We made it!

After leaving Almont, CO early Friday morning we finally arrived this morning at about 5:30 a.m.  Maddy enjoyed having her head out the window for the majority of the trip.  We still don't know how she can keep her eyes wide open when we are going 70 mph! and for long periods of time!  At some point in the afternoon when we got off the freeway in Hays, Kansas to get gas, we happened to hear that when we applied pressure to the brakes that there was a  loud metal on metal sound coming from the left rear tire.  Turns out the pad was worn away.  We found a mechanic in town who said we wouldn't be able to get it fixed today, maybe on Wednesday!  We called around to find someone near a computer and J-P helped us to find some phone numbers of mechanics in towns we were headed towards.  No one was going to be open on Saturday.  So we called Sara and we got a phone number to a Firestone in Kansas City, KS who was going to be open at 7 a.m. Saturday morning.  Since that was only option we continued to drive the rest of the way across Kansas trying to use our brakes as little as possible.

We made it into Kansas City about 9:30 p.m. and found a sketchy hotel to stay in for more money than we really wanted to pay.  We ended up staying in a room that was too far away to have access to the free wireless internet and I was a bit worried about the safety of the contents of our car, but the woman at the front desk said not to worry.  Everything is on video surveillance.   So we stayed the night.

Woke up early and arrived at the Firestone shop about 6:40 a.m. and as luck would have it they were all ready open.  So we dropped the car off and they replaced all the brake pads and the two rotors in the back.  After we wandered the neighborhood for hours because dogs are not allowed in the shop and wishing that I hadn't taken off my long underwear because I thought it was springtime elsewhere in the country our car was finally ready and we were back on the road by noon.  The best part of the deal was our lunch...across the street from the shop was El Pollo Rey, a very authentic looking Guatemalan/Mexican eatery...smoke billowing out of the vent on the side of the building that emitted the aroma of smoked chicken and had been tempting us since about 7:30 in the morning.  Mat went over to see what we could get and you had two choices: 1/2 a chicken or a whole chicken.  We got the 1/2 a chicken and so they hacked off our portion.  They also gave you some warm tortillas, beans and rice. Mat brought it all back for us to eat and it was delicious!

Then we got in the car and drove until 5:30 this morning.  Which around 9:30 p.m. I could no longer stay away except for brief periods and then for a couple hours at the tail end of our trip.  Mat is amazing that he was able to stay awake and get us back here.  We are staying at Mat's parents for the week until the people we have renting our house move out.

Visit to Delta - End of February 2008

     Wednesday morning I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to get on the road or not.  We were waiting to hear from the Tire Shop to see if our wheel had arrived.  They told us that it probably would not arrive until around 1 p.m. by UPS.  Around 9:30 a.m. we got a call letting us know the wheel was there and that we could come by anytime to have it put on the car.  Yeah! 

       We decided to take Maddy to the doggie ranch first without all of our stuff packed into the car, so she would not know what we were up to.  Mat took Maddy for a walk and I put Maddy’s food and dog bed in the car.  Then we loaded her up for the trip to Crested Butte.  We dropped her off and went back home to pack up our stuff then got on the road by about 2:30 or so.  The trip went pretty quickly to Delta as the roads were all clear.  Luckily, we didn’t end up taking any detours on our trip unlike the other travelers of the day, Sarah & Rachel.      Thursday we got to hang out with Sarah and Rachel for awhile while the parents’ were at work and then Sarah and Rachel drove Dad over to Richfield so that Spencer could check on Dad’s leg pain.  Mat and I barely finished up our taxes by the time Mom got home from work.       On Friday, we borrowed mom and dad’s hometeacher’s van and Mat drove us all to SLC for an acupuncturist appointment.  After the appointment, we went to Provoto play with the Scoville Family.  We had loads of fun at the park playing with Lily and Oscar.  They knew lots of the little kids there.  After a nice spaghetti dinner with french bread the family loaded back up in the van for the drive home.  Mom, Dad, Sarah and Rachel were able to watch a movie on the way back.  (We found it was easier to keep them out of each other’s hair and stop the fighting by providing this distraction! J)  Joking, it was just an extra luxury that was in the van.        Mat and I ate lots of delicious cinnamon rolls while we were there.  Thanks to Jonene for such a delicious recipe. Sarah, Mat and I went to Leo's and had a shake. Mat hadn't ever been to Leo's so we wanted to have him experience the pleasure of a Leo's shake. Then we headed out to the Gunnison Bend Reservoir for the 2008 Snow Goose Festival. It was a pretty windy day and cold, but we did see some. Not up close though and we didn't have our binoculars along. :(    We had a great time visiting with everyone and were sorry that we couldn’t make it to Henry’s baby blessing where we would have seen the Muir and Spencer Scoville families.        Mat and I hope to see everyone (from Utah, at least) on our next trip.  The plan right now, is to leave the Crested Butte area on the 29^thafter checking out of our place and driving to the Canyonlands area where our friend Sam is a Park Ranger.  If he is around we hope to visit with him for the night, then head to Delta on March 30^th.  Then we’ll be camping out in the yard with Maddy until Thursday or Friday.  Hopefully, the weather will be nice so that we can all hang out in the yard.  Barbara, dad’s secretary, was also really nice and offered to let us put Maddy in their dog kennel.  I am just not sure how Maddy is going to feel about hanging out in someone else’s yard.   

     At the doggie ranch, Maddy had a great time all day playing with everyone, but in the evenings when she was put in her own room, she barked a bit.  She definitely likes to be with people and wherever the activity is going on.  Luckily, they had a bark collar that emitted a citronella spray.  So…she’d stop barking and start whining.  And then they plugged in a high pitched noise maker that only she heard and she was fine.  She is welcome to come back to the doggie ranch, but without those items on hand I don’t know if we should have her sleep over in someone else’s yard for them to have to listen to her. 

     We are really looking forward to seeing out house in Asheville again and getting our garden ready to go for the summer.  It has been a nice winter out here in Colorado and it has been awesome getting to be able to hop in the car to head out and visit the parents a few times.