Revcon Rebuilt Part 7: Painting the Rear Cap

It has been a hot minute (literally) since I've updated.  Summer is in full blast here in southern AZ, so we're only fitting a few hours of work in the evenings.  Usually, it is at sunset or early morning.

But we've been plodding along with the rear of the Revcon.  We concentrated on the fiberglass sections first, before moving onto the aluminum sides.  The rear cap needed additional rivets, holes filled with fiberglass, and of course loads of sanding, prep, primer and paint.

It was over 100 by 8:00AM yesterday when Mike finished.  Too hot to actually paint, but he finished off the rear cap and roof.  While he was painting, I scraped, sanded and painted the rear window so when it is time to install, they are a crisp black, as opposed to scratched and faded.

Summer slows us down tremendously.  But we're trying to get her dried in before monsoons arrive.

Roosevelt Lake and AZBDR

You can't abandon a plan if there wasn't one in the first place.

Mike was away for work last week.  I made the executive decision that we'd go camping when he got back.  Where?  Somewhere north of where we live.

Saturday rolled around and we loaded into the Jeep and made our way to Globe.  Just south of Roosevelt Lake, we turned down our trusty 288 and made our way up.  A few miles up, Mike said "wonder where that goes".  The map showed a dirt road heading straight down to the lake on the north side.  The plan, lunch at the water before heading into the pines.

Surprisingly, the road actually did go right to the water.  

After lunch we donned our suits (because ALWAYS travel with bathing suits) and went for a dip.  The water temperature was perfect.

The breeze turned into wind and the water became choppy.  Everyone but Rommel decided to get out of the water.  He lounged in the surf for quite some time.  The temperature was livable and we decided to stay for the night.  

We had dinner during a killer sunset.  But the second the sun set, the wind died.  And then the bugs.  We aren't sure what they were, some sort of tiny grasshopper type thing.  Not bitey, but they came in the millions.  We hurried into the trailer and suffered all night.  There was not amount of swatting, they got into the trailer and kept us up all night.

We "woke" early to a swarm of biblical proportions.  I didn't think to take video but....wow.  Millions of them decided the Foxwing was the place to be.  We packed in a hurry to a still and silent lake.  Exhausted and without coffee, we scurried off the beach.

Mike wasn't ready to head home yet so we decided to continue up 288 towards Young and hit the top loop of Cherry Creek Road.  AZBDR reported the lower loop was closed and rerouted due to last seasons fire damage, but we checked that off the list a few years back anyway.

A few miles in, the "Expert Rating" became apparent.  

I'm going to gush over our teardrop for a second.... This baby will GO ANYWHERE we point it.  While this technical section wasn't very long, it had some decent rock work and drops and made it through like a CHAMP.  /endgushing.

This part of Cherry Creek road was pretty rocky throughout. We noticed (especially in the above shown section) that there wasn't much tire sign, and it was only UTV tire sign.  

At a wide point in the trail, we stopped at a natural spring and Mike made us coffee and oatmeal.  Coffee was long over due.

During each stop, we kept finding more of the plague bugs.  Lesson learned, don't camp AT the lake.  Enjoy it and flee before the sun sets.

We pushed on towards Young.  The road progressively improved.  Even still, we only saw two UTVs the whole day.  It was pretty rad.

Our impromptu and unplanned trips are usually the ones we remember fondly.  We had a day on the water and a day on the trail.  Can't beat that.

Seven Falls and Frustration

Prior to departing Arizona, Mandy and I found Seven Falls on the internet and it looked beautiful.  We packed up the rigs and headed into Colorado Springs hoping to find a good camp spot after Seven Falls.

We hopped on the complementary shuttle to the falls.  They happily allow dogs and the fee was not astronomical.  But it was humid.  And when the sun was out, forget it.  We climbed the 185 steps to the observation deck in spurts.  Elly and Rommel were toast in the heat and I was a worried mama.

We stayed at the top for a bit and laid them down in the shade.  Mike bought me a fossilized sand dollar, because the way to my heart is rock.

Thankfully there was an elevator so we took that down.  In retrospect we should've taken that up, but bravado got the best of us.  We stayed in the tunnel leading to the elevator to let them cool down even more and it allowed Mike ample time to read about the falls.  We brought 40oz of water and bought another bottle in the park and wiped it all out before we made it down to the bottom.

