The 148-mile trip to Denver was supposed to be a piece of cake, and for the most part it was. Then we started climbing about 5,000 feet on I-70 from Silverthorn toward Denver. At mile 6 (of 8), bells started ringing. The dashboard message said that we were overheating. Seconds later, steam started pouring from under the hood, and coolant started dripping from under the truck. I immediately pulled off the highway and stopped. A passing tow truck driver stopped and suggested we let it cool for at least an hour, and then refill the coolant. We immediately called an emergency service we have, and asked for some coolant. (Who carries coolant as a matter of course?)
After a bizarre 20-minute conversation with the receptionist, wherein she could not get anything right, and an ensuing 30-minute wait (which was less than predicted), a very nice guy showed up and delivered the needed coolant---and we were on our way without further problems with the truck.
Then we arrived at the RV park we had booked---the Golden Terrace South RV Park in Golden, Colorado. What a dump.
We need to tell the booking service about this place. It was totally unacceptable. Surprisingly, they gave me back our deposit, even though that’s against the rules of all RV parks. We decided instead to stay across the street, at the Dakota Ridge RV Park. It is much nicer, and far more expensive, of course.
As nice as they were, they first assigned us to a site that was already occupied, and then took more than a half hour to find another site for us. Oh well.
Tuesday morning, I decided to have the truck brakes checked, due to some very intermittent vibration that has recently occurred. The brake person diagnosed the vibration as being due to some hairline cracks in the rotors, which he agreed was minor, and not a safety risk. He did, though, recommend a number of things, but finally agreed that there was really no reason to do anything for the time being. I was very relieved. He also confirmed that the brake pads had thousands of miles left on them. (They are original, and have already gone 170,000 miles. I have no idea why they have lasted so long.)
We also had one of Becky's boots fixed at a local shoe repair shop on Tuesday, dropped her camera off at a camera shop to be repaired (the zoom feature no longer works), bought a duplicate camera to use while the first one is in the shop and then to keep as a backup, bought a new toaster (one that does not, by itself, use up the entire 15-amp circuit that serves the kitchen and living room, thereby hoping to prevent constant circuit breaker throws), went to Camping World to buy some goodies for our trailer, dropped off our comforter at a local laundry to get some of my blood removed (somehow I bled all over it last night from a teensy cut in my left elbow, which I did not even discover until noon), got Becky a new pair of reading glasses at Lenscrafters (I got my eyes checked but did not get new glasses because my prescription had not changed sufficiently), filled up the truck with diesel fuel, and, finally, hit two nearby Walmarts to reload groceries and get other stuff. Altogether, it was quite a productive day.
On Wednesday, we visited Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Estes Park is one of the most beautiful spots we have ever seen. We had a terrific lunch at the historic Stanley Hotel (the site of “The Shining”). It remains a fabulous place.
Rocky Mountain National Park (the eastern entrance is right next to Estes Park) is a beautiful place, as well. Much of it is still emerging from a very snowy winter.
On Thursday, we had a nice lunch at Mimi’s Cafe in Golden with Bert and Karen Cook, whom we met on our last South American trip two years ago. They alternate between homes in Florida and Colorado. It was fun seeing them again.
Friday was our night for dinner with Dennis and Jackie Dexter. We hadn’t seen them since 2000. Dennis was a fraternity brother of mine at UCLA. The Dexters have a very nice home in the Country Club section of Denver (so named because the area's south boundary is on Speer Boulevard/1st Avenue, which forms the north boundary of the Denver Country Club). As usual, Jackie put on quite a spread. She is an excellent and creative cook. We had a wonderful time with them.
On Saturday, we had dinner with Patra Attig at Luca D’Italia, on Grant Street in Denver. Patra is an interior decorator who worked with us when we moved to Denver in 1998, and again in 2000, when we moved to Pasadena. She’s a delight. The restaurant was very chi chi, and expensive, and more than a bit pretentious, but the food was delicious. I'm glad we went.
On Sunday, we went to Boulder to spend the day with Ed and Connie Clancy. Connie went to high school with Becky.
We took the dogs and our bikes. (My bike was not working properly---an out-of-true rear wheel---and I had to get an emergency fix Saturday afternoon afer Connie announced that we would be riding on Sunday.) We pedaled into and around central Boulder and fought the crowd on the Pearl Street pedestrian mall. We also visited the Bike Park in Valmont Park that just opened this week. It’s huge, and well-done, and will be a Mecca for all kinds of bicyclists.
Becky had a flat tire and a front brake problem along the way, barely 50feet from a bicycle repair facility that abuts the bike trail. Very lucky. We had lunch and dinner at Connie and Ed’s, and played a number of table games (Mexican Train, Farkle, and Don't Peek, Ethel) with them. It was a great day. Daisy and Ramsey were good troupers all day, and were exhausted when we got home.
On Monday, we finally got to Le Central, our old favorite French restaurant. (We used to go there at least once a week when we lived in Denver.) As usual, we each had a huge bucket of Mussels and a never-empty plate of French fries. And, of course, a bottle of Chardonnay. Absolutely delicious.
We finished our Denver feeding frenzy by meeting Barbara and Clark Gates for dinner on Tuesday at Cucina Colore, an Italian restaurant in the Cherry Creek North shopping area. The food was delicious and attractively presented. Becky worked with Clark at Union Bank. We last saw Barbara and Clark many months ago at their Massachusetts home. (They alternate between Massachusetts and Colorado.) They are a lot of fun to be with.
Tomorrow, we start on diets.
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