Is Traveling Fun

It's days like this that make you never want to travel again. And that's not good for people who travel year round!

We were scheduled to leave Grand Junction, CO Sunday afternoon after the agility trial ended. There were a lot of people at this trial that were headed up to Gillette, WY for the NADAC Championships. A friend of ours in Colorado had written to warn us that there was major construction on the main interstate starting at 10:00pm. So we were all trying to make sure we got through before the construction began as they were saying delays would be about three hours.

But Sunday morning we got news that there had been a rock slide which had killed a trucker and the interstate was closed. The only way around for RV's was a three hour detour on a small road. Now we all had to get out of town as soon as possible to take the detour and get to the construction before 10. Some people left before the last run but most of us were all packed up and headed out the second we finished our runs.

The road was narrow, windy, and steep. But the scenery was extremely beautiful. It was very hard driving - I had to shut my eyes a lot as it was scary but fortunately Mike kept his eyes open. Just as we were finishing the detour there was a very narrow bridge and lots of traffic. Turns out we were just a bit too wide. We hit the bridge and damaged the front end and bent up the step pretty good. It really doesn't look too bad but I think they'll have to replace the whole bottom front section as it took off all the fiberglass and went into the wood. We were so concerned about the damage that we didn't notice the sharp left turn just after the bridge that would put us on the interstate. So we had to drive a ways to find a place that we could turn around.

We had originally found a place where we could spend the night on the south end of Denver as we needed to drop my computer off at the factory service center as it is on the blink. But due to the detour we were too late. So we pulled over and connected to the internet to find the nearest Wal-Mart as most will allow RV's to spend the night in their parking lots. We called to check and were told it was fine to park there as long as we parked way out. And as a bonus it was only two blocks from the computer repair place! Yippee!

It was about 10:30pm so the parking lot was totally empty in the far away section. The parking lot was extremely sloped and since our leveling system is still broken (that's another story!) we were trying to find the least sloped section. Only we could drive around a large empty parking lot and get stuck. But that's exactly what we did. We were tired, cold, and hungry so this didn't put us in the best mood. But I thought, "when we tell this story we'll sure get a good laugh out of it." So I decided that instead of being in a bad mood we might as well just laugh about it now. That helped a lot.

We didn't quite allow enough room for one of the turns and got stuck. Since we had been turning, the car was at quite an angle and we couldn't back up. So we had to unhook the car from the RV. Only problem is that when the car is at such an angle it is very difficult to remove - and especially in the dark. Mike finally got the car off but our troubles didn't end there. The battery on the car was now dead so we couldn't move the car which meant we were still stuck. So now poor Mike had to jump the car from the RV but the RV batteries have been having trouble keeping a charge as it was. After quite some time he was able to get the car started. He decided he better drive it around a bit to charge the battery. As he was driving around the parking lot he saw a sign that said no overnight parking!

But it was late and Mike had had a very trying day so we decided to park in the darkest part of the lot and maybe nobody would notice us. So Mike put out all the boards so we could use the jacks to try to get level. We couldn't come close to being level. While this isn't a problem for most of the population it is a huge problem for me - the human level. So we had to hook up the car and drive on. Forget the computer!

We couldn't stay in any of the RV parks around Denver as Denver doesn't allow Pitbulls. Boo Hiss. We won't be giving the Denver area any ouf our money! Anyway, we had to look for a rest stop. We drove and drove but all the rest stops we found either wouldn't take vehicles over 35' or they were full. By the time Mike found a rest stop that could take us it was 2:00am and we were in Cheyenne, WY. We couldn't get exactly level but we were close. There wasn't room to put the slides out so we all huddled together on the couch. Somehow Slugger ended up getting the large majority of the space and Sparkie got most of the blankets.

Back to the agility trial. Mike and Sparkie had a great trial going 8/10 with many of those being 1st place runs. They are really working together well right now and having a lot of fun together.

We're a bit confused about Wazzu. She doesn't seem to have a lot of stamina and doesn't show much interest in jumping. So I had decided to pull her from all runs that have jumps. Saturday I let her do one Touch N Go run. She was sluggish and was close to 10 seconds over time. Later that afternoon I let her off leash to just walk around. She did her business and then proceeded to do a huge crazy dog. It was great to see so much energy, darting, and smiling from her.

But that made me wonder how bad her shoulder is really bothering her. She seemed to be able to make fast cutting turns just fine during crazy dog. So I thought maybe it's just jumping that bothers her not shoulder movement. The next morning we withheld her breakfast. Weavers was in the morning so just before Weavers I brought her breakfast bowl out. She really wanted her breakfast. I showed the bowl to her just before our turn. She drug me to the line - I had trouble getting the leash off as she was pulling me toward the first obstacle. She took off like she had been shot out of a cannon. She did probably her fastest weaves ever and made time easily. Needless to say she got her breakfast immediately after her run. That made my whole weekend! We only got to do a couple runs all weekend but seeing her fast and happy on this run was so wonderful.

While we were driving from Bend to Grand Junction just after getting the RV repaired the refrigerator gave us an error code. Turns out the power board needs replacing. Isn't it interesting how something works just fine then you have the required service done on it and a day later it breaks! So after many phone calls we are getting it fixed while we are in Gillette.

One of the main things we were getting repaired in Bend was our leveling system. But the day we were planning on leaving they informed us that we needed a new "brain" and it wouldn't be there for over a week. This would mean we would miss the Championships. So we told them we couldn't stay. After much negotiation and many phone calls over the next few days we are now scheduled to dart to Minnesota right after Championships to get this fixed. So much for our leisurley two week trek to Minnesota. Arg. After our encounter with the bridge, we now have to see if they can get a new step installed for us too.

So, are you ready to join us in our travels?

All tuckered out,
Debbie, Mike, Wazzu, Sparkie, and Slugger