jatorresrv
Observer
Took the two dogs with me on my way to meet my much better half at Kansas City Airport before all four of us going to her dad's home for Father's day (19 Jun 2011). On the way to Kansas City the dogs and I drove from Phoenix to Earthroamer in Colorado via Monument Valley, Utah. At Earthroamer I got a chance to size up my van with XV-JP that was outside. I also had a chance to visit the production warehouse. Very nice.
After Earthroamer we picked up my wife at the airport and headed to her dad's home for father's day. It was a nice weekend. We had the chance to visit the WWI Museum and the Steamboat Arabia Museum, both MUST-SEE for anyone in the area. After the weekend my wife returned to Phoenix by air and the dogs and I headed to Colorado to find snow. Once we arrived to Ouray, Co we headed out to Yankee Boy Basin to get a feeling of what was ahead. We tried to go up to Imogene Pass only to find it was closed near the top so we had to turn around. Spent the night in Silverton, Co and headed to Cinnamon Pass the next morning after breakfast and a shower later that day passing through Lake City for dinner we headed to Engineer Pass before night fall. The dogs and I had the entire mountain to ourselves so we spent the night on Engineer Pass and even had a chance to catch the rebroadcast of POTUS' speech on the FoxNews Channel. The night temp dipped into 31F. The next morning after breakfast and a shower we headed back down. Altogether the time was well spent getting to Kansas City, spending time with my father-in-law, and playing in the snow, but after almost two weeks of driving it had taken its toll so we headed back home to Phoenix.
Of course the trip was not without casualties as some of the van's skirt fiberglass was crushed in a spot or two and a skirt panel was scrapped some new etching and the bicycle fork was twisted, must have dragged on a significant incline. Other than that the van performed superb, even after digging the front diff into almost two feet of snow. Below is a short composition of trip pictures as taking video is a bit difficult when alone. Although my experience has been that most video doesn't do justice of what one drives through. I am sure those who have driven these roads must know they were challenging for a van.
Enjoy the video. Thanks for past reports and encouragement of those who went before. It was very much worth the trip.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jatorresrv?blend=5&ob=5
After Earthroamer we picked up my wife at the airport and headed to her dad's home for father's day. It was a nice weekend. We had the chance to visit the WWI Museum and the Steamboat Arabia Museum, both MUST-SEE for anyone in the area. After the weekend my wife returned to Phoenix by air and the dogs and I headed to Colorado to find snow. Once we arrived to Ouray, Co we headed out to Yankee Boy Basin to get a feeling of what was ahead. We tried to go up to Imogene Pass only to find it was closed near the top so we had to turn around. Spent the night in Silverton, Co and headed to Cinnamon Pass the next morning after breakfast and a shower later that day passing through Lake City for dinner we headed to Engineer Pass before night fall. The dogs and I had the entire mountain to ourselves so we spent the night on Engineer Pass and even had a chance to catch the rebroadcast of POTUS' speech on the FoxNews Channel. The night temp dipped into 31F. The next morning after breakfast and a shower we headed back down. Altogether the time was well spent getting to Kansas City, spending time with my father-in-law, and playing in the snow, but after almost two weeks of driving it had taken its toll so we headed back home to Phoenix.
Of course the trip was not without casualties as some of the van's skirt fiberglass was crushed in a spot or two and a skirt panel was scrapped some new etching and the bicycle fork was twisted, must have dragged on a significant incline. Other than that the van performed superb, even after digging the front diff into almost two feet of snow. Below is a short composition of trip pictures as taking video is a bit difficult when alone. Although my experience has been that most video doesn't do justice of what one drives through. I am sure those who have driven these roads must know they were challenging for a van.
Enjoy the video. Thanks for past reports and encouragement of those who went before. It was very much worth the trip.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jatorresrv?blend=5&ob=5