8/27/2023 Colorado High Desert? Colorado National Monument, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison

For the last 4 days we have been in Grand Junction Colorado.  We have toured both the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Colorado National Monument.  As you can see from the pictures below both are very scenic. For the most part both are a driving tour with various overlooks that are a couple 100 yards off the turn outs. 

Who knew Colorado has a high desert which gets little snow in the winter. In the summer its temperatures get into the 100s. This week it has been in the 90’s.  To me it is HOT, HOT, HOT.  I have been in plenty places in the 90’s and 100’s but the sun in Grand Junction at 5000+ feet above sea level is a cooker!!  I had three Air Conditioner running in the COW and the best the inside temperature was 81 degrees. MISERABLE!! I must have slept through Geography class when the teacher discussed “High Desert” as up until the last couple years I had never heard of such a thing as High Desert. Now in our travels I have experienced high deserts in Oregon, Washington, and now Colorado. Who knew that deserts exist so far North in the United States.  I would never have guessed.

8/8/2023. Servo failure on drivers side front slide

Well the COW is getting 5 years old and we are starting to run into some issues due to age, use, and mileage.  For the first 3 years we did have plenty of problems which I blogged about and we all enjoyed some laughs and frustration but they were all covered by warranty.

The 4th year we lucked out with a few minor issues.

Now 5 years in some things are showing up, but that being said we are 5 years and 50,000 miles in so things are going to happen  

When we went to leave Portland Oregon one of the COWs slides came in Catiwampus (at a crazy angle) P.S. Sandy tells me the Catiwampus doesn’t exist.  Well it does now as that is how the slide came in. :-)

It came in so out of sorts that it twisted the kitchen cabinets.  We had to call in a Mobile RV Tech Service to help us get the slide in so we could get down the road.  

Two guys showed up from the RV Tech Service, $170 charge and after 10 minutes of playing with it they muscled it in so it no longer opens.  They explained that the slide has two Servo Motors located at the front and back of the slide.  They are out of synch, the gears on the slide are stripped, and/or possibly one or both motors are bad.  I called the motor mechanism manufacture Lippert to ask for advice on how to get it fixed. Basically it comes down to another trip back to Winnebago Factory Service in Forest City, Iowa.  Yup, another 19 hour trip there and back. 

8/7/2023. Spam and Eggs. Does it get any better?😀

Earlier this week I was grocery shopping with Sandy when I came across a small can of SPAM. Yumm!  Sandy said YUCK😂. I bought it. I knew I would have to cook it myself based on the weird look Sandy gave me😂. Spam was a delicacy when I tent camped with the Boy Scouts in my early teens. It did not require refrigeration and could be thrown in a backpack. Good substitute for ham or bacon when cooking eggs at camp.  

This morning I cooked it up with eggs and toast. My lovely wife immediately turned up here nose and turned on every exhaust fan in the COW. I can’t believe(actually I knew she wouldn’t get within 100’ of it😂🤣) that she wouldn’t even taste it. 

Even though my lovely wife would not participate in the breakfast feast.  I enjoyed my Green Eggs and Ham. Spam I am😂😆

8/6/2023 A Gym is not just a Gym in the Northwest

For exercise in Portland they don’t just play football, baseball, and  basketball.  The do things such as bouldering, trapeze, silks, rock climbing, ice pick climbing, steeple chase in addition to track, and back country skiing.

The gym my two daughters and grandson attend has free weights, exercise machines, and numerous bouldering walls that are 20’ high and have various levels of difficulty.

Needless to say the three of them wanted to get me on the bouldering walls.  So here I am at 66 years old swinging 10’ off the ground by one hand because I loss my footing on one of the bouldering holds.  At what age do you get common sense enough to say “I don’t think this is a good idea?”  Obviously it must be older than 66 ;-).  

First, my Grandson (4 years old) wants me to follow him sideways from hold to hold in what he calls the “Train”.  That was tiring but easy enough because we were no move that 4’ off the ground, but after the 30th time? :-) 

Then Stacey and Andrea wanted me to try some of the harder, more vertical stuff.  Yup, let’s see if we can wear the old man out :-).  First, I had to watch a safety video (safety video, Hmmm, Not such a good sign) of how to fall.  Bend your legs, tuck you arms to your chest, fall backwards, and roll to almost a complete backward summersault.  WAIT, WHAT?  Oh and do that all in one motion.  Now practice!

