School starting

Clicking the pics well show a Lance camper in distress.

A smoky, hazy, sunset settles over Denver on a hot August evening.

Another smoky, hazy day again today. And the weather forecast says it's not going to get any better anytime soon because of the fires west of us in California and Oregon and the prevailing winds.

I still don't have the urge to go somewhere and do anything but that urge may be changing soon since schools in Colorado will start opening sometime this month. Of course, the start dates are scattered all over August, but at least they're beginning, and the more kids getting back in school, the emptier the mountains will become, and the more interest I will have in boondocking in them again.

I also checked on the Internet to determine when school starts in the states that provide the most visitors to Colorado. And that would be Kansas and Texas in that order, at least that's what it was when I was in business and had to keep up with such things as that. Kansas looks like schools should all be open by the end of August, but Texas appears to be hanging on until early September before summer vacation is finished for the kids.

Now, these school starting times are set by the County or the school district, so they vary from place to place, and, for instance, Texas has hundreds of school districts, so that I couldn't check them all. But in general, most kids should be back in school by late August. And since the parents have to get back home before the kids go to school, I would imagine that tourism in Colorado should start winding down by the middle of this month.

                                       Theboondork

I was walking around the neighborhood today and was admiring this Lance camper, I would like something like this, but I think it's probably too big, and I know it's way too heavy.

And I know it's too heavy because it's a Ford 250, which is a three-quarter ton truck like mine except mine is a GMC, and he has had to make a lot of modifications to the suspension just to be able to carry the load.

This close-up of the truck, shows first of all that he's had a severe problem with the Lance camper tie-downs starting to rip the camper apart. Maybe it's from rough roads, maybe the tiedowns are too tight, or possibly there's not enough "give" in the system. Whatever it is things are coming unglued.

He's done about everything possible to make a three-quarter ton truck tote a very heavy camper. He's put extra spring leaves in the spring leaf stack on the rear axle. He has overload springs on the rear axle. And he has airbags.

And to use those big tires, he has the truck jacked up so high he's had to put jack leg extensions on the camper so  they will reach the ground when fully extended.

I think I would be a bit concerned about the whole rig being somewhat tippy on an off-camber road. And Colorado has more than its share of challenging roads.