Oct 05 2009

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs CO

We have been waiting for two years for the campground at Cheyenne Mountain State Park to open. Every year we come by Colorado Springs to visit with members of Eleanor’s family, and we have tried different places to stay each time. They’ve all been fine, but nothing has been super-convenient to their home, and some places we’ve tried have been so far out of Colorado Springs that I can’t make phone calls or get online, which makes work impossible.

Finally this year we got our first chance to try the newest state park in Colorado, right at the granite base of Cheyenne Mountain, and it has been sweet. This place is first-class all the way. The park road winds up 600 feet of elevation (from 6,000 to 6,600) and includes a spectacularly nice Visitor Center (complete with cushy Mission-style furniture and a fireplace), many hiking trails, bathrooms, showers, laundry, camp store, four RV/tent camping areas, and special walk-in “tent only” campsites.

The views are excellent from up here, looking east to the valley of Colorado Springs and backdropped to the west by the imposing sight of Cheyenne Mountain. It’s fall, so some of the low vegetation is changing color, which makes the view even more entrancing.

But best of all are the superb campsites. They are varied in shape and size and distributed around curving roads and cul-de-sacs, so the campground doesn’t have the boring homogenous “parking lot” look. The sites feature the same perfectly level pink concrete that we appreciate so much when we are at Cherry Creek, along with large gravel picnic areas, fire rings with steel covers (first time I’ve seen those in a state park!), two rustic-looking water outlets (one positioned for RVs, the other for tents), a separate gravel tent pad with tie-down rings (because it’s windy here and tent stakes won’t hold in the gravel), and full hookups with 20/30/50-amp power.

The sites are well separated and bordered with plenty of natural local vegetation of the arid high-altitude variety. At $22 per night for full hookup (plus day use fee of $6 or annual state park pass), it’s a pretty good deal. I can’t find anything not to like. I suppose in the winter I might not like it as much, but the campground starts to go through a series of stepped closures starting October 15 anyway.

For business purposes, my Verizon Internet card works well enough up here, but I notice that phone calls often drop despite a strong cellular signal. This may be caused by the multitude of large antennas atop Cheyenne Mountain — a short straight-line distance away. The military is still active inside the mountain, and who knows what sort of RF they’re beaming out. Other than this nuisance, the park combines business and pleasure for me very well.

We’ve spent three days in the park and will be leaving tomorrow. We certainly could stay another day or two to enjoy the company and the blustery fall weather, but we want to get across the Rockies in the next couple of days, before some early winter weather shows up. We’ve been getting days in the 50s and 60s recently, but by Saturday the forecast calls for snow and a high of just 39. Time to move on — but we’ll be back to Cheyenne Mountain State Park again.

Oct 04 2009

Oscillation

I just read Forrest McClure’s recent blog post on the Airstream Life Community Page about his driving experience on I-25 near Denver. Forrest and Patrice spent a couple of pleasant days with us in Cherry Creek State Park, which is one of our favorite western stops.

I had not thought to mention the undulating stretch of pavement on I-25 in my first blog from Cherry Creek, but when Forrest and I got talking he brought it up and I was interested to hear how similar our experiences were. I want to talk about it further because it brings up an important safety issue for trailerites, and it gives me the opportunity to debunk some “urban legends” about towing.

As Forrest describes in his blog, the effect of undulating pavement (whether bumps, potholes, or even railroad crossings) is to make the trailer oscillate up and down at the tongue. The faster you go, the worse the effect, so if you read no further than this, take away one simple message: SLOW DOWN when the road gets funky.

When the trailer tongue lifts up, it unloads the weight on the rear axle of the tow vehicle. This removes part or all of the ability of the tow vehicle to control the trailer.

Let me repeat that, because it’s important to appreciate: an unloaded rear axle means you are no longer in control of the trailer. It does not matter how heavy your truck is. It does not matter what hitch you are using. It does not matter that you are the world’s best driver. You are now a passenger. The trailer, even a lightweight one, can easily shove your and your truck off the road in that brief “unloaded” moment, because when only the front wheels are in firm contact with the ground, you cannot expect to command the trailer.

