Cleo Doesn’t Like Aquaplaning

Somehow, we managed to spend the whole day packing and preparing the van. It was our first day under the reign of Max Verstappen as the F1 World Champion. Yesterday, we’d witnessed not only history, but a brilliant end to a season of sport we both love. And, it was raining. Not fun for checking wheel bearings and stocking the kitchen, but rain at home meant snow in higher places.

We hit the road around 4pm – the worst time to drive anywhere in the Bay Area. No matter, we were in no rush. As we drove through Sacramento towards Lake Tahoe, Cleo got the shivers. We’d already stopped to take her out once, but she’d been too scared of the rain to attempt a pee and now we were driving through deep puddles and she was terrified of the noise it made. Maybe she could feel the lightness of the van as we skipped over the standing water.

Despite my optimism of cooking in the rain, we caved and pulled in at a Thai restaurant. Dan ordered and in the ten minute waiting time, we turned the passenger seat around and made a grand discovery. With the newly shortened bed, the fridge now served as a perfect little dining table! Why, we were having ourselves a date night. Dan got the sniffles thanks to his curry and as we were finishing up, there was a lull in the rain and so I took the opportunity to get Cleo to take the opportunity. Thankfully, we were rainless long enough for her to relieve herself then we got going again.

Not wanting to face a snowy Donner Pass in the dark, we pulled in at our of our favourite camps at a trailhead in Colfax. We had the place to ourselves and surprisingly, the bathroom was open, a mega bonus for Dan and his recently finished curry. We were all curled up in bed in no time.

First Day Powder

At some point in the night, the rain turned to snow and so we were woken up by snow chunks falling off the tree above us. Cleo and I were out first and we stepped into a winter wonderland. It was gorgeous. Dan soon joined us after I managed to throw a snowball right into the van as he opened the door. He turned the van around so I wouldn’t get snowed on while making coffee and I observed just how quickly a pair of humans could destroy the pristine-ness of fresh snow by trudging around in it.

On the road, we were faced with chain control and it was about four miles too early. I’d inspected the chains before we left and done a test fitting so they were on quick smart, but we cringed as we were forced to drive on them over wet tarmac. Once we got into snow we were alright but about a mile from the summit, we had a snappage on the passenger side. Without anywhere to really stop, we continued on slowly with the loose chain whacking the side of the van. A half mile on, we came upon a stretch of stopped traffic so I got out with a pair of pliers and pulled the broken strand of chain off. This had happened to me before with the Astro, but this was only the second time Ramsie had worn these chains so I was disappointed. We sat in the traffic for a good half an hour listening to Missed Apex and commentating on all the people getting out of their cars trying to figure out what was going on. We were laughing when we saw them all rushing back to their cars as traffic started moving again.

Coming into Truckee, we snapped another chain and nearly ran into the back of a car at an intersection for good measure. Dan did his best avoidance performance and got us safely to a servo where we could yank off yet another broken chain link. From there, we rolled into a not-very-busy Northstar carpark and everything seemed all too familiar. We got into our snowboarding kit, gave Cleo a treat, and then headed up to the mountain, taking our usual shortcuts.

We were here on Northstar’s third day of operation for the season. Thanks to the warm temperatures so far this season, they’d only managed to open a few runs of man made snow before today, but thanks to the overnight storm, there was powder abounds. After a few runs on Vista, a lifty announced that Comstock – the lift that goes to the top of the mountain – had opened for the season two minutes ago. That of course meant that everybody on the mountain headed straight for it.

We were lucky to avoid a yellow card when we ducked a rope to get to the lift from the top of Vista. Dan started it, ducking under and making a beeline to Comstock, and thanks to me and the ten or so others who followed, the Northstar staff couldn’t do much about it. After standing in line a while and watching others get ticketed, we decided to play it safe and ride down the mountain in case we were noticed. The lift had stopped running anyway so we weren’t missing anything.

We enjoyed a beer on our next lift up and found Comstock was open and the rope we’d ducked only minutes earlier had been taken down. At the top of the mountain we were greeted with signs threatening a 1-month suspension as a minimum penalty for ducking ropes so we considered ourselves duly warned. Riding down from the top, the powder was almost too deep. Dan had warned me to keep off the fresh stuff and follow other people’s tracks, but I chanced it and got myself thoroughly stuck in waist-deep stuff, having to effectively swim my way out. Dan watched on from nearby and despite my situation, I had to laugh when he pulled out a beer, knowing I’d be taking a while.

A couple more episodes of getting stuck and I was shattered, so we called it around 3:30pm. We’d skipped lunch thanks to our anticipation and so I was feeling it. I was straight into the kitchen to make a hot snack while Dan ran around with Cleo but we didn’t muck around getting out and onto the road. Our usual camp at Martis Creek was under snow and so we had to venture up and over a hill down towards Kings Beach. Dan had to use his avoidance skills again to keep us out of a snowbank as we exited the carpark, but that was our only event. No snapped chains, but it was very slow going on the snowy roads. It was dark by the time we reached the Sno Park and thanks to traffic sitting on our bum, it took us three attempts driving back and forth to pick the narrowly ploughed driveway and drive into it.

Dan employed momentum to get us up the slight hill and into the deserted parking area. Again I was surprised to find the bathrooms open and while we initially had the place to ourselves, by the time we’d eaten dinner, we had a few neighbours.

Too Good Not To

We heard the snow plough carving a path around us in the wee hours of the morning and I felt like a rich person, having a lie in while my “staff” cleared the way for me. It was properly cold, our water frozen and our breath visible and it was now we really started to feel the disappointment in our diesel heater not working. Dan had sourced and installed the heater over the last few weeks and he’d done at least three or four test runs with outstanding results but now that we were in need of the heater, it had crapped out. The display was telling us the engine couldn’t achieve ignition and after Dan had played around with fuel pump frequency settings to adjust for elevation, it just wasn’t kicking over. When I inspected underneath, I found diesel dripping out of the intake port, so we figured the engine had become flooded. We’ll try again another day. In the mean time, we still have our propane powered Big Buddy heater that we’d elected to keep in the van just in case something like this happened.

With the lack of heat and a sore back from a fall yesterday, Dan wasn’t keen on another day of snowboarding. It was a long season after all and our main goal for this trip was to make a loop over to Utah and Colorado, then down into Arizona for a family Christmas and wedding. Once we were on the road again, we couldn’t ignore the sunny conditions. Dan soon changed his tune, citing FOMO. Over the hill, we broke yet another chain link (on the same tyre) and so we pulled over and this time we had to improvise with a few cable ties to keep the whole thing together. It was borderline chain control so we figured if we could just get to Northstar, we’d be able to take them off for the rest of the day.

The carpark was much busier today but we still managed to find a choice spot for Cleo and for the second time in two days, we were on our way to the lifts. Despite the busier carpark, there seemed to be less people on the mountain. The weather was pristine for our first ride up Vista and we got onto Comstock immediately. The powder was the perfect consistency with a bit of crispness on its top layer thanks to the overnight cold. More runs had been open and more tracks laid so there were new places for us to explore. It was magical.

With the sun still shining a couple of hours in, I stopped for a bathroom break and we enjoyed a beer outside the lodge for good measure. We needed a break anyway and so we sat and watched the goings on.

By the time we took our next lift up, the weather had turned in preparation for the night’s storm and so we hunkered down against the wind. We managed only one more run up to the top of Comstock before calling it a day, knowing we had another drive ahead of us to make camp before dark.

Cleo was happy to see us and we were happy to be walking straight after stressing our bodies with an activity we hadn’t done in months. Since the snow had been falling lightly, we kept the chains on as we drove out of Northstar and back towards Lake Tahoe. We’d be driving along the east side of the lake towards Heavenly, our other local resort. Once we hit lake level, we ditched the chains and topped up with petrol and while we were happy with the decision, Dan took extra care feeling the road for slippage as the light of the day faded.