Well I did it in broken increments.  Fall (got that one down pat).  Oh then bend my knees, Oh that’s right I am suppose to fall backwards,  really, my hands are suppose to be tucked to my chest, they went out to break my fall..  Last I don’t quite bend into an easy flowing backward summersault anymore :-)

They said:  Good Enough, now let’s get you on the wall.  OH BOY!!

The climbing holds are colored to go from easy to difficult using the colors of the rainbow. 

Do I remember the colors of the rainbow??  I know there was yellow, red, maybe green, maybe orange. Does that mean white is the easiest??

The end of the day, it was fun.  I did not get hurt.  And it was a good workout.

The Gyms in the Northwest are very different than the Rec Centers back home in Ohio.  Not just free weights, jogging tracks, and machines.

Here is a picture of me, and my two daughters Andrea, and Stacey on one of the Bouldering walls.

 

 

 

8/5/2023 Bull Winkles. Abandon your posts :-)

In downtown Wilsonville Oregon there is a family fun park.  The first floor has an arcade, bowling alley, and restaurant.  The second floor is laser tag.  Outdoor is a two seater go cart track, putt-putt, zip-line, bumper boats, and a couple of other rides.  

Our daughter Andrea had flown into to Portland for a visit so the whole McHenry Gang was together.  

First we took our 4 year old Grandson to the Arcade.  This was his first introduction to such a place.  We didn’t know how he would react.  All the flashing lights, noise, people.  Well he hesitated at the door for about 30 seconds and then he was all in!!  Running from machine to machine, pushing the buttons, twirling the mouse balls, moving the joy sticks.  He had to play them all.  But the machine he was most excited about was driving the Monster Truck.  He drove it over and over again.  

I was surprised at how quickly he picked up how to play all the games.

After his introduction to the Arcade we headed outside where 3 generations of McHenry’s hopped into the bumper boats.  Grandpa and Grandson manned one of the boats challenging Stacey, Andrea, and Grandma.  You see each boat has a water gun that shoots a wall of water 20’ to 30’ in the air.  As I climbed into our boat (which was the size of a small inner tube) the attendant said keep the water within the confines of the pool.  I thought that was a strange comment until the battle began.  I manned the drive controls, while my Grandson manned the water gun.  I expected that our tickets were good for maybe a 10 minute ride, but after 20 minutes I realized that all the attendants were gone???  Maybe it was shift change or just maybe they were soaked and decided to just give up the ship.  You see what I hadn’t realized was that in our delight of trying to soak Grandma, Andrea, and Stacey thoroughly we had soaked everybody within a 30’ range of the bumper boat ride.  That is, everybody standing in the line for the Zip Line were now ducking as we approached.  The people on the Zip Line ride were getting wet as they zipped by. The people playing the putt putt holes close to the bumper boats had left.  AND the attendants had left.  We had chased everyone away within 30’ water gun range away.  On the flip side our bumper boat rides was now going on 45 minutes with no end in sight.  After 1 hour + both of us were soaked, Grandma was soaked, Andrea and Stacey wer both soaked.  Mission accomplished.  Time to park the boats.  

That night after we all went our own ways I realized I was still wet from our adventure 4 hours later.

8/4/2023 Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, and Calgary. Rocky Mountaineer Train trip

For our 40th Anniversary we decided to take a Rocky Mountaineer trip through the Canadian Rockies.  It was a 10 day trip starting and ending in Vancouver BC.  Travel included Train, Bus, Boat, and Plane.  Day 1 & 2 were on the Rocky Mountaineer train.  Day 3 - 9 were 4 to 8 hr bus ride with numerous stops to see highlights. Day 10 was an air flight from Calgary AB to Vancouver BC.  Most of the trip we were above 3500’ in elevation which had me concerned, but both Sandy and I had no trouble.  With the exception of Day 1, the trip was well worth the money.  Day 1 the train was delayed due other train traffic on the same rail and rail repair.  All in all it was a great trip.  

On the train we were fed endlessly with great food.  One of the highlights was to stand on the open platform in the back of the train car and watch the scenery go by with the wind flowing through your hair.  

The bus was interesting.  They typically had a driver, and a host.  Both acted as tour guides during the travel and were very knowledgeable.  The bus stopped every 1 to 2 hours at Overlooks, sites, etc….  Each with bathrooms.  The bus also had a bathroom on board

We took a boat tour on Maligne Lake at about 8000’ above sea level outside of Jasper to a remote island accessible only by boat.  The boat also had a driver and tour guide.

Attached are some pictures of our adventure.

Train Ride:

Jasper

Lake Louise

Banff

Calgary