The degree of this loss of control depends on a lot of factors. Speed has a lot to do with it, because the harder you bounce the trailer, the more it is going to lift your rear end. Independently-suspended vehicles have a slight advantage over solid axles, because they can keep their wheels planted more firmly in adverse handling conditions.

Heavier vehicles are harder to lift, but don’t think that’s going to save you. A typical Airstream with 800 lbs of tongue weight can easily bounce upward (on a good bump) with a force two or three times the tongue weight. In other words, imagine lifting up on the rear bumper of your truck with 2400 lbs of force. It may not come off the ground, but it sure it going to lose firm contact with the ground, with commensurate loss of control. You might as well be driving on ice. This is why I do not agree with the common belief that “heavier is better.” It’s only partly true, and induces overconfidence. There’s much more to safe trailering than just using a big truck.

I remember hearing an anecdote from an Airstream dealer about this phenomenon. He was towing a 1960s-era Airstream which was unduly light in the front (due to some parts being removed), using a heavy-duty pickup truck. Going around a curve, the trailer simply pushed his truck right off the road. Why? Because having inadequate tongue weight makes it easier for the trailer to lift the rear end of the truck. The trailer weighed about 3000 lbs, half of the weight of the truck, and yet in his words, “It pushed that truck around like it was a toy.” An oscillating trailer will cause exactly the same result.

Fortunately, both Forrest and I were traveling in a straight line, and both of us had the presence of mind to slow down. From our discussion, it sounded like Forrest got the worst of it, because he had some horizontal sway (side to side) and we did not. He also may have encountered the bumps at a higher speed, since I saw them coming and he didn’t. But as he pointed out, you can’t expect your equipment to save you in this situation. “Sway control” that is typically available on hitches is effective only on horizontal sway, not oscillation (up and down). You’ve got to slow down.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for a really good vehicle suspension. When oscillation occurs, you want it to stop as quickly as possible. The damping effect of the tow vehicle’s suspension is crucial here. The trailer will keep bouncing you for a while after encountering the bump, and that means the rear axle will get loaded and unloaded repeatedly. Each rear-axle unloading event is an opportunity for the trailer to push you, and each front-axle unloading event will give you a uncomfortable moment of understeer. The sooner it stops, the happier you’ll be.

Again, here’s where heavy truck drivers can become overconfident. Many trucks have very stiff suspensions, which resist compression even in an event such as we’ve described. Since the driver doesn’t feel the truck bouncing, he/she may assume that the truck is unaffected. Thus, the common statement that, “The truck doesn’t even know the trailer is back there.”

Actually, it’s the driver who doesn’t know what’s going on. A stiff truck suspension will resist bouncing, definitely, but the weight-loading effect caused by the trailer hitting a bump is still going to occur. Even if the truck doesn’t dip and bob, the weight distribution to the axles is still changing dynamically as long as the trailer is oscillating. You just can’t see it, or feel it, in the seat of your pants.

So in this case, what happens? Most of the time, nothing happens, the driver is clueless, and the truck and trailer go on their merry way. Once in a while, the grip of the rear axle is too light to continue controlling the trailer, and “suddenly without warning we went off the road!”

Personally, I’d rather be well-warned in advance that the rear axle is being unloaded and that I’m pressing the limits of tire adhesion, rather than be completely unaware and surprised when the limits are exceeded. If you tow with a vehicle that has a numb rear suspension, keep in mind that it’s not telling you something. Did I mention to “slow down”?

Of course, traveling on an uneven surface, wet or snowy surface, on a curve, or with improper weight distribution, will all exacerbate the problem. If you want to be safe (and who doesn’t?), start with a properly set-up hitch and weight distribution, then respect the conditions you’re in.

Despite driving radically different vehicles, both Forrest and I felt the effect of undulating concrete very dramatically. It’s impossible to say scientifically which tow rig performed better, but in any case our mutual experience underscores the need to respect the road. There’s no substitute for driver caution.

