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Old 06-01-2016, 08:34 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Camper_bob View Post
I see almost as many Starcrafts out there as I do Jaycos. You guys are definitely not alone.
Lots of Launches out here in the North Colorado area, not so many Ar-Ones I have seen.
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Old 06-02-2016, 05:14 AM   #22
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Lots of Launches out here in the North Colorado area, not so many Ar-Ones I have seen.
So that's where all of the Launchs are!

I have to admit, there are only 2 dealers in NC and both of them are small. One is a boat dealer and he just started selling trailers last year.

I went with Starcraft over Jayco because of the added features and lower price. The warranty didn't hurt either.

I'd like to travel back out west at some point. Beautiful country.

Safe and happy travels to all!
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Old 06-07-2016, 09:41 PM   #23
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Jackson Lake, Orchard, CO

6/2/16

Jackson lake state park is about an hour east of Denver, with 260 campsites scattered up and down the west side of the lake. It is a large lake that sees lots of boaters. Electric sites abound as well some non-electric for those that prefer a slightly more primitive setup. We found a site right beside the water that was secluded. Only one other campsite in our same loop! The view was awesome, but later in the day, it got pretty toasty and humid down there.

Tested out the AC and noticed how it can easily take the nature out the environment, darn that thing is noisy. Also noticed we might have the gas part of the fridge not working effectively. AC power to the fridge can pretty well freeze everything inside if we do not adjust it effectively.

As for our day, started out with the boys playing in the octagon and after some lunch put them down for a nap in the newly modified bunks. I feel pretty good about converting it to a crib for them. Easy to access, safety exit still in place but is baby proofed. Some minor tuning will go into it over the next few trips but I can say we successfully ditched the two Pack-n-plays. At night I feel like there were a lot of bugs drawn into camper and need to work on some resolution for it. We used a small light in the camper as a nightlight for the boys over our bed and it was bug central. I think we just have to perform better door management and maybe put in some other kind of colored light. Maybe something inside that will repel them.
Everyone but myself escaped bite free…. I must be tasty to them. Beautiful evening turned into night while we dined on a semi-instant red-beans and rice over the fire chased with some cabernet.

The next morning brought an amazing sunrise and some fantastic weather. Overall another fantastic outing.
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Old 06-07-2016, 09:44 PM   #24
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Oh.. and a bit of a whoops... Guess I set it in the wrong spot.
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Old 06-08-2016, 04:12 AM   #25
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Good! no dirt on the bottom pad!
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Old 06-16-2016, 10:56 AM   #26
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Chatfield State Park, CO

6/9/16

Actually, it was to start out as Cherry Creek State park. We headed out on a warm Thursday AM for Cherry Creek. As we rolled into the front gate, park signs indicated it was full for the weekend. Whoa… Thursday and already filled? I guess we should have known, with a centralized state park in the middle of Denver. We rolled out with a quick call to Chatfield State park on the west side of Denver, confirming 10 open sites. It was supposed to crack 98 degrees that day and we were hoping, but not expecting anything at all for a site. We ended up getting there an hour later and scored a site with an decent view of the lake. Pulled up to a couple of guys sporting a Westfalia and custom painted old school TT with Junebug painted on the bank. Trees were short and far away from us. We setup and grabbed lunch then decided it would be best in the heat to drag the boys down to the lake. Our neighbors behind us were tucked nicely under a tree swearing and working on their buzz.

We spent the next couple of hours enjoying the cool water and shaded beach.
Headed back up to our campsite and settled in for the evening. Our neighbors… worked those beverages and perhaps some other mood altering substances giving us quite a show. One ended up in the field in front of us screaming at the sky, getting twisting her ankle and getting stuck by some cacti. It was not too long before the ranger arrived and helped them pour out all of the alcohol that goes over the 3.2% state park limit. A warning and they were quiet for a bit….

Fed the boys some dinner, then took them for a walk around the campsite as the sunset. Our neighbors got fired up about something and you could hear them cursing from the other side of the loop. It wasn’t long before the county sheriff arrived. I think because it was before 10pm, there was not much they could do with the noise ordnance. But hey… they still had time. A couple of hours and she melted down again, 14 minutes later the ranger, state police and sheriff arrived. A citation was officially issued with the threat of tossing them out next time. Alas, that was the last we heard from them all night.

Had a nice breakfast and a walk down by the lake and packed. When I was dropping the trailer at the storage lot, the Jeep began to spew power steering fluid. Good thing it happened only a couple of miles from home. Alas, I guess we will take this next week off so I can get that fixed up.
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Old 06-16-2016, 11:40 AM   #27
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Ouch, sorry to hear about your neighbors this trip, those kind of people are just clueless as to how much they are ruining everyone else's vacation. Hopefully the Power steering leak is a hose or something similar, those are easy fix's!
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Old 06-16-2016, 09:04 PM   #28
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Here we are at Cherry Creek State Park last summer. Yup, all the way from Wisconsin. Had a great time in Colorado.

