Day 4 (Camping, Hiking, Grilling)

The storm was pretty intense, so we all stayed at the lodge.










We got up early and I made breakfast on using the STINKERATOR (Stove, Sink, Refrigerator). I made some scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, and English muffins. Everything was going great until BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. The dam smoke alarm went off. It was 7:30 in the morning. We moved the toaster to the door and turned off everything else and it finally stopped. 








We headed over to our campsite around 8:30. It was perfect. Sunny, 70, quiet, and a perfect view.

Here is Colleen and Ashley enjoying the sun.













We decided to go for a hike. We walked down to a trail. It was supposed to be a combination horse/hiking trail, but there has been so much rain it was a mess.  Here are some pictures from the hike. I really like the tree that grew around the bolder and then fell over.

We did not hike to long because the trail sucked (it smelled like the zoo). We got back to our campsite and grilled hotdogs and sausage for lunch. After we ate we headed back to the lodge.

Day 3 (34 miles)

 

I woke up today at 6 AM and here is a picture of the sun coming up over Boyd Lake.

 

August and I drove to the Firestone store in the next town, and they gave us a new tire for free (actually it was $17 for the road hazard insurance). Finally things are looking up. We got back to the camp ground at 10:30 and started to pack up. We had everything ready to go by 11:30. We stopped at a strip mall for lunch. We had pizza, salad,Panda Express and Subway. We made one more stop at Wal-Mart before we headed up into the mountains.

It was 100 when we left Loveland at 1:00 and it was 68 at one point during the drive.

We got into Estes Part right at 2:00 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a camping spot at Aspenglen Campground, and a room at the Ponderosa Lodge.

 

 

 

Here is a picture right by our campsite.

 

 

 

 

 

We are at the lodge now waiting for a storm to pass. It could be interesting.

Day 2 (430 miles)

Breakfast is a 6 AM, so we wanted to get up at 5:30. I set the alarm on my phone, but it was apparently set for weekdays and Saturday is the weekend. Somehow I woke up at 5:50. I could walk today the back was feeling better. We ate, loaded the car and were on the road by 7 AM. It was already in the mid 70’s when we left. I noticed one of the tires was a little low and I stopped at two gas stations to get air, but they did not have any. I figured we would just stop on the way. After driving less than an hour Colleen said what is that noise? I slowed down a little bit and the noise changed. We were right by an exit so I pulled off. I got out and looked at the low tire HOLY CRAP it’s flat. I unhooked the camper and started to empty out the back of the car to get the jack. I started to jack up the car and then attacked the lug nuts. The first one wasn’t too bad the next one would not budge, so I moved on to the third. I grabbed the tire iron and started to pull. It was kind of like tearing a piece of paper. Just a little rip at first and then ripppppp! HOLY CRAP I just did something really bad to my back. And I still have to get the tire off. August helped me with the next one and we got it off. We tried another one and no luck. Ding ding ding, I have and idea. Switch the handle over and stand on it. That worked. I stood on the rest of them and got the tire off.

Now for the spare tire. I had a bad feeling about this. The last time I had to use it I could not get it lowered down. I probably spend an hour screwing around with it until I figured out the secret latch that was not working. And now I cant remember what I did. A couple of older gentleman stopped by (they were at bible study) and offered to help. They laid down under the car and tried to get the tire down. If I just had a long screw driver I think I can get the latch to release, but I packed my tools in the camper. Luckily I found a little screw driver that wasn’t packed away. Now if I can get the tire lifted up I might be able to reach the latch. Of course the guy in the white shirt is laying down lifting up the tire and I got it! I put on the spare and loaded everything back up. It was a total RV moment (if you have seen the move you will know). Luckily it was a full size spare. We got to Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland just after 2 PM. It was a long drive it is a good thing that sitting down doesn’t hurt my back. Now I am on a steady diet of Icy Hot patches and aspirin.

We went to Wal-Mart to get groceries and see if they could fix the flat. They said, because I drove on the flat the side wall of the tire was damaged and they could not fix it. My question is how do you not drive on the tire if you don’t know if went flat? Tomorrow I will go to Firestone (that is where I got the tires) and see if I can get a replacement.

I threw some charcoal in the fire pit and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. There were storms all around us and lots of lightning. It did storm at 1AM and the roof vent was open so Aug got rained on. 

Day 1 (550 miles)

3 AM the alarm goes off and HOLY CRAP I cannot walk again. I stretched out again and I could manage. We got on the road by 4:30. The temperature was in the 60’s and it was fine. It was ok until about 10 and it was in the 90’s when we stopped in York, NE at about 1:30. We got off the road just in time the heat index got up to 110. We sat in the hot tub, and played in the pool. I think everyone was in bed by 6 PM.

Day -1

Ok the plan is to leave early Friday morning (4 AM) and stop half way. So Thursday morning I get up to go to work, and everything starts out just fine. I go to the bathroom everything is fine I go to flush the toilet and WHAM sharp stabbing pain in my lower back. Holy crap I cannot move! I hobble into the kitchen and I am supporting my self on the counter and a table. Now what am I going to do? I work my way around the kitchen using the counter. This is not getting any better. I try to stand no good. I try to lay down on the floor no good. I finally decided to suck it up and take a shower. I was just barley getting by finally I sat down to put my shoes on and bending over must have stretched something out and I felt good enough to walk.

I got home from work and started to get things packed up. Colleen had to run some errands and I wanted to get the oil changed in the van before we left. Holly crap I can not find my phone. I thought I had it when I came home from work, but I cannot find it anywhere UGGH. I got the oil changed and searched the house for the 4th or 5th time still no phone. Ok I have to go back to work and see if I left it there. 20 minutes later I am so happy. There it was sitting on my desk. Now back to packing.

We got most of the stuff packed up but I needed to setup a sprinkler to water the garden and Colleens flowers. I had every thing ready to go a long hose, I tried three sprinklers and found one that would work, and a timer. Now I just had to put the pieces together. We only have one water faucet and we put an adapter to attach four hoses, so I need to remove the hose and attach the timer. Sounds simple, but it isn’t. I am having a hard time getting the hose off. I twist extra hard and it starts to turn, but I am turning the whole hose not just the fitting (that is strange). I get the hose off and try to attach the timer, but there are no threads. Somehow I twisted the threads off of the adapter and they are stuck inside the end of the hose. This is not good. I have another hose but it isn’t long enough to get to the other side of the house. Now what am I going to do! It is 8:45 PM and I need to pick up Alyssa from cheerleading, ok I will stop by the hardware store and get a new end for the hose. Crap the store by my house closed at 8! I called HomeDepot and they are open until 10 PM perfect. I get Alyssa and get the new end for the hose. Back on track. We got everything setup and moved all of the flowers by the garden.

We finished packing cleaning and getting everything ready now it’s 12:30 AM. We fell asleep and 1 AM and I set the alarm for 3 AM.

Hohman’s Vacation 2011

Day –15

Colleen called me at work to day and said “The brakes are not working on the van.” So I took the van into the shop and they said the brake booster (this is what make power brakes power brakes) was bad. Ok replace the booster and check the AC. Now the brakes are all better, but they could not find the leak in the AC. They recommended another shop. So I take the van in and they call “It’s the evaporator in the dashboard that will be $1,200.” It is 9 hours of labor to take the dashboard out.  I said I thought it was leaking from the front of the car can you double check. They called back and said the evaporator in the rear was also leaking they would make me a deal $1,500. I started to look for a new van. 

Over the next two weeks what I learned is that it is not easy to find a mini-van with a towing package! We finally decided to leave early and get off the road before it got to hot.