at high altitude and climbing mountains. The carb was a little rich at 8-9K ft! The only real issue the entire trip was that the heater core started leaking about three days out. I bypassed the heater and then swapped it out in the GF's brother's driveway in Santa Barbara CA. Took a couple hours. Worked good.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Buzzer--

Oh the shame! You've posted Palo Duro pics before I have! I hang my sorry head...

Mark

 

[DirtyDog]

In the gallery, under each photo there are two fields - the second one is called BB code - if you copy that string and paste it in the thread - the photo will be displayed.

The thing to do is to open two windows - one with the gallery and one with this thread so that you can copy back and forth. I'll clean up a few of these extra posts once you get it figured out.

Photos lookd great!

 

[buzzman]

Thanks DD! I'll try it now.

Now back to the trip...We had a leisurely breakfast at the bottom of Palo Duro and then explored the park a little before heading out. The weather was cold and rainy and windy. Once we got up out of the canyon and had internet access a quick check of the weather forecast for our next destination, northern NM, showed even colder temps (20s) and possible snow for the next couple days. So we decided to turn south toward Carlsbad NM. I know, we're wussies. Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that the heater core on my truck started leaking about this time. Not a good thing. Anyway, we had fooled around so much at Palo Duro that it was starting to get dark by the time we got as far as Portales NM and we wantd to stop. We found a small SP just northwest of Portales, Oasis SP. It wasn't raining at the time, but it was sort of cold and windy. The park was basically deserted. We got set up and had a bite to eat and hit the sack, with the FWC's furnace keeping us warm and toasty...shortly after that however, the clouds opened up. The leftovers of hurricane "so and so" were getting us. The roaring rain on the roof of the Grandby and the gusty winds made for a somewhat sleepless night. We should have stayed in a hotel that night, and I'm glad Sherri didn't demand that we head back home.

Other than the heavy condensation on the inside of the pop-up canvas, which we wiped dry before lowering the top, I'm proud to say the FWC did not leak a drop.


Setting up camp at Oasis SP. Fairly non-scenic.

The next day it was still unseasonably cold, windy and rainy. We were beginning to question our direction of travel, but continued south to Carlsbad Caverns NP.

Once we drove up to the visitor center, it was colder and even more windy. At least the weather inside this very huge awesome cave was more comfortable.

Sherri freezing at the Carlsbad Cavern NP visitor center.

It was too cold and windy even for these world famous bats to fly. We waited in the cold for a couple hours and they didn't fly. They're smarted than us.

That night we decided to stay in a hotel. I didn't want to push my luck with the GF by spending another cold, rainy, windy night in the camper.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

That night we decided to stay in a hotel. I didn't want to push my luck with the GF by spending another cold, rainy, windy night in the camper.

Smart man! Looks like you had an enjoyable trip. Thanks for sharing.

Kyle

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Great report so far Buzz, waiting for more....

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

It's about Sherri

Dear buzzman--

The question that occurs to me is, "How does Sherri feel about future adventures?" I am thinking, too, about a separate sub-forum devoted to the women who are devoted to their men... What can we do to bring our beloveds more enjoyment while they are wandering with us?

Thanks for the report.

Mark

 

[craig333]

Thanks for the trip report. I usually sleep just fine when its raining. Unless the dog needs to go out. What are you gonna do? Dogs gotta go. Wet dogs not fun /sigh.

More pics. I'm sure thats all you have.

 

[DLN]

buzz,

Really enjoying your report and pics, looking forward to the rest of it, thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[buzzman]

The weather gets better

The next day we had beautiful sunny skies and a little warmer temps. We visited the Guadalupe Mts. NP located a little south of Carlsbad Caverns on the southern end of the Guadalupe Mt. range. The core of this mountain range is a erosional remnant of an ancient coral reef.

El Capitan peak viewed from the visitor center. 8085 ft of old coral reef. Yes, there's more than one El Capitan in this country.

We walked the short nature trail to the Butterfield Overland Mail stage coach station.

What's left of Pinery Station

After leaving the park we stopped at this great over look along hwy 180 going south to look back at El Capitan. Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in TX, is out of site in the background behind El Capitan.

