There are expected to be over 1200 Airstreams in attendence so arriving together and parking next to each other is a big deal.
Something else our friends from Colorado were so kind to do for us was to allow us order and ship several large and heavy items to their home and then they packed them into their truck and delivered them to us in Wyoming.
Some of these items we would never have been able to obtain otherwise. Like a new toilet, a new 12V TV and a new guitar for Tricia. Those three items are all on the floor in the photo below, the rest of the items they deliver to us are in the Amazon boxes that are stacked all the way to the ceiling.
After five years of us sitting on them everyday, the originals were getting quite flat and very uncomfortable.
That includes the every 5,000 mile maintenance items like an oil change and tire rotation. At 100,000 miles FORD suggests finally changing out the spark plugs and wires to effectively give him a tune up. Additionally we're draining, flushing and replacing the radiator coolant, transmission fluids and brake fluids.
That's about it for maintenance, now on to the repair items we've been putting off for far to long.
During our last oil change back in February we were informed that one of our valve cover gaskets was developing a leak, we're going to address getting that fixed now.
ROVER's horn has been only half working for a long time now. He actually has two horns, a high pitched one and a low pitched one. The low pitched one "burned out" nearly a year ago, so when I honk my horn at someone, it sounds more like a Mini Cooper than a big bad FORD truck, it's quite embarrassing actually.
Our sunroof quit opening and closing late last year after returning from Alaska. Tricia plans to "stand up" in the passenger seat and stick her torso out the sunroof to safely take photos of bison without ever leaving the truck at one of the park's we're visiting in July, so that needs to get fixed.
Also the remote control passenger mirror quit working, not such a big deal because I do all the drivng and we never need to adjust it, but that's also getting fixed.
Nearly all of the "repair" items are fully covered under the 8yr/100,000 mile extended warranty we purchased when buying the truck. The maintenance items we'll be paying for "out of pocket" with the exception of the oil change and tire rotation.
But the "big ticket item", one that just recently came to our attention two days ago when a check engine light came on, is that both of our catalytic converters need replacement. Catalytic converters are very expensive because they contain precious metals, such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium. They are constantly being stolen, cut right out from your exhaust system, because a thief can earn several hundred bucks from reselling a typical catalytic converter.
I'm here to tell you that each of the two catalytic converters on our 2018 FORD F-150 are $800 a piece, that's just for the parts, it's another $200 to have them installed. That unfortunately is coming out of our pockets.
One final item, remember that "tiny ¾" crack" we added to our windshield two days ago? Well this morning when I got into ROVER to drive him over and drop him off at the dealership, I swiped the windshield wipers to clear the morning dew off and got a big surprise. That tiny crack was now a "giant 2' wide crack" running left to right across the center of the windshield. We added it to the list of repairs and because we're in Wyoming, and not in Florida, there is a $100 deductible of getting it replaced.
When all's said and done, we've been warned that our bill will be in the $4000 range with half of that price being the catalytic converters. But ROVER should be ready to take us down the road for another 5 years and another 100,000 miles when we finally get him back after his week long visit at the dealership.
The best thing is that the dealership had a FREE loner vehicle for us to use while ROVER is in the shop. It's a 2013 FORD Edge with 117,000 miles on it with no backup camera, no USB ports to charge my phone and no 7" screen to project my navigation directions upon. Boy are we spoiled, we can't wait until ROVER returns to us.
Nearby is the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop which is a 23-mile scenic byway. As if you couldn't guess along this drive you'll see the extinct volcano of Pilot Butte, a natural landmark used by the early pioneers heading west.
Also along the drive you'll see wild horses, some close to the roadway and others far off in the distance. We were fortunate enough to see 18 horses throughout the drive and grabbed photos and short videos to share.
By 10:15AM we were nearing the end of the drive and stopped to visit the White Mountain Petroglyphs. We took the 2/3-mile hike up to the mountainside where the petroglyphs are located.
If you want to know more here is a LINK to an excellent brochure all about the drive.
Anyway, here are the photos of our sightseeing adventures today. I forgot to mention that John drove all six of us (including Luca and Lacey, their pups) along the route today.
PILOT BUTTE WILD HORSE SCENIC LOOP
|
||||||||
By 7:45AM we had spotted our first horses far off in the distance.
|
||||||||
Speaking of far off distances, what do you think of this view?
|
||||||||
Or even this one!
|
||||||||
The next horse we spotted was alone and much closer to the roadway.
|
||||||||
These two were different from the rest. Not only in color, but these were short legged.
|
||||||||
This is the Pilot Butte in Wyoming, there are others with the same name!
|
||||||||
The entire upper half of this photo is filled with Airstreams, as seen from the Scenic Loop.
|
||||||||
This is a Pronghorn, it's not a deer or an antelope, as it's commonly mistaken for.
|
||||||||
It's the 2nd fastest animal on the planet at 61MPH, only the cheetah can outrun it.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
...and here are a few short videos from today.
just like they have for hundreds of years.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard us all laughing in the truck.
