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January 6, 2010, a Wednesday
Rocky Mountain National Park (Moraine Park) to Parker (K), Colorado, USA
— Back to Parker through a snow storm
It was 32°F (0°C) when we got up around 7:45, much warmer than we were expecting it to be. The sky was pretty, but the wind was blowing, so we decided to stay inside and just leave Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather forecast is for much colder temperatures for the next two days, and because conditions aren't very good for photography, we'll just go back to Parker like we had planned. I had breakfast including New Orleans Style Coffee with Chicory from Lucile's. I worked up a blog entry, then we prepped the RV to go. We left around 9:25 and stopped at the entrance to the campground to hook up the Jeep to tow. We left around 9:40.
We went to the McDonald's parking lot in Estes Park to see if we could use their Wi-Fi network. We couldn't, so we just went online using our Verizon Wireless connections. I called Dyson Customer Support to get some information about an extension hose for our Dyson DC24 All Floors vacuum cleaner, and it's supposed to come with an adaptor to let us use the accessories we purchased. I'm not sure that I and the customer service representative were talking about the same adaptor, but I ordered just the extension hose. We left at 11:00.
It started to snow as we were heading up out of Estes Park on US-36. Snow was collecting on the evergreens, and it was much prettier than it had been in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We stopped at Camping World in Longmont, Colorado, at 12:05 to pick up some things: dump hose extension and clear section to use with the macerator, a SHURflo Whisper King water pump to have on hand in case our water pump ever dies, two jack stands to stabilize the RV when it's windy, snap-in screens for our Fantastic Fan vents (the standard screens are held in place by a ring that's attached with eight screws), and a nice folding shovel that's sturdy. The Handi-Hose I was planning to buy has a 5/8-inch (16mm) inside diameter, not the 3/4-inch (19mm) like I thought it would. I did pick up a 10-ft (3m) Handi-Hose to use for taking on fresh water when we're close to a faucet. We left at 1:05.
We stopped at a Shell gas station at the junction of CO-119 and I-25 to see if they had a dump station like the cashier at Camping World said they did. They didn't, but the liquor store across the street did. They wanted $10 to dump, so we passed. We each took a shower while parked in the parking lot before we got underway again at 2:05.
We stopped at the REI in Westminster, Colorado, at 2:30 so I could get some Campsuds concentrated camping soap. That soap is working much better than the Coleman camp soap I had been using.
The snow was coming down hard as we went through Denver.
We stopped at a parking lot on Lincoln Avenue just east of I-25 at 3:30 to unhook the Jeep so J could take it directly to SJ&DilK's (J's Son J and Daughter-in-law K's) to watch GJ (grandson J, age 4) and GS (granddaughter S, age 2.5) while DilK went to pick up GA (grandson A, age 8) from school. The snow was tapering off.
I took the RV to the Town of Castle Rock Public Works building at 3:55 to dump, and the snow had stopped. The dump is only open until 4:00, so I was glad I made it in the gate in time. I finished and left at 4:13, and a worker closed the gate behind me — whew!
I reached SJ&DilK's, and it was 18°F (-8°C). I started to fill our fresh water tank, but couldn't open the filler cap — it was frozen shut. So, I heated some water in the tea kettle on the stove, then poured it over the cap to thaw the ice. It had started snowing again too.
I went inside after I finished with the water and played with the grandkids. GJ (grandson J, age 4) and GS (granddaughter S, age 2.5) each had me hold them upside down by the ankles while I was standing up. That was something I had done before, but this time they also asked me to help them chase each other around while I was holding one upside down! DilK said I made a good jungle-gym. :) GA (grandson A, age 8) played karate with me and then Connect Four with J.
We had dinner of some very tasty spaghetti that DilK made using Ragú Mama's Special Garden Pasta Sauce and some ground beef that we donated to the cause. The sauce was tasty, and I especially liked the regular (not whole-wheat) pasta. After dessert of some fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, we took some packages that had been delivered there for us, out to the RV. The side door had frozen shut, so we had to use the doors to the cab. We left with J in the Jeep and me in the RV.