It soon became apparent that driving the length of the lake in the dark in worsening conditions was a bad idea. Neither of us wanted to risk putting our broken chains on again and it was all for the sake of riding at Heavenly for an afternoon. Our next stop was going to be Carson City so halfway down the lake, we hooked it east and descended down into the city. We were relieved to see the snow and ice turn to water as we wound our way down through a canyon and soon enough we saw city lights.

We turned away from the Walmart and tried for a wilderness camp in some BLM land and Dan drove expertly up a gentle hill along a dirt road, never losing his momentum. At our first camp opportunity, he pinned it up a hill and into a perfectly flat clearing. Camp! You’ve gotta love Nevada for its endless dirt roads that lead off into the wilderness. Just as we were admiring the view back down to the city, we were surprised to see a skier pushing himself down the road in the headlights of a car following him down. Cheap thrills I guess.

I got onto dinner while Dan set up the tarp around the back doors to block the stove from the wind. It did a world of good and we were eating hot food within half an hour. We had a couple of visitors throughout the night, some driving past us to higher ground, others coming into the open space to do a few doughnuts then bugger off again.

An Adventurous Camp

We woke up to fresh snow for the second time in three nights. You’d never know about the doughnut tracks now. The three of us de-vanned and walked up the hill behind us for a view of Carson City below. It felt a little strange walking with Dan and it was because this year was his first snow trip with appropriate shoes – snow boots that I’d bought him.

Cleo was ecstatic running around eating snow at her leisure and looking for animals in bushes. While I made coffee and breakfast, Dan noticed the no camping sign which was posted right behind the BLM land information sign. I was happy we’d been ignorant of it.

Today’s activity was driving and that meant we needed the right tools – namely a new set of chains. We descended onto Carson City, filled up with petrol at the stellar price of $3.39/gallon (a price we wouldn’t see beaten until halfway through Utah), then hit an Autozone for chains. They only had the same shitty ones we had and we were looking for an upgrade so we passed, though Dan did pick up a small spray can of “Dodge Emerald Green Pearl” to do some touch-ups on Ramsie’s exterior. As Dan drove us over to Walmart, I did some online hunting for chains thinking we could send them to Arizona, but that wouldn’t really work because we’d potentially need them for Utah and Colorado. But where would we get them?

Walmart answered all our questions. As we entered Walmart, we divided to conquer and Dan called me five minutes later saying he’d found the chains we needed. You beauty, I interrupted the food shopping and headed straight over. $100 later and we had a set of truck chains – way gnarlier than the pathetic standard brand everyone else carries. Thanks Walmart.

It was approaching noon and the light rain had turned to snow by the time we made out of Carson City heading east on highway 50. By the time we hit the town of Fallon we were ready for lunch and Dan miraculously found the same park we’d stopped at in the Summer of last year during a trek in his van. Though we weren’t throwing a tennis ball around this time, it was still a nice place for lunch. We did some fighter jet spotting while Cleo enjoyed some cat spotting.

We’d opted for the 50 over the more major 80 highway, always liking to take the road less travelled but damn it is a lonely place. The mountains provide a beautiful backdrop and the changing weather conditions kept us entertained.

Wherever we looked there was blue sky to be found, but there’d also be a black raging cloud. After going over a few mountain passes around 7,500 feet, we were tackling ice on the road.

Not enough to warrant chains, but plenty to demand a lot of attention from the driver. It meant we wanted to avoid driving at night.

We called it at 4pm. Just as Dan suggested we find a camp, we were two miles from a side road that promised hot springs at its end. We’d attempted to get to these before (I think last season) and had been turned around by mud. This time snow would be the challenge. The first stretch of road was fine, clear enough to see a coyote in his home environment.

At first look at the road that ran underneath powerlines, Dan wasn’t keen, but I was full of confidence thanks to our new chains and the tracks that had been laid for us in the foot-deep snow by a 4WD of some sort. And so we drove into the unknown. Dan expertly navigated us through the existing ruts the mile or so down the road. As we approached the small hill that promised the hot springs, we saw the truck that had paved the way for us, he was just leaving and heading away from us, spinning out any chance he got – he was out here having fun.

Dan kept momentum to get us up the hill, still following the tracks and they lead us to a beautiful small hot tub. The ground was flat so we were able to stop so I could check the temperature. It was warm, but not hot. Knowing there should be a second pool, we continued on up the hill (still in the tracks) until we could see the next one. At the top of the hill, the snow turned to mud since the hot water pooled up there and the going got a little tough. Anyway, we weren’t stuck yet, we parked it so we could suss out the second pool.

It was gorgeous. Shaped like a loveheart and lined with rock pavers, someone had spent a lot of time on this little oasis. With the sun setting, it made for a beautiful spot. Before we could enjoy it, we needed to sort out our camp situation and level the van. The next hour was an adventurous one. Dan drove forwards a little ways and the rear left wheel fell into a hole. Bugger. Out came the shovel and the axe. Some bushes lost their lives and I found a few long pieces of discarded metal to place in the hole. After some rocking back and forth, Dan rolled forwards out of it. Right. But now we were pointing downhill where we didn’t want to go. It was getting dark, it was bloody cold and we could feel how isolated we were. The highway we’d come from now had three police vehicles on it with stopped traffic, though we couldn’t see why. In the other direction distant lights glistened suggesting civilization. And here we were, getting stuck in the mud.

Next, we had to get Ramsie turned around. That meant getting stuck in more mud and after a few attempts at getting going again, it was time for the chains. We were glad to have them. I skimmed the instructions and we both got down at each wheel to put them on, bungee cords and all. We were happy with their beefiness compared to our last set but the passenger side busted off after a small movement because we’d obviously not clipped them in properly. It was properly night time now and we worked under the light of the moon and Dan’s head torch to unwrap the chains from around the axle. We both worked together but we weren’t exactly laughing about our situation – yet. Our second try at the chains worked a treat and Dan was able to back up from where he was to a perfect perch atop the hill. It was 6pm by the time we were safely camped and we were both happy to leave the hot springs for the morning.

We put on some F1 post-race show (we can’t get enough of Stappy taking the championship from Ham-boy) to wind down before I geared up to cook dinner. Funnily enough, having been out of cell service all day, we had five bars of it on our perch so Dan told me that it was 14*F as I got to cooking up some chicken curry. Didn’t matter to me, I was dressed for it and perfectly comfortable. I was incredibly thankful there wasn’t a breath of wind.

Back inside the van with our Buddy heater going, it was comfortable enough for Dan to be in his jocks and a t-shirt.

Driving Through Cloud

I was up with the sun, excited for our reward following last night’s hard work. Dan snored a little more but I became too restless and we were soon up. Wow it was bright outside and things were looking much more frozen than they had last night. No snow, but it was obviously been a cold night. With the ground nice and hard, Dan wanted to get us into position to leave and I was behind him. He turned Ramsie around, avoiding the hole we’d fallen into last night, and got us pointing towards the exit. We removed the chains which had become a muddy/snowy mess and warmed ourselves up in the van.

It was Dan’s idea to get mostly undressed in the van and walk/shuffle/jog over to the hot tub in just our boots and jackets and so that’s what we did. Holding towels around our waists (for the cold, not modesty), we shut Cleo in the warm car and ventured over to our springs. Wow was it a beautiful bath. Not too hot, it was a perfect temperature to sit and enjoy the view around us. I gave my hair and face a wash, but regretted it when my wet hair turned to ice on my head. We stayed in for a good half hour, happy that last night had all been worth it. Then, it was time for the cold dance back to the van. Dan de-pooled first, then helped me do the same. The warmth left our bodies too quickly as we shuffled back to the car. Dan laughed at me as my towel dropped a little to reveal my arse crack and he really lost it when I threw it off and waved it over my head as I finished my run to the van. “Merry Fucking Christmas!” I yelled to the sky.

