Rockin’ Boulder: The End is Proving Better Than the Beginning

Since getting to Colorado, our trip has really improved.  In fact, we think the drive back is much better than the drive to Colorado.  Here’s a recap of the last few days.

Mom, Rick and Sophia drove up to Estes Park to meet us on Sunday.  I went for a short run before they arrived and really felt the elevation.  Mom brought a cheesecake and strawberries to celebrate our anniversary.  It was delicious!  The five of us looked through the town, had lunch and then drove into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We drove to the top of a mountain where the snow pack on the side of the road was over 12′ tall.  The views were beautiful!  We strolled through town a bit more before they left.  It was great to see them!

We left Estes Park the next day (Monday) and drove to Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  It was a beautiful campground.  After setting up, we drove into Nederland, which had been recommended to us.  It was a cool little town.  We had lunch at a brewery (good beer, mediocre lunch) and bought ice-cream to keep us cool at camp.  It was a really warm day, must have been reaching 90 degrees if not over.  

The plan was to do a hike that afternoon but we saw lightning on the way back to camp.  The mountain storms are interesting because black clouds are not required for lightning and thunder.  We sat outside the Casita waiting to see if the weather would clear but we heard more thunder and decided to be safe and not hike.  Instead, we did our second favorite camping activity – sitting in our chairs outside, reading/sleeping/surfing the Internet while Iris watches the activity around us.  It was a great, relaxing afternoon.

The next morning, we went for a short hike.  We really need to hike more often in Oregon.  We love it and it refreshes us.  We strongly considered staying another night at the state park, but that would leave us just 2.5 days to get back to Oregon, and we felt the weight of time.  

We had previously noticed our brakes were squeaking and heard an odd noise from them.  We decided to go to Les Schwab and have them checked before the long trip back home.  The road out of Golden Gate Canyon State Park was a long-ish dirt road down the mountain.  When we got to the bottom, Mike smelled something and pulled over into a large pull-out.  (You know it’s a strong odor if Mike can smell it.)   Sure enough, our brakes were smoking and the tire gauge in the truck said the front tires were super hot, one was 158 degrees.  And, of course, we had no cell service.  What to do?

We’ve noticed on our travels that having both Verizon (phones) and AT&T (iPad) has been useful and given us a wider range of service.  The iPad worked so we searched where the closest brake shop was located.  Les Schwab was 34 minutes away and a mechanic was 22 minutes away but, unfortunately, our research didn’t solve our conundrum and tell us whether it was safe to drive.  The tires were slowly starting to cool.  We went for a walk and decided we would unhitch the Casita and slowly drive to the mechanic using as little brakes as possible.  We both hated leaving the Casita but it seemed the best option.  We unhitched and drove maybe 5 miles down the road.  Using other gears to slow down for corners was working and the little braking Mike did wasn’t causing the tires to heat, in fact, they continued to cool.  We decided to go back, get the Casita and take the chance.  The drive to Les Schwab actually wasn’t that bad.  Mike did great, and I kept an eye on the tire temperature and directions.  We made it without any problems.

(This is their next commercial).  Our Les Schwab story started in a state park outside of Denver when we noticed our brakes were hot and smoking.  We slowly made it to Les Schwab without knowing how long the wait would be or what we’d do in the 90+ degree weather.  They were immediately helpful and looked at the truck right away, while we had lunch in the Casita in their parking lot.  Luey, the Les Schwab guy, told us he didn’t see anything wrong with the brakes.  He checked all of them and said they were working fine.  Maybe something got stuck and then had loosened up again but he didn’t think they were worth replacing.  He asked if he could rotate our tires, which he did.  He handed us our keys and wished us well as we drove away feeling better about the brakes and without paying a penny.  We were already loyal customers but that loyalty has been reinforced. 

We drove about 4 hours through a beautiful western Colorado gorge along Interstate 70.  We stopped at a state park just outside of Palisade, CO.