It was a beautiful day for a road trip when we left home on Sunday, June 10. For the last several trips to Colorado, we have taken old US 36. The road is all 4 lane to St. Joseph, MO. After that it's a wide 2 lane all the way to eastern Colorado where it connects to I-70. The speed limit is 65 and, with very light traffic, it's a much more enjoyable trip than taking interstate all the way.
After St. Joseph, there are no large towns. That's always been a good thing when we've traveled this route in the past. This time, not so much! In addition to the small towns, add in the fact that it was a Sunday afternoon and the temperature was 95 degrees when the left tire on the camper shredded itself! We were in the right lane and I knew immediately what had happened, so I hit the right turn signal, hit the brakes and got from 67mph to stopped on the side of the road in about 15 seconds. Luckily, the tread didn't come apart and flap around and cause damage to the camper.
I could have changed the tire myself, but we have roadside assistance on our auto insurance policy which we've never used, so we decided to give it a shot, knowing that we were probably in for a long wait. We checked our location on the GPS and found that we were about 11 miles west of Chillicothe, MO, otherwise known as the middle of nowhere. I called the assistance number and, after a short wait, was connected to a service rep. He was able to get our location from the GPS on my phone (after I turned it on) and after double checking with me, he asked me to hold for a minute. When he came back he said a service truck would be there in 30 minutes! Right! Well, Steve was actually there in 20 minutes!
He got my spare down from under the tongue of the camper and changed the tire. He didn't have a thin walled socket to fit the recessed lugs, so I let him borrow mine. LOL! It wasn't long before we were on our way to Seneca, KS where we stayed at Stallbaumer RV Park, a place where we've stayed before. They have WiFi there, so I spent the evening looking for a place to buy an ST R175/80 R13 tire. If I could, I wanted to get a Carlisle Radial HD because they have a higher speed rating than the Goodyear Marathons that came on the trailer and they are 8 ply rather than 6. I know that Discount Tire handles Carlisle, but all of their stores were about 100 miles in the wrong direction (Kansas City).
Anyway, long story short, Monday morning I called Kyle's Service Center in Pawnee City, NE, about 27 miles north of us, who happened to have one (1) Carlisle Radial HD ST R175/80 R13 tire IN STOCK! After breakfast, we visited Kyle who mounted and balanced the new tire and put it on the spare carrier under the camper, which is a job in itself, for the grand sum of $67 and change! We were happy campers!
After thanking Kyle, we headed west, just north of the Nebraska/Kansas border toward Alma, NE, where we spent a relaxing, uneventful evening camped at Methodist Cove Park on the Harlan County COE Lake. Camping fee - $12.00!
Our next stop was Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora (Denver), Colorado where we spent three nights. Our reason for being there was to visit Marsha's cousin, Mark, whom we hadn't seen in several years. His two daughters and their families were there to spend Father's Day weekend with him. On the mornings of the second and third days in the park, we were visited by Fara (2nd day) and David (3rd day) who live just down the road from the park in Parker, CO. They had contacted us on Facebook and, being interested in buying an Alto, asked if they could stop by and see ours. Due to scheduling issues (ours and theirs) they couldn't visit on the same day. So, we had nice visits with them whether they buy one or not.
Next stop, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs. While there, we visited old friend, Jim, who used to live in Springfield and moved to the Springs a few years ago. He's going to camp with us in our next two parks while we're in Colorado. We also visited Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which is built on the side of the mountain. Very nice zoo with scenic views of Colorado Springs. Before we left, we got a call from Jim saying that his 98 year old father had had some health issues overnight and he (Jim) wouldn't be able to join us at Mueller State Park, but he'll see us at our next park.
Then it was down the road a whole 41 miles to Mueller State Park, a park started by members of the Mueller family, the same family who founded the Mueller Company in Decatur, IL. Our campsite is in the pines at 9,700 ft. elevation! Marsha's hair gel erupted when she removed the cap. The sweet relish juice squeezed out of the plastic bottle and ran all over the floor under the sink, but besides that, we're having a relaxing time, as long as we don't walk too fast.
Doug and Carol who used to live in Decatur, IL when we did, live about 30 minutes from here. We went to their house on Wednesday, June 21 and they took us to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. We had been there with them before, but it was enjoyable to see it again. After the Fossil Beds, we went back to their house for brats and corn on the cob, followed by a couple of hours of conversation before we headed back to the park.
More to come, so stay tuned!
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