Here my daughter and I are biking down Pikes Peak, what a blast. Dang cold at the top!
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Old 06-16-2016, 09:52 PM   #29
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Glad you guys enjoyed Colorado! Pikes Peak can be crispy.

Alas it appears it is the steering rack, working furiously to replace it.
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Old 06-17-2016, 07:38 AM   #30
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Damn, too bad about the steering rack.
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Old 08-04-2016, 07:01 AM   #31
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ZOMG... the steering rack was a pain. Followed up by some differential bushings. All done and tucked a few trips along the way. Time to start posting them up over the next week.
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Old 08-05-2016, 07:27 AM   #32
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6/23/16

State Forest State Park, CO – What a goofy name for a remote part of the Rockies. Pulled out of Ft. Collins and made a traffic free drive up to the park. Our goal was to see how well we could pull a pass without being run down by the big truck. The temp gauge came up between ½ and ¾ but never moved after that. It would cycle up and down in that range, I suspect from the changing transmission temp. Through this I worked to see where sweet spot was between engine rpm, speed and transmission load. Struggled quite a bit near top of Cameron Pass 10,200ish feet. Once over, next up was making sure we did not develop the runaway train. Kept the transmission shifted down to 3rd and the foot off the brakes for a smooth drop into the park.

Ranger Lakes Campground along with a few others has been decimated by the pine beetle epidemic. We went reservation free with hopes to get an electric site and a backup plan to test out the system with it. Luckily they had 4 sites left, so we setup for the evening.

Next up was a trip out to explore the Park. This is one of the larger parks in the Colorado State Park system with sweet Moose Visitor center and lots of back country to explore. It sits just north of RNMP so we had high hopes of finding wildlife as we explored the backcountry. The ranger at the visitor center recommended an off-road trail that made for a great drive through the park. Shortly after turning onto the trail we scored some pictures of Moose but stayed otherwise wildlife free aside from a few deer. Along the way, we found so many great campgrounds that are off electric and dispersed. At 7200 feet there seemed to be little need for AC.

Once back at the campsite we set the boys out to run and made up some dinner. Mosquitoes were quite bad, it was a good thing we picked up a screen tent a week before. Early evening, the storms started rolling in fire was drummed out and we finished our beverages in the quiet of the camper.

As we came back down the mountain the next day, we found some great BLM campsites along the Cache La Poudre River that were quickly added to the “To-Camp” list. Mission accomplished as we were planning a week long trip at the end of July to Grand Junction.
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Old 08-05-2016, 08:50 AM   #33
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State Forest State Park, CO – What a goofy name for a remote part of the Rockies. Pulled out of Ft. Collins and made a traffic free drive up to the park. Our goal was to see how well we could pull a pass without being run down by the big truck. The temp gauge came up between ½ and ¾ but never moved after that. It would cycle up and down in that range, I suspect from the changing transmission temp. Through this I worked to see where sweet spot was between engine rpm, speed and transmission load. Struggled quite a bit near top of Cameron Pass 10,200ish feet. Once over, next up was making sure we did not develop the runaway train. Kept the transmission shifted down to 3rd and the foot off the brakes for a smooth drop into the park.

Ranger Lakes Campground along with a few others has been decimated by the pine beetle epidemic. We went reservation free with hopes to get an electric site and a backup plan to test out the system with it. Luckily they had 4 sites left, so we setup for the evening.

Next up was a trip out to explore the Park. This is one of the larger parks in the Colorado State Park system with sweet Moose Visitor center and lots of back country to explore. It sits just north of RNMP so we had high hopes of finding wildlife as we explored the backcountry. The ranger at the visitor center recommended an off-road trail that made for a great drive through the park. Shortly after turning onto the trail we scored some pictures of Moose but stayed otherwise wildlife free aside from a few deer. Along the way, we found so many great campgrounds that are off electric and dispersed. At 7200 feet there seemed to be little need for AC.

Once back at the campsite we set the boys out to run and made up some dinner. Mosquitoes were quite bad, it was a good thing we picked up a screen tent a week before. Early evening, the storms started rolling in fire was drummed out and we finished our beverages in the quiet of the camper.

As we came back down the mountain the next day, we found some great BLM campsites along the Cache La Poudre River that were quickly added to the “To-Camp” list. Mission accomplished as we were planning a week long trip at the end of July to Grand Junction.
Dirt, rocks and boys just go together!

Thanks for sharing your photos, certainly some beautiful views, not to mention the pic of the moose. The wife would go nuts if she saw one. Come to think of it, so would I as we don't have moose where we live....
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Old 08-06-2016, 07:07 AM   #34
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Dirt, rocks and boys just go together!

Thanks for sharing your photos, certainly some beautiful views, not to mention the pic of the moose. The wife would go nuts if she saw one. Come to think of it, so would I as we don't have moose where we live....
That they do!