A nice day on the road.

Here's a view south from the same overlook. You can see our road ahead, hwy 180, way out in the distance.

 

[SunMan]

Keep 'em coming...Enjoying the tale.

 

[ScottBailey]

Nice setup...

I love your truck. Thanks for the pics.

 

[buzzman]

It's about Sherri

Mark,

You are right. We need to be concerned about our traveling partners' enjoyment of this type of wandering. Sherri did get to visit her Brother in Santa Barbara, CA and her son in Gardnerville, NV. And I tried to encourage her speak up, forcefully if necessary, if there was a place she really wanted to visit. Most of Sherri's lady friends would not even consider spending 29 days in a truck camper, not having access to a full size shower every night, or having to climb up into a cabover bed each night, or using a small porta potti at night, etc, etc. Sherri seems to enjoy the travel. She likes taking pictures and seeing the sights, in fact, many of the pictures I have posted here were taken by her. But saying that, there were times when the cold weather was bothering her. She didn't mind the rain, but the cold was not fun for her. And there were a couple days when we really got on each others' nerves. But mostly we had a lot of fun. The further we went on, the more we got into the spirit of it all and the more we felt comfortable traveling like this. As the trip progressed, the more we got into the relaxation and enjoyment mode. As stated on this forum, "drive slow, it's the journey". We started following that rule more and more the longer we were away from home.

She and I have talked about this kind of travel a lot, and she definitely wants to do it again. So I feel lucky.

Sherri taking charge in the camper

 

[buzzman]

Guadalupe Mts NP to Las Cruces, NM

We followed hwy 62/180 from Guadalupe Mts NP toward El Paso TX. It was nice day and the scenery was awesome. It's probablyno big deal to those of you who live in the west, but I am always amazed at the wide open space in the western states. We definitely saw some open space on this section of our trip.

Some scenery along TX hwy 62/180. Looking north

Salt flats along the way

More west TX scenery

There was even cell phone coverage out there.
Look Ma, no hands!

We camped at the Siesta RV park in Mesilla NM, near Las Cruces. This was our first "city camping" on this trip. Turned out to be a good choice because we visited historic Mesilla the next morning.

Historic Mesilla NM. Sherri liked this old place.

More historic Mesilla

Some Mesilla streets

Sherri enjoying.

 

[buzzman]

Mesilla NM to Apache NF

We planned this next segment toward Silver City, NM. We didn't know what we would do when we got there. There are mines and museums to tour, and cliff dwellings to visit, but we stopped at the USFS visitor center in Silver City and they told us about the "Catwalk". We decided to go there since it was kind of out in the wilderness. This was a another one of those unexpected gems we found on this trip.

The Catwalk

More Catwalk

Catwalk walls of volcanic rock

Part of the Catwalk 1 mile trail

It was getting late in the day when we visited the Catwalk so we had to hurry up and get to our camp site. At the FS Ranger station we found out about and isolated camping area, Pueblo Park, located up a 6 mile dirt/gravel FS road in the Apache NF. This photo doesn't do justice to all the switchbacks and ruts. Six miles took 30 mintutes, but it was still okay for 2wd.

Our camp site in Apache NF. There was only one other camper in the area, a couple with an Outfitter pop-up. We got a tour of the camper...nice rig, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. It's fun to meet other truck camper folks and talk shop.
A cold morning in the forest!

The next morning we continued north/west on hwy 180. A very scenic drive!

More Apache NF

A stop along Hwy 180

In AZ now on hwy 180 going to the Petrified Forest NP.

More AZ hwy 180 going north to Petrified Forest NP. The wide open spaces are truly amazing.

 

[John D]

Buzzman, The West is big. I have been camping through the West since 1968. I have been through most of this country and never seen half the stuff you saw. Your pictures are wonderful and I am looking for more.

Next time we go west, I'm going to pick you up along the way and take you with us because you are handy to have along. Replacing that heater core in someones driveway was outstanding.

My GF will not stay in a motel. She does not like the kinky hairs on the sheets and the bedbugs. She insists we carry a tent so she can make me sleep outside if I talk back. She keeps the revolver inside and I am bait out in the tent. John D