We went to K's where we'll be staying for a while. I parked the RV with the passenger side wheels up on the sidewalk to help us get level, then I hooked up the electricity using a very stiff (from the cold) extension cord! My eBay auctions had ended, and the vintage Chrome Kinegon Travel Tripod went for a whopping $0.99! :) Oh well. The Canon EF 2x II Tele-Extender and Lee Filters P Series .6 ND Grad each went for a reasonable price. I opened up the shipment from Tweety's.com, and the NeverKink hose is much better than the hose we're using now for fresh water. The Flojet Macerator Pump wiring is odd, so I'll have to buy some components to make it work "right."
We went to the McDonald's parking lot in Estes Park to see if we could use their Wi-Fi network. We couldn't, so we just went online using our Verizon Wireless connections. I called Dyson Customer Support to get some information about an extension hose for our Dyson DC24 All Floors vacuum cleaner, and it's supposed to come with an adaptor to let us use the accessories we purchased. I'm not sure that I and the customer service representative were talking about the same adaptor, but I ordered just the extension hose. We left at 11:00.
It started to snow as we were heading up out of Estes Park on US-36. Snow was collecting on the evergreens, and it was much prettier than it had been in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We stopped at Camping World in Longmont, Colorado, at 12:05 to pick up some things: dump hose extension and clear section to use with the macerator, a SHURflo Whisper King water pump to have on hand in case our water pump ever dies, two jack stands to stabilize the RV when it's windy, snap-in screens for our Fantastic Fan vents (the standard screens are held in place by a ring that's attached with eight screws), and a nice folding shovel that's sturdy. The Handi-Hose I was planning to buy has a 5/8-inch (16mm) inside diameter, not the 3/4-inch (19mm) like I thought it would. I did pick up a 10-ft (3m) Handi-Hose to use for taking on fresh water when we're close to a faucet. We left at 1:05.
We stopped at a Shell gas station at the junction of CO-119 and I-25 to see if they had a dump station like the cashier at Camping World said they did. They didn't, but the liquor store across the street did. They wanted $10 to dump, so we passed. We each took a shower while parked in the parking lot before we got underway again at 2:05.
We stopped at the REI in Westminster, Colorado, at 2:30 so I could get some Campsuds concentrated camping soap. That soap is working much better than the Coleman camp soap I had been using.
The snow was coming down hard as we went through Denver.
We stopped at a parking lot on Lincoln Avenue just east of I-25 at 3:30 to unhook the Jeep so J could take it directly to SJ&DilK's (J's Son J and Daughter-in-law K's) to watch GJ (grandson J, age 4) and GS (granddaughter S, age 2.5) while DilK went to pick up GA (grandson A, age 8) from school. The snow was tapering off.
I took the RV to the Town of Castle Rock Public Works building at 3:55 to dump, and the snow had stopped. The dump is only open until 4:00, so I was glad I made it in the gate in time. I finished and left at 4:13, and a worker closed the gate behind me — whew!
I reached SJ&DilK's, and it was 18°F (-8°C). I started to fill our fresh water tank, but couldn't open the filler cap — it was frozen shut. So, I heated some water in the tea kettle on the stove, then poured it over the cap to thaw the ice. It had started snowing again too.
I went inside after I finished with the water and played with the grandkids. GJ (grandson J, age 4) and GS (granddaughter S, age 2.5) each had me hold them upside down by the ankles while I was standing up. That was something I had done before, but this time they also asked me to help them chase each other around while I was holding one upside down! DilK said I made a good jungle-gym. :) GA (grandson A, age 8) played karate with me and then Connect Four with J.
We had dinner of some very tasty spaghetti that DilK made using Ragú Mama's Special Garden Pasta Sauce and some ground beef that we donated to the cause. The sauce was tasty, and I especially liked the regular (not whole-wheat) pasta. After dessert of some fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, we took some packages that had been delivered there for us, out to the RV. The side door had frozen shut, so we had to use the doors to the cab. We left with J in the Jeep and me in the RV.
We went to K's where we'll be staying for a while. I parked the RV with the passenger side wheels up on the sidewalk to help us get level, then I hooked up the electricity using a very stiff (from the cold) extension cord! My eBay auctions had ended, and the vintage Chrome Kinegon Travel Tripod went for a whopping $0.99! :) Oh well. The Canon EF 2x II Tele-Extender and Lee Filters P Series .6 ND Grad each went for a reasonable price. I opened up the shipment from Tweety's.com, and the NeverKink hose is much better than the hose we're using now for fresh water. The Flojet Macerator Pump wiring is odd, so I'll have to buy some components to make it work "right."