European Vacation #3 - Biking

This was the day I most dreaded. Tobey and I bicycle at home, but I have to admit, I am not very good. Hills make me nervous – both uphill and down! Before we left, I contacted REI to ask about the “Bike the lovely pastoral countryside, passing by villages and the unspoiled landscapes around Plitvice Lakes” and I was told it is about 4 hours of biking, about 10 miles, with plenty of stops. They have since corrected their website and it now reflects with more accuracy – “Cycling: 4 hours, ~20 miles; Terrain: Rolling hills with one steep hill.” 

The first steep hill was the first thing we encountered as we left our little village of Korana.

I am happy to report, however, that I was not the only one who walked their bike at least part way up the hill. Wendy said the hill was “a peddle counter,” and she bikes long distances, and often. Even Tobey had to walk the last little bit! We pedaled through the countryside and small villages. Turning off the main road to the Barać’s Caves is a huge downhill stretch. You have to go back UP the hill when you leave! You will never guess who was walking her bike back up the hill? Yep, me.
Upon our arrival, we had a tour through “Cave Three.” Our guide was informative and truly loved his job.

Barać’s Caves were once known as Radaković Caves. According to the local legend, the caves were named after someone named Barać who defeated the furious Turkish giant in the battlefield and earned himself honor. There are three caves, and the Third Cave is open to the public. 

From the entrance we passed through Guano Hall and continued through the Elephant Feet Hall filled with cave formations –stalagmites and stalactites. In 1955 Dr. Mirko Malez claimed this cave to be the home of the Early Man because of its location and age.

After our tour, we headed back up the hill and retraced our route. I was near the end of the group – two others were behind me. I was struggling up on long incline when my legs were telling me I was finished. I got off and was walking my bike up the last of the hill when the REI van pulled up behind me. To my surprise, the two other riders were in the van, along with their bikes. I decided to take the van. As it turns out, I should have continued – it was only about five more minutes to our lunch stop! I was so disappointed in myself!

After our lunch break, I unloaded my bike and made the rest of our 22 mile trek back to Korana.

We changed into our swimsuits and walked to the waterfalls about 10 minutes from the village. The water was brisk, to say the least, but refreshing after our ride.

Dinner tonight was a traditional barbeque which included chicken, pork, and sausages, as well as vegetables in a tasty sauce.

One thing for certain, the food was good and plentiful!

European Vacation #2 - we’re off - almost!

June 11. We left for the Denver airport at 7am as the High Park Fire continued to burn – more than 20,000 acres at this point. After we checked in for our flight Tobey discovered that they were not serving any food between Denver and Montreal. He left the boarding area to do the important “hunter-gatherer” thing and procure something tasty for our lunch! Amanda, too, decided to get something. In the meantime, the boarding process was underway … and like good passengers, Wendy and I got on the plane. Settled into my seat, I waited for Tobey. And waited. The flight attendant pointed to the empty seat beside me and if he was coming. I assured him that yes, Tobey had his boarding pass and was on his way. Amanda appeared, but she had not seen Tobey. The flight attendant came back and asked if I wanted to assume the responsibility of flying with his luggage or get off the flight – they needed to close the door and push away from the gate. Well, I stalled … and very slowly said that I guessed I would get off the plane.

Tobey had gone to Schlotzsky’s Deli and the line was long  - and slow. He heard his name being called for the final boarding call for our flight so he stepped behind the counter, grabbed the sandwiches he had already paid for, and did the “airport sprint” to the gate. Suddenly, at the front of the plane, the gate agent appeared with Tobey. While he had his boarding pass, I had his passport and she would not allow him on the plane without it. She came and got it, checked it, and then allowed him to board. The rest of the flight from Denver to Montreal, on to Frankfurt, Germany and then Zagreb, Croatia where our REI Adventure was to begin, were uneventful. The sandwich, however, was delicious!

We arrived in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia with a population of more than 1 million, about noon on Tuesday, June 12. After checking into Hotel Dubrovnik just steps from Ban Jelacic Square, the city’s commercial capital since 1641,  we set off to explore the area.   