Inside our van haven, we felt clean and warmed up quickly, treating ourselves to fresh clothes.

Now for the drive out. Dan is such a brilliant driver – there were many Max Verstappen references – and we were out in no time. The construction workers at the highway intersection looked at us sideways as we rejoined the main road and we were smiling ear to ear. What an adventure!

Next important task was to find a spot for breakfast. Dan had bought a thermos at Walmart so he could have more than one cup of coffee and he was thoroughly excited. We managed that at a hardware store just outside of Ely where we enjoyed the sun beaming down through a blue sky.

In the town of Ely we filled up with petrol and I knelt down by the car to fill our water bottles directly from the water tanks since the water pump was frozen. Whatever works! We were about to cross into Utah and I shared the map with Dan so we could make a decision. Either we started heading North East towards Park City and then back down towards the cluster of ski mountains in Colorado, or we skip Park City and head straight to the home of Vail. Dan had consulted the snow reports last night and Park City, though it is one of my favourites, hadn’t had much snow and only 20% of the lifts were open. Considering that, it seemed a long way out of our way so we decided to skip it and go directly east. It meant more driving over the next day or two without an activity to interrupt it, but less driving overall.

We stopped in at Great Basin National Park to see if we could check out the Lehman Caves, but the sign at the closed Visitor’s Center informed me that a reservation was needed at least a day in advance, so that cancelled that plan. Instead, we camped out in the parking lot and had lunch. While Dan was onto that, I decided that with the sun out, it would be an opportune time for a clean-up. I got the chains out and washed them and we gave the van a general clean out. The muddy adventures from this morning/last night were behind us. Only the good memories remained.

Back onto Highway 50 and we were into Utah. Having not seen a cloud all day, as we drove by Sevier Lake, we saw a thick band of cloud sitting low right on top of the water. It looked like a sheer wall, with the peaks of mountains showing behind it. I wondered if we’d be driving through it and half an hour later, we sure were.

The sun was behind us, about an hour away from setting, but after driving into the fog, you’d never know what time it was. Dan slowed right down, not quite being able to judge visibility because there weren’t any oncoming cars. Soon enough we saw headlights and they were very quickly upon us. The windscreen kept wanting to freeze and we felt like we were on another planet.

As we drove through the towns of Hinckley and Delta, Dan described it as driving into a old painting and he was right. The last of the sun put an odd glow on everything.

After an hour of it, we figured it would be best to call it a day before it got properly dark and then, we could see mountains! They appeared before us lit by the moon and we knew we had escaped. Looking in the rear view, all we could see was cloud. We were happy to be out of it.

We did some dog leg turns onto some major highways and it was strange to be among so many people again. The sun had well and truly set and while we don’t like finding camp in the dark, it was hardly that because the full moon lit up the snow all around us. Just before we hit highway 70, we filled up with petrol (only $2.75!!!) and started our search for camp.

It wasn’t a long search. We turned off onto Gooseberry Road and found a beautiful little campground, picnic tables and all, right off the highway. We had the place to ourselves and went for a quick explore to see the partially frozen river running behind us before retreating into the warm van for the night. Cleo, exhausted from the day of “driving” was fed and asleep within minutes.

Lucy

Without the promise of a warm bath, it seemed especially cold this morning when Cleo and I stepped out of the van. I went to the bathroom while Cleo did her usual run around, then we toured the campsite and ventured towards the river. The water that was running was clear enough to see the ice towers that had formed below the surface. By the time we got back to the van it was running, so Dan was keen to hit the road! We still made coffee and a little breakfast, but it gave Ramsie time enough to warm up and de-ice a bit.

Onto the 70, this highway was lonely in a different way to what the 50 had been. There was plenty of traffic, but no towns or even services for 150 miles. Instead, we enjoyed endless canyon and mesa scenery while listening to a podcast about the Richard Nixon Watergate scandal.

The time passed quickly because Dan had a goal to snowboard before the end of the day. Our closest mountain was Beaver Creek and though less than 15% of the mountain was open, they had snow. We stopped for a mini-lunch and a pee off the highway, after which I got to drive for the first time! Dan enjoys driving so much I hardly ever get a turn so my excitement level was high! It didn’t go well. First off, I didn’t quite have enough momentum to get back onto the road thanks to the high kerb so took two attempts. I then drove down the wrong road and had to make a u-turn to get back onto the highway and top it all off, Ramsie started making the faintest of “pulley or bearing worn out” noise intermittently as I drove. Oh, and we nearly ran out of gas.

After fuelling up, we were only a few minutes out of Colorado’s ski mountain Mecca and we could see ski runs ahead. It was around 2pm when we pulled into the Bear parking lot at the base of Beaver Creek. We were met with a gate and a ticket machine, but parking is free after 1pm, so I assumed pushing the ticket button would get us in. There was a man with an information jacket standing at the parking entrance and when the ticket machine produced no ticket and a message stating “see cashier”, I asked him if he was the cashier! He pretty much put his hands up and said he couldn’t help. We couldn’t get into the parking lot without a ticket – even though it is free! We went back and forth a bit and he offered to look inside the box to see what he could do but there was now someone behind me so he had to direct them to back up so I could do the same. Then he was into the box and having a poke around and he’d soon shut the box again. Now I pulled up again to press the button and while a ticket was now produced, it was blank and the gate remained closed. Why this man couldn’t just open the gate for free parking I don’t know, but me and the three cars now behind me were directed to turn around and make our way to the next parking lot. Off to a good start in Colorado! We laughed about it as we drove on over to Elk Lot, got a ticket and parked.

Keen to get at least one run in, we kitted up and got Cleo settled – there was sun shining through the windows to keep her nice and warm. When we saw the shuttle bus coming down the hill, Dan grabbed both out boards and started shuffling over, managing to kick my beer over – twice – in the process (my fault for having rested it on the ground in the first place).

The bus took us to the main lodge which we hadn’t been to before since we usually took a lift from nearby the carpark, but it was closed. The four-person chair wasn’t busy and we slid on with a couple of guys that had been skiing the whole day. We chatted with them as we drank a beer and climbed up the mountain, feeling the chill of the late afternoon air. We rode about twenty meters to get onto the next lift and joined up with the same two guys and so continued our conversation from earlier. Now we were at the top of the Beaver Creek mountain!

While the snow was older than it had been at Northstar, there was no slush and only a few bits of ice. Though it was fairly well tracked out, we still managed to find a few freshies amongst the trees. We got a couple of runs in on the higher lifts before they closed and then we had a twenty minute long snowboard back down to the base. It was a nice run, which we spent in the trees as much as possible. Towards the bottom half of the run, I got my ice-legs back, relearning how to ride in the areas where snow suddenly turned to ice.

Even though there were a couple of minutes left to ride the main chairlift by the time we got down, we were happy to be done. The sun was setting and it was getting properly cold. We timed the bus down perfectly and were soon dancing around with Cleo in the carpark. Having done this trip a few times now, we had our favourite camps pegged and so drove towards our favourite just south of the town of Minturn. We stopped at the Conoco gas station just east of the turn off to fill up with propane, but I discovered that I’d read the gauge wrong because our bottle still felt at least half full. No matter, Dan got himself a few treats and we were on our way.

The forest road was familiar as we drove down it, but we were disappointed to see a new gate in place about a mile earlier than the usual gate. More control, more restrictions I guess. It didn’t matter, there was still plenty of room to camp out. There was a white truck parked with his lights on so we turned our boat around and gave him some distance before re-parking after he left to be on flatter ground.

