2026 "Out West Adventures" Part 2

 Saturday June 20, 2026.  I think!

Part 2 of this Story continues with us leaving Lake City, Colorado....But only after we accomplish our goal of Driving through the entire Alpine Loop. 

As promised, check this Adventurous Video... join us below and please subscribe on Youtube

After finishing our multiple Jeep "Badge of Honor" trails and a few others that are too easy to meet that criteria we are grateful that the Little Blue Jeep is in good shape to tackle the Alpine Loop. That said, our Motorhome still has no generator power because after bypassing the relay back in Moab and running it all the way to Lake City in this record setting heat wave we now have a leaking generator radiator. Sooooo, our destination has changed somewhat. We are now headed to Nacogdoches, Texas to have that problem solved.....

So off we go South on Hwy 149 towards Creede, Colorado. This was not our previously planned route but Hey....we "Go with the Flow".  And glad we did, this is a beautiful route to take. We learned of this from the Texans we met at Lake City. This is how they go home. Awesome scenery! So much better than Interstates. 

Stopped at a Staging Area in Weminuche Wilderness about 45 miles south of Lake City for a breakfast break. Long day ahead, still without A/C we intend to hit campgrounds every HOT afternoon until we get to Texas.  Not much traffic today but on weekends it would be full of trailers unloading ATV's and UHV's to ride the trails.

Next stop.

Roadside Rest Area just before Amarillo.....this stop even has a corral and ramp to unload your horses. Dang it....we brought the wrong horse.

Next Stop... and it's a doozy.........THE BIG TEXAN 

Great Campground, and Annie says let's go check this place out.

And she found her spot.....

Very nice Place to overnite. A bit more that we usually do for just a one night stay but...HEY,......they offer free shuttle service over to their Steak House....

And as soon as Annie is finished at the playground we are off to find that Shuttle.

You know what they say......Everything is BIG in Texas......this place backs it up.

Come on in.... we'll show you around.

Should I try that 72 ounce Steak???

It's free if you can eat it all..

The bear eats one every day and look what it's done for him.

Does that come with bread and a potato?

Yes it does....and you must eat that too  qiee.

to qualify for the FreeBee

But looks like Christine is more concerned with the dessert.

This place has something for everyone.

You thought I was kidding....

I was NOT kidding........Here is the KID

Sounds simple huh? ....FAT CHANCE....a few phone calls later we find out this radiator is no longer available. Looks like we will be stopping by Keith Risch's RV Repair to see what can be done. We did manage to find a radiator repair shop and Keith's guys removed it for us but they were too busy to take it to the repair shop in Dallas. Keith had a lot full of other coaches with appointments ahead of us. Understandable, been in that shape myself many times.

Looks like Keith has plenty to do and has one man on vacation....

This may take a few days..

If they can't get us inside they will do it outside.

Keith was determined to get us fixed up somehow.

And Carlos and Jared got the radiator out and found some small leaks..

Enough to require further inspection.

I will be leaving for Dallas at 3 am to take it to Industrial Radiator for a core replacement. They open at six am and said they could have it done by closing time. 

Keith is chasing down our generator relay problem in between other jobs.....a very busy man

Watch this video while I drive to Dallas, Texas in the Little Blue Jeep.......3 1/2 hours there........3 1/2 hours back ....No hill for a climber...lol..

2026 "OUT WEST ADVENTURES"

June 7th, 2026

.....Well, It's taken exactly one month to recover, repair, and get caught up after a month long Journey thru the Wild-Wild West. And what an Adventure it was. There is no way we can organize these days in proper order so we'll wing it. First Day went as planned, early departure with first stop at a Rest Area in Concordia, Missouri. All Good, with our Vintage Foretravel Motor Coach  well prepared, our trailer with the Jeep snuggled up indoors, Christine enjoying the ride with Annie snuggled up beside her we knew it was going to be a Fabulous second day..........Until it wasn't.

About 50 miles or so from our second nite stop ( in Genoa, Colorado )we noticed a cloud formation building ahead. No worries, we are stopping in a bit anyway. BUT.......I see yellow flashing lights in my mirror.  ZOOM, ZOOM we are passed by two Storm Chaser vans...no camera on to catch it. But, the clouds are getting lower and stranger looking. So Christine checks the weather channel.....(nothing like waiting to check weather AFTER you are in the storm)...Tornado Warnings in effect with large hail, damaging winds and heavy rain.

Click on VIDEO BELOW for action just as we arrived at our campsite.......

After surviving the night in high winds, heavy rain, and small hail we felt real good missing the tornado that touched town about two inches from us (at least that's what if felt like). So off we go the next day with Lower Onion Creek Utah in our sites for a quiet campsite right on the Colorado River and all is going Great..........Until it Ain't........

But we only get to the Rockies and Red lights start appearing ahead......Story details in VIDEO ABOVE. 

That's smoke in them thar hills >>>>>>

2 hour delay, both sides of I-70 are closed.

They finally turned us around and sent us back to Glenwood Springs.....now a tiny mountain town totally packed with cars...

