Beautiful Colorado

When we last posted, it was Saturday evening and we were finishing up in Heber City, Utah (near Park City).  We packed up and got on the road first thing on Sunday morning, setting out for Olathe, Colorado on the western side of the state near Montrose (between Grand Junction and Telluride).  We were planning on about 340 miles, with arrival around 3 PM.  But that was not to be.

The first part of the trip was very pretty.  Leaving Heber City, we went down through the Provo Canyon towards Provo and I-15.  The canyon is pretty spectacular with huge rock walls and waterfalls.

After just a few miles on I-15, we headed southeast on US Hwy 6 through Spanish Fork.  Again, a very pretty drive as we drove through the mountains.  However, at about 10:30 AM, while descending a long downgrade near the town of Helper, Utah, the left rear tire on the trailer blew out.  We got slowed down quickly, but the challenge was that there was no shoulder or safe place to pull off…just guard rails and concrete barriers.  Fortunately, we found the entrance to the Price Canyon Recreation Area around the corner and that gave us a little room to get off the road.  This is what we were greeted with:

These trailer tires are filled to 100 PSI and when they let go at 60 mph, a lot of damage is done.  Of course, we were also in a place with zero cell coverage, so we were on our own.  To make a long story short, Dotty set out traffic cones that we carry and took over directing traffic.  Bill cut away the damaged pieces, got the trailer jacked up, removed the bad tire and replaced it with the spare.  It was a scary 1.5 hours until we were underway again, with big rigs and cars blowing by just a few inches away.  Two cars stopped and offered to help.  We never saw a highway patrol during the whole time.  We were talking later that we would have likely been out there hours and hours if we hadn’t been prepared to take care of the problem ourselves.

We still had another 150 miles to travel but made it to Colorado by about 5:30 PM.  The rest of the drive was pretty and reminded us that almost every part of this country is beautiful in its own way.

We are staying at the Uncompahgre River RV Park in Olathe, CO.  The view out our front door is peaceful and made up for the crazy day.  Last year when we were here, Dotty had a tough time finding safe places to walk with Sammy.  Better luck this year….they have found a route that is long enough and provides lots of opportunities for sniffs and for chasing his ball.

Monday was our usual ‘chores’ day, with the addition of having to order new tires for the trailer.  Although only one blew out, when that happened the other 3 tires were instantly overloaded, so the prudent thing to do is replace them all.

Tuesday was golf day….yay!  We stayed at this park last summer so we have learned our way around here. We played at the Devil’s Thumb Golf Club near Delta, CO (it is named after a rock formation in the middle of the course).  The course sits above the town of Delta, on the flank of the Grand Mesa.  Beautiful views in all directions.  It is also quiet.  No houses in sight.  Skydivers were jumping overhead and it was so quiet we could hear the snap when their chutes opened and hear them laughing as they came down.  We also had a visit from a small herd of antelope as we played the back 9.

Today (Wednesday), the first order of business was getting the new tires installed.  Dotty and Sammy held down the fort at the RV park, while Bill jacked up the trailer and took 2 wheels at a time to the tire store to have the new tires installed.  While working on the tires, Bill discovered that there was a significant problem with the brakes on two of the wheels.  While we hate to see the damage that was done by the blowout, it allowed us to find the brake problem that could have had more serious results.  Parts are on order and the fix is easy once they arrive.  Yes, it is all part of the adventure 😉

We’re here for another week and looking forward to some trike riding and more golf.  More updates later!

Thanks for following along…..