DRIVING THROUGH THE SNOW IN THE ROCKIES

OUR VIEW OF THE ROCKIES OUT OUR FRONT WINDOW IN ESTES PARK

OUR STAY IN THE ROCKIES

It wasn’t through hell or high water but it felt like it. Instead it was snow and high winds from Utah to Colorado through Wyoming. The new awning over our slide out got a good test with winds up to 50 miles per hour. Fortunately the snow didn’t stick on the highway but it sure made a mess of our windshield. Zoe really had a workout driving.

We settled in Estes Park RV Resort at the foot of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We had a wonderful view of the snow-covered Rockies. A trip into the national park gave us views of elk and mountain sheep but the best view of all was the elk grazing right in our RV park.

We drove the car down to the spinal clinic north of Denver where Lovern had a thorough checkup. The doctor determined that she had a bulging disc that was pinching a nerve. Lovern agreed to have surgery to widen the opening in the disc for the spinal chord. She goes in for surgery on Tuesday, will be in the hospital only one or two days and then be able to be up and around. The procedure is called ‘decompression’. There is no bed rest as they want movement to exercise the muscles right away. The only limitation will be excessive straining or bending over.

We are moving the rig to a park closer to the hospital in the Denver suburb of Englewood.

ELK GRAZING IN OUR ESTES PARK RV PARK

HAPPY HOUR IN THE SERVICE LOT: ZOE @ CHARLIE TALKING

OUR TWO WEEKS IN A PARKING LOT IN UTAH

On our way through the Navaho Reservation in Arizona, I was surprised by how many “Hogans” we saw. These are hexagonal or octagonal structures that were originally the primary home of the Dine’ people. Now they are mainly used for ceremonial purposes. Entering into Utah, we saw a few sod huts, reminders of the pioneers that settled this area.

Our goal in Utah was Charlie’s RV Service. Charlie is renowned among Alfa RV owners for his excellent repair/maintenance service and innovative improvements for the rig. He also owns an Alfa so is very knowledgeable of its workings. Our original service was to have a new awning put over our slideout (it had blown off driving down the road in Oklahoma) and to replace the window in our door (the seal had broken on it and moisture hindered visibility through it). We ended up waiting two and half weeks for the parts to arrive and finding all kinds of neat improvements to put on the rig in the meantime. We wondered if we would be able to afford to leave by the time everything was fixed.

Charlie provides water and electric hookups and though his parking area is small, it is constantly filled with rigs. A camaraderie is established with those there for repairs with happy hours in the evenings and shared dinners out. Even after a hard days work, Charlie and his wife Vicki (who does the scheduling, ordering and accounting) joins the group and often suggest the places to go.

We spent one Sunday driving out to Antelope Island to have a picnic and to see the Great Salt Lake that Lovern had never seen. Unfortunately the lake was down so low that we weren’t able to actually walk to the lake with Lovern’s restricted walking ability but had a lovely day anyway.

Repairs finally completed, we are a fine tuned machine and are headed for north of Denver to a clinic to find out what is causing Lovern’s major back and leg pain that inhibits walking.

LOVERN & ZOE PICNICING ON THE GREAT SALT LAKE