Bringing “The Beast” Home to Colorado

  We bought an RV!  Did we really do that?  Did we really buy one that is all the way on the East Coast.  Yes was the answer to all of those questions.  We bought the vehicle and would have to travel across the country to pick it up and then drive it home, over the Continental Divide, to Crested Butte, Colorado.  Well, it would be the start of a great adventure that would be talked about for generations to come.

Delivery Day – We Thought

Having set up a delivery for early August in Chattanooga TN we travelled to Atlanta and visited family around Atlanta before driving to Chattanooga to go to the RV dealer on Monday morning.  Monday morning we drove to the dealer only to find that they assumed we were coming on Thursday and the vehicle was not yet ready.  They said that it would be good to go in early afternoon so we spent the morning visiting Camping World and Walmart to buy the supplies we would need for the trip home.  We dropped supplies at the dealer and returned our car to the airport and returned to go through the orientation and get ready to leave.  We had planned to drive to Mammoth Cave KY that day but could put it off until the morning.  We finally got to load the RV and go through the system about 3 but still hwait to get a backup camera installed and left about 4:30 pm.  After another trip to Walmart we drove to a campground located at the Camping World to get a campsite.  We had the generator running to run the air conditioning and refrigerator but it stopped as we walked toward the store to check in.  After getting our site, we started setting up camp but could not get the lights or electrical system to come on.  The problem looked to be a bad DC convert or and battery issue so things would not switch back to shore power.  Since the RV was hot, A/C would not turn on and it was 90 degrees outside, we decided to drive next door and stay at a hotel and see if we could get into Camping World the next day to get a new Convertor.

Day One at the Shop

We got an appointment at Camping World and asked to have a new Convertor installed.  I did not have much faith having the dealer work on it any more.  While waiting for the work to be completed, I asked to have the tires checked since that was something we were told would need to be replaced.  It was recommended that we put new tires on the RV and I agreed.  So now we would be at the repair shop until end of day but would have new rubber all around for the trip home.  While having a mid afternoon snack at Wendy’s across the street, we got a call that we needed to come look at the brakes.  After walking back, we inspected the brakes and we had a rear brake that had a leak and several pads needed replacing.  So I agreed to do a full brake job.  After all, we were going to drive 2,000 miles and climb over the Continental Divide to get from.  Losing brakes on Monarch Pass would ruin you whole day and maybe the short rest of our lives.  The new breake disks would arrive in the morning and it would be an all day job to rebuild the calipers, replace the rotors and get everything back on the vehicle.

Day Two at the Shop

It was now Wednesday and we are back at the shop after the first night in the RV at the campground.  Today’s work is the brake job and I decided to have a new coach battery installed.  We spent the day in the customer lounge talking to others that were having work done.  By afternoon, we were ready to go with new Convertor and battery, new tires, new brakes and some roof seams reseated.  It was to late to hit the road that afternoon so we decided to stay one more night and leave early am on Thursday.  At least we should be good to go for the trip home.

Travel Day One – Driving Home – Chattanooga to St. Louis

We got up early on Thursday AM and got the RV ready to travel.  We were travelling during rush hour so went across town on the surface streets and get on the Interstate on the west side of town instead of driving the freeway through downtown Chattanooga in traffic.  Fueled in West Chattanooga, first time buying 40 gallons of gasoline with a vehicle that will get 8-10 miles per gallon.  Go back on the road and started learning how to drive a thirty foot vehicle in traffic.  We had to modify the trip plans after losing three days to repairs and started heading home so I could make meetings on Monday.  This first day was planned to go as fai as St Louis and stop at a campground call St. Peter’s 370 Lakefront Park northwest of St. Louis.  On the first leg, just past Nashville, I got my first “Oh Crap” moment as I got sandwiched between a semi in the left lane and a semi entering my lane from the on ramp.  Instinct told me to hit the gas and get in front of the semi on my left, but that wouldn’t work and had to brake hard to let the semi on the right go in front of me.  Lesson, make more room around me at any mergers. Terry got her first turn driving through Illinois and I got back behind the wheel as we got close to St Louis.  We went through the city at start of rush hour and got to the campground around 5:00 pm.

