I got up and found that I had a missed call on the cell phone. A number I did not recognize but was from Oklahoma so thought it might be about the stuff I was selling. (Trying to sell some RV stuff – 30ft 30amp extension, 8 inch drop for a 10000 lb. receiver hitch, 4 inch extension for the receiver, and a small air compressor)….
Anyway when I called the number it was from one of the guys I work with – actually his wife. He was on a motorcycle vacation and she said he had had an accident – He was ok, but has broken ribs, broken shoulder blade, etc. and in the Sante Fe hospital. He was to be rotating back to work Tuesday so this would stop that. I had to notify the guys at work he was not going to make it and we would have to start working out alternatives for the plans over the next few months. Since I didn’t have internet I had to cellphone email it in. Will check email later.
I got things around and pulled down the antennas and got all stuff stored, emptied the tanks, got the jeep hooked up pulled the slides in, while someone else was busy reading? We had a cookie for breakfast and pulled out for Trinidad… When we got there, I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot, un-hooked the jeep so we could go down town as I remember there is not much parking for big rigs down there.
We took the “detour business” route? they are still working on the I-25 interchange through Trinidad – they were working on it last year? Anyway we got to the visitor center, picked up the caps, and Sherrie picked up some “tourist” material as i check in on the internet. Made sure the guys at work knew about the accident, several mails back and forth about limited plans but not much we can do right now… check other work email and home email and then we were back off. What a mess it is around the visitor area – only due to the construction as the interstate here is elevated and I would guess that tis why it take so much time and more work to get it upgraded. I saw that I could have parked in the lot across form the center between McD’s and Taco Bell… but too late now. We made it back up the hill and figured we should eat lunch now… We do not have any food in the motorhome – WE didn’t pack any – so we ate at Wendy’s.
Went over and hooked up to the motorhome again and determined we could take Hwy 12 west (we had done it once before) and drive across Cuchara pass to LeVeta… that is a long winding road but we avoided the interstate construction.
I kept asking “any place you want to stop” and no response so we moved on. as we pull out of Laveta I ask where to next – this lead to some discussion and my comment I would really rather not drive all the time in the motorhome, find a spot and stay a few days – then I could have a little vacation rather than driving all the damn time… the plan then changed, I think, to go to Salida and just stay a few days… we discussed going to Creede but there is very little around Creed and after one day you would have seen it… unless it was a really long day trip in the jeep from there?
We got over the pass and noticed a big fire on the mountain south of Medano pass… pulled into Alamosa and determined I would try to get diesel… saw the sign for the station on the east side ( which would take our city market cards for discounts) at 2.99 but didn’t link the discount yet… we aimed for Wal-mart – on the way to the west I saw the big city market station and pulled over and in there… lot of room easy to pull the rig around but the 10-cent discount was if we bought $100 in groceries… not going to need that so we again headed for Wal-mart… when we finally get there we see the station is almost too small to get the rig in and no diesel signs… so we head back to the City Market and get our 3-cent discount on the fuel there… Whew!… that discount will buy lunch somewhere… not really but close…
We then head back east to hit the north road to Salida… Splashland (the pool from warm water springs) on the north side of Alamosa is all tore up… no swimming this year… further up we stopped to get a picture of the fire/smoke… can’t see the fire, just the smoke plume…
[Fire on the mountain”]
We continued on and passed the UFO Watch Tower
They also have a pretty big site and following discussion all the livestock mutilations that have been recorded in the valley…
I remember reading some on it when we lived there but it was not high on my list of attractions and I do not remember seeing any strange lights during that time either? but that is not to say it didn’t happen.
We also passed the Crestone entrance – one should make a trip up there if you want to see “different”. I say that only from the point that a lot of the residents there have built their own or designed their own homes to be “energy-efficient” or “in tune with nature”… but it is a damn long way from anywhere up there… Many of the residents are “different” – some throw back to the “hippie” days…
Further up the road is the “Joyful Journey” Hot springs spa... we should stop and try that some day… but not today… we are late getting on to Salida..
We got into the campground and found they had one spot, we should have called ahead like I suggested but didn’t’ anyway it was not a bad spot. I got busy hooking things up, setting the jacks, pushing out the slides – while someone else read? fought the satellite dish till well after dark … the setup numbers on the receiver did not work… finally at dark I realized it was set for the 5-in dish at home and we have only an old 3-lnb dish for the travel… that makes a lot of difference in the location, twist, etc… once I got those numbers and went back out in the dark , damn it locked on… stupid me… I really have to read before I jump on some things… but got it done and ate the left over dinner from last night and went to bed… oh and off and on I fought the computer tying to get internet to work… I finally got it set so the password would take and we are on the air here… Tomorrow will be another great day…