Coveys Great Adventure: #83 – August 2021

August 2021 – WI, IA, NE, WY CO

Well, what can I say, it’s just time and fuel. We are certainly getting to see the country and, more importantly, spend time with more friends we haven’t seen in too long.

We have been looking forward to seeing Mark and Nicole Tuggle for a couple of
years. We had a great time with them in 2018 (see #48). Mark suggested a route that bypassed the worst of the traffic and road construction near Chicago. It was too far from Shipshewana to their place in Wisconsin to make it in one day, so we spent a night in Madison at Lake Farm County Park, again, and pulled into Wilderness County Campground in Nekoosa early the next afternoon. Lake Farm hadn’t changed. It is a little more expensive than it was three years ago, but the standards haven’t slipped. Wilderness County Campground, on the other hand, really needed some attention. I told the manager that he was doing a poor job on brush clearance and road repairs. He apologized, but that didn’t fix a couple of new scratches on the coach.

It was so good to see Mark and Nicole again. They are gracious hosts, gourmet cooks, great tour guides, and they spoiled us at every turn. We went kayaking on the Kickapoo River, the perfect combination of peaceful drifting and slightly challenging currents in a few places. That said, we all got soaked and went out for a great lunch. The next day we visited The Cranberry Discovery Center in Warren, WI. I always assumed that Massachusetts produced more cranberries than anywhere else, so I was very surprised to learn that Wisconsin grows more than twice as much as Mass.

It was hard to top the berries, but the South Wood County Historical Museum succeeded. Kayeanne and I are big fans of small local museums and this one is terrific. The regional lumbering industry history exhibit in the basement was fascinating, as was the discovery that Myron H. “Grim” Natwick was a local celebrity. Natwick was a pioneering animator who created Betty Boop. He was also involved in Snow White, Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker productions. The museum was a real treat. And, so was lunch at the very swanky Sand Valley Golf Resort.

It was hard to say goodbye to Nicole and Mark, but we needed to start moving west. Our first stop was Palisades-Kepler State Park in Mount Vernon IA. This was our first experience with an Iowa state park and we were impressed. The pull thru sites were laid out a little oddly, but we figured it out. That was about the only complaint, the grounds, facilities and amenities were otherwise terrific.

1970 Bultaco. I owned 12 Bultacos

As nice as Palisades-Kepler was, the real reason to stop here was so I could visit the self-declared National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa. Mark Tuggle turned me on to this place. As I suspected, the majority of the bikes were Harleys, with a smattering of Indians and long-defunct American manufacturers like Henderson and Pope. None of that is interesting to me, especially the customized creations. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to also see a number of European bikes, most of them thankfully unmodified, as well as a small selection of motocross machines from the 60’s, my racing days.

BSA Victor, my first race bike

The non-Harleys were crammed together and the information on each one was pretty spotty or missing altogether, but there were some real gems: a Velocette Thruxton, a Bultaco Pursang, a few BMWs, and even a couple of older Moto Guzzis. Most of the bikes I was interested in had not been restored, they were in clean, unmolested original condition which is always better in my view than a perfect restoration. The museum had too many motorcycles crammed much too close together, making it impossible to get a good look at the details or to get decent pictures. That said, I was glad to visit.

And the food was good, too

The next day we drove to Coralville/Iowa City and to Cedar Rapids, just to look around and to restock at Trader Joe's. On the way we stumbled across a restaurant called Estela's Fresh Mex and had great tacos. While not quite up to Taco del Gnar standards, we’d gladly stop there again.

In 2018 we discovered Ashland, Nebraska, and the town RV park located just a block or two from the small, attractive downtown area. This trip we planned to stay two days, but extended that to three when we blew another dolly tire on I80. I have to say that I’ve had all the tire-changing-on-side-of-the-highway practice I need. It took a couple of days to get new tires shipped to us.

Ashland RV Park site 9

We like Ashland and spent a very pleasant afternoon eating lunch and wandering from one end of main street to the other. We visited several shops, had ice cream and just generally played tourist. If you are traveling on I80, plan on stopping in Ashland for a day or two. UPS showed up right on time, and we had the new tires mounted and got back on the road.