AND us.

June 9th, 2026

SO, after being delayed one nite in Glenwood Springs due to the Mountainside Fire we are  now able to continue on to Onion Creek Utah. And one would think we are over the travel problems and ready for some rest and relaxation at our campsite. FAT CHANCE........We are in a very hot and dry area of Utah, and the Coach Generator wouldn't start...we are in a BLM dispersed camping with no services....we have to get that generator started to have Air Conditioning. No A/C = no sleep. So after crawling around in the sand (with wind blowing 15-20 knots) I removed the under belly panel to access the generator and jump started it. Hallelujah, we have power = A/C. Later diagnosis = bad relay in control box.

Well, now maybe we can get to some serious Off-Road Adventures with a ride up Onion Creek....

see VIDEO BELOW for some trail activity...

Ready for an Easy day tomorrow.......Don"t count on that Chafton

After riding all day in almost 100 degree temperatures we arrive back at camp and notice Anti-Freeze all over the fenders of the Jeep....now what?  Seems the upper tank on the radiator has a 4-5 inch split in it.

June 11, 2026

So off to Moab tomorrow and back to fixing something.

     And, just like that.........(Actually about four hours due to some modifications we had to do)........Kevin and I replaced the Jeep radiator with a new one at the campground in Moab. So far nothing has stopped us yet.  .................see VIDEO ABOVE and BELOW for details and the following Trails.

Hell's Canyon.........Shafer Trail.....Sand Flats

Fins and Things.......Long Canyon.....ETC.

Kevin, another one of our Best MudBuds....

and rock formations that will blow you away.

June 16, 2026

Today we made it to Lake City, Colorado. Camping with full services in a beautiful little mountain town.

Might even get to chill out a while, dinner with the Queen, River walks along the Colorado River, visit to the local Bakery, practice with Kevin's drone in the park (that's a hilarious story in itself,) visit the Sportsman Tackle Shop, have a drink with some Texan's down the street. (we learned a lot there) etc.

Click on VIDEO BELOW for the Nickel Tour

The Grand Finally.........THE ALPINE LOOP .....will be in the following Blog Story

     and it might contain that very expensive trip to Texas.......stay tuned!!!!!

Rockin' in the Rockies

 September 1, 2025

Rockin' in the Rockies...Our "Out West" Tour continues

It didn't take long to get the Coaches parked and set up camp at Centennial RV so...

Not knowing where we would end up today we just hit the road South and ended up in Silverton, Colorado. 

It was mid-morning and a cup of coffee (with pastry) sounded pretty good.

This place was recommended by the folks at a T-Shirt shop..down a side street (dirt road) and boy was it good. Fresh baked pastries. Coffee fresh ground in Durango.

And a "Four Corners" Biker Rally going on later today...

The little town was filling up fast.

We were so scared we chugged our coffee and headed for the trails.

While making our way thru some campgrounds, just being nosey..

This VW buggy caught Rockies eye so we had to shake this guy out of his camper and talk about it.

Seems the Langley clan has been cozy with these things in the past.

On the way back into Silverton we tried to taste the Alpine Loop since we went right by the one-way entrance. That didn't go well, rough and very slow going at least for the first couple miles. That was planned to be our next day ride but if the whole trail was that slow it would take two days to go the 65 miles. So Christine hit the Wonderful Web and came up with two trails nearby to our camping location. 

The Gunnison Tunnel trail and the Owl Creek Pass trail both were connected by Hwy 50.  Really good rides and everyone came out happy...

This video contains parts of both trails and at the end is the simple explanation why we turned around on the Alpine Loop. No body wanted to continue.

Be sure to Google the Gunnison Tunnel Story. It is amazing and makes you wonder how this was engineered and built.

26 men died in the process. 

Comment and tell me the length of that tunnel.

We followed along this waterway for miles as it goes thru and under these hills.

As we made our way thru the San Juan Mountains to Owl Creek Pass (elevation 10,114 ft)

we were met with somw awesome views. 

Majestic Towers in Aspen forest

could be seen for miles.

Some of the BIG ranches had these views from their homes.

Big Thanks to Christine for her persistence and late hours to find this trail.

It finished our Tour in High Fashion......literally.

We hope you enjoyed these stories and videos as much as we did making them.

A Huge Thank You goes out to Rocky and Denise as well as Tom and Dana for including us in this adventure. We all talked about this for a year and we made it happen

We all certainly need to Thank God for protecting Rocky, Denise and Chevy during their harrowing crash at the beginning of this trip. We are all truly Blessed. 

 

Moab, King of Jeep Trails

 More of "Chafton and Friends Out West Trip" 2025

Now we take on the "King of Jeep Trails " ......Moab, Utah.

Site currently in process.  See first two completed episodes. Waiting on better internet.

Onion Creek Trail is a beautiful easy ride thru the Onion Creek Canyon. We probably crossed the creek 25-30 times round trip. Everybody was pleased with today's adventure. Met some folks in a RZR but we were mostly all by ourselves. Enjoyed having Jim ( our campground neighbor) join us for todays ride.

