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Ray Eklund · 02-20-2016, 12:52 PM

tjansen... small world it seems. You are the third Airstream owner in the Castle Rock area.

We have an isolated cul-de-sac and have had other trailer owners park over night when we are all heading off together. Our 25 footer parks in our garage, which is why we bought the house for this "bonus" for our Airstream parking and setting up without having to go to one of the many RV storage areas in Douglas County.

For this Colorado School for Greenhorns... there is no limit, yet.

I suggest:

#1- Chatfield Reservoir campsite in Littleton, Colorado for temporary camp for this trip or if you are in the Denver, CO area.

#2- Yogi Bear's Jellystone Camp/Resort, Larkspur, Colorado as a semi- Base Camp experience with amenities offered at the site... RV, Trailer or tent campers.

#3- Our cul-de-sac, space permitting for overnight camp before we leave.

dpaul.syv · 02-20-2016, 01:26 PM

I'm from central Coast CA. I am heading to Jackson hole/west Yellowstone the first 2 weeks of June. If this is in the schedule for that time frame I'd love to join up. I have an event I'm participating in the 2d Saturday all day. Other than that...
I will do the email info as well.
I have '68 Tradewind. Just getting ready to start doing local campground practice.
Thanks for offering this experience

ColoradoLady · 02-20-2016, 05:50 PM

Ray, I use the method: hands at bottom of steering wheel...if I want back of trailer going left, I move hands to left...from 6PM toward 9Pm. TT back to go right...hands move toward 3PM. Small, deliberate motions. Yes, I will practice more.

Deb is still a worker bee, so, is not able, even if she were so inclined...to go with me. I will work on her for next year. She will help me at storage lot, if not working. We use cell phones to talk...she's terrible with hand signals. I have my iPhone synced via Bluetooth for hands free.
Since you are looking at June/July...I will get in as many solo trips in Colorado as I can...starting with Cherry Creek park, to dewinterize, then to Chatfield. Hope to be there for some balloon liftoffs. Nice photo opportunity! Work on my fishing skills, too.

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 03:22 AM

Post #18
"One thing I learned as an Army Brat... people gain confidence when they think the person in charge knows more than they do."
******

This sentence is the most important sentence for each of you to understand.

If you have already gained some confidence by "thinking" and wanting to learn something new... you are the one who has already gained. It is you that has the ability, but needed some confidence to apply yourself to do something unfamiliar. Your gain in options does not affect mine one bit. It is a win for everyone.

Once arriving at this one location in Colorado, you have already gained Base Camp and Off the Grid camp site experience. Each trip may present a challenge or potential risk, yet solved by some common sense learned from a previous trip or from encountering the exact same situation ten minutes earlier on this trip.

The seed of confidence is contagious. Once you have understood the limitations of your Airstream, half the education has been learned. The other half is to know your limitations. This will improve over time. Your Airstream had the same limitations as it did the day before. It is you who has a different outlook and will improve.

ColoradoLady will be preparing for this short adventure, that has always been available. Every year, every Summer. But... maybe this will be the year that Evelyn will know if she is up to it. It is better to have tried and failed, than did nothing and succeeded. We must accept our limitations, which I do every day.

Some opportunities are missed as you were not aware it existed. You are now aware. Your cost is your time. My time will be well spent just finding anyone attending make this first step.

And for some, a really really big one.

twh731 · 02-21-2016, 07:17 AM

"ended up in an apartment complex parking lot." Hahha...that sounds a lot like something I would get myself into! I have been reading about your various and sundry excursions into the hinterlands for some time. You sound like a very seasoned (not meant to be a reflection on your age...since we've never met) boondocker...just the kind of person we all need to learn from. We are in the Taos,NM area and were disappointed that we didn't have our 70 Safari ready for the road last year for your NM trip. We hope to have her ready to go this spring so I will be watching your posts for likely upcoming rendesvouz. I sent an email to the address in one of your previous posts for a vote FOR the greenhorn boondocking school. Hope to meet up with you sometime this year. Tom and Sue

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twh731

"ended up in an apartment complex parking lot." Hahha...that sounds a lot like something I would get myself into! I have been reading about your various and sundry excursions into the hinterlands for some time. You sound like a very seasoned (not meant to be a reflection on your age...since we've never met) boondocker...just the kind of person we all need to learn from. We are in the Taos,NM area and were disappointed that we didn't have our 70 Safari ready for the road last year for your NM trip. We hope to have her ready to go this spring so I will be watching your posts for likely upcoming rendesvouz. I sent an email to the address in one of your previous posts for a vote FOR the greenhorn boondocking school. Hope to meet up with you sometime this year. Tom and Sue

********
Send me information as in Post #18 so I can get you on my notification list. If you missed 2015 Quemado... May will be here sooner than you think for 2016 Quemado.

Same with the 2016 School for Greenhorns. Once I have a date, everyone on my list will get notice in plenty of time to plan.

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 10:16 AM

One difference with this School for Greenhorns:

A short discussion before we depart Castle Rock, CO will involve how to locate and mark, using your odometer, camp site pullouts when going to Base Camp. These are along a river. Most are drive in and outs... and some backing into them.

So as you feel more comfortable with the first area, you can check out other camp sites and do some individual camping on your own. Might even bring a fly rod... Better have a Colorado Fishing License or day permit of your choosing.

Longboard6 · 02-21-2016, 10:27 AM

Sign us up, Ray!

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longboard6

Sign us up, Ray!

******

Oh no... I am signed up... you need to go to Post #18 and email me the information so I can get you onto the list. Then you are signed up.