Surprised to find we had a spot of service, we had ourselves some crackers and cheese while watching “Bar to Bar” and then I had a long chat with Mum on the phone. It was about time for dinner then so I got suited up to go outside. I made it to the front of the car, just having a look around in the moonlight and I shouted “Fuck!” when I saw a wolf/dog on the road looking at me. I hotfooted it the few paces back to the car and Dan could see fear in my eyes as I climbed in. He saw the dog behind me as he slammed the side door shut. I didn’t know what I’d seen, I’d just gotten a fright at seeing something I didn’t expect and thought there must have been someone else camped nearby with a dog, but when Dan told me he’d seen it right behind me I wasn’t so sure. He must have moved lightning quick to get around the car that fast.

We looked out the window and saw him sitting outside our driver’s window and so we figured he must be a lost dog. Last year we’d camped here we’d seen a guy driving along behind his dog as if exercising him and letting him play in the snow while keeping warm himself. We also remembered there was a snowmobiling business further down the road so maybe they’d let their dog out to do his rounds?

We watched him some more and decided he definitely wasn’t a wolf. He had dark thick hair and dog’s ears but we couldn’t see a collar. Now he was sniffing around in the snow across the road seemingly quite at home. So was he just a wild dog? Dan ventured outside to see how he acted, going out the side door and watching from the front of the car as I watched from the driver’s window. Dan shone his torch light on him and he didn’t seem to notice. He continued sniffing around, then proceeded to go down onto his back and roll around in the snow. I laughed at that, thinking, “Awww, how cute.” But then he noticed Dan about the same time that Dan decided he didn’t look like a pet. Dan backed up one step and the dog started coming at the car so he raced back in through the side door. The dog didn’t chase after him but came directly up to the driver’s door and jumped up at the window. I jumped back and closed the curtain then. Fuck that, it was scary. No way we were having dinner tonight.

We watched him some more from inside the car and he continued roaming around along the road, sniffing and carrying on. The more we watched him, the more we were convinced he was wild and hunting for food. With his coat, he looked like a winter dog, but it is hard to believe how any animal can survive in weather as cold as this. Half an hour later, we heard him barking. He was standing right where the white truck had been and just barking at nothing. Now we were thinking maybe the guy in the truck had abandoned his pet? If that was the case then we didn’t want him to freeze to death. Cleo started shaking in her boots at the barking, which she’s never done before, so maybe she understood what he was saying and it wasn’t good?

We debated what to do. If it was a pet, we couldn’t really let him into the van because Cleo wouldn’t especially like it and if he was a wild dog, we didn’t want to lose any of our fingers. We ended up calling 911. Dan told the operator immediately that it wasn’t an emergency and got put through to the local sheriff, Lisa. She was receptive of the situation and said she’d drive by and take a look. She didn’t think it likely that it belonged to someone in the snowmobiling business and that it could be a wild dog.

That was around 8:30pm. The dog barked a few more times, sometimes close, sometimes far, but otherwise we didn’t know what was happening with him. The more he barked, the more Dan was thinking he was an abandoned pet, but when we caught sight of him, he just didn’t look like a pet.

An hour later, when the sheriff still hadn’t shown up, Dan couldn’t stand the thought of the dog freezing to death if he was a pet so he put a mat outside the door. A few minutes later, we heard crunching of the dog standing on top of it. I suggested then that Dan just open the door a crack and talk to the dog to see how he acted. Within seconds of doing that, Dan was in tears – the dog was a pet and he was freezing. The poor thing’s face was covered in frost and she was lifting her paws up and down off the frozen ground.

We scrambled then. We found Cleo’s muzzle and got it on her and I held her tight on the bed while Dan went outside to let the poor dog in. He was jumping all over Dan, ecstatic to be getting help and so Dan put Cleo’s collar and leash onto her. Cleo sat rigid in my arms as we watched this new animal come into the van. She was a bit bigger than Cleo with a patchy gray/black coat and a kind face that looked terrified. Cleo behaved herself exceptionally, not trying to attack a new dog on her turf, but sitting and watching. Our new friend, we called her Lucy, stared down Cleo as she tried to figure out what was going on. Dan was very good with her, covering her with a blanket and talking to her all the while to make her comfortable. She was very skittish and was whimpering hard. A few times Dan was firm with her and we found out she understood how to “sit” and “go down”.

Once Dan got her settled, I called 911 again. We could go no further in this situation – there’s no way we’d be able to drive anywhere with the two dogs. I spoke to a different operator but he knew the situation and he put us onto Animal Control. Shiloh from Animal Control then called and explained that she was on her way and would get to us in 45 minutes. That seemed a long time considering how Lucy was carrying on, but we were so grateful to hear it.

I continued holding Cleo while Dan made Lucy as comfortable as he could. He got her laying down and she whimpered hard – probably as the feeling came back to her frozen paws. She sucked down a full bowl of water and ate four scoops of food with Cleo watching on in controlled envy. After fifteen minutes, Cleo had lost interest completely and went to sleep next to me. Lucy took a little longer, but she eventually fell asleep too at Dan’s feet.

We killed the time talking about the possibilities. Who was Lucy and how did she get here? We hoped and hoped we were wrong about the abandonment and that she’d just jumped a fence, but at least we knew now that she would survive the night.

Right on time, Shiloh from Animal Control showed up. We waved as she drove up to us and Dan opened the side door to greet her. Lucy was up now and the Shiloh was very quick to scan her for a chip and we were all relieved to hear the buzzer go off. She belonged to someone!

And just like that, Lucy was gone. Shiloh took her up with a leash and led her to a crate in the back of her truck. She stayed a while in her truck, then came back to us to report that she’d left a voicemail with the owner and that she was going to visit their home address which was just around the corner. It sounded like she had just escaped from home then. As Shiloh made to leave, I poked my head out to tell her about the white truck and possible abandonment. Worst case scenario obviously, but I just told her to be wary if she went to the house and found a white truck. This chick was brave, it was well past 10pm and she was out on her own meeting up with a random campervan on a forest road to collect an unknown dog.

What an evening! I praised Dan for doing all that he did, glad that he’d figured it out and brought Lucy in. We were too buzzed to sleep and so we stayed up a while, giving Cleo plenty of attention so that she knew she was still number one.

Sun and Ice

We slept way in until the sun shone through our windows. By the time I got out to make coffee, we had a couple of neighbours, out hitting the trails beyond the gate. When Dan tried starting the car, she didn’t sound happy. Ramsie wasn’t turning over though the sound of effort was prevalent. He tried a few more times and still she wouldn’t turn over. It sounded like one of the accessories on the fan belt (alternator, water pump) was restricting movement of the crankshaft. Not much we could do, Dan tried again with some throttle and she came to life but sounded terrible. Maybe the coolant had frozen and was stopping the water pump impeller from spinning? Still nothing much we could do and once she warmed up she sounded ok.

After breakfast we hit the road driving east towards Keystone Resort. We had four resorts to choose from in this area and Keystone was the only one that offered free parking. Since it was a Sunday and we’d likely be fighting crowds, we didn’t want to pay for the privilege. When we arrived, the main lot was full and so we were directed to the Powerline lot – one we hadn’t known about. Best thing about it was that it was in the sun. Cleo would be having a warm day.

We suited up slowly and walked over to the bus stop where a few others were waiting. It was just about noon when we hopped on – we were taking it at a leisurely pace. The crowds at the gondola weren’t terrible and we were soon on our way up the mountain. We were grateful for the full sun, though it didn’t do much for the temperature. It barely reached freezing all day.

There were only a handful of runs open but we managed to have a great time, sticking to the edge of the groomers to find the soft stuff and avoiding the main thoroughfares which were terribly icy. If I didn’t have my ice-legs with me yesterday, I definitely had them now.

We both spent the day working on riding switch, something I’m getting very comfortable with, though I had a rough stack towards the end of the day that rattled my brain around in my head.

It was strange to ride the chairlifts over solid ground instead of snow. There was barely any on some parts of the mountain it was amazing they were open at all. We skied all over the backside and front side, riding down the main run to the lodge only once before deciding we didn’t need to ride that ice sheet again.

