After practicing living without being plugged in, we felt like our solar setup was ready for real boondocking. We guessed at how much water we’d need in our fresh water tank for a few days, not wanting to overfill and increase the weight of the rig while driving, then headed out. We drove to the Shavano Wildlife Management Area Dispersed Camping, parked near the entrance, and rode our bikes up the gravel road to make sure there was room for us to park somewhere and then get back out easy enough. There were a few large ruts, but still passible and It wasn’t very crowded, so we found a spot without much trouble. It had an awesome 360 degree view and the best cell service I think we’ve had so far! I waited at the spot while Randy rode his bike back to the rig and drove it up. When driving back down, I mentioned that I was glad I wasn’t in the truck when he drove it up, since it was kind of nerve racking going over the ruts and wondering if the trailer was going to contact the truck. Randy agreed that it was indeed!
After we got settled into the new site, we drove about 10 minutes back into Salida to explore it a bit. We happened by the visitor center and decided to pop in. I’m really glad we did, otherwise, we might not have realized that the area along Hwy 50 isn’t the best part of the town. She directed us back to the historical part of town, which was super cute. Its main street was blocked off from traffic and little shops and restaurants had shade tents and seating out in the street. There was also an art festival going on, so the atmosphere was a bit more festive than it might have been otherwise. After walking around the shop area, we also walked along the river for a ways. We ended our first day in Salida with free pie and ice cream a store owner was handing out to people visiting the festival. Yum!!
The next day, we also rode our bikes for a few miles along a trail and then drove up Tenderfoot Mountain on the edge of town to get an amazing view of Salida. That night, we decided to take the ghost tour that the visitor center lady said was entertaining. I usually avoid the ghost tours when sight seeing, but decided to give it a shot since it was recommended. Steve, the tour guide was entertaining and told a lot of intriguing stories as we walked around the town. We didn’t see any evidence of ghosts, though!
On Sunday, we visited a local church. For some reason, the music director preached and the pastor led the music on his guitar (his wife sang backup and his son played the drum box thingie). Personally, I thought the music director did a better job at preaching than the preacher did at singing, but it was a good service. There were a few people who spoke to us but it wasn’t an overly welcoming place, even though it was small so we know people could tell we were visitors. I’m still glad we went. We decided to eat at Currents, given Steve’s recommendation.
So, a successful first boondocking adventure!! I don’t think there were any big lessons on this leg of the trip, but a small one was that It’s worth stopping by the Visitor Center to get a local’s recommendation of where to go & what to do!
From our boondocking site, we drove a few miles to Salida / Mt. Shavano KOA Journey, where we had full hookups. I had purposely planned it so we wouldn’t have to drive too far with full tanks. So we dumped, did laundry and cleaned the RV. (Dust accumulates FAST when the door and windows open!) Oh, another lesson was that refilling propane tanks in town instead of at the campground is way cheaper! Thanks to the KOA not having propane, Randy drove back into town to fill one of our tanks and learned it was worth the extra drive.
We also learned that the “real” campgrounds must be the type of places where full-timers are able to make new friends on the road, like I’ve heard stories of. We have not had many interactions with other people at the previous campgrounds, except to mostly just say Hi. But at the KOA, the RVs are closer together and people sit outside more. The tire inflator that we had connected to our emergency battery source died when Randy was topping off the tires, so I asked to borrow a neighbors. They were super friendly and when we returned it, they invited us to sit and chat. So, the first couple we met on the road was Jim & Sue; unfortunately, we won’t see them around anywhere else, since they said that was probably their last camping trip and that they were giving their camper to their son. Oh well, it was still a pleasant way to spend the evening!
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