Thanksgiving Winter Adventures and the Land of OZ

Our Thanksgiving Day was full of winter adventures and the Land of OZ…Kansas that is. We left for OZ on Thursday pulling our Arctic Fox travel trailer headed right into a major winter storm warning full of freezing rain, ice, snow and wind. What the heck. I’m an adventurous sort and our Arctic Fox trailer is a four seasons model rated down to zero so let’s see how it’ll do. We were headed to Kansas to spend the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with son Ted and his wife Heather. It was hard to believe that the weather would turn so brutal later in the day when it was near 40 degrees and sunny when we left Montrose in Western Colorado.

We knew the weather would turn and had been monitoring the Weather Channel on TV as well as a couple of weather apps on our smart phones. What it boiled down to was either driving into the freezing rain by taking a warmer more southerly route on Hwy 50 or going for a more colder and snowy northerly route on I-70. We’d have to decide which way by the time we reached Canon City on the other side of Monarch Pass. For those unfamiliar with the area and these routes, you’ll have to drag out your Rand McNally for reference.

Kathy was particularly concerned about Monarch Pass but it was clear and dry. The road between Salida and Canon City however was in bad shape. Icy, and slick. Sleet/rain blowing. Going through that canyon was a white knuckle ride for sure. It became apparent that the road hadn’t been maintained at all. No plowing, no sanding, nothing. Then it dawned on me that it was Thanksgiving. Obviously the state crews were home eating turkey. That made up our mind. If Highway 50 was no better than this then we better head up to Limon, Colorado on I-70 and go that way. I felt that the interstate would be better maintained.

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At least the road to Limon was straight.

The big concern in staying at Limon for the night was the low temp forecasted for that night…2 degrees. I know I said our trailer was rated down to zero but I didn’t want to push it. We kept the heat on in the trailer even while we were traveling to keep everything from freezing as it was well below freezing already. The forecast lows for Colby, KS were better, only 9 degrees so once we got onto the interstate at Limon we opted to go to Colby for the night. Of course trying to find an RV park that was open was like trying to find beach wear in the truck stops. We came close though. We spent the night at the Oasis truck stop in Colby.

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Yes, those are palm trees, fake ones at that but the girls behind the counter weren’t wearing any hula skirts. The parking lot was a sheet of ice. During the night it rained/sleeted/snowed some more and by morning it was worse. We could see trucks moving on the interstate though so all we had to do was get to the interstate.

I’ll stop here and give a plug to Arctic Fox. Our trailer was great. It tracked good behind the truck, it was warm and comfortable and we were happy campers, although maybe the only ones out there in an RV. We decided we couldn’t be the only ones crazy enough to be doing this and over the course of our travels on the way there we encountered four other idiots braving the elements.

The drive into Manhattan was arduous. The rain/sleet/snow built up on the way and we faced a cross wind out of the north. The interstate was in pretty good shape considering and traffic was moving, although slowly at times and there were numerous vehicles off the road. We were running between 45 mph and 55 mph most of the way in. It was  raining lightly in Manhattan and son Ted met us on the side of the road to lead us to the Tuttle State Park where we would spend the next couple of nights. Off of the main traveled roads, it was icy and I had to use 4WD to get up a hill to the campground. Once on top we had our choice of camping spots. There weren’t a lot of folks camping although there were several which surprised us.

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I can imaging this being pretty nice during the spring but it was brutal this day with the high humidity and wind out of the north.

We spent the next two days in rain, with temps hovering around the high 20’s. Icy in places but not crippling. We tried to tour around a bit on Saturday and had wanted to go antiquing but most of the places were closed due to the weather. On Sunday we had our turkey and football. We wanted to leave on Monday but the forecast was for another winter storm warning but clearing on Tuesday.

It rained most of Sunday night. Monday morning we awoke to rain but it had not frozen yet so we decided to run for it. We opted to take a southerly route and hook up with Hwy 50, essentially going back the way we had intended to come out. It was supposed to clear up and be warmer that way. The landscape was incredibly beautiful in a magical way. Everything, and I mean everything was glistening in a coat of ice. The road was good but the fields, trees, road signs were all coated. It was incredible. Unfortunately there was no shoulder on these back country highways and county roads so pulling over and snapping a few photos, much less doing a painting, was out of the question. I’m going to try to recreate this from memory which shouldn’t be hard as the mile after mile image is etched into my mind. It didn’t change much so this should be easy.

We made it to La Junta, CO that night and stayed in the KOA, along with a number of other winter travelers to our surprise, and then on home on Tuesday. So in summary, the trailer did fantastic. We love it. We were snug and comfortable the whole time. Managing propane was a task at times however. I didn’t want to run out in the night. In Montrose, the low forecast for Tuesday night was 2 degrees. We’d gotten in early enough in the afternoon that I went ahead and winterized the rig so I don’t have to worry about it anymore until February when we plan on returning to Kansas to welcome our granddaughter. I really prefer to sleep in my own bed and eat our own cooking these days. We’ll take the trailer out there again then.

Back in the day I used to use a CB radio when traveling and somehow over the years got away from it. I sure could’ve used one on this trip. Checking in with the truckers on road conditions and listening to the chatter can give you a little confidence sometimes or warn you of problem conditions well enough in advance you can avoid them. Having one with a weather band would’ve been nice too. In Manhattan, we looked in a truck stop and found just such a thing. I’ll be better prepared in February now.

I’ll do up a couple of watercolors showing the wintery conditions and post those in a few days. Until then, I hope you got all you wanted to eat on Thanksgiving Day.

Comments 7

  1. What an adventure!!!! You are a brave sort, or like living on the edge.
    Thanks for sharing your adventure, have you thought of being an author as well. I go back and forth to Texas and I think K
    ansas wins over the panhandle for ice and harsh storms.

  2. Hello from Minnesota,

    Mike, thank you for your blogs and well-told tales; I recently drove over Monarch Pass, and can picture very well your route to Canon City.
    Merry Christmas and a prolific New Year.

    Maggie’s Mom

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  3. Mike, glad for your safe return to Montrose. Sounds like quite the trip…”where angels fear to tred”…you did. Looking forward to your artwork of the trip. ~Bettie Larkin

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  4. Good grief, Mike. I can’t believe that you would risk damaging Artic Fox. Next time you and Kathy get the itch to do some long distant traveling in the winter, come visit Janie and me here in Sarasota. Why, we even have a four-star rated RV resort nearby that you two might enjoy.
    Jimmy

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