Skid and Sandy On The Road: Cheyenne Wyoming to Silt Colorado

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cheyenne Wyoming to Silt Colorado

We woke up in a Flying J truck lot to a clear sky. I called Malachi this morning to see if we could park at his place tonight. He said sure so we had aimed for Silt, just west of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

We had breakfast in the Denny's before heading south on I-25 into Colorado. On the way, I saw a billboard for a Camping World and, despite less than stellar signage, we were able to find it. I needed to pick up a surge protector for my friend Norm and get a new bubble level for myself since all the fluid leaked out of mine. It was a Camping World Express, the first I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it was also closed on Sunday. With tears in our eyes, we continued on. As we got back onto I-25, we saw some police officers taking detailed measurements of an accident scene that had taken out some signage.

Do you ever wonder about all the RV places with the huge inventories out there? Is the market really that big? Are that many people really buying large motorhomes? Enquiring minds want to know.

We stopped for some groceries at WalMart in Westminster, Colorado and bought an envelope to mail the keys both of us had inadvertently forgotten to return back to the Gold Country Inn. We left I-25 for I-76 West and then joined I-70 near Denver. The climb out of Denver into the Rockies was long and steep. I managed to maintain 45 MPH at 4,500 RPM until we got to the top at 7,757 feet above sea level, where we were greeted by a spectacular view. Then it was up and down steep hills as we crossed the mountains until we went through the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 feet. At this elevation, there was still a good amount of snow on the ground.

At the bottom of the grade down from the tunnel lies the town of Silverthorne. Just before the exit, a sign said "IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR BRAKES, DON'T TRY TO EXIT - STAY ON I-70". As if someone would want to barrel off a highway into a busy intersection without brakes. They advertised a Visitor Center but it was a small place with minimal parking. Since we left Denver, I haven't been impressed with the tourist facilities and rest areas. Instead, we parked in a mall lot where Sherm mailed the keys back and we had lunch.

Continuing on, gusty winds started around Vail. Then, in Glenwood Canyon, the Colorado River was almost up to the railway tracks. The highway was down to one lane each way due to construction. Luckily, our direction was moving well although the Denver bound traffic was at a standstill.

We arrived in Silt late in the afternoon and found Mal and Steve, a friend of his from Colorado Springs, installing an electronic cruise control on his Concourse. Afterwards, Mal cooked us an excellent supper of enchiladas, pork chili verde, beans and rice. Yvette was working her tech support magic from the study.

After supper, I washed some bugs off the RV, filled the fresh water tank and also put enough water into the grey water holding tank so we could flush the sewer hose after emptying the black water tank when we found the chance. While I was doing this, Sandy did laundry. It was a great rest stop, guys. Thank you very much for the hospitality.

At bed time, Sandy and I slept in th RV while Sherm crashed in the guest room in the house.

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