164 miles
$48.24 Silt/Colorado River KOA

Very sad to leave brother Tim’s new digs, but Utah beckons.

I prep the trailer for the lower elevation’s heat by reinstalling my pre-cut Reflectix in the most heat-sinking windows. Closing the blinds isn’t enough.

Before.

After.

I even have this stuff lining my closets, and another type on the underbelly under the front dinette around the spare tire.

I also have some for the roof fans, but they’re more useful when free to do their job.

Next, I backed down the figure-S driveway, trying to avoid the neighbor’s tent trailer, pickup truck, and a wood fence against the road, directly across the road.

So far, so good. Then up “Grapevine”. 10mph speed limit. (named for the little curly-cue at the end of grape vines?)

I-70 through the Rockies is stressful. Steep grades, construction, small cars speeding, big-rigs doing 35mph with flashers on. It takes a lot of concentration to maintain the right speed and in the right gear to spare the brakes a white-hot meltdown.

I thought I might get to Utah today, but I decided to take another breath. By noon, I had reached Silt, Colorado, and their KOA oasis. Full hookups (i.e. AC). Riverside sites. Propane refill. Pool. I’ll say it again – pool.

I’ve been boondocking for a long time. The siren-like call of a reasonably-priced campground with a pool and beautiful skies was too much to resist.

Silt (across I-70 from the campground) is adorable. A little Main Street has a nice Farm-to-Market store (Skip’s) and a decent car wash, so I gave Apollo 23′ a bath.

And a full tank of gas.

A special note to the Silt, CO “Kum and Go”: think about how your diesel pumps are set up. Does this proximity to regular gasoline seem like a good idea?

Usually, diesel is on one side, and the three grades of “regular” gas are grouped on the other.

But back to our story.

This is not a race. An adventure, yes. But not a race. Staying here puts me in “pole position” for a sunrise drive into Utah, taking my favorite (and infamous) back-way into Moab and Arches.

I don’t necessarily need to camp in the same camping spot my 19′ Airstream had its awning ripped off by a “monsoon”, but I’d like to get through the same area without an “incident“.

I think that’s a reasonable goal, don’t you?