Author Archives: Sparky
STE2 Hop 4: Junction City KS to Bartlesville OK
209 miles via US 77, US 400, KS 99, US 166, US 75 and US 60 with a refueling stop in El Dorado KS. Cumulative tow miles: 918. Truck miles: 209. Cumulative truck miles: 940. The truck miles equaled the tow miles in the case because we did something we almost never do: we stayed … Continue reading
STE2 Hop 3: Kearney NE to Junction City KS
242 miles via I-80, NE 10, KS 8, US 36, US 81 and I-70. Cumulative tow miles: 709. Truck miles: 258. Cumulative truck miles: 731. This was another boring trip in terms of the scenery, but this time we had some navigation issues to keep us busy. I originally planned this to be a 230-mile … Continue reading
STE2 Hop 2: Chappell NE to Kearney NE
190 miles, almost exclusively on I-80. Cumulative tow miles: 467. Truck miles: 204. Cumulative truck miles: 473. This route was Boring, with a capital B. Straight, flat, a few trees among the fields, but everything brown. Dull, uninteresting. All of which didn’t help Jett’s headache. We were supposed to stay in Chappell for 2 nights … Continue reading
STE2 Hop 1: Rawlins WY to Chappell NE
269 miles almost entirely via I-80, with a refueling stop. Cumulative tow miles: 269. Truck miles: 269. Cumulative truck miles: 269. This was a very easy navigation hop, but it was a true test of the truck repairs. We passed over the Rockies at 8500 feet. The engine got pretty warm, but didn’t overheat. Once … Continue reading
STE2 preview
Due to the truck problems and the decision to avoid the 11,000 foot pass on I-70, the starting point for the second segment of the STE (STE2) has changed significantly. So I thought I had better update the STE2 plan. It starts in Rawlins WY and terminates in Brownsville TX. It will consist of 9 … Continue reading
STE1 wrapup
Our one-night stay in Rawlins WY concluded the first segment of the STE. The segment by the numbers: 8 hops 17 nights 1605 tow miles 2033 truck miles $719.56 in campground fees ($42.33 per night) This was not the segment that we planned. The planned versus the actual routes: Highlights: Visiting Tillamook again and catching … Continue reading
STE1 Hop 8: Silt CO to Rawlins WY
216 miles via I-70, CO 13, WY 789 and I-80. Cumulative tow miles: 1605. Truck miles: . Cumulative truck miles: 2026. This was a “Plan B” hop. Plan A was to drive from Silt to Denver via I-70. But I scotched that plan after I took a close look at I-70. The mountain passes were … Continue reading
STE1 Hop 7: Moab UT to Silt CO
179 miles via UT 191 and I-70. Cumulative tow miles: 1389. Truck miles: 379. Cumulative truck miles: 1759. The best thing about the trip to Moab was that the truck handled the load just fine. Every hop now increases my confidence that the truck repairs actually fixed the problem. Still, we have decided to avoid … Continue reading
Arches National Park
I visited Arches National Park twice – by myself late afternoon on Thursday and with Jett Friday around noon. The second visit was to give Jett an opportunity to see this beautiful park, but I also wanted to take a look at the “Windows” area, which I had skipped when I ran out of time … Continue reading
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is one of two national parks near Moab UT, the other being Arches National Park. I visited both, but I went to Canyonlands first, yesterday morning, because the day started out cloudy and, since it was farther away – about 30 miles – I figured that it might clear up a bit … Continue reading