Adjusting Plans

This has been a productive day.  We didn’t plan to be in Colorado Springs, but since we are we’ve sat down with maps, guidebooks, campground directories, and the internet along with our list of things that need to be done and come up with a whole new plan.  Yes, the ultimate goal is still Alaska, but we’ve made a few adjustments.

We originally planned to stop in Denver for a week or 10 days to have regular maintenance done on both the Ford and the Honda.  There is also an Onan Dealer in Denver where we were going to have the regular maintenance on the generator done.  It’s also time for Peanut’s annual check up.  Soooo, instead of stopping in Denver to have all that done, we’re just gonna do it here.

There were a couple of other RV issues Gene wanted to have fixed.  We only have one house battery and he wants to have two.  Driving in the strong winds on Saturday caused a small rip in one of our slide out covers, plus it doesn’t seem to be wound on the roller straight any more.  We want to get that repaired.

Gene has been on the phone calling around about the RV issues.  There are two Camping World’s in town, plus what appears to be a reputable Keystone RV dealership which has been in business for over 30 years.  Since we’ve never been very happy with service at Camping World’s, Gene started out by visiting the RV dealership and talking with the service department.  While there, one of the customers highly recommended the service department, so we have an appointment for Thursday.  They will also do the maintenance on the generator.  It only needs an oil change, I think.

Gene had already arranged for the oil to be changed in the motor home while it was in the shop for the engine problem. The Honda dealer can take the car tomorrow morning.  Now, all that’s left is to find a vet for Peanut.

This is the story with our engine problem.  It turned out to be a simple fix after all.  The whole problem was in the dash--some sort of electrical malfunction.  We were repaired and ready for pick up by 11 AM.  Whew--I’m glad that’s over.  Out of pocket we paid $84 and that was for the oil change.  Ford will pick up the tab on everything else, and maybe even our lodging cost for 2 nights.

I have not forgotten about our experience at the Shell station in Trinidad on Sunday morning.  They are located at exit 11 off of I-25 so they have one of those high rise signs advertising their gas prices.  On all the signs around the station as well as on the pump, they are selling regular unleaded gasoline for 3.74.9.  But, beware.  The octane level in their regular gas is less than 85 which is too low even for our little Honda fit.  Gene had to get the next grade which was 3.86.9.  At least we got to save about 18 gallons or about $70 worth by having the motor home towed a 125 miles.

Now, we are parked for a week at Wrangler Motel and RV Ranch.  It’d be a stretch to call this an RV Park.  It’s more like a trailer park full of old RVs.  It’s an old park and the person who checked us in (not the owner) says the owner likes the “rustic look”.  It’s not as bad as some places we’ve stayed and certainly no where near as bad as that place in Trinidad.  They have us up at the front; not in the back with all the permanent residents.  And I still have that great view of Pikes Peak.  It’s sort of the prominent feature on the horizon and there’s almost no place in town where you can’t see that 14,000 foot peak.

While we’re in town, we’ll do a little sightseeing.  We want to go to Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy.  Our main priority, of course, is to get these maintenance issues marked off our list.  We also want to just chill out for a couple days to relax from this very stressful ordeal we’ve lived through this week.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.