Off to Gunnison

We were only sort of excited to get ready to leave this morning.  I got the drivers area of the MH re arranged so it was a truck instead of a home, and Loyce started on the Pink jobs.  We were ready to move about 9:15 but we had to dump before we could leave, as our site had no sewer.

Just as I was starting the engine, the park’s honey wagon pulled up to the dump site. He had been relieving those rigs that were not on sewer sites.  Of course he had about a 500 gallon tank of ugh, so it took a while.  And once we rolled,  a Dutch Star came and got in line before we could get around behind the wagon.

So we were third.  Oh well, we have all day!  It was about 10 AM before we were on the road.  And we had a whopping 80 miles to travel.

We drove South to Salida and the Wal-Mart there.  We needed a few things, and were not ready to head over the pass yet.  This took about an hour but we were finally ready to head West.

US 50 really is a good road up to the pass and down the other side.  It is wide with creeper lanes on the up bound sides, and that allows the cars to zoom past as thought you are stealing their precious time, and generally in the way.  But we charged right along in third gear at 40 miles an hour.  The tach had 2500 rpm.  The Cummins set right at the task and never let up.  I never had more than 200 degrees on the temperature gauge.  It wasn’t long before we were sitting in front of the visitor’s center at the summit.

After a quick stop to pick up the stuff on the floor of the MH after the fridge came open somehow and a picture, we were off down the West side.  That side seems steeper to me, but perhaps it is just because downhill seems to take over as you shift to lower gears and try to stay off of the brakes. 

We have it lucky, as we have the engine brake mounted in the exhaust. So with the lower gears and the exhaust brake on, the foot brakes are only necessary  momentarily as you go around the curves.  In fact, I had to switch the exhaust brake off every now and then as we were not going fast enough.

We are camped on the West side of Gunnison on Blue Mesa Lake.  The campground is Gunnison Lakeside Resort.  Maybe more like fishing camp, but it is quaint. 

It is located on the hill across from the Blue Mesa Lake.  It is the largest lake in Colorado. 

“Blue Mesa Reservoir (elevation 7,519 ft (2,292 m)) is Colorado's largest body of water. Created by Blue Mesa Dam, Blue Mesa Reservoir is 36 mi (58 km) long, has 96 mi (154 km) of shoreline, and is the largest lake trout and  Kokanee salmon fishery in the United States. Blue Mesa Dam was completed in 1965, becoming the first large dam built along the Gunnison River.  Wikipedia”

 

This is only a few miles of the 36 mile reservoir.  It seems farther away as this is a pano of three pictures.

But as you can see, we have quite the view out of our front windshield.   We set up and have chilled out since.

Tonight we drove back into Gunnison and went to a nice restaurant on the North highway out of town. Palisades.  It was rustic inside with tables made of raw wood with thick varnished tops.  Loyce had the Salmon, and I had my normal burger and fries!  Most folks can’t mess that up much.

It was very dark driving back out here to the lake tonight, as not many places have any lights.  There are two or three here in the park, but that would be for three roads that stretch a half a mile up the hill.

We are quite comfortable here, other than no TV stations and just barely getting Verizon Air Card for internet.  I’ve seen several folks standing out in the road talking on their cell phones, so cell signal is minimal as well.  Our roof satellite found its bird, so we are fine.

Let’s see if I can get this posted!

Retired Rod