We ended the day on the wrong side of the mountain but that just meant we had to catch a shuttle bus back to the village where we strolled by all the paying customers to get on our powerline lot bus. It was a quiet ride back to a nearly empty lot.

We could see Cleo laying comfortably on the bed and she was happy to run around with us when we returned. I heated up some leftovers quick smart for a snack and we enjoyed a wind-down. Before it got dark, we were on our way to camp. Another regular from last year, we were disappointed again to see changes – this time in the form of no camping signs. They are really trying to make it harder for us vanners, but we weren’t phased. The sign specifically showed a tent with a cross through it – nothing about overnight parking. We shall see what happens.

We texted Shiloh to see if there was any update on Lucy and she told us that the owner was out of town and Lucy had been with a sitter. Animal control was now waiting for the sitter to get in touch to pick her up. Good news, she hadn’t been abandoned.

Lucy is Kenny

Still keeping to our tradition of having no schedule, we got up and ventured down the hill towards Breckenridge. It wasn’t the best place to do breakfast, so we figured we’d do it in the skier’s parking lot. Being a Monday, we were hoping the weekend crowds would have lessened but oh, how wrong we were. It was Christmas week and everything was slammed. We turned into the carpark at 9:30am and the traffic director starting running down the short line of cars towards us. “Don’t make eye contact!” I yelled, then he can’t tell is the lot is full! He ran past us and told the car behind to turn around. We were the last ones in. By the time we got to the traffic controller, he pretty much said, “Good luck, whatever you can find!” I’d already pegged a spot and we backed ourselves into it with the windscreen facing the sun. Cleo would be in a hot box.

Before we could ski, we had some dog business to attend to. Shiloh had sent us a message early in the morning saying that they now had reason to believe that Lucy had been intentionally abandoned. That made us really sad, but she said we could help if we could prepare a witness statement. It was Dan’s idea to do it straight away and it was a good one, a lot of the details were already hazy. I made coffee and hot chocolate then pulled out my laptop and we wrote down everything we could remember from two nights ago. That took us a good hour, then it was breakfast time.

We strolled over to the gondola at about noon, thoroughly enjoying our leisurely-ness in such a stressed out holiday crowd. We took the Gondola up to Peak 7 and did a run there before moving over to Peak 8 and 9. We had a lot of fun on the two-person lifts, feeling like romantics as we drank our beers swaying together in the trees.

Peak 9 was a beginner’s paradise so we didn’t spend much time there, but head back over to Peak 8 where we found our happy place. Looking down from one of the two-person chairs, we saw a beautiful run of powder underneath the lift that had a few tracks and a questionable rope closing the area. We weren’t willing to duck ropes this early in the season, but we thought we might be able to find our way in legally. That we did thanks to my spotting and Dan’s commitment. I found a narrow track through the trees to where we wanted to go, but bailed out thinking the snow might be too shallow. Dan bombed right past me and I soon followed, stacking it over an exposed log, but making it to a peak of the powder run. The snowboarding that followed was magical. We were the only ones underneath the lift and the powder was sublime. Colorado hadn’t been snowed on in over a week, it was crazy to think we were hitting fresh powder that long since!

We hopped the romantic lift one more time and did a repeat of the run. Here I had the curve of the century, going up and over the rolling hills then carving one, beautiful, smooth, crisp line through some open trees towards the end of the run. I was in heaven. When barely a third of the mountain was open and all the open runs were either tracked out, heavily groomed or icy, this was the bees knees.

Time to head back now but before we could manage that, we hopped onto a random two-person lift that went in at least three different directions through the trees. Gave me plenty of time to enjoy my last beer. We had a long run home then, taking the snow all the way to the base of the mountain. From there we had a short walk to the car where an enthusiastic Cleo greeted us.

I did my usual heating up leftovers trick to satisfy my grumbling tummy and once we were warmed up and changed, we called Shiloh. She’d said she was happy to chat with us about Lucy after we’d submitted our statement (she didn’t want to influence what we said). We found out that Lucy is actually Kenny! A Blue Heeler who’d been adopted from a local shelter only two months ago, his owner had called Animal Control a week ago asking if she could surrender him. They couldn’t take him because their kennels were full and so that’s why they suspected the abandonment. He’d had a rough life, changing owners a few times and not a stranger to shelters, but Shiloh assured us he would not be given back to the owner and that the owner would be charged if they could track her down. She didn’t know if there was any connection with the white truck we’d seen. We’d enjoyed the idea of adopting Kenny throughout the day, knowing it would be impractical for us to have two dogs but we’d agreed that if he was going to be euthanized, we would take him on. Shiloh told us that they’d be able to find a home for him, so it was good news all round, except for the circumstances under which we’d met.

I called Mum and Dad to tell them the story as we watched the traffic struggle around us. It was properly dark by the time we left the lot but that didn’t matter, we knew where we were headed. We stopped in at Walmart for a shop and fought the dozens of hotel-goers stocking up their lodges for their holiday week, but got everything we needed. We were heading back to the west side of the valley now to a rest stop between the two pairs of mountains. It was as we’d remembered it but the signage had changed so we parked in a different area which suited us just fine – it was flatter.

I was wrecked and neither of us were very hungry so I just toasted some bagels for dinner. Good thing too because we ran out of propane right as they were getting crispy. We made sure to keep extra warm overnight because we wouldn’t have the heater to warm us in the morning.

Vail, Disappointing Again

Off to the last mountain of our trip today – Vail. We weren’t done skiing, but hitting Vail would mean we’d visited every mountain we’d planned to. We were up early, keen to get into the sun at the bottom of the rest area and use the bathrooms. It was about 8:30am when we drove past the Vail carpark for the first time – it still had plenty of room. By the time we’d swung by the Conoco to refill propane and got into the lot, it was looking quite full. By 9:15am, the place was a zoo with cars turning around and looping the carpark every which way. It was a pleasure to watch as we ate our breakfast. Another sunny day was expected, though there were some early crowds.

It was our earliest arrival to the mountain at around 10:30am and the crowds weren’t as bad as we expected. We opted for the chairlift instead of the gondola thanks to a shorter line and we found at the top that we were limited in where we could go. Anything that wasn’t a catwalk or a groomer was roped off so there were no tree runs to be had. It was an icy run past a packed chairlift and back down to the base where we caught a different gondola. The line moved quickly and we were soon on the mountain again, but our next chair was a long wait. Same went for the next one.

On each run we rode near the trees, looking for an opportunity to get off the compact stuff, but our options were limited. At the top of a chair that took us to the very top of the mountain, Dan suggested we have a beer on one of the picnic tables outside the lodge. Great idea. I sipped on mine so slowly that he downed three and we both decided we were ready to call it a day. The crowds at Vail were just something else. They weren’t our people. We’d been in the gondola with a rich family and while the Dad carried on about the benefits of different airports while flying private, his Olympic-level skiing teenagers wouldn’t stop banging their ski poles on the floor. Yuck.

We took what we thought was our best way down, but ended up in a back bowl where we managed to find a few patches of tree powder, but we were soon on our way to the peak again.

A few more powder patches on our run all the way down the mountain, then we were happy to be finished. We retreated to our beautiful warm van and shut ourselves in for a relaxing afternoon. No heater required, the sun on our windows kept us all warm enough to be in shorts and a t-shirt.

Dan spent the afternoon cooking us glorious burgers (which people on the mountain were paying $20 for), Cleo napped and I blogged and caught up on some admin work. With the sun going down, we were still in no rush to get to camp so we settled in to watch a 2021 F1 season review.