Welcome aboard. When a date is choosen, those on my list will be notified.

MAJORJDB · 02-21-2016, 11:01 AM

I think you have a great idea, but you might want to add in a few actual survival training sessions for new "off-grid" campers. I know that "boondocking" sounds romantic and back to nature is serene, but nature can make for a very "bad" day if you are clueless about respecting it. TV prep/maint., wildlife, weather issues, basic first-aid, etc. might be good lead-in sessions to what you want to teach. Stuff happens in the "field" and you may not be a smart-phone call away from help or your SP may have no charge when its needed. Some things to think about, I hope everyone enjoys their RV experience and whatever paths it takes you on.
JDB

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 11:19 AM

Al & Missy... you are #5 on the 2016 Wyoming Adventure. Early birds...

Not a "questionable trailer"... a questionable owner after dinging your 25 footer. I dinged our 2006 23 foot Safari the first time with our new Tundra. The tail lights bulge out on the 2012 and dented above the gravel panel on a tight turn. Never had that problem before and the newer Tundra's went back to a flush tail light after a couple models with them. Stuff happens, and yes... if it is the other guy, you will be more careful yourself. Made me questionable... but never expected my new truck as a problem, either. I lived. My friend with a 2000 Arctic Fox crunched his trailer with the new 2012 Tundra tail lights... on his first trip.

Wyoming will have several Base Camps that require a tow driver and an experienced walking along the trailer once leaving the main Forest Service road. It is not advised... but actually the 100% fail safe method in a tight spot. It is also great exercise for the passenger who has been sawing ZZZZZ while your navigate down the two lane highways of Wyoming.

A 30 foot is easier to back up than a 16 foot or a 25 foot. You just have to know when to "stop backing up". Trees are difficult to move. Only one, maybe two spots will have trees scattered about. They have been there for decades and nobody has bothered them, so you probably will be safe.

The extra eyes watching your blind spots and clearance from below your axles and plumbing are important. You can also attempt a different angle... or go to a Base Camp you passed with an easier access.

You may want to follow a 27 to 30 foot trailer, than a 16 foot Bambi off the road. Watch and learn. It takes more time to repair an error in judgment than the passenger walking along side watching your approach needs to spend for a safe trip.

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJORJDB

I think you have a great idea, but you might want to add in a few actual survival training sessions for new "off-grid" campers. I know that "boondocking" sounds romantic and back to nature is serene, but nature can make for a very "bad" day if you are clueless about respecting it. TV prep/maint., wildlife, weather issues, basic first-aid, etc. might be good lead-in sessions to what you want to teach. Stuff happens in the "field" and you may not be a smart-phone call away from help or your SP may have no charge when its needed. Some things to think about, I hope everyone enjoys their RV experience and whatever paths it takes you on.
JDB

******
Great points. Looking forward to having you come along.

ColoradoLady · 02-21-2016, 01:34 PM

Ray, as a retired RN, I carry a well stocked first aid kit. If needed, I am available.

I am adventurous, but, not foolhardy. I am grateful for the opportunity and will give it my best. My plan is to succeed. If I find it to be outside my limits...trust me...I will say so, and pack up for home. Nothing ventured...nothing gained. Never too old to learn...even if what is learned....is one's limits.

lindaebrewer · 02-21-2016, 02:21 PM

Definitely interested in Castle Rock, CO in June or July this year.

Ray Eklund · 02-21-2016, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindaebrewer

Definitely interested in Castle Rock, CO in June or July this year.

Email me the information listed on Post #18 so I can get you onto the contact spread sheet.

The air will be fresh, thin and bring extra blankets. Warm days and Cool Evenings, if the sun is out. If the sun is not out... rain jacket, hat and several decks of cards.

gghayes · 02-21-2016, 08:19 PM

Bill and I are definitely interested and are real greenhorns . We have only had the airstream a year and have only gone to campgrounds that have hook ups.
Gloria

gghayes · 02-21-2016, 08:43 PM

I sent my info to your email.
Gloria

baterup · 02-21-2016, 11:16 PM

How about SoCal, anything there?

Barretta2 · 02-22-2016, 06:57 AM

I'm in! We spend June-October in the Colorado Rockies (Silverthorne), and I'm the avid camper in the family--my fly-fishing husband, not so much. I am also a professional artist, and one of the main reasons I bought my FC was to use it as a mobile studio...and boondocking is the only way to get to the scenery I seek.
I've "boondocked" once.....in the parking lot of a diner in the middle of Kansas, LOL. But I really want to learn the ins/outs (pun intended) of boondocking in the Rockies. I can back up, no issues there (as long as no one tries to tell me how to do it).
This summer, I should hit Colorado by mid-June, because I'm taking a slight detour from Naples, FL up through New Hampshire before heading West. Would love to get a boondocking-for-beginners on the calendar sometime in August.
PS: Buying new tires very soon...threads seem to advise getting 15" Michelins...will installing larger wheels/tires create any issues boondocking (ie, less room to go over ruts)? Thanks for getting us to The Boonies...

Ray Eklund · 02-22-2016, 10:54 AM

Barretta2... tires and ruts are not an issue for our Boondocking. Those are great tires and can handle anything encountered while towing your trailer!

Anyone wanting to get onto the list needs to go back to Post #18. Without that information on my spreadsheet, you will not hear anything when the specifics are decided.

By August we will be out of Colorado and getting into some real trouble....

baterup... start a Thread under Boondocking and get some Southern California Airstream Boondocking group out of hibernation. Now is a good time for that as the camping season will be here soon.