Sep 30 2009

State parks and specs

We’re now in the Denver area, staying at our favorite central stop, Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora. We’ll be here a few days catching up on work, visiting friends and Airstream Life contributors who live in the area, and taking care of a few minor maintenance items.

I editorialized in the Fall 2009 Airstream Life about the budget cuts that are closing state parks and/or reducing services all over the country. More states are charging day use fees in their parks on top of the camping fees, and the fees are rising. We’ve been forced to buy annual passes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Colorado so far because the day use fees are more than the cost of the annual pass after just a few days. The windshield of the car is starting to get obscured by all the big stickers. In South Dakota we also paid $15 for a one-week pass because they don’t offer a single-day pass. Texas and California also have annual state park pass programs, Arizona is considering it, and I’m sure there are many other states as well.

Wisconsin’s pass isn’t too expensive but Colorado’s is a monster at $63. Day use fees here at Cherry Creek are $8, so an eight-day stay justifies the pass. We won’t be here that long but we do plan to visit a few other Colorado state parks this month. All told, we’ve dropped about $120 in state park passes so far. I’ll have to add that expense into the budget for future trips, since user fees seem to be the trend these days.

On another subject, blog reader Vernon writes:

Rich,
Have you considered adding a spec’s page to your blog? Specifically, what equipment are you using – camera, computers, upgrade specifics to the ‘stream such as solar panel sizes… I have been able to search both blogs and usually find references but it would be nice to have it on a single link.

We did have something like that on the Tour of America blog, but it is now out of date. I’ll put the current specs and major equipment here so people can find it using the “search” box on this blog.

RV: 2005 Airstream Safari 30-ft “bunkhouse”. Empty weight 6400, GVWR 8400. Upgrades include: two 115 watt “Evergreen” solar panels, four Optima “blue top” AGM batteries, Tri-Metric 2020 battery monitor, Blue Sky Solar Boost 2000e MPPT solar controller, Kodiak disc brakes with Actibrake hydraulic brake actuator, 5000# axles, Dometic NDR1026 10-cu. ft. refrigerator, MaxxAir “Maxxfan” for ventilation, Northstar catalytic heater, Centramatic wheel balancers, stainless steel furnace & water heater covers from Roger Williams Airstream, many other minor modifications/upgrades.

Tow vehicle: 2009 Mercedes GL320 Bluetec. V6 turbodiesel, 398 ft-lbs torque, 215 hp, 121″ wheelbase, with modified hitch receiver, otherwise stock. Typical fuel economy: 14 MPG towing, 25 MPG solo.

Hitch: Hensley with straight receiver bar (slightly curved for better weight distribution), custom drilled hole for shorter overhang. I carry a set of spare parts for the Hensley including spare zerk (grease) fittings, and a grease gun.

Cameras: Nikon D90 with 18-200mm VR zoom, Nikon D70 with Tokina 10-24mm wide angle zoom, various filters, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, Canon Powershot. (Note: I do not own Photoshop or any other photo-manipulation software and so all of my photos you see in the blog and in Airstream Life magazine are exactly as taken by the camera.)

Computers: A 2009 MacBook Pro “unibody”, and a 2004 iBook G4. We also carry several backup hard drives, a battery-powered printer (HP OfficeJet H470), and a CanoScan LiDE60 flatbed scanner.

Internet: Verizon USB card with Cradlepoint CTR500 cellular wifi router.

I think that’s the majority of the stuff. Post a comment if you would like me to add more info here.

Sep 28 2009

Buffalo roundup!

This blog is meandering off its intended course as an occasional brain dump, and becoming a travelogue like the old Tour of America blog, but I suppose I’m OK with that if you are. And wow, what travels we have had in the past few days!

We left off with you at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We caught the last two ranger programs of the season on chilly evenings and luckily also got some superb weather. On Sunday things turned chilly and gray, but not before I snapped the photo to the left in the early morning. Emma picked up her Junior Ranger badge and off we went.