Another chance for me to drive now and I swear it will be my last. It was about 10 miles to camp and in that time, I lost drive while exiting the carpark, mounted a kerb as I rounded a round-a-bout, nearly missed our exit to camp, then turned onto the shoulder way too early to get into camp with multiple cars up my arse. I’m just not meant to drive anymore, Dan drives so much I’ve obviously lost whatever skills I had! Oh, and the rear view mirror fell off the windscreen while in the carpark, but I can’t really be blamed for that.

Finally, we were back at Camp Kenny. No white trucks this time, or any other vehicles, which suited us just fine. We parked up level and I got my kitchen-wear on (an extra pair of pants, gloves, neckerchief and thick jacket and cooked up some sweet potato curry. Dan came and relived me as I was dishing up since my hands had lost feeling.

When Dan was doing the dishes later, another camper rolled in and stopped to ask if we’d had any troubles camping here before. We didn’t mention the last night we’d had and assured him he’d be fine. He chatted on for a bit, but Dan was cold and so said goodnight and got into the van. We were both asleep fairly early, feeling the weariness of multiple days of snowboarding creep into our bodies.

Last Day Before the Storm

It was Beaver Creek today and having learnt from the past two days, we fronted up to the carpark (Elk lot) around 9:15am – but there was nobody there. I checked the lift status and despite there being 11 lifts open the last time we’d been here, now there were only 6. Huh? We didn’t understand how it had gotten worse? Dan theorized that maybe they were misreporting their status to send the big crowds to other mountains with a plan to correctly share their status later in the day. We didn’t care either way, we were set on Beaver Creek.

Dan made coffee and breakfast as I sipped on orange juice and stayed warm inside the van. It was supposed to be our first day above freezing but I couldn’t feel it quite yet. We were waiting for a shuttle bus an hour later and at the main lodge a little bit after that.

Dan saw the Strawberry Express Lift from the bus and declared that according to BC’s website, that lift was closed. So they were lying! At the lodge, the main chairlift was stacked but it was our only option so we got into the singles line. From there, we could see the Strawberry lift and every other chair was going up empty. What? As we pointed it out, an old guy next to us assured us that every chair was as crowded as this one. After another 30 seconds of no movement in the line, we bailed and went over to Strawberry. It was our best call of the trip. No lines – we wandered what the catch was. We later found out that you couldn’t get back to this lift – it took you to another one that serviced only one run. Sounds bad, but that one run was absolutely stellar.

From the top of Strawberry, we cat-walked down to the Bachelor Gulch lift – again no lines – and took our ride to the top of what seemed like another groomed and icy-looking run. Not on the edges it wasn’t. After a bit of cat-walking, we ducked into a groomed run but instead of staying on the main stuff, we chased the powder at the edge of the it. There were a bunch of tracks, but still plenty of soft stuff to play in. About halfway down the run, a rope ended so that we could cut way to the right near the trees and cruise through powder, creating new lines all over the place.

We couldn’t believe it after our first run and on our second we were getting adventurous cutting further into the trees. Having cracked a beer after our second run, I didn’t want to chug mine at the end of the lift so we hung out at the closed bar at the top. From here we could see all of the mountain that wasn’t open and basked in the sun.

The next two runs we managed to follow a narrow track that rolled up and down to the extreme left of the run. It left us at the top of a hardly-tracked patch of powder that ran under the chairlift. We sailed through it, me laughing all the way unable to contain myself. It felt like we were having more fun than anyone else on the mountain – it felt like we had this whole patch to ourselves!

Another beer on the way up and we were ready for our last run along our personal powder track. The powder was glorious but it was hard work on our already tired legs. Another blissful time through the soft stuff, still no lines at the base, we’d got the most out of a pretty poor start to Colorado’s winter season.

We then had a long cat-walk back to the main lodge, having fun wherever we could along the way. I got stuck in a couple spots where I was chasing powder, but that didn’t matter. We cruised past the Strawberry lift again (still no lines) and the big lines that still existed at the main chair meant we were happy to call it a day We were convinced we wouldn’t be able to find a run like we’d had anywhere else on the mountain.

And just like that, we were done. We’d skied 6 days in a row and while there was talk of a storm rolling in late tomorrow, it was only forecast to drop 5 inches of snow and it came with gale force winds. Considering that we were coming up to the crazy holiday week, our bodies were tired, and it wouldn’t be a fun time for Cleo in a cold car, we opted to call it. A warm Christmas in Phoenix was waiting for us and it was just too tempting.

On our way out of town, we treated ourselves to Macca’s then started our drive south. We’d brought out the Atlas, checked our previous routes, considered the weather conditions and decided on a scenic route through the west side of New Mexico that we hadn’t done before.

The drive got off to a great start on Highway 24, past Camp Kenny and through a gorgeous canyon. We had a couple of hours until sunset so it was a beautiful time to be cruising. We continued listening to a podcast we’d started in Nevada and watched the sky turn different colours.

As we approached Buena Vista, Dan and Cleo sighted their fair share of deer. Through town we had to stop for one crossing the road to join his mate. We were keen for camp anyway before it got too dark so now we were extra enthusiastic. We filled up with petrol and thanks to iOverlander, we found a water fill site at the town’s Public Works that cost us $2.50 for up to 250 gallons! We only managed 8, but hey, at least we were full now and hopefully wouldn’t have to deal with the water freezing anymore.

No more deer for the rest of the drive, we found a piece of BLM land that had a few campers, but it was spread out enough for us to find our own little corner. With a temperature around 40*F and the sight of a firepit, we were excited to sit by a fire. By the time I’d come back with one log and it was thoroughly dark, we’d thought better of it and settled into the warm van for the night. We had a brief visit from a neighbour we hadn’t known was across the way – he was an older guy just looking for a chat and seeing if we needed anything. Otherwise, we had a quiet camp at our warmest temperature yet.

New Mexico’s Very Large Attraction (VLA)

Big drive today but we didn’t rush off. It was a pleasure for Cleo to be able to look out the window in the morning without frost blocking her view – the water in her bowl wasn’t even frozen. After breakfast, Dan took up the wheel and we drove south. Highway 285 was going to take us directly into New Mexico on a route neither of us had taken before.

It didn’t take long for the Rockies to be in our rear view and though we were slightly tempted, we didn’t do the 20 mile detour to take a closer look at the sand dunes nestled at the base of the mountains.

Just before the border, Dan slammed on the brakes and turned off the highway at my behest because I wanted to check out the UFO watchtower that was advertised in the Atlas.

Once we drove in, it was very apparent that it was just a bunch of trickets and nonsense spread out in a field and since we didn’t have any cash to pay the $5 entrance fee, we opted to drive right on out of there. On to New Mexico!

With the crossing into the new state, the mountains were replaced with sandstone mesas. It was as if mountains were not allowed to form peaks in this state – they had to have flat tops.

We stopped for lunch on a forest road right by a cell tower so that we could download some podcasts to keep us going for the rest of the day. We’d finished the Watergate story and it wasn’t a happy ending. About twenty minutes into the latest Missed Apex podcast, Dan had had enough. It was the Lewis Hamilton show and what happened at the last race was “wrong” and Max Verstappen has brought about a new style of driving that the sport will have to get used to. He was disgusted.

We drove through the state’s capital of Santa Fe, not impressed by the Pueblan architecture, finding it pretty plain. I had originally been excited to go for a tour of the State Capitol building because I’d enjoyed the one I toured in Utah so much, but I got over that idea pretty quickly. We were now aiming to reach the VLA (Very Large Array) for a sunset camp.

All was going well, but it’s us, so we can’t have a day without drama. As we were staring into the setting sun heading out of Magdalena, Dan was looking into his rear view mirror at flashing blue and red lights. We weren’t sure what we’d done wrong but he duly pulled over. I got Dan’s license and the registration ready as we waited for the officer to show up. I could barely keep from smiling when the officer introduced himself as Sargent Peacock, but I didn’t crack any jokes until we were on our way again. Pulled over for doing 47 in a 30mph zone, I think Dan managed to mumble “shoot, sorry” before Mr. Peacock took his license and went back to his car. And so, the inevitable pondering of what the penalty will be. After ten minutes, Peacock returned with just a warning and he was quickly on his way. Dan said “thank you”, which I echoed, and we were back on the road. Thanks Peacock!