Getting deeper into the canyon...

The scenery down in Onion Creek Canyon is some of the best we have found so far.

After Onion Creek we decided to take on Shafer Trail. This "Badge of Honor"  Trail  is defined as one of Moab"s Best. Well, It did not disappoint. As we turned onto Potash Road we could tell this one was different. 

 Don't miss this video on YouTube.......

    CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO WATCH THIS VIDEO....THEN HANG ON

             https://youtu.be/YQYWSQnb08I           

Then we stopped off in Downtown Moab

for pizza and beer...

Next we head back to camp, load up, and prep to move to Montrose, Colorado

Gonna find that Alpine Loop, Silverton, Ouray, and maybe even Telluride.

Would love to do Black Bear Pass but probably won't have time.

And the Story continues...........in the next episode.

Our "Out West Adventure Tour" 2025

 Chafton's "Out West" Adventure Tour

August 20.2025

Day 8......I think...it's been a crazy week!

We ended this week in the Cool Little town of Livingston, Montana...It was Rocky and Denise's 48th Wedding Anniversary so we celebrated at the local Hot Spot. This place was touted to be Livingston's best. Well, it didn't turn out to be. It was so bad we couldn't even eat the main entree. My baby back ribs were more like 60 year old Bison, the 6 oz. filets were about the size of a silver dollar and over cooked.The green beans were fresh from the garden, without cooking. It goes on and on. Not ones meal was worth eating. We complained and got the meal comped. Felt bad for the Langley's but we had a good time talking about it. The staff apologized, gave us a round of drinks, desert, and even brought out the owner. Stuff happens.

Like I tell my "Mud Buds"......

You don't know till you go.

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

The plan was to Jeep thru the North Sector of Yellowstone but I woke with a killer headache and decided to hang loose at the campground....turns out Nurse Christine thinks its because I missed the last two nights of my blood pressure meds along with the altitude.

The Happy Hoosiers continued on the schedule and enjoyed some awesome wildlife shots and scenery views. 

On the way to Yellowstone

North Loop of Yellowstone National Park

Along the Yellowstone River

Can you find the Bear

So back at Starry Night RV Park we are prepping for an off-road Jeep ride over the mountain to Jackson Creek. We have downloaded a new app called OnX because Montana is not on the Lifetime Trail Map system I am familiar with. We visited the local Forest Service office and picked up a paper map as backup......we'll see if we get lost or not....Kelly (the manager of the campground ) loaned us two cans of Bear Spray and said be careful it's Grizzly country. 

With that piece of advice I switched my carry piece from the .38 to the 357 magnum. We came with both. Thank you Pat Harder......You and Mikee are always on our mind.

Left camp around 8:30 this morning headed over to those mountains.

We will be driving thru Willow Creek Ranch (it's huge) and hope to see some Elk and Bear.

We are getting closer, hope to get GoPro footage added later.

Lots of free range cattle along the way.

Ran upon this herd of Elk just before reaching the trailhead.....hundreds in this herd.

This statue is at the entrance to the Ranch Homestead...

Zoom in and identify it....Beautiful drive and we haven't even reached the trails.

So many pictures... such big country.

Southern Montana....30 miles fromYellowstone.

Big Black Bear down by the creek...he ran off before I could get it zoomed in.

7000 feet in the hills around Livingston, Montana....

Day 9...Travel Day

On the road again, this next stop is Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Great spot for an over nite stay, very active family campground on a small river with tubes available to float down the rapids. 

Day 10....on our way to Circleville, Utah. A tiny town in the middle if no where. Chosen because of it's proximity to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Also as we learned later, it's the childhood home of Butch Cassity. Named Circleville by the Moormans who settled here, as it is 360 degrees surrounded by mountain ranges.

 

Can you imagine living here in 1900 

There is nothing in site for miles, not even now.....Just a highway,

some telephone poles, and one ranch about 3 miles away.

No wonder he left home and joined up with The Sundance Kid.

This man was responsible for the restoration of the property.

It is well done, with antique farm tools around the yard.

His research includes old census records of the family.

Entering Zion National Park is an awe inspiring experience.

You will find yourself saying " How did this happen?"

It's definetly a " God Thing "........

Me getting a picture of Rocky taking a picture

of Tom and Dana.

Seems you just can't stop taking pictures in Zion...

Rocky was offering this little girl a chance to pet Chevy but she was a bit scared of dogs....

Most of the awesome scenery is on the GoPro but internet is not good enough to post them yet. Hopefully later. 

Only video to load at this time...I'll try later to add more...weak internet

Long video of a compilation of several videos taken while Jeeping our way thru Zion

National Park...Time to head back to camp and load up for the next adventure.

A few more things to do before we leave this sleepy little town of Circleville, Utah.

Same brake as repaired in Wall, S.D.

Broken adjuster, so this time I gutted the whole assembly and blocked off this wheel. Future problem eliminated.

I'll replace it when we get home.

See previous blog post for First Week by scrolling down to end, choose older post.