Our next stop was back over the line to South Dakota, and into the heart of the Black Hills. Custer State Park is the enormous centerpiece of the Black Hills, so large that it boasts hundreds of campsites, several lodges, lakes, several scenic highways, and even a playhouse. It is a truly remarkable place and well worth a visit despite moderately high camping fees.

We dropped the Airstream in Stockade Lake North campground and immediately headed north along the winding Route 16-A to Mt Rushmore. Two years ago Eleanor and I towed the Airstream up this route, which includes many hairpin turns and three one-lane tunnels. Driving just the car I kept thinking, “Did I really tow on this road?” It is possible, even with a 30-foot trailer, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Poor Emma got a little carsick along the way but recovered quickly once we pulled over. (I was NOT going to let her hurl in the back of a new Mercedes Benz. The Airstream’s carpet was never the same after that 24-hour virus she got in Albuquerque last year.)

She was well enough by the time we reached Mt Rushmore to take a ranger-led hike and complete the Junior Ranger program, which meant she had achieved a personal best: two badges in a single day. And then we tested her resolve by taking Rt 87, the Needles Highway (view from the road pictured at left), back to the campground. This road is even crazier than Rt 16-A, with one tunnel only 8 feet 4 inches wide. Don’t take the trailer on this one! It’s a spectacular drive, especially at sunset, even if it does look like a pile of spaghetti on the GPS display.

We were lucky enough to have arrived for the annual Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park. This morning, along with thousands of other people, we arose early and drove across the park (35 minutes) to a viewing area. Once we arrived at 8:44 a.m., the road was closed and we waited in a grassy plain for about an hour. Eventually we spotted the buffalo coming over a hill, pushed by a team on horseback and four-wheel drive trucks. The rush of buffalo lasted for just a few minutes. Once they were corralled safely, the road was re-opened and we were allowed to leave. Later in the day a process of examining, vaccinating, and culling of the herd would begin, but we couldn’t stay for it.

The peculiar thing about camping in Custer State Park is the dearth of dump stations. Apparently there’s only one in the whole huge park, and it can be a 20-30 minute drive from some campsites such as ours. Devils Tower also lacks a dump station, so it had been three nights in the trailer and we were beginning to wonder when we’d have a chance to deal with the necessities.

Well, set such worries aside, because — look! There’s Jewel Cave National Monument right along the road west! Time was short but not so short that Emma couldn’t … well, you know … collect yet another Junior Ranger badge. Three in two days, another personal best.

And then we stopped in the small town of Newcastle WY to pick up our mail at General Delivery. By this time it was past 2 p.m. and we had nearly full holding tanks, very little water, and 150 miles left to drive. We did it again: we packed too much into one day and now it was time to pay the price.

Things would have worked out better if there hadn’t been so darned much road construction along Hwy 18. We had two long delays, one of over 20 minutes. Then there was that tire I’ve been watching — it finally went completely bald along the outer edge and that made me nervous, so we stopped in the tiny burg of Lusk WY and changed it. At a rest stop we discovered that Eleanor had forgotten a cup of milk in the microwave, and after 100 miles of towing we finally hit a bump big enough to knock it over, so there was a big cleanup session too. (Why didn’t it tip over sooner in all that rough road construction? Airstreams ride smoooooooth.)

There was one more stop after that, when we found a dump station at a I-25 rest area. It’s days like this that teamwork helps. With each new task (tire, milk, dump, water fill) everyone sprang into action and did what was needed. We got it all done somehow. Our last one was like a pitstop: dump tanks, fill fresh water, check lug nuts, grease the Hensley hitch, and we did it all in about 10 minutes including washing hands afterward. We may have to get team shirts someday.

So we made it to Glendo State Park in eastern Wyoming as the sun was setting. That’s cutting it a little fine, but good enough. This park surrounds a man-made lake and features zillions of random unnumbered dirt sites all around the perimeter, much like its neighbor a little further south, Guernsey State Park. Camping-wise, it’s the wild west because the campgrounds are really just zigags of dirt trails running amongst the trees. Some sites can be identified by picnic tables and fire rings, and many others seem to be just spots battered out by the herd. Fortunately, there’s no competition for the sites. It’s late in the season, weekday, and the lake is mostly dry (whether by intentional action or drought, I don’t know). We will likely be completely alone with the wind tonight, and tomorrow we’ll be off early to get to our major stop, Denver.