     

 

After dinner we met the ten other adventurers, as well as our tour guides, Ivan and Nikolina. Introductions were made, an overview of the week was given, and drinks were shared. The fun was about to begin!

Our group left Zagreb Wednesday morning in two vans, heading for Plitvice Lakes National Park, about two hours away. Our first stop was at the Croatia War Museum. Croatia was originally part of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. After Tito’s death in the 1980s, the federal government began to crumble. Croatia declared independence in 1991 and the Serbian community in the Krajina region seceded which caused heavy fighting. The Serbian community was supported by the Federal Yugoslav Army who intervened under the pretext of halting "ethnic fighting". Much of Croatia fell to Federal forces and the destruction from the “Homeland War” is still evident today with many bombed out buildings and road signs warning to keep out because the area is still littered with land mines. Croatians built tanks from farm tractors and fought with farm implements and hunting knives. In 1995, the Croatian military launched a massive assault on Serbian positions in the Krajina and recaptured the territory. The Serb army and about 150,000 civilians fled to Serbia as Croatia consolidated its borders. Bill Clinton sent troops to aid Croatia in their struggle and today, most Croatian people love Americans. The Dayton Peace Accord established Croatia's borders and provided for a gradual return of the Serb-held province of Slavonia which was accomplished in 1998.

From the War Museum we headed on to Croatia’s first national park, Plitvice Lakes National Park, which was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1979, in recognition of its "outstanding natural beauty and undisturbed production of travertine (tufa) through chemical and biological action."  

We hiked over six miles through this incredible park which lies in the Lika region of Croatia. It is surrounded by mountains which are part of the Dinaric Alps. The 16 blue-green Plitvice Lakes are separated by natural dams of travertine. Waterfalls connect the lakes, and the tallest waterfall is Veliki Slap at 230 feet tall. There is large variety of interesting and colorful flora and fauna, including over 70 types of orchids.

The last hour of our hike was in a steady rain, but the temperatures were warm so it wasn’t too uncomfortable. The sun came back out as we finished our hike, allowing us to dry out before retiring to the tiny riverside village of Korana where we spent the next two nights.

Dinner was prepared by our local hosts – cauliflower soup with pretzels, salad and goulash with gnocchi. It was a great end to a great day!

Our European Vacation - setting the stage

Tobey and I recently returned from a three week trip to Europe and are still suffering the effects of jetlag. It didn’t bother us going east, but the westward return has been difficult. Waking up at 2 in the morning and being ready for the day really stinks, but we are SLOWLY readjusting; we made it to 6:30 am today!

Over the next few posts I will attempt to give you a brief rundown of our incredible journey.

Along with our friend, Wendy, we began preliminary planning last fall. We started by choosing an REI Adventures trip in Croatia which included sea kayaking, biking, and hiking.  http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/europe/cro.html

None of us had been to Croatia, but the activities offered by REI, combined with visiting medieval cities held fascination for all of us. Wendy asked her friend, Amanda, to join her as a travel companion, so there were four of us from Colorado joining in the REI group of 14.We decided to add five nights in Prague in the Czech Republic to our joint trip before Wendy and Amanda headed back to Colorado. Tobey and I went on to Germany to visit our exchange students we have hosted over the years extending our trip to three weeks.

This is one of the first trips we have gone on which I had mixed feelings about. At the end of May, Tobey’s mom had a stroke. He flew down to see her and returned on Sunday, June 10. On Friday, June 9, lightening struck in the mountains just 10 miles from here, causing the High Park Fire. We were scheduled to leave June 11, so I had lots of packing to do – for both of us – and worries about both situations! His mom is doing fantastic, almost back to 100%, and the fire is now 100% contained, even though it destroyed 88,000 acres and 259 homes.

In spite of the circumstances, we had a fantastic trip and we are glad we went.