We now enjoyed the sunset over New Mexico’s flat plains and kept a keen eye out for the 27 dishes of the VLA – a large array of satellite dishes arranged in a Y-formation. I’d been here on my year of travel but it was Dan’s first time and wow was it a treat to see it at sunset. The visitor’s center was closed (probably due to COVID since it’s a government facility) so that meant Dan wouldn’t be able to find out more in the morning so I had to do my best to remember what I’d learnt.

Even better, we were able to camp right next to it! iOverlander came through again and there was a small dirt lot just past the array where we could watch all night to see if any of the dishes moved. What a beautiful place for science to happen. I would love to be here when they move the dishes into their different configurations along the train tracks.

Wow it was a dark night. The only lights within sight were the few cars on the distant highway and the stars overhead – great place for watching celestial happenings I guess but it was a little scary going outside and cooking in such pitch black. The full moon that had been lighting our way for most the trip was not showing its face.

Rain, Snow, Rain, Snow, Rain

What a perfect way to wake up. We had sunrise through our right-side window and satellite dishes through our left-side window. Now we got to join Cleo in looking out the windows without having to scrape frost off them. It was a slow and steady sunrise thanks to the band of storm clouds sitting in front of the sun. Though we watched and watched the dish closest to us, we couldn’t see it move. Looking away for ten minutes or more, we could see they’d all changed positions, so there was science happening among us!

By the time we were ready to make breakfast there was a few drops of rain so Dan got straight out of the van to take Cleo out – she will not go to the bathroom when it is properly raining. When they were done, it was properly raining and so we put the kettle on and let it boil with the doors shut. We had coffee and oats prepared inside and enjoyed our warm morning doing our Spanish lessons.

Despite having found a stellar climbing spot a few miles west of us, there would be no outdoor activities today. The rain was a constant companion for our whole drive – except when it was snowing. Cleo was shivering so much from the fear of aquaplaning that I put her in my jumper and so we were grateful when the rain froze because it no longer made noise when it hit the windscreen.

We vowed we would return to New Mexico to climb at the Enchanted Tower. Though we couldn’t see it from the road, it looked a special spot and the Rapunzel Wall seemed made for us with the collection of climbs it boasted. Next time. Even if it wasn’t raining it would have been way too cold. It looks good in the Spring time!

As we ventured west, the snow settled on the ground enough to slow us down a little, but it wasn’t dangerous. Following my map, there were skiing mountains nearby, but I couldn’t imagine them having nearly enough snow on them. We definitely couldn’t see them thanks to the thick cloud surrounding us.

As we crossed into Arizona, we left the snow behind us and stopped for lunch at Aliberto’s in the town of Show Low. There was no way we could prepare lunch in our kitchen with the pouring rain so it was a rare treat.

Our next couple of hours of driving was a real treat. We descended into the Salt River Canyon (another future climbing spot) and while Dan had to concentrate on missing fallen and falling rocks, it was a stunning drive through a deep canyon.

There were waterfalls around every corner, steep drops to our left and the all of the rocks embedded in the sandstone glistened.

Having climbed out of the canyon, we drove through the town of Globe and you could tell they were set up for monsoons just like this one. The waterway that wove through the town carrying water from the canyon ran fast, brown and angry.

We stopped briefly for petrol then were on the home stretch into Phoenix. More canyon before we started seeing cactus, we were in the desert now. Still it rained though we could see the sun poking out down towards Tucson.

Around 4pm, we pulled into Debi and Peter’s familiar driveway and Dan knew the garage was probably flooded thanks to all the rain. We were welcomed into their beautiful warm house and began regaling the stories from our trip. The dogs all said hello to each other and carried around like children as we sat in the kitchen catching up.

Desperate for a shower, we cleaned up for dinner and met Debi’s good friend Kim who joined us at the table. She was a lovely lady that shared with us the stories of her family and her life in Phoenix. Like my parents, both her daughters lived as far away as they possible could, but in this case on the same continent. She was a traveling grandmother who became a realtor after being an accountant and was the kind of person that made the most out of every day. We had a lovely dinner and though a lot of the initial conversation was centered around COVID, we soon got off that to talk of happier things.

Once we said goodnight to Kim, we stayed up chatting with Debi a while longer and eventually hit the sack before midnight. I called my parents for some Christmas wishes and they could hear Dan snoring beside me. We relished the warm room and comfortable bed after a solid ten days in the van.

Holiday within a Holiday

The next week was spent in great company and in serious relaxation mode. We hung out with both of Dan’s brothers and their families both at Debi’s house and at Matt and Alex’s.

I rediscovered my love of piano thanks to the Baby Grand sitting in Debi’s living room. Having not touched a set of keys in over a year, I was engrossed for hours on end. Since I had all my music saved on my laptop, I was able to play my favourites from a long time ago and Debi had some different music for me to play. We even tried out some duets, but I didn’t have the talent to keep up with Debi.

Dan saw how much fun I was having and so we went off to Guitar Center to look at digital piano’s for home. I tried everything in the show room and was ecstatic to find the one I liked at the appropriate price tag of $650. We’d be picking it up in San Fransisco on our way back into town! As icing on the cake, while I was perusing their sheet music section, I found the book for The Greatest Showman (my favourite movie of all time). Well, we couldn’t get back to Debi’s quick enough.

We took a few walks around the neighbourhood, which was especially nice around sunset since we could see the sun reflecting off windows on the mountains far across Phoenix.

The highlight would have to be the Matt and Alex’s “farm”. It had been known as the homestead on our last visit a year ago, but with all the animals running around, that didn’t really fly any more. On our first visit over there, the kids were a little shy as usual, especially the young ones, but they sooned warmed up. We spent most of the day in the shed assembling a playhouse which had been a gift from Momo last Christmas. It had spent the year in the shed thanks to the warning on the instruction manual that said it would take two people 3-5 hours to assemble it. Dan and I timed ourselves getting it together. I got all the pieces ready while Dan screwed and drilled and we had it up in no time. We did the final touches out in the backyard with the kids “helping”. They were climbing all over the structure in minutes – a job well done.

While we had plans to do some climbing in the area, or even down in Tucson, the weather never really permitted. Phoenix in the winter is a far cry from the sunny days of Summer – if it wasn’t raining it was cloudy and windy. But no matter, there was a piano to be played, books to be read and endless football games to watch.

On our second trip to the farm we put up a trampoline shield for the kids. Another gift from Momo, this was a more complicated installation and we weren’t able to finish it before it got dark and started raining. That meant a third trip! Momo gave us some food scraps to feed the animals so that was the most fun part of the day. I’d never seen their pig Wilma move so fast! With the kids’ help, we thoroughly tested the integrity of the trampoline shield jumping all over and running into the walls. We were confident it wasn’t going anywhere.

New Year’s Eve was supposed to be our wedding day but with the storms forecast, Dan made the decision to push it to New Year’s Day. A brilliant call because it was a foul day. Debi was running around for most of it getting everything in place for our big day but she made time to get a manicure/pedicure with me. It was a first and fun experience for me having someone spend time looking closely at my feet and fingernails. Everyone working in the place was Vietnamese and I was treated by the only male. He was great, but he laughed at a few things I didn’t understand. Debi and I got the same colour and I only got into trouble once because I started moving my fingers around too soon after they’d been painted, but they did it again for me.