Sep 26 2009

Badlands, Wall, Spearfish, Devils Tower

We had planned to take our time covering the 200 miles from the campground at Badlands to our next stop, Devils Tower National Monument. First there was a leisurely putter through about 20 miles of the Badlands Loop Road with several stops at the scenic pullouts. Then we paused in Wall, SD for the obligatory visit to Wall Drug, where we browsed the bric-a-brac and took in some milkshakes and ice cream. (Try the pumpkin flavor, it’s great.)

Next stop was for lunch and groceries in Spearfish SD, and because we didn’t rush it was about two hours later that we were finally back on I-90. By this point it was past five o’clock, and I realized we’d pushed our leisurely day a little too much. Our arrival at Devils Tower was projected as 6:45, just about sunset this time of year.

There are several reasons I don’t like to arrive that late in the day. First, it was Friday night of a weekend with absolutely fantastic weather in the forecast, and we thought there was a risk that the national park campground would be full. (Turns out that’s not a concern at Devils Tower — the campground offers no hookups and no dump station, which encourages people to stay at the nearby KOA. More on that in a moment.)

Second, trying to get into a campground before dark encourages speeding, which is never a good idea with a big trailer behind you. This risk is complicated by the fact that a dusk the deer are out. We spotted many mule deer in the last 20 minutes of our tow, and had to slow down to about 20 MPH at one point to avoid a group that was crossing the road.

Third, if something goes wrong, you’re solving the problem in the dark. I mean problems like a flat tire, a full campground, taking a wrong turn, or backing into a tricky campsite.

And finally, it’s not fun to arrive at a campsite exhausted and grumpy after a long drive. Fortunately we arrived in a good mood. The drive across western South Dakota and into Wyoming was relaxing, with beautiful Black Hills scenery, late-afternoon sun lighting up the red outcrops, and the Airstream chasing us along the gently twisting roads. The campground here was unexpectedly nice, and we pulled in with 20 minutes to spare before the evening ranger talk in the amphitheater.

It’s hard to believe this is the last weekend for ranger talks in this park. Conditions are just perfect: sunshine, cool nights, warm dry days. The old aspen trees that give the campground partial shade are just starting to turn yellow. The campground features big pull-through sites that are well-spaced in two loops, neatly kept and a bargain at $12 per night. We can see the Tower from our site, and even hike right from the campground up to the trails that circumscribe it. Best of all, it is peacefully quiet most of the time. We had budgeted two nights but I could easily be persuaded to spend three, even at the price of skipping Wind Cave on Monday.

We are in “full boondock” mode, meaning that the refrigerator is running on propane rather than electricity, we get our heat from the catalytic heater rather than the inefficient and power-hungry furnace, the stove and oven take over jobs that would have been done by the microwave, and we rely on solar energy to replenish our batteries. We haven’t plugged into power since we left Mitchell SD on Wednesday morning, and may not see a power outlet for several more days.

Power is no problem as long as the sun shines (and it looks likely to for a while), but we do need regular replenishment of liquified propane gas. In this mode of camping, propane becomes a mandatory supply like fresh water. Without propane we would lose our refrigeration, heat, hot water, and cooking capability all at once. I normally check the propane before each tow as a matter of routine, but this time of year I’ll check it daily because we can use up a tank (7 gallons) every week if the nights are freezing.

Our first freezing night may be as soon as Sunday. We are at 4,400 feet, and from here on in we are going to be at higher altitudes until we get to southern Arizona. It’s hard to be bothered by freezing nights when the days are so spectacular. Fall in the west can be even better than summer. Scenic places are less crowded, daytimes are not scorching hot, summer thunderstorms are generally ending, and the hiking can be fantastic. I wish it could last longer.