Rocky Mountain National Park

We had a wonderful time camping at Moraine Park Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park last week. We enjoyed the company of four other couples, sharing meals, stories, hikes, and good fellowship. The weather was absolutely delightful, except for a late day thunderstorm on Saturday which put a damper on barbequing! The view of Longs Peak from our campsite is awesome and we could often see elk in the meadow below, as well as deer near our RV.

Penny enjoyed several walks around the campground, from C loop to D and A loops and back to the RV.  There were several mule

deer lounging near the campsites, but she just ignored them as we made our rounds. She loves hiking, but we couldn’t take her on any of the hiking trails, because it isn’t allowed in the national parks.

We did a couple of fun hikes while we were there. Fern Lake, eight miles round-trip took us from an elevation of 8,165' - 9,503'. When we arrived at Fern Lake, there was still some snow on the ground and the wind was gusting pretty hard, but the scenery was breathtaking!

On the way down the trail, we met this little Golden mantled ground squirrel. He was determined to have his picture taken and posed for several shots! He stood only inches from the camera – I think he was hoping for a snack, but we don’t feed the animals in the park!

Another day we hiked to Ouzel Falls, one of my favorite trails in the park. From the Wild Basin trailhead we climbed 960’ to the waterfall at an elevation of 9,460 feet. There are two other waterfalls along the way, Copeland Falls and Calypso Cascades. It’s a fairly easy hike, only 5-1/2 miles round-trip.

Another of our rituals while camping in Rocky Mountain NP is to drive up Trail Ridge Road.  This year the road opened May 14, one of the earliest days ever because of the low snowfall this winter. Even though it looks like there is a lot of snow, last year we camped over Memorial Day weekend and didn’t get to drive it because heavy snow delayed its opening until June 7th, the latest opening in more than 20 years, according to park officials!

We had a great week and always delight that we have this beautiful gem just an hour away from home!

Getting ready to go … again!

After we got back from Mexico, Tobey had the “mobile RV repairman” out to work on the windows and we prayed for rain to make sure they were fixed. We have had some sizable storms, and so far, it seems to be working – no more wet bed! He took the RV in and had the rock chip filled, too.

We have been doing some other repairs that came up on the Mexico trip. While in Mexico, we discovered that the drawer slides in many motorhomes (ours) are pretty cheap. We had two of them break, and one of the drawers wouldn’t stay latched. One drawer kept sliding out – or bouncing completely out of the slides! Tobey found some full-suspension slides made for RVs (http://www.knapeandvogt.com/8400_RV_Stay-Close_Full_Extension_Drawer_Slide.html?page=details.56 ) and ordered one set along with the front and rear mounting brackets from Lowes to try them out. We mounted them (it only took three hours to install) and they seem to be pretty good, so he ordered three more sets. They came in this week. In the meantime, he found a fancy tool to make the installation easier. He has that on order from Amazon before we tackle the other three drawers. It’s never easy!

Kreg tool video

The list of repairs is long, but we are slowly chipping away at it! Hopefully, by the time we head out on a LONG trip, they will all be finished!

Tobey did get the scooter running, but he still needs to get down to the DMV and get the title/VIN number fixed. We’re not taking it on the next outing, so that’s okay.

We’ve been home since early April, so it’s about time we started thinking of heading out on another trip. We are heading out to Rocky Mountain National Park on Tuesday – and Penny gets to go with us. This trip is only an hour from home, and just five nights.

We usually go over Memorial Day, but since all of our camping friends on this trip are retired, we decided to forego the crowds and go later. Last year it rained, sleeted, snowed, and was sunny – all in the same day! We will see what this year holds! This is the view from our usual camp site. Since we don’t have any internet service in the national park, our updates will come next week upon our return.

We hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Thank you to our troops, past and present, for serving and protecting this great country of ours!

Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Homeward bound – April 3 -4, 2012

The Wrap-Up post of April 2 was supposed to be the last one for the Mexico trip, but I wanted to share a little of our drive back from Arizona to Colorado.

