1. My CPAP machine failed just after we got to Westcliffe. There was a power outage one night, and after that the CPAP wouldn't power up. Coincidence? I don't know. Spent some frustrating time on the phone (frequently dropped or nonexistent connections out here in the wilderness) trying to find out if I could get a repair or a replacement somewhere nearby in CO. After a couple of days I found out that Walgreen's is no longer my supplier, HME is. In between we drove to Canon City because a person in the Westcliffe Clinic told us about an agency there that provides their respiratory equipment. The C Canyon lab, though, told me that they couldn't do anything without a prescription, which I don't carry with me. (Note. next time) A follow-up call to the Walgreen's supplier in CO Springs led to the discovery that I wasn't their patient any more. So, I started over phoning the new supplier.
Without the CPAP I snore - loudly. Consequently, I’m sleeping on the couch – my choice.,,, (Susie,here: absolutely his choice…methinks he likes it that way….and, hey, who am I to complain!) Susie says I don't stop breathing, though, so I don't think I'm killing off too many brain cells in the meantime. And who would notice? We get home Sunday and I've got an appt. to get new machine on Monday
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2. At church Sunday we visited a couple who were on their way to a family reunion in Buena Vista (I think I mentioned this). We decided to drive to BV on Monday. About 20 miles north of here, the Explorer's engine died. Wouldn't re-start. A nice family heading to Westcliffe stopped and offered to help. I was going to give them our AAA info and ask them to call when they got to phone service (naturally, none where the car quit). Decided to try car again - it started. Decided to press on, because that would take us closer to Salida where we could get mechanic help, if needed.
About four miles later, the engine died. At this point we are on a road that is descending to the Arkansas River canyon and US 50, so we coasted on down – not easy with no power brakes or steering – another three miles and ended up behind the Cotopaxi Store, safely parked, not embedded. This is a combination general store, café, gas station, civic center – historic. They even have live music on Thursday nights. And a friendly owner. And enough fame that there is a YouTube video about it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L88rU6YaiM). Says it’s the store that "has almost everything, in the center of everything."
Still no cell phone access, but the owner pointed me to the store’s rotary-dial phone (pastel blue!) and I called AAA and in due course a tow truck came and picked us up and hauled us in to Salida. Meanwhile, we had lunch, Susie bought a book to read, I read the Denver Post and did the crosswords, and we watched the flow of humanity through Cotopaxi.
The tow truck driver, it turned out, had lived for a while in Albuquerque and it wasn’t long before we got his life story and philosophy – 26 miles into Salida. He was a nice, intelligent guy – proud Army veteran and the son and grandson of Army vets, former Salida policeman, devoted father to 2-yr. old daughter and surrogate father to his girlfriend’s three daughters, and very helpful. I had suggested taking car to Ford dealer, but he said that would be bad idea – they wouldn’t get to me quickly and wouldn’t do good work. He took us to another mechanic who did diagnose the problem right away – fuel pump failed (and after only 166,000 miles). He could get replacement the next day, Tuesday, and perhaps get it installed then.
So, what should we do? We asked about rental cars – so we could drive back to Westcliffe. Jason, our tow truck driver called Salida’s car rental place. They didn’t have a car available. Well, guess we’d stay in Salida. Jason called Hampton Inn for us and then drove us down there. We weren’t looking forward to 24 hrs. in the Hampton Inn with only the (sweaty) clothes on our backs and other regions and no way to get around town, but what choice did we have? As we were about to check in, the desk clerk asked if we might prefer to go back to Westcliffe. Turns out his girl friend does some informal taxi driving. She could take us “home” and come get us when the car was ready – for about the same cost as one night in Hampton Inn. Sounded good to us, so a little while later Jentle (pronounced Jen – Tell) picked us up and we headed for Westcliffe (about 60 miles).
Susie sat in the front seat and soon got Jentle’s life story. Here's her report: Jentle lived in Florida until she was eight years old (I think with her biological parents---maybe foster parents). Anyway, her new foster parents loaded up all their biological children as well as their foster children in two vans and moved to Salida for a new job for the father…..the kicker is that at that time they had about 20 children. When they got to Salida they took in six more children…..Jentle says they never could refuse a needy child. Well, the social workers decided that they had too many kids so they removed eight of them from the home (one being a three year old boy that they had had since he was born). She said they all were taken care of…..all finished high school and two in college (a few young ones still at home)…so her adoptive parents were devastated when the eight children were taken away. I understand that most of the children have now been legally adopted so she says she has 27 brothers and sisters. A sweet girl who is making something of her life and so appreciative of the people she calls Mom and Dad.
When we got back to RV park, I told park owner about our car situation. Also asked her to let us know if she hears about any park residents planning to go to Salida on Tuesday. It occurred to me on the way home that it would be more convenient and cheaper if we could catch a ride than to have to call Jentle and have her come out. Meanwhile, Susie talked to RVers parked near us and they said they were going to Salida on Wednesday, if it turned out that we needed to go then. On Tuesday other neighbors offered to take us to grocery store or wherever, if we needed something. (Susie was actually happy, I think, that I couldn’t plan an outing.) Also, I talked to the couple from Sioux City that we had met at church (see, it's good to go to church!) and found out they were planning to go to Salida Tuesday p.m. – no particular schedule. I wheedled invitation from them to hitch a ride. About 2 pm, though, I talked to mechanic who was working on car, but said you’d better plan on Wednesday.
Car was ready Wed. morning, so we rode to Salida with Dick and Jane -- Nash, from San Antonio. (Our RV park has quite a few TX rigs and their owners all say, Had to get out of the heat.) They were moving to a Salida RV park for three days, then on to other stops in CO. Dick and Jane had a dog named Spot (even though he was spotless) and another dog named Maggie. (Susie's late cousin, Jane, was married to Dick and they had a spotted dog named Spot. What a coincidence!) We had a good visit - he a retired AF guy, she a retired mid-school teacher -- and went to lunch with them after we got our car. (The place we went was across from the Hampton and recommended by Jason - that's why he picked Hampton, so we could walk to good restaurant.)
After lunch we drove about 25 miles further north to Buena Vista where we checked out the possible site (Rainbow Lake Resort) for a future family reunion (also wanted to stay in an area that had mechanics and cell phone service) There’s a lot to do in that area: white water rafting (best in the state, they say), hiking, mountain biking, fishing, 4-wheeler driving, horseback riding, zip lining, … . My sister, Connie, wants a reunion in 2014 when she retires after 100 years of homeschooling her six boys (actually 78 boy-years: 6 boys times 13 years, K-12, but I'll give her extra credit). I’m not sure they’ll let Susie and me ride a zip line at the ages we will be, so we’d like sooner. We’ll see.
Made a Wal-Mart stop in Salida and came on home.
Hope there are no more problems to dutifully report.
Oops. Handle on TV antenna broke before we left home, so we can only watch satellite channels – no major networks. We're gettin' by, though.
Wednesday evening we were treated to good omens: rainbow and colorful sunset
Susie and Rob
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