Day 3: Going with the Flow

 First, coffee. Last night was not as restful as I would have liked. The 4,000 feet increase in elevation definitely plays havoc with my system. I remember the first trip we made to Colorado introduced me to mild altitude sickness - headaches, insomnia, weird dreams. I experienced some of those same symptoms this time too, but am hoping that hydrating more today will help keep the worst of it at bay. Papa Bear slept better, and I don't begrudge him that as he is the one with the stress of driving all day. Today's adventure is fueled by Grizzaffi Coffee! (Shameless plug - try it today!)

Breakfast was pretty casual this morning. I fixed a continental style meal that included muffins from yesterday, some crispy bacon along with fresh pineapple and strawberries. After breakfast, Papa Bear started a general maintenance check trying to pinpoint how to keep yesterday's gremlin at bay. During that check he found that the engine air cleaner was probably original to the coach. It was filthy and clogged.  He used the compressed air system to try and blow out the dust, and then we took it down to a near by car wash to vacuum it out even more. While not a perfect fix for that issue, Smokey could definitely breathe better now.

We cleaned up, hooked up the Jeep and got back on the road - a bit later than I originally wanted to - and headed west on I-70. The intention was to stop at the Lazy Days dealership in Denver to see if they had a replacement air filter in stock. Several calls to the parts department were not getting us anywhere because my calls was routed to a voicemail box. As kind of expected, as soon as we got on the Interstate and started the steady climb in elevation, the annoying warning beep (aka Mr. Chirpy) resumed. We reduced RPMs, cruising along at around 61 mph, while I made phone calls to multiple service centers to see if would could get in for a same day service call - all with no luck. All the service centers are booked solid for days if not weeks.

We stopped at a truck service center in Limon, Colorado situated behind the Flying J truck stop, where Papa Bear talked to a service technician. The helpful tech indicated that the air filter and a dirty radiator was the most likely cause of our ills.  He recommended that we travel up to the closest truck wash and really clean that radiator, and then replace that old air filter as soon as we can. While it was something we could certainly do later, the tech did not think the coolant was as big of an issue as the filter and radiator.

Fast forward three and a half hours...

We are now back on the road after learning to navigate our way through our first big truck wash, and hunt down the elusive and hard to pinpoint air housing.  We did make our way over to the Blue Beacon truck wash in Denver - that is a craziness that I can't even begin to explain. Big rigs of every size, color and age just flowing in and out of the wash and the huge parking lot. We disconnected Bandette rather than take her through the wash, and so I could go find the part we had located nearby.

Papa Bear taking a picture of the clean and shiny Smokey

The part we thought was correct wasn't, so after getting parked at a nearby Travel America center, Papa Bear and I headed back to the specialty truck parts house. I am sending a HUGE shout out to Marini Diesel Inc. in Commerce City, Colorado for their helpfulness and extensive on hand inventory. They helped us find the correct part and didn't charge any extra when we exchanged the other one (I am pretty sure the second part was more expensive.) Great service, good attitudes. I certainly appreciate those two things more and more these days. After a thirty-five minute round trip to the parts store, we got back to the RV and 5 minutes later the new part was expertly installed by Papa Bear. 

We were finally back on the road - just in time to hit traffic out of Denver on I-25 headed north towards Fort Collins. We were definitely later in the day than expected, but all in all, if the interventions we took make Mr. Chirpy go away, and keeps Smokey running happy, then all is well and it was time well spent. I'm actually quite happy with how I personally handled the day. It was stressful and it was off-plan, and as Papa Bear will tell you, I don't do so well when things start to go off-script. I just kept reminding myself, that this was an "ounce of prevention",  we were not on anyone's time but our own, and that I don't control everything (eek!) We both kept good attitudes, and took advantage of the slow traffic to eat a sandwich.

Our new ETA to Glenrock, WY was 7:40 pm - giving us about 25 minutes before sundown. I have to say that Colorado roads are TERRIBLE. The same interstate highway coming in from Kansas went from smooth and quiet to something that resembled ladder rungs. Same thing as we headed out on I-25. The road just about beat you to death until you crossed over into Wyoming and then miraculously the road was smooth and quiet again.  What ARE they doing with all that weed tax money? Just saying.

Wyoming really is the big sky country. The vistas are wide open with views of rolling hills and escarpments that make you feel very small. I saw the weather patterns shift and roll across the landscape at least five times in the last hour. Rain squalls pop up and move on. Dark clouds dance over the hills and disappear into the far horizon leaving the western sun to warm the ground just before it sets for the day. 

Very happy to say that so far no real issues with the high temp issues we experienced yesterday and earlier today. The cooler air temps and new parts seem to have done the job. Papa Bear is doing an excellent job of keeping her between the lines and has relaxed into the journey now. I'm just enjoying the ride and taking photos.

We arrived at the camping site right about 8:00, dropped the levelers, detached the Jeep and headed into Casper to have dinner. After everything today, I was just too pooped to cook. We went to the Wyoming Ale Works and I have to say the burger that Papa Bear had and the French Dip sandwich I had were pretty darn good.

We did not get around to the sight seeing that we anticipated to do today, but since tomorrow is a slightly shorter travel day, we are going to catch some of the sights as we go through Casper.  So ends the saga of Day 3 and learning to just go with the flow.