We had planned to leave I80 near Ogallala (Country View Campground is a good place to stop for a night or two) to take I76 to Denver and I70 to Grand Junction, then onto US50 to Ridgway, but a large landslide closed I70 for several days. We decided to make the best of the situation and stayed on I80 to Cheyenne, Wyoming, a town Kayeanne wanted to see. Then we would head southwest across Colorado on US highways and state roads to bypass the slide area and get back on our planned track.

Cheyenne is a Union Pacific Rail hub

We found a site at Laramie County Fairgrounds RV Park, which turned out to be pretty disappointing. I guess I’d stay there again because it is easy to access, but only if there wasn’t anything else available.

Cheyenne didn’t turn us on, either. We drove around looking at the city and some of the neighborhoods, and did a little shopping, but nothing really appealed to us. That said, there are a number of pretty parks scattered throughout the city, and the Cheyenne Depot Museum was quite interesting.

The forced detour made the trip through Colorado much more interesting than just pounding out miles on I76 and I70. Cheyenne to Ridgway was a two day trip so we needed a place to stop for the night that was roughly half the distance. Meeker, Colorado, was in the right place, and a quick search popped up the town park as welcoming RVs to spend the night for $20. They even had a few sites that included electric hookups at no additional cost. With nothing to lose we decided to give it a shot, and we found a small gem. The RV parking is right in the middle of a lovely park on the banks of the White River. We were the only ones there when we pulled in, so we got one of the power hookups. The park also offered a free sewer dump station, and a fresh water faucet to refill our tank! We quickly decided to stay two nights.

The White River runs through Meeker

Meeker is a small town that clearly has a lot of civic pride. We got a good vibe walking around the small downtown area. The place is immaculate, the stores are mostly occupied and busy, and there are a number of good restaurants. Don’t miss having ice cream at Meeker Drug. Once again, a local museum turned out to be very interesting. Run by the son of the founder, the White River Museum is supported completely by donations. Everyone who works there is a volunteer. Some of the exhibits are pretty ad hoc, and most of the artifacts appear to have been donated to clear out the old barn, but nonetheless we spent a couple of hours just meandering around.

Site 260 at Ridgway State Park

We have been looking forward to returning to Ridgway State Park since our last
visit in 2015. Ridgway is one of the best state parks we have stayed in, bar none. This year we were fortunate enough to get a large pull thru site close to the river. The only downside is the state of Colorado’s rapacious charges for “extra” vehicles. A pickup pulling a trailer doesn’t pay anything extra, just the camping fee, but a motorhome pulling a car is charged $9 per day in addition to the camp fee. That increases the daily campsite cost to $50, more than many very nice commercial campgrounds. No one I’ve asked can explain this nonsense to me, but given the current demand for camping sites and states’ unrelenting zeal for ever more revenue I don’t see anything but higher and higher costs. This may be our last visit to a Colorado state park, though. Ok, rant off.

A Luca Brau and a Drippy Mitch,
I think

Long-suffering readers of this blog (thanks to all nine of you!) may remember me raving about Taco del Gnar, the best tacos we have ever eaten. Well, I can assure you that they are still just as good as I said they were six years ago. They have 11 tacos on the menu. We went there for lunch four times, so I ate eight of them and tasted one more that Kayeanne ordered. Someday I will return to try the ones I missed, and maybe start over again. Check out the menu.

Ouray, a mountain town

Ouray is another favorite of ours. We parked close to the middle of town and walked up one side of main street and back down the other. There are lots of local shops, bars, restaurants, ice cream stands and a neat market to check out. The local museum is, as usual, well worth a visit. Ouray is an old mining town and the collection of historic photos in the museum is fascinating. That was a really tough way to make a living.

For some reason we didn’t get to Telluride on our last trip. This year we decided to make that a priority. Boy, were we disappointed. Telluride appears to be all about slick, glossy posers. It reminds me of Park City but without the charming old downtown part. We drove the length of the main drag, turned around and headed back to Ridgway. I guess the skiing must be fantastic.

I’ve clearly fallen behind in my reading; I guess YouTube has taken over. But, our wine drinking hasn’t slacked off. Kayeanne nominated two white wines this month, and I discovered a really good Malbec:

Trader Joe’s Vintjs Sauvignon Blanc - 2018
Santa Francesca - Pinot Grigio – Italy
Navarra Correas Coleccion Privada Malbec – 2017 Argentina

More soon,

Bob