St Louis 370 Lakefront Park

This city park is just off Interstate 370 and will be a very nice campground when the trees grow up.  The park opened in 2011 and is built lakeside inside of a flood levee.  We set up the RV and got the air conditioning running to try and get the heat out of the RV.  Again, it was over 90 outside and it would take awhile to cool the coach.  We then went to do laundry and found that the laundry had no air conditioning so it was Hades hot doing the wash.  After the RV got cool, we enjoyed some adult beverages and cooked dinner.  After dinner, I tried to get the TV working.  It was an old school Sony CRT built into the entertainment center.  I was going to junk it after I got home and replace it with a flat-screen LCD but I thought I would try and watch the Olympic Games.  No joy after trying everything I could try.  The TV would not work so we just went to bed and read.  Early start the next day, as we were planning to make it to Salina KS for the next stop.

Travel Day Two – St Louis MO to Salina KS

Day Two travelling starts the long trek across the Great Plains.  Nothing but endless straight interstate highway, fields of corn and sorghum and endless billboards for gun shops and adult book stores.  The travelling was easy if monotonous except for noon traffic in Kansas City.  In mid afternoon, we arrived in Salina and decided to make a stop at Walmart for some things we found we needed, including a LCD television.  We then checked in at the Salina KOA campground and had a spot with several nice shade trees.  Still very warm but the AC is working well and it is comfortable after getting the heat out of the coach.  We got a little time to relax and even take a walk before fixing dinner.  We made pizza and found out about the problem trying to bake in the RV oven.  The burner is right below the rack in the oven so there is a hotspot that burns anything that you try to cook.  That is why many people only use the oven for storage.   Hooked up the new TV to the campground cable and got to watch some of the games that evening.  Again, off to bed early for an early departure for the next day’s drive to Colorado Springs.

Travel Day Three – Salina KS to Colorado Springs CO

The next morning, we turned west for another day of fields and billboards as we travelled west on I-70 at 9 miles per gallon.  It was around noon that we crossed the state line and entered Colorado.  We were home again and “The Beast” was stilling rolling strong. When we got to Limon, CO, we turned onto US Hwy 24 heading to Colorado Springs.  Once on Hwy 24, I got the surprise at the wheel as we rounded a curve and got the full effect of a strong crosswind.  After recovering from what felt like God’s hand slapping the RV, I was much more vigilant driving the rest of the way.  My plan was to stop at Camping World in Colorado Springs to get a few more things, like the rod used to extend and retract the awning.  We stayed at the KOA in Fountain.  The site was fairly small but we set up and put out the awning and enjoyed more adult beverages and snacks before dinner.  Watched some TV and then went to bed only to be woken by a storm passing through the area and blowing the awning around.  We didn’t want to battle retracting it in the wind so hoped it would be OK and it was.

Travel Day Four – Colorado Springs to Mt Crested Butte

Sunday was our last day on the road and although it was the shortest, it would be an adventure seeing how the vehicle handled going over Monarch Pass and the Continental Divide.  From around 5,000 feet of elevation to over 12,000, back to 7,000 and ending at 9,380 when we got home.  Everything was great all the way home.  Terry drove Monrach Pass and even passed another RV going up.  Coming down, the vehicle did great in lower gear and occasional brakes.  The rest of the way was find and we got home mid afternoon.  The RV was parked in the driveway to unload and clean things up.  It stayed there for a few days while I started doing some of the repairs and upgrades I had planned. In all, it was a good trip after we got started.  Missed not seeing Mammoth Cave and a couple of distilleries but we felt good about the RV and think it will be fun after we get things the way we want.  So even with the unexpected repairs, we are happy with the purchase and look forward to future trips.