Friday, September 26 we said goodbye to
Cottonwood Lake and the aspens and headed home. As we drove over Bigalow Summit we thought of the Melton family, because they enjoyed this area and Lake Isabel. We also thought of the Bell’s since they have a family cabin in this area. All of a sudden we passed a curiosity.
Bishop’s Castle! and yes, that is Fred in the lower right, so you can see how huge this castle is.
It has been built by one man starting in 1969.
He was somehow crosswise with the Sheriff and had signs in various places talking about freedom of travel in the United States. We decided he might be a member of the Republic of Colorado if there is such a thing.
We didn’t climb any of the steps or walkways. At any rate it was interesting to see.
We drove on to Trinidad State Park for the night and after finding an available campsite and checking with the ranger as to availability, we drove into town to look for turquoise and Indian jewelry, as this was the last stop to find any on this trip. When we returned we were faced with a very upset camper showing where he had reserved this spot via the internet. Ultimately we had to move to a very undesirable spot. This was the first time on the trip we were indisposed like this because we were careful to make sure we could stay there. We DO NOT Like reservations by specific campsite! That is a whole nuther story! (we did put in in writing and since we have been home we received a refund! Surprise!)
Saturday, September 27 found us driving through the corner of New Mexico on HWY 87, Raton to Clayton and were pleasantly surprised to find a divided highway most of the way. The last time we traveled this road it was single lane and no shoulder. Guess it has been a while since we traveled here. All of a sudden we started seeing FLY’s. Hundreds! We had been blessed on the whole trip of not seeing any but they caught up with us in the panhandle of Texas! 
We found the nice city park in Dumas, made just for travelers like us and it is FREE! 
They have provided a nice level spot with electricity in two rows. Water and dump were also available. Before we parked we found a large car wash and washed both the Suburban and trailer. Whew! That was a job. After parking we found a laundry mat and spent Saturday night washing with several families. How exciting! However when we arrived home we were sure glad we didn’t have to keep the washer and dryer going.
Sunday, September 28 we followed Hwy 287 to Wichita Falls and
their lovely traveler’s campground similar to Dumas’s but nicer and 
cost $10. They have a few trees with water & electricity at each site. 
We really wish more cities would provide places like this. We bought groceries and a grill, so we helped their economy.Monday, September 29 we drove into Allen and our friends, Jerry and Kathryn Childress. We were glad to see him up and around since we had heard all kinds of stories of him having reactions to chemo. We had a nice visit with them. They have found a very nice home.
Tuesday, September 30 The Childress’s son Jeff stopped by to see us. He has certainly grown up to be a very responsible, good looking man. He is helping Jerry and Kathryn in every way possible and we feel they are in good hands, God’s, Jeff and the doctors. Saying good bye, we drove through the dreaded Dallas and its freeways and arrived home. We parked in the overgrown back yard and Fred started trimming trees. We met Angie, Bobby and Rachel for a thank you supper at Capazano’s in Midlothian.This trip has been wonderful, beautiful, delightful, fantastic…
Most of the time we didn’t have TV reception so a nice side effect was:
No political Advertisements
No worries of the world. We did have internet most of the time and kept up with the Yahoo headlines.
After all this traveling when we tried to leave the Childress’s we forgot about the chocks and destroyed both of them! You’d think we would have learned.
Our favorite places were:
1. The Oregon coast. Their state parks are THE BEST and the scenery is supurb.
2. Seafood! Seafood! Seafood!
3. Canadian Rockies, Ice Field Highway. This was the ultimate goal of the trip. If you are going to this area, PLEASE go all the way to Jasper. That road is worth the drive from Texas. If you don’t go on to Jasper you wasted your gas.
4. Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park. Fred was especially thankful for the free shuttle the park service provides. Lot’s of scenery and drop offs.
5. Montana
6. Beartooth Pass northwest of Yellowstone. We had heard stories of this from the Clemmer’s when John threatened the kids with a flyswatter.
7. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Still just as pretty as the last time we were there and worth repeating. It was especially nice to see more snow on the mountains and hearing Paula’s remarks.
8. The ASPENs turning. Oh MY!
Favorite Campsites have to be the Forest Service sites even without electricity, water or sewer connections. Beautiful locations and nice, large spots.
We were pleasantly surprise at seeing Safeway in the northwest. We wish for them in Texas again.
Our dislikes:
1. Reservations by site!
2. Speed bumps, especially next to a stop sign. The forest camp out of Salt Lake City takes the cake on number of bumps. We crossed 8 every time we left the camp.
3. Cities!
4. Interstates! Our infrastructure of the interstate system needs to be totally redone. Bump, bump, bump.
We drove 18,974 miles in 202 days, averaging 92 miles a day. There were many days we only drove a few miles and our longest day was about 250 miles.
We bought 2097.24 gallons of gas spending
$8289.07 Gas averaging $3.95 a gallon
$3329.74 camping spots averaging $16.48 a night.
$1342.19 trailer supplies/repairs
$1223.72 Car needs
$1515.42 Restaurants
$1172.26 Miscellaneous
$240.70 Cappuccino
$196.78 Propane
$1108.95 Passes, admissions, ferry rides, etc
$164.60 Laundry
$1239.70 Souvenirs
If we take out food, miscellaneous, cappuccino, that would have been expenses at home we averaged $82 a day.
Including those the trip cost and average of $109.08 a day.
We would be interested in how that compares to others taking trips, flying, hotels, etc.
We included everything we spent.