I am pretty lucky spotting Moose. Seem to find one every year, sometimes in the middle of a small town. They are huge, mean but pretty if kept at a distance. Your trepidation is well placed.
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Old 08-06-2016, 07:14 AM   #35
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Bunk Bed Conversion

Bunkbed Conversion

We started with a Pack-N-Play in the beginning for the boys. Tried 2 and they just would not fit. So I devised a “temporary” conversion for the bottom bunk to a crib. Installed a child safety latch on the window, then put this err… “gate” up to keep em safe inside. It works pretty well, but the latches rattle, so we use binder clips for the time being. No more rattle and the boys are safely tucked inside. They do not normally sleep in the same crib, so this makes for a fun time for them when we go camping. They really love it!! I Probably could do a whole bunch more to make it cooler, but it is only until they get to the point of being able to climb in and out of bed.
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Old 08-10-2016, 06:13 AM   #36
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Hengs Fan

Hengs Fan

One of the issues with our Starcraft being a more entry level camper is the lack of windows. When the AC is not running, and the windows open, it just does not seem to move enough air through it. Perhaps it is just the warm summer we have had. I really want something like a Fantastic Fan, but did not want to mess with the seal on the roof just yet.

$55 for the Hengs variable speed fan does not seem like a terrible investment. Installed it and it seems to work ok but it is noisy sometimes. Possibly will add a Maxx Air Vent covers in the future, to help with keeping the vents open when driving and rain.

The fan was easy to put in while using existing vent hardware. I tapped the electric from a lamp in the bathroom and fishing some automotive wire between them. Those fiberglass rods are amazing.
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Old 09-10-2016, 09:06 PM   #37
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7/21/16

Prospect Campground - US Forest Service (Dillon, CO) - Our goal for this trip was to see how we made the climb and subsequent down hill run through the Eisenhower tunnel/pass. Made sure the tanks were empty, decided to shop for grocery up there at the expense of outdoor time. Dropped in behind some big trucks I-70 to climb at their pace and not push the vehicle too hard. Without a trailer, and living here for quite a while the mountain passes are not normally a big deal, but you have to respect the elevation. Overall it took us 20 minutes longer to go from North Denver – Frisco slower than without a brick attached. Thermostat never moved, transmission held the vehicle at the right speed coming down into Frisco. 5.7 Hemi gasser was breathing hard at 11,000 feet though. Cars zipped past us at 75+, but hanging out with the big trucks it was not really that big of a deal.

The next part of the plan was to go to Heaton Bay Campground. When we stopped there it was so pretty but there were no sites with electric. We decided to explore the area with the possibility of dropping the electric idea. Just got the fridge going on gas…

We had quite the issue with our fridge running on propane from beginning. Our delivery guy said it was running before we arrived but never demo’d it with us. Found out the gas cylinder was never filled and he never really showed us how to start it. I read directions, watched videos, called them… nothing could get it running. Took it to the dealer and they said that it just needed to be primed and they fixed it. At this point, I suspect they lied to me, but as long as it is fixed I am good with it.

Asked about some other campgrounds with electric and heard about Lowry. Went up there and found the area decimated from the beetle kill and some campsites right on top of each other. Holding out, we headed down to Prospect Campground. Found a nice site with great view towards Breck/Frisco although it had no electric. Prospect had some damage, it was not as clear cut as Lowry and a bit closer to the water. We chose Prospect.. So purty #66

Took the boys out for some lunch and some grocery shopping, then as it turns out some storms rolled in. We took them out for their afternoon siesta and a peaceful drive for us north of Silverthorn. Found a ton more US forest service sites north of I-70. Almost want to kick yourself for choosing a spot to early sometimes. Alas, we will have to come back another day.

Arriving back at the site, the boys had a great time running around in between storms. It ended up being rainy night, cooked dinner under the awning while trying to campfire. All in all a successful trip over the pass and back. Our big trip to Idaho should be alright.
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Old 11-26-2016, 09:18 PM   #38
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7/28/16

Vedauwoo Campground, WY

Headed out for a longer trip and our first stop what turned out to be an amazing campground. There were no electric sites but it had some primitive bathrooms right across from our spot. We only spent one night here, but darn it is so worth a return trip! Most spots are tucked right into the rocks.
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Old 11-26-2016, 09:41 PM   #39
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7/29/16

Jefferson Campground, Rigby ID

Spent one night here, great hook ups, kids swimming everywhere. Just seemed kind of crowded for our liking. We originally planned on staying a few days here, but decided to move on the next morning.
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Old 11-26-2016, 09:53 PM   #40
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7/29/16 +++

Our next goal was Boise but heard there was a huge concert close to city and camp spots were in short supply. But seeing all that national forest out there, we decided to take a gamble.

Stumbled on Craters of the Moon National Monument. Whoa.. amazing

Alas, the campground is under a complete re-construction. Rumor from the ranger that there was national forest spots just past Stanton, ID.
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