We did not climb the second set of stairs on the actual falls.  But Mandy and family did, so I'll link over to her photos later on.  Come back for those.

On the way back to the shuttle, we let them cool off in the creek for a bit.  After their first and second shuttle ride, first elevator ride and an exhausting day climbing steps, Elly and Rommel were done.

According to the map, the boys hoped to find a camp spot in Colorado Springs.  A washed out road and asshole drivers frustrated us to a breaking point.  We tucked our tails, and headed back to Woodland Park.

Back to the Painted Rocks campground it was.  Another $20 down.  Oh well.

Tonight we were happy it rained, as it cooled things down.  A hot meal, good conversation and some relaxing commenced before bed.

While it wasn't an ideal day, it was a day well spent.  I'm not going to lie and say "OMG you must see the falls".  I was slightly disappointed only because we've seen some incredible falls (for free) throughout Colorado.  I see this as a must for those that don't really offroad and want easy access to some certified beautiful Colorado scenery.  I don't regret going, only wish we waited until dark to see it while lit up.

Tomorrow is another day, and ripe with adventure!

Making of a time lapse sunset

I have a confession.  I am addicted to time lapse movies.  I find them extremely relaxing.  I finally bought an inexpensive multi-function timer remote and have been fortunate to have some good sunsets to play around with.  

What little reading I have done on time lapse (confession two: I tend to do minimal research and learn on the fly), you need to take a million photographs.  For instance, I took 360 pictures at 24 fps and ended up with a 15 second video.  I kinda rushed through the photo process, having little prep time but at least managed to find the right manual settings to capture the colors we were blessed with the other evening. 

This sunburst didn't make it into the video, but was captured while finding the right location.

After dumping my photos onto my laptop, I purchased Quicktime Pro to make my video.  The bummer about Quicktime Pro is I can't seem to add music and my Windows laptop doesn't have any other editing program.  Oh well, I think a silent movie has its own charm.  What is disappointing is when uploaded to Instagram, the quality looks like garbage.  Not sure if it is something I am doing incorrectly, or if it is Instagram.  Youtube seemed to do a better job at the upload.  I'm excited for this new technique and hope to make some interesting and fun videos on our camping excursions.

Homestead Adventure

Wayward and distant adventures have been far and few between.  Life, work and responsibility has certainly gotten in the way.  And this winter has been much colder than those past, so our adventures consist of our daily walks. 

This winter has boasted more frequent rain storms than those past, so at least our daily jaunts down the road have yielded some incredible sunsets.

And we were greeted with a light rainbow one morning.  (It is to the left of the saguaro)

Once the nights are consistently above freezing in our camping spots, I'm hoping to drag the Adventure Husband away from his project car to get out - get away and most importantly get some forest time in. 

Until then, this will do.

Lake Tahoe Ho!

Since whatever plan we had went out the window days ago, we headed northwest towards Lake Tahoe.  We popped into the main town for lunch (Jalisco, Mexican joint), laundry, and groceries.  We killed a few hours and were blown away by the hoards that flock to this oasis on the California/Nevada border.  I get the draw, but it draws too many people, thus killing the outdoor experience we love.

 We wound our way around the lake, past Emerald Cove and made our way westbound towards the Rubicon trail.  We knew we didn't want the actual Rubicon trail because we didn't want to kill ourselves or our rigs, but the trusty (cough, sarcasm, cough) trail book assured us a moderate trail could be found, offering off site camping.  I'd like to find out what their idea of moderate it, because how they defined moderate trails in Colorado are completely different than how they made them in California. 

After a bit, we found a tight spot next to Miller Lake.  It was chilly, wrought with mosquitos, but perfect all at the same time.  We would happily call this campsite home for two nights.

Day 2: Giant Sequoia National Park

We mostly drove through the park since we were running out of daylight towards the end, but we did stop to walk the Trail of a Hundred Giants.  These giants are truly awe inspiring.  If you have a bucket list, and the sequoias/redwoods are not on it, you're doing it wrong.

Mandy taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her.  Yep, we're corny like that.

Once off the trail, it was pavement through the mountains until we hit National Forest.  Forget getting into a campground in National Parks this time of year: they're packed and pricey.

We set up camp, temperatures dropped and bits of pink and orange peaked through the clouds.

Goodnight giants.