WHITE MOUNTAIN PETROGLYPHS
|
||||||||
Here's Lacy and Luca leading the way like they usually do, with Katherine close behind.
|
||||||||
We're heading over to the left side of that rockface to see the petroglyphs.
|
||||||||
Here's Lacey showing us the way through the pedestrian gate.
|
||||||||
Once you're up close to the wall the petroglyphs really begin to become visible.
|
||||||||
The soot stained ceiling leads me to believe this crevice was used to shelter in.
|
||||||||
It's certainly plenty deep and wide enough for someone to fit into.
|
||||||||
More carvings on the rockface.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Here someone has carved out life sized hand prints into the rock.
|
||||||||
It looks to fit Tricia's hand perfectly. Umm?
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
This hand print carving is a little too large for a normal human being.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Not sure if this is a large bird's nest or something else?
|
||||||||
Another smaller and shallower soot stained crevice.After seeing the petroglyphs we found ourselves within sight of another famous formation out on the horizon. Boar's Tusk, located here in the southwestern corner of Wyoming, has often been described as a mini Devil's Tower, which is located in the northeastern corner of the state.
The same type of geological occurance created both towers of rock.
When we arrived we found the Visitor Center closed (on a Saturday?), but we still had access to the picnic area so it was time to break out the sandwiches and beverages we've been hauling around all day.
After lunch and checking out the bird feeders located behind the Visitor Center we hit the road that travels through the refuge. Here are photos of what we found.
SEEDSKADEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
|
||||||||
The same Green River we've been following for weeks now flows along the refuge corridor.
|
||||||||
The Green River is definitely not brown in this area, but it's not green either.
|
||||||||
It's definitely a nice bright blue in color.
|
||||||||
At this location you can see just how much water is flowing down the river.
|
||||||||
This Great Blue Heron is searching the waters edge for lunch.
|
||||||||
With the sky reflecting off the water it looks to be even bluer.
|
||||||||
We even spotted some more Pronghorn out in the grasses.
|
||||||||
At this boat ramp you can see just how clear the water is.
|
||||||||
This is exactly what a wildlife refuge is supposed to look like.
|
||||||||
Barges like this replica were used to transport livestock and wagons across the Green River.
|
||||||||
The Oregon Trail approaches the Green River here, one of it's most dangerous crossings.
|
||||||||
I suspect this is also part of the replica used to pull barges over the crossing.
This completes our sightseeing for today. It's time to head back to camp so we can attend the Opening Ceremony of the 66th Annual Airstream Club International Rally in Rock Springs, WY.
I got all the supplies into the "dedicated craft room" they set up here at the rally and then went to Walmart to purchase an electric knife to make quick work of cutting the foam into the perfect odd shapes.
In less than two hours she had cut the foam, spray glued the batting to the top and sides, then began the hard part, stuffing the fresh foam back into the covers.
We got all but one done before we were made aware they were closing the room for the day so we packed it all up, old and new, into our little FORD Edge loner car and took it back to THE POD to finish it up.
I must admit that sitting on the cushions now reminds me of how comfortable they were when THE POD was new!
MONDAY - THURSDAY 
When we signed up for this rally last year I requested a FREE 8' long table to display our items for sale. We have "several hundred pounds" of items we would like to sell to help lighten our load.
During the first hour of the event we sold a bunch of little light weight items like USB cords, electrical strips, 120V to 12V adapters and other miscellaneous items. Not a lot of money made and more importantly not a lot of weight removed from our truck and trailer. None of these items were being used, but they still work and I would have a hard time just throwing them away. We sold most of these items at give-away prices of $1 or $2.
The second hour of the show we started to make some headway on our goal to "lighten the load". We sold Tricia's old camera tripod, my old hiking stick, our 19" bedroom TV we never watched, a few kitchen items and our small 4'x6' foot canopy.
Going into the final hour I was beginning to worry that we would be loading all the big, heavy and expensive items back into the car. Then like magic in the space of 30-minutes we sold our 200-watt Solar Suitcase (unneeded since last year when we increased the number of panels on THE POD and added three more to ROVER's capper) and our 12'x12' Clam Canopy (unused in well over a year). By far those were the two heaviest and brought in the biggest sale price of the day.
Like I said we shed over 200 pounds of gear and managed to put nearly $500 into our pockets.
The $500 will only put a small dent into the $4400 repair bill I have waiting for me when I pick up ROVER at the FORD Dearlership later this afternoon, but every little bit helps and ROVER should be ready to give us another 100,000 miles of trouble free service now.
Over the last couple of days a few of the 1200 Airstreams have left the Rally and headed to parts unknown. Today however I suspect this place will look like a ghost town by noon.
Right now, as I write this post at 9:30AM, I can see nearly everyone around us is preparing to leave. We will be staying for another 5-days because on Monday we have an appointment to get one last necessary repair and upgrade performed on ROVER before we leave town to head north and visit a pair of spectacular parks.
Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?
