Alaska 1. Road Warriors July 10

It was a whirlwind 3 days after landing in Eagle until this morning’s early departure. Good friends were staying in the loft as one of them was competing in the Leadville 50 mountain bike race on Sunday. Of course we made a trip there to see it — leaving too late and missing the finish — so i mean… why…? We are so bad… But it was still fun to raise a beer and congratulate the finishers and basically try to blend in with a crowd so “Colorado” that I wonder why there aren’t more memes making fun of Coloradans like there are about Minnesotans… Our religion is Prairie Home Companion/Fargo-speak/Minnesota-Nice/But actually not and theirs is Who-trains-the-hardest/sock-wearing-Chacos/with a nice film of greasy dust on hair and body. Oh-and don’t forget your flat bill. 

Anyway, that was only an afternoon’s diversion, but we also had scheduled a FULL-DAY float trip on the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers with our favorite guide, Loren.

Side Story:

We first met Loren when we tried to schedule a float trip on the Roaring Fork about 5 years ago and the fly shop was totally out of guides. The owner told us he was trying to talk a former guide into taking us out for the day. We didn’t know until the night before if we were going or not because the owner either couldn’t get him to respond or get him to commit — we weren’t sure which. Enter Loren. He keeps you guessing during the planning stages. Now that we know him pretty well, we just hold it all pretty loosely until we are sitting on the boat. We’ll text him about confirming the date a couple weeks ahead of the planned trip, and four days later we’ll get a two word text back that says something like “Drake Cripple” — which we have learned translates to “yes we are on, you dumbasses, and Jennie should tie some green drake cripple flies.”

We had a lot of fun that first time out and we somehow passed the “Loren test.” What that means is that he calls us each year to go out. It’s the best! We have tried calling him but it doesn’t work that way. A few weeks ago, we GOT THE CALL! And, come Hell or high water (pun intended), we were going to make it work. So, the ENTIRE day before we were to leave for TWO MONTHS of camping, we were floating on a raft on a beautiful day with Loren catching too many rays and just enough fish to make it a great decision. 

Other last minute crazies

If I were to chronicle all the silly purchases we’ve made for this trip, I’d never get to the trip itself. (And my brother would have a hey day, and we can’t have that.) But, by far the biggest purchase we made was the new Bronco. Normally, I would have shamed Dave into NOT swapping out a 4 year old car, but i was NEVER a fan of the 4Runner. Say what you will to defend that cult-status model, but I get to have my feelings. And, I didn’t feel good for it. <— This is a Menke family phrase coined by a 4 year-old Charlie, which we have used ever since. We find it works quite well for a number of applications. And, despite my FEELINGS that Broncos are a “bit too much” on every level, they DO possess a certain “cuteness” that I aspire to in all my vehicles. So, I did not dissuade Dave when he started looking at them. To be fair, the 4Runner was a DOG pulling the camper. And, to be fair, 7,000-8,000 miles is a long way to go dealing with a car that can’t go over 50 MPH with the accelerator to the floor on a mountain pass… So, why NOT get a new car a couple months before leaving? Even IF it means frantically sourcing and installing RACKS and PAX and HITCH EXTENDERS and CELL BOOSTERS and…. Can I just say: this car is no longer cute. It’s a bad-ass Man-Mobile. *sigh*

Back to business:

This post is about the prep to leave and I must bring it back to that: one of the things that was driving Dave absolutely nuts about the Bronco was the hitch receiver. It canted slightly down, making the whole camper hook-up less than *perfect*. It was nip and tuck, right up to the finish line, requiring three different one-hour trips to the Ford dealer in Rifle — the last one being YESTERDAY because they said they could “guarantee” they would get it done. With that guarantee in mind, we left the house at 5am to drop it off before the float trip and then they called and said they didn’t get the part and actually WOULDN’T get it done… But, long story longer, today we have a whole new hitch assembly.

And, Dave literally just turned to me from the driver’s seat a few minutes ago and said, “It looks the same.” Huh.

First couple days

The real trip won’t start until we leave from Coalville Utah — hopefully on Thursday midday. What’s in Coalville you ask? Aside from it being the birthplace of Luke from General Hospital, and a mink farming epicenter, it is the world headquarters of Escapod. Yes, we have some camper repairs on the docket. We love our camper AND we have also had some fairly significant issues with it that can only be handled by them. Prayers appreciated for an expedient and successful suspension welding so our tires stay in alignment for this epic adventure!!

Speaking of prayers, we did stop to do that on our *second* departure from the house this morning when I realized I was wearing my SLIPPERS instead of my main camping shoe (Chacós. Yes, I am part Coloradan. I even have socks on.). Dave turned the rig around and when we pulled back in, we realized we had left the garage door open! So, we thought it appropriate and right to pause long enough to thank God for the ability to even do all of the crazy stuff we get to do — and also for protection. Mostly from our own stupidity. Truly. 

So, we have a bit of time to kill in Coalville today and tomorrow. Rumor has it my niece will be in Park City for a bachelorette party tomorrow, so maybe I’ll buy a white bikini and a tiara and crash the after-party. Stay tuned! 

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