We did New Year’s Eve night in our style. At around 8pm we went out to find a pool table. Our old local the Tavern Grille had done away with their table so we were forced out into the wilderness. Our first try was at Top Golf but no table there either – good thing too because it wasn’t really our scene – too fancy. Zipp’s was where we found our jam, a basic sports bar with screens all round showing game highlights. The pool table in the back was free, same as all the booths around it. I got some fries while Dan ordered wings and a gigantic beer and we were soon stacking balls. We had half a game with the drunkest people in the bar before their Uber arrived and by the time we left at around 10:30pm, there were only three other people in the establishment. Not a popular New Year’s venue obviously!

We spent the rest of the evening in the hot tub in Debi’s backyard. It has such a gorgeous view of the mountains and the Talking Stick Resort, which is a huge building by itself down in the valley with its side lit up in a constant light show. I’d always wanted to watch the fireworks from this vantage point and now was our chance! We had a few beers out in the tub and enjoyed the few raindrops that fell on our heads. With twenty minutes to go, Debi came out and joined us, wrapped in a blanket and armed with a margarita. We could hear fireworks going off all around us, the type people buy to set off in their backyard, but there had been no main events yet. Cleo was safely tucked away in a crate but Lily and Ruby were happily running around the backyard amongst the loud bangs. Dan noticed that the Talking Stick Resort went black a few moments before midnight and then the fireworks to the west started lighting up the sky. Talking Stick was now showing fireworks by way of their LEDs. I stood up out of the tub and wrapped myself in a towel to get the best view and we all awed and aah’d at the display. Nothing beats fireworks, especially on New Year’s night. Our first day of 2022 would be even more special.

Our Wedding Day

After a light breakfast, I was out of the house with Cleo. Debi had to make some preparations in the backyard with Dan’s assistance and it was to be a surprise for the bride so off I went. I drove twenty minutes east to McDowell Preserve and Cleo and I enjoyed a nice hike on a rocky trail around a cactus-ridden mountain. It was a busy place and I can imagine a lot of people were getting started on their New Year’s resolutions. In order to cross a bridge at the trailhead, I had to carry Cleo because its floor was a grated surface that her paws didn’t like. At around 35kg, it was about as far as I’m able to carry her.

It was a beautiful sunny day and though it was windy, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as we walked. I finished thinking of my vows and practiced a few lines as we walked, not wanting them to sound too rehearsed come time. I realized just how little I hike with Cleo solo. It wasn’t like taking her for a walk around the neighbourhood, it was nice being out in the semi-wilderness with my favourite girl, she was perfect company.

I carried her back across the bridge to get back to the car, much to the amusement of other hikers but I didn’t mind! Before driving back, I got a text from Debi instructing me to enter through the front door and go straight to the bedroom so I didn’t see anything and I was ready to follow the instructions as we got back home. That idea didn’t last long though, Debi figured it didn’t make sense for me to be locked in a room for the next few hours. So I got a preview of our alter. She and Dan had constructed a beautiful arch of Aspen trunks, a white silk cloth and beautiful flower arrangements. We would be framed beneath this arch with Debi and Peter’s beautiful garden and Phoenix mountains in the background. I was getting excited now.

I had some lunch and Dan and I went out to get beer. We saw Matt and Alex arrive in their van just as we were leaving and there were a lot of calls made back to the house to make sure Cleo was safely in her crate. When we returned, we filled the eskies and caught up with Matt, Alex and the kids. Within minutes they were trying to jump all over Uncle Daniel.

The girls, Debi and I did a quick rehearsal practicing the walk from the house to the alter and I had my work cut out holding the girls back to walk one by one because they all wanted to rush out at once! After a couple of run throughs everyone was confident.

After Dan showered, I said goodbye and went off to get prettied up. I took my time in the shower making sure I scrubbed up ok. I was thoroughly pissed off when I cut my ankle shaving and not in a minor way either. Thankfully Debi has infinite medical supplies so I applied pressure to it while I did my hair. Nothing really special, but I paid a bit more attention than I usually do.

I put on the robe that Debi had laid out for me and so when I was done I went into the next room where they were finishing off ironing his shirt. Dan then went to fetch both of us ladies a beer and sent for Alex to come help me with my makeup. Alex is the youngest Mrs. Gooding and the mother of six beautiful children. She is like the sister I never had, with the kindest heart that has always made me feel very welcome. She came into the bathroom and we got set up with some music and she got straight into doing my face. We were chatting all the while and she couldn’t have made me feel more comfortable. She was done in about twenty minutes and I think I looked more like me than I had when my face was done professionally at Vanessa and Kyle’s wedding. I had to laugh when she instructed me to do mascara and after a few minutes she took the wand and finished off for me. I think I was going too slow.

The next half an hour is a blur. Jody arrived and came in to say hi and though I could hear other people had arrived, I didn’t see them. Debi came and fetched me from the guest bathroom and whisked me into her bedroom where the girls were getting their flower crowns put on their heads. Debi had hung my dress in their walk-in robe and so I stepped into it. Emmi then came over and helped me with the clasp at the top and I was dressed! I ran my hands down the dress and it felt perfect against my body. I’d never worn anything like it but I loved it.

Debi presented me with my bouquet then and a matching crown for my hair. She helped me fix the crown and then gave me some of her pearl earrings and a necklace to wear. She made me feel like a princess. Now all the girls were ready, crowns in place and bouquets in hand. Debi left us then and we all peered out the curtained windows at the goings-on outside. I could see everybody mingling but couldn’t see Dan. I later found out that he was sitting in the guest bedroom quietly going over his vows. When he came out my smile grew and I felt properly sneaky watching him from behind the curtain. I could see that everyone pitched in to put a white runner down, laying the path towards the alter for me and the girls. Debi had thought of everything.

Alex came to the door to warn the girls of the hazards like the rocks holding the runner down and the folds in the fabric where the path curved and I paid attention to her!

Then, all of a sudden, Dan was standing at the alter with Debi and Pachelbel’s Canon in D started playing through the house speakers. Emmi started the procession, walking lightly along the runner to the alter. Ava was next and I had to hold Hannah and Heidi back at the door. Next up Hannah did a fast walk out of the door and broked out into a sprint at the first turn. That got everybody laughing. Heidi kept her composure and walked slowly but I don’t think I ever saw her holding her bouquet with two hands – it was by her side in one hand at all times.

Now it was my turn! The music changed and I dipped through the curtain to “From Now On”, a gentle tune of piano and guitar. Well, I’d barely made it through the door before I started crying. I knew there would be tears but I thought I’d at least make it down the aisle! I looked only at Dan my whole walk. I couldn’t tell you where anyone else was, whether they were sitting, standing, or wearing clown suits, I’ve never had narrower vision. All I wanted to do was stand in front of the man in white.

Dan was in tears as I grabbed his hand but we both managed to compose ourselves a little as everyone took their seats.

Debi gave us the most beautiful ceremony then. One of her first mentions was of Mum and Dad not being here so the tears continued and I was thinking what my face must look like! She told how marriage is sacred, how our love of the open road brought us together and that the rings we gave to each other are not symbols of possession, but attachment and binding. We exchanged our vows where I promised to catch Dan if ever he should fall and he called me the spanner to his bolt (while both crying). Before we knew it, we were walking into the sunshine as husband and wife to the cheers of Dan’s (my) family and friends.

With the sun going down it was quickly getting cold so we all moved inside but then I asked Alex if she could take a few photos of us under the arch while we still had some sun. That turned into a photo-taking fest with everybody, which was a good thing. The whole Gooding family only gets together about once a year and with more kids coming along, it was becoming more challenging each time, so we had to make the most of it! We got photos of the boys holding the boys, of the sisters-in-law, parents-in-law and the whole mob. It was great fun. I can’t believe I’m a part of the Gooding family, they are wonderful people with BIG hearts and have made me feel very welcome.

Inside, I got to know the Day family, neighbours from way back that have kept in touch over the years, with all the kids growing up together. They were the only non-family in attendance but you wouldn’t know it. Shiela and I had a great chat about her life moving from England to Canada, then America and the ