I got my campsite at Chatfield  state Park just about lunchtime, found my site, hooked up, and settled in for the night.

I dumped my tanks, which is the reason I came here, soon as I got to my site figuring the tanks would be well shaken during my drive over here and got that least favorite of my chores out of the way right off the bat.

It looks a little more like Fall over here than it does at my daughter's house. I see more yellow leaves and more dead brown grass like you would expect to see in the Fall which so far is barely happening at the lovingly watered and manicured lawns in the neighborhood.

When I plugged into the shore power post here at the Park it I was the first time the Arctic Fox has been plugged into AC since I got to Denver. When I think about the Arctic Fox being able to keep me comfortable with all the electricity I require, other than air conditioning which I seldom miss at this altitude, it's really amazing. And it does it with 840 watts of solar power and 400 amps of lithium iron batteries. I know that probably sounds like a lot to some, and not enough to others, but for me it works out just right.

                                   theboondork

I made a "reservation" ...that word is an affront to my sensibilities..... at Chatfield state Park for Monday night. The only reason I'm going there is to dump my tanks, but their dump fee for people that aren't staying there is so high I might as well pay to spend the night so I can take the time to wash my tanks out really well and get ready for my winter travel season.

 I also need to buy a new Colorado state Park pass, mine expires the end of this month. I don't know how long I'm going to continue to do that because the Colorado state parks have gotten very expensive to the point that I seldom stay in one anymore.

 Chatfield state Park where I'm heading tomorrow morning charges $41 a night for a campsite, and $38 a night with my Colorado state Park geezer pass. And if you don't have an annual pass stuck to your window they charge you an extra eight dollars a night for a Park entrance fee so your camping fee comes to almost $50 a night. I call that a ripoff, but there's nothing I can do about it except stay away as much as I can.

I'm glad I'm going to get to hook the Arctic Fox up and tow it a few miles, kind of a shakedown cruise, because the Arctic Fox hasn't moved since I got to Denver about the middle of May. So it makes me feel better knowing my first time towing the Arctic Fox will be local where I can get help if something goes wrong.

                         theboondork

Another brisk Fall day in Denver, sunny, mid 70s in the day, low 50s at night. Just what Fall should be.

I did a few more things today to get ready to hit the road. I've got plenty of time before I leave so I'm just doing little bits of preparation here and there whenever I feel like it, I've never been one to put undue pressure on myself for no reason, being lazy makes sure of that

I took everything out of the little Bronco camper that I don't want to freeze, and will take most things with me such as canned food. I finished bolting my spare fuel tank to the front of the truck bed again. I think next year I will just leave it out when I put the little Bronco camper back on the truck. Getting 15 miles per gallon carrying the little Bronco around the mountains, and being able to get into gas stations without any problems, I really don't see a need for 18 gallons of spare fuel. Plus it made the little Bronco hang off the back of the truck 6 or 8 inches more than it needed to.

But when I'm pulling a fifth wheel that spare tank as saved me a lot of stress over the years. I don't often actually need to transfer fuel from the spare tank to the main tank, in fact most of the time I do that it's just to keep the fuel in the spare tank fresh. But it sure gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I just passed the last gas station for 40 miles and I've got less than 1/4 of a tank left.

 Short bed GMC's like I have come from the factory with a 25 gallon fuel tank, which is plenty if you're not towing, or living in areas of the country where there's a gas station on every block. But in parts of the West where I usually travel gas stations can be pretty far apart, don't always sell diesel fuel, or it might be a mom-and-pop station so small it's difficult to get in and out of.

                                 theboondork