The Colorado get together officially has been over I suppose for a few weeks but we just cleared the site yesterday. it was everything I had hope last years GTG would have been if I had not become injured. A number of people I saw from the Flagstaff GTG which was great because I got to show off my stomping grounds. A number of local folk showed up and I have wanted to meet up with them every since I have been on the forum. I look forward to next years gathering.
There is a big difference being up here full time and learning where to go locally to get food, gas, propane and laundry. I found the Sudz laundry in Baily had more machines and was cleaner than the laundry in Fairplay. Propane was easy in Fairplay at the gas station coming in to town. It is $21 a 20 pound tank. I like King Soopers for shopping and there is one in Conifer. There is a Glacier water machine inside that is not listed on the Glacier website. I also get fuel points for up to a buck off of a gallon of gas that can be used at the local Loaf and jug. The food and gas in Fairplay is closer but I pass Baily and Conifer on my way to and from Denver.
In Fairplay you can go to the Western Inn and RV park for dump, trash and water for a fee. Bob listed other places for water in the GTG thread.
Internet at the GTG improved greatly after leaving the hotspots on and taking them to town with me. I usually take the hotspots that do not get a signal to town so that I can put data usage on them when they do have a signal. What I found is getting that good signal allowed them to update their PRL's and things really changed after that. First it was the 4Gcommunity Sprint hotspot that showed no signal until it updated. Then it showed two bars of LTE roaming out of the cradle and became the star as it was faster than all the rest. Next it was the 4GAS T-mobile hotspot that would weakly connect in the cradle but lit up just sitting on the counter after updating. It was even faster at streaming than the Sprint hotspot and did not become congested. I was actually considering dropping those two because having AT&T and Verizon should be enough. Then I remembered I bought the 4GAS hotspot because the T-mobile coverage showed this area and it has earned its keep.
At the new spot I have a hill blocking the towers I used at the GTG. The Verizon 3G and Sprint 4G roaming on Verizon are down to a few bars even in the booster and while I could stream last night, congestion at 9 AM was making them unusable this morning. The T-Mobile showed no signal on the counter but lit back up in the booster cradle. Once again I can stream with no issues out in the middle of no where. I still have to spin the antenna for the Mobley but I know it was pretty weak and congested at the GTG. I don't expect a improvement here unless being on this side exposes me to a different tower.
Last week my aging Alcatel one touch Idol 3 went out and I had planned on getting a Samsung Galaxy 8 but they were out of stock. I bought a Idol 4 because it came with VR goggles that were really neat for at least 5 minutes. I think I am going to swap it for a LG phone that has HD and wireless calling. That way I can make and receive calls using any of the hotspots even if the phone has no data connection of its own.
I have been to Denver a number of times, once to pick up left overs from the EX and the rest because Max decided to wake me up by stomping on my eyeball. He did so much damage to the cornea that it took a protective lens, three visits and over a week to heal. The eyeball normally heals abrasions in a day to give you a idea of the damage he did. Now I have to put eye drops in both eyes every night to keep me from ripping the healed patches out when I blink in the morning. Yippy!
So I hope to be here for a bit and then move up on top of Kenosha pass which will cut my travel time to Denver, currently two hours each way. I have health appointments, disability appointments and a storage unit to deal with. Should I start going there too much I will have to find a spot down there. I have been lucky to have Bob, Dave or Greg watch Max for me so far not to mention the half a tank of gas every trip.
It is good being back in Colorado, I missed it. It has been nice seeing the systems do well so far this year and even better to see them excel in the environment I designed them for. ( new spot no morning shade. The Lifelines are loving it)
