We started our morning full of hope. We both had a great night’s sleep courtesy of the Colorado air (and altitude). Owing to the quick change to Mountain time, we were both awake early. After a leisurely coffee and breakfast we were on our way to Camping World in Golden (yes, home of Coors Beer) for a repair on our rear window.
We have be come accustomed to Camping World service from our home site in Akron. Therefore, we had very LOW expectations of what we’d find in Denver. We were sorely mistaken. The service we received was efficient and complete, and we could not have been happier to be on the road, repair done, by noon.
The drive heading south was fairly uneventful. Foothills of the Rockies on our right and plains on our left. If you’ve never been to Denver, the stark difference between plains and mountains is startling, and something we hope you all see some day!
Our first stop was at Garden of the Gods State Park, located on the southern edge of Colorado Springs. We had actually wanted to visit the Air Force Academy along the way, but new restrictions made that impossible. We had both read a bit about Gardens but were unsure what to expect.
In short, Garden of the Gods was amazing! Contained within the park is a series of outcroppings of misplaced red rock. These “fins” bear a stark difference with the surrounding land, making them even more startling. And the backdrop to all of this, to the west, is the massive outline of Pike’s Peak. The addition of the nearby scrub and grassland give a surprising dimensionality to the area. We spent time walking the main section with Daisy (yes, it is a dog-friendly park) before perusing the visitor center (also dog-friendly). Overall, it was a beautiful place that you should make time for if ever in the area.
That would conclude the “ups” section of this post. As you might imagine, the “downs” were soon to follow…
The drive south from Garden was gorgeous, with snow-capped 14,000 foot peaks to our right and pancake-flat scrubland to our left. After a break for gas and to walk the Needy Bichon, I tool over the helm for the second half. Cue the music of doom.
Passing through Pueblo (and reminiscing of the 1980’s ads for the Consumer Information Catalog), we both remarked how we never want to go through that city again. It is a rather typical depressed southwest city, nearly forgotten by time. Definitely on the downside of the curve. That was our curse.
About 8 miles south of the city, I heard about a 2-second hiss. Not good, I thought. I turned to Karen and said, “Did you hear that?” When she said she did, we both knew that wasn’t a good sign. My first thought was that a soda had let loose in the fridge. After all, RV fridges are know for being wonky. A quick inspection by Karen proved this a moot point. I decided to pull over at the next exit, which contained nothing but a driveway for some large ranch.
As we both expected, we had a flat tire. I looked on Google Maps and found a Discount Tire and Automotive Repair just 7 miles north of us, back in Pueblo. Karen suggested that she drive north while I call the store. The friendly gentleman I spoke with said sure, bring the RV in and they would see what they could do.
I was giving Karen directions back to the tire store. Getting off the exit, we started toward the shop, expecting the modern facade we are used to seeing. What we found was NOT that. This “Discount Tire” was a 2-bay hole-in-the-wall, with no signage out front. One of the two bays had a full engine, partially covered in plastic, occupying it. Karen remarked that we drove into “Sanford and Sons”. It was not the best first impression, but the Google reviews had been great.
To make this already-long story short (short-er, at least), the auto techs pulled our tire, diagnosed a failed valve stem, fixed the tire and had it back on Livvy in less than 30 minutes. Not only that, but they refused to charge me for the repair, instead wishing us a great trip. We were reminded of two very valuable lessons. The first is “do not judge a book by its cover”. The second, and just as important, was that the common decency of humans still exists. No matter what we see on the news, people are still inherently good. I wish I could remember the names of those who helped up today (I am AWFUL with names), but their assistance meant so much to us.
Getting back on the highway (less than an hour after the tire detour), we we shocked to see that Waze was sending us on a completely different route. In fact, it was telling us to head back to Pueblo for another road to take us south, due to a road closure. Really??? After the day we’ve had, we now have to deal with this???
Cutting out ALL of the details and madness, we stayed the original course and got to our site with no delays or closures. Our site is located in a high-alpine plain, over 7,300 feet above sea level. It is surrounded on all sides by the Sangre de Christos range, a sub-range of the Rockies. And the views are indescribable, so I will not even try. We took pics, of course, but they fail to capture the sheer magnitude of our surroundings.
After a day of ups and downs and ups, we are thrilled to be just where we are. We have each other, Daisy and our home (on wheels). There is nothing around us. Yet, in many ways, everything is. Everything we wanted to experience in this crazy journey. Everything we wanted to see. Everything we wanted to feel. It is all right outside our door, waiting to be found. All we had to do was open our eyes. Open our eyes to the ups and the downs and, eventually again, the ups.
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