Where’s Ollie?

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, CRM said:

My wife would have made me stop for a pic for sure! 

We have pics from our first visit too, 21 years ago.

[Scott and Nancy]

First Post, awesome thread. We were on Lopez Island, WA over the weekend.

[Mike and Carol]

Welcome to the group and great picture!  Mike

[Tideline77]

after 3.5 months on the road and the Colorado mountain hiking trails we are heading home….

 

pulling out of Alvarado campground USFS near Westcliffe, Colorado

San Isabel  National Forest

Sangre De Cristo Wilderness 

we hiked mountain trails all over Colorado and hit the pickleball court in Gunnison 

our longest hike was 10.5 miles, 2600 ft elevation gain

 

 

Edited August 7 by Tideline77

[routlaw]

clear skies and no smoke, amazing. AQI here this morning is 136 and getting worse.

[Tideline77]

3 hours ago, routlaw said:

clear skies and no smoke, amazing. AQI here this morning is 136 and getting worse.

We got lucky and only had a few Smokey days in Gunnison

a little smoke in the wet mountain valley

we just missed the flash floods and landslides in Ouray, Telluride and near Ridgway,and the Black Canyon……..missed the Aspen fire and the Gold Mountain fire

it was a fantastic trip

 

our only bad luck was

on the way home in Oklahoma's panhandle it hit 109 degrees and the demonic squirrel cage developed a significant rattle………and was out of service

Night temps dropped down and a box fan allowed us to sleep

didnt have a chance yet to take the lid off the Penguin

 

 

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, Tideline77 said:

and hit the pickleball court in Gunnison 

Robert, I see you're local to Alabama. Going to the Rally with pickleball gear?

Ours are always in the TV. Last summer on our Minnesota trip we played in 6 states! I see there are two public court locations right at the lake! 😎 (Pickleheads app)

26 minutes ago, Tideline77 said:

didnt have a chance yet to take the lid off the Penguin

We're sorry, but please don't bother. Remove the interior panel, loosen 4 bolts, cut wires and then all you need to do is get up rooftop and heave! 🤣

Edited August 7 by jd1923

[Tideline77]

33 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Robert, I see you're local to Alabama. Going to the Rally with pickleball gear?

Ours are always in the TV. Last summer on our Minnesota trip we played in 6 states! I see there are two public court locations right at the lake! 😎 (Pickleheads app)

We're sorry, but please don't bother. Remove the interior panel, loosen 4 bolts, cut wires and then all you need to do is get up rooftop and heave! 🤣

we might not make the Rally @Lake Guntersville after 110 days in our Oliver. 
for some reason we are both tuckered out 😂
Hope somewhere along the way we can play pickleball with you guys in the future 

I can’t shove the Penguin off the roof until we salvage the east start out of it !!!

 

I should have said we missed the worst of the fires……they were still ongoing 

 

 

 

Gunnison has very active open play at 9am Mon-Sat. Mostly seniors that are lots of fun ……a few advanced players on one court. 

[jd1923]

8 minutes ago, Tideline77 said:

I can’t shove the Penguin off the roof until we salvage the easy start out of it !!!

Modern variable speed and inverter A/C units don't need the Easy Start and if your fan slipped alignment and jammed, unfortunately the Penguin has little to no used value. Perhaps you could sell the Easy Start.

21 minutes ago, Tideline77 said:

we might not make the Rally @Lake Guntersville after 110 days in our Oliver. 
for some reason we are both tuckered out 😂
Hope somewhere along the way we can play pickleball with you guys in the future

Yeah, I get it! We have campground reservations but everyday I wonder how 1700 miles one-way will "tucker us out! " Are we crazy?

I may have to start a thread titled, "Calling all Rally Pickleball Players!" We would likely play pickleball or more often hike around the lake vs. attending vendor presentations. Chris and I are 4.0 rated seniors! But we play weekly with friends with less experience, so we "work on our soft game!" Hope to meet you and play someday. If not in Alabama, keep it in mind for the next time you travel SW! 😂

[jd1923]

[jd1923]

[jd1923]

[jd1923]

Pulled the truck up for Starlink to be centered between the trees! 😎

Edited September 5 by jd1923

[Boudicca908]

Glacier National Park, Saint Mary Campground near eastern entrance to the park. The campground amenities vary a bit depending on the loop, but they have hot showers (free) as well as fresh water spigots, waste water dump station (for gray water from dish washing) and an RV dump near the entrance. Full of berries and full of bears; maybe that's why the campground isn't full! The sites cannot be reserved before the day-of-arrival, but it wasn't a problem to find space.

I'm so glad I took the opportunity to come here this year, at the suggestion of a friend. The weather has been perfect camping weather; cold enough to want a camp fire, and damp enough to be allowed to have a camp fire. 

[topgun2]

2 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

Full of berries and full of bears; maybe that's why the campground isn't full!

If that were the case then Glacier would not be full either.  

They got a bunch of those furry creatures up there - at least everywhere we went both inside and outside the Park.

Bill

p.s.  enjoy the heck out of that area - it's special

[jd1923]

Not bad for $12/night! I think going forward, besides boondocking we'll focus on National Forest Service or Army Corps of Engineers sites that give half off with the senior pass. But kind of a bummer that now on recreation.gov the next 4 nights cannot be reserved online. But you can go online to see what is reserved or FF (first come-first serve).

Our campsite #7 is shown, all sites no hookups, some pit toilets, water spigots in 5 spots around the campgrounds but without hose connections. All the campsites inside of the loop are setup in the wrong direction (curbside away from picnic table). A little road noise being right off US Hwy-160 but always quiet in an Oliver!

Just east of Mancos CO, Target Tree is within a half hour of Cortez to the west and Durango to the east, with Dolores nearby and Mesa Verde NP. Beautiful roads with beautiful mountain views, forest service access trails everywhere! 🤠 

Edited Wednesday at 03:59 PM by jd1923

[Mike and Carol]

We’ve been by there many times, just never stopped!  Mike

[topgun2]

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

water spigots in 5 spots around the campgrounds but without hose connections.

What you need is one of these

But, be a bit careful in that there are some of these water stations that have a sign stating something like "the filling of RV tanks is prohibited".

Bill

[Boudicca908]

On 9/9/2026 at 9:49 AM, jd1923 said:

kind of a bummer that now on recreation.gov the next 4 nights cannot be reserved online.

John, you mean for that particular campground? I've found that it varies on recreation.gov from one campground to another, whether it's FCFS or reservable. Some have closed the reservation system for the season; some have closed the campground for the season. It's not predictable. 

[jd1923]

3 minutes ago, Boudicca908 said:

John, you mean for that particular campground? I've found that it varies on recreation.gov from one campground to another, whether it's FCFS or reservable. Some have closed the reservation system for the season; some have closed the campground for the season. It's not predictable. 

Yeah Toni, likely not ALL. Of course seasonal sites will be closed off-season.

If they allow campers to show up and pay the host or at a kiosk (we paid the host $36 cash for 3 nights), then I believe the 4-day rule applies. This rule allows for drive-up pay cash locations.

If the campground ONLY allows for online reservations then all available dates should be available to book online. It seems we've run into not being able to reserve tonight or next day at many locations we've stayed.