We left Scottsdale about 8am on Tuesday, April 3 for Fort Collins. While we were loading the RV Penny stayed very close, making sure she was going along! It was cool, but sunny, and the desert landscape was beautiful. We did have our first problem with the another vehicle and the RV today, however. A car passed us throwing a rock onto the windshield, causing quite a large pit which will need to be repaired. We drove 8000 miles in Mexico on their rough roads with no problems and get back to the US to get our first ding!
North of Payson, Arizona we crossed into the pine forests along the Mogollon Rim. I love this part of the drive. The road has been improved over the years and it is quite wide and smooth. The scenery is breathtaking.

We stopped in Holbrook, AZ for lunch and headed east to Albuquerque. We had seen the forecast for bad weather and a friend even called and suggested we delay our return since it was snowing at home, but we were anxious to get on our way. By the time we got to Gallup, NM, the following picture was what we saw! Fortunately, the storm was moving east ahead of us, so we just had light rain showers, although there was a pretty strong crosswind.

The further east we drove, the more ominous it looked. Just before Albuquerque, we noticed this strange white stuff on the ground. What could it be? SNOW … but none on the road. The sky was clearing and we saw blue ahead.

We spent the night at the Sandia Casino where they offer free boondock parking. So how free is it really? Since both Tobey and I spent our allotment of entertainment money  at the casino, we can assure you that the casino came out ahead!

Wednesday – April 4

We got on the road about 7am after a chilly night in Albuquerque – below 40°N! As we headed north, we saw more and more snow on the ground and began to wonder if we should have stayed south. There were some snowplows out clearing the shoulders so the melt-off didn’t cause any splash-back. It was beautiful to see, but I am glad we didn’t’ have to drive in it.

This is always one of my favorite sights as we return from any trip – the welcome to Colorado sign!
As we came down Raton Pass into Colorado we got a view of the beautiful Rocky Mountains. We finally pulled into Fort Collins about 5pm. Penny  was a good passenger the entire trip, but was on the lookout for her street as we got closer to home.

It was so nice to pull into town and see all of the trees starting to bloom. Tobey said it’s nice to come home to Colorado in April.

It was beautiful seeing all the trees in bloom. We had a great time on our Mexico adventure, but it is good to be home where we were treated to a delicious dinner by our wonderful neighbor, Susan. It’s like Dorothy says in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.”

Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Wrap Up

We are back to Scottsdale, Arizona collecting our dog and visiting with our family before venturing north to Colorado. Penny has been happy to see us and we only have “a little” un-spoiling to do! We are taking advantage of the delightfully warm weather to get the RV cleaned inside and one final outside rinse down and roof cleaning. While Tobey called this his 90-day in Mexico trip, we have actually been gone from home since December 18 and should return April 4. He still feels cheated because he didn’t get 90 nights in Mexico!

The following is a summary of our trip round trip Fort Collins, CO through Mexico and back:

Gas – $3441

Food – $1007

Tolls – $323

Camping – $668

Insurance – $505 (Mexico RV and Scooter)

Miscellaneous – $1648 (entertainment and maintenance)

Total $7592.00

ROUNDTRIP MILEAGE  - 9829   Fort Collins, CO – Mexico – Fort Collins, CO

We average 10 mpg in the RV. We boondocked 42 nights during the 90 nights of camping. We have a solar panel so that allowed us to recover our house battery use almost daily – even in cloudy conditions. The 48 nights of camping averaged just under $14 USD per night. We included maintenance of our scooter, washing and waxing the RV, oil changes, and gifts in the Miscellaneous category. We tend to cook 70% of our meals, and often eat lunch out rather than dinner. We rarely buy alcoholic drinks with meals, so that saves quite a bit of money.

I have a list of all the different places we overnighted, whether it was a pay campground or a boondock site. The boondock sites have GPS locations. If you would like me to email a copy, send me your email address and I will forward the word document.

The next trip is scheduled in May so we may not many posts until then. Remember, you can sign up to receive email notification when we post by submitting your email address in the upper right hand corner where it says to “follow by email”.  Once you have filled it out, you will receive an email and you have to verify your request by responding to the email. Until the next time, happy travels!