Travel Day to Colorful Colorado

Happy Friday! Even though we are travelling and it feels like a holiday I am always happy when Friday arrives. The weekend gives my brain a little break from juggling iPads and laptops in the backseat for the kids’ school.  I get to just relax and enjoy two days of exploring with the family.  And, this weekend, we have some fun exploring to do!  

It was a chilly night in the RV and our furnace is being a bit finicky at the moment. This is the most time we have spent in our RV, so we are still learning her quirks. Our left propane tank for the RV is empty, but we have a full right tank. However, we believe our furnace prefers to just pull propane from the left tank, so it doesn’t ignite and provide us with heat. 

My dad and I mentioned switching the tanks to Ron so the left tank would be the full one. At first it seemed he would leave it to fate, but after a chilly night and morning, he saw the benefit of trying anything to get the furnace to work lol. So we filled up the empty tank and let’s hope that solves our problem. If not, Ron’s desire to move to Florida will only intensify.  Oh dear!!

Actually, if this does not work we are going to take my parents advice and pop into an RV shop to ask for advice or pick up a little electric heater. It is nice to have my parents on speed dial for all our RV questions. They are such experienced campers and it is so helpful to have them as a helpful resource. Thankfully we don’t have weeks of cold weather ahead of us.  

The scenery just kept getting better as we drove through New Mexico. I felt like we were driving through a scene in the old Western movies my dad used to watch. It was pretty neat. Ariel and Wyatt had a great day of learning in the truck today and the earlier start time for their classes made our drive a lot more peaceful. With their brains engaged sooner, they found less time for boredom and trouble. Loving the time change! 

Crossing into Colorado, the sign said “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” and it truly was. The trees were showing off their fall colours against the dry arid background of the rolling hills and small mountains. I loved it. We checked into our campground across from Mesa Verde NP and settled in for a relaxing evening.  With some help from our map of the National Park, we made a good plan for the morning. Since we’re only here for one night, we plan to explore the park in the morning before our check out.  

At half an acre, the dog park here was the largest we have seen so far on this trip. Ariel and Wyatt played at the playground (of course) across from the dog park while the pups ran. Well, that is, they ran until they discovered an old burrow. Then, they spent their time sniffing and digging and trying to discover what could have been inside. I hated to tell them that whatever might have been in there was already long gone. But it kept their minds busy.

When you’re on a road trip it is more difficult to get some recharge alone time. At home I could relax in my favourite chair and read a book or listen to music while the kids played in their rooms. Just half an hour was enough to recharge my mom batteries. On a camping road trip you are surrounded by kids and husband pretty much 24/7. That’s not a bad thing, but today I wanted to just escape in a good book for a while. I pulled out the second book in the Outlander series that I am reading and attempted to read.

For those who may not know, I am a HUGE Outlander fan. I have watched all of the seasons of the show and even dragged Ron to Seattle Comicon a couple of years ago just so that we could spend the entire day meeting Sam Heughan (he plays Jamie Fraser) and Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser). It was such a highlight for me—so much so that the picture of me with Sam and Caitriona is hanging on our family picture wall.  

I didn’t make it far with my book, but I got a huge treat anyway. As I was checking my Instagram feed I saw a post from Sam Heughan.  In his post he gave out his cell number and told his Canadian and US fans that we could send him a text and say “hi” and he would text back.  NO WAY! Of course I sent him a text and got a very nice reply that said  there was some exciting news coming up and he would be sending out a text soon.

I realize that this likely was not his true cell number (he is not that crazy) and I know it was a generated reply but like the time I met them at Comicon I was giddy!  The text also shared Sam’s contact information so that I could add it to my contacts and so I am super proud of having that number in my contacts now. I immediately texted my mom and sister since they also share a love of Outlander with me. I may not have had a chance to read any of my Outlander books today but I now have Sam Heughan in my contacts! That is a big win 🙂

After the excitement of Outlander and some playtime for the kids and the dogs we headed back to camp for dinner and s’mores. It has been a while since we have been able to roast marshmallows, so Ariel and Wyatt were very excited. Sadly, Wyatt had a tragic moment when Maggie devoured half of his marshmallow and graham cracker sandwich (thankfully there was no chocolate in this one). Wyatt cried many tears and Maggie had sticky marshmallow all over her mouth which she could not lick off.  

With two full propane tanks now, we hope our furnace keeps us toasty tonight.  We did not get a chance to pick up a heater today but a Walmart is along our journey to Utah tomorrow.  Let’s hope we don’t have to stop there to pick one up.

Goodnight from Colorful Colorado!