10 MPG…

Portland, OR to Taos, NM in one weekend. This was the first time I tested out the ol’ RV for real. Over 1,500 miles with a gas milage of 10 MPG at best equals a lot of time behind the wheel and a lot of time filling up with gas!! I had decided to try and cut the costs of traveling and post on craigslist for rideshare and see if anyone wanted to catch a ride between Portland and Taos. At one point I had 3 people confirmed for the ride to Denver, but all 3 bailed at one point or another. So at the last minute I called back one other person who had e-mailed me prior who was looking for a ride for him, his bike, and his Bob trailor. With only 5 hours until the time I was planning on heading out, I figured he would not have the ability to get all of his stuff together in time, I was wrong though.



After getting off the phone with Mark, he did a 5 mile run from his current location to where he was storing his bike, to get on and ride back to his orginal location. At that point he picked up his Bob tailor, gathered all his belongings, and biked over to the Gateway Transit Center. I, in the mean time, was running around Hillsboro getting all the final logistics squared away before I leave the pacific NW for the next 7 months. After arriving 1 hour after my predicted departure time, I met Mark with in 10 minutes of arriving at the transit center.





Friday evening was spent driving long hours and sharing lots of stories. Mark had just finished biking across the country and was heading down to Prescott, AZ to re-incorporate into a less transient life style. He had many crazy stories of long hours in the saddle, big mountain passes, amazing generosity found along the way, and many other anecdotes. On Sunday morning we pulled into Ogden, UT where Mark jumped ship and aimed his bike south towards AZ in much awe of how many miles we covered in such a short time compared the rate of speed he had been doing over the past several months.






Summit and I continued on in our journey, driving across the incredibly flat and amazingly boring state of WY. We made to the Colorado border without being blown off the road too many times and with great expectations of meeting up with friends in Denver. Sunday morning I met up with my good friends Mike and the very pregnant Mary Bateman. We walked down to the local breakfast diner and spent a couple hours catching up on life. After wishing Mike and Mary the best with their new house and, soon to be, new baby Summit and I headed over to the local park. Within 20 minutes of being at the park (which has no posted signs about dogs or leashes) we attracted the attention of the dog cops and a $50 ticket. Summit’s first ticket; I’m so proud. The county of Denver is going to be receiving an appeal…







At the Colorado, New Mexico border I was able to watch my engine heat gage slowly rise to the red line as we crested the pass that separates the two states. A little rest for the tired old RV and we were back in business. I rolled into Taos and was greeted by an amazing sunset looking over the sagebrush and the Pinon Trees.