Dinosaur National Monument... Panic... Call to AAA

Camp site on BLM land outside of Dinosaur National Monument

Tuesday, June 13 – A 20 mile ride around Olathe, CO through cornfields and cattle corrals started our morning.  Olathe is known for it's sweet corn, but way too early for any local produce.  A quick stop in Grand Junction at REI for socks, gas fill-up and a quick lunch at a truck stop broke up the drive to Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado side near Dinosaur, CO.  We had located a free campsite using our new best website, Campendium.  We found a site on

BLM land and adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument with 360 degree views over the San Juan Valley. 

Green River heading west in Dinosaur Nat. Monument

But then disaster struck!  One of the REALLY nice features of our new RV is it has automatic levelers which can level the RV (within a limited range) to allow the slideouts to extend, keep the refrigerator running, keeps the toilet lid from falling at an inopportune moment and you don't slide out of bed.  No driving up on a stack of blocks to try to get it close to level.  HOWEVER, they can be a little finicky.  If the ground is a little uneven, then they will frequently give an error code without leveling.  

Anyway our parking spot was not the flattest and a mix of gravel and rock.  When we leveled the RV the front left (driver's) wheel was completely off the ground and the leveling foot looked slightly twisted.  It was very windy, so we thought we should find a more level spot so that all 4 wheels were on the ground.  We tried to retract the levelers, but the drivers side front left would not retract.  We tried several times, but here we were with one wheel stuck up in the air and a leveler soundly driven into the ground.

To try to take some of the pressure off the hydraulic piston that does the leveling, Ted got the jack out of the Jeep and the leveling blocks (old school leveling method), jacked up the wheel and put blocks under it.  Then Ted crawled under the RV with a camping shovel to try to dig out the area under the leveler to remove all the pressure.  After 30-45 minutes of digging in the rocks and gravel, we tried again to retract the leveler... still no luck.  Time to call AAA.  We have their RV coverage just for this reason.  They were very helpful but the closest tow would come from Rangely, CO about an hour away.  The serviceman was out of town, and an hour in the other direction, so we agreed we could wait until morning for help.  

The convergence of the Green (upper left) and Yampa (top center)
Rivers.  It is the Green river after they merge (lower left)

Supper was the next item on the agenda and a phone call to our son, Ben.  While we are the phone, we heard a loud "POP" and the left front of the RV dropped a little since we still sitting on the leveling blocks under the front wheel.  The leveler had decided to retract!  We were able to retract it completely, move to a more level spot and with a block under each leveler, set down and retract the levelers several times.   We were back in business!  Lesson learned - on rocky ground get as level as possible before extending the leveler (buy a bubble level at next stop instead of using a glass full of water) and put a plastic leveling block under each leveler before extending in case there is a buried rock in the mix of gravel.

Petroglyphs in the canyon

Weds., June 14 - Time to explore the canyons on the eastern end of Dinosaur National Monument.  We drove to the end of the road and took a 2 mile hike to a prominent overlook.  From here you could see where the two rivers (Yampa and Green) that form these canyons converge.  If you want a very private experience in a national park area, this is the place to come.  We saw three people and 5 cars during this time in the park.  Our next destination was Echo Campground on the river.  A steep, dirt road with tight switchbacks takes you into the canyon.  The signs expressly restrict RV's, trailers and discourage passenger cars.  Our 2001 manual transmission Jeep made it with no problems.  It was well worth the drive.  In addition to the canyons walls and the riverfront area, we say some very unique petroglyphs and an old homesteaders house and cabins.  Along the river, a group of rafters had pulled in for lunch. We also saw a couple of cars and met one other person hiking.  

A good sized group of float trippers on both sides
of the canyon

We are sharing our camping spot with a very nice couple from Canada tonight.  And then some very unusual visitors, a herd of cows with a very noisy bull decided to check things out.  Welcome to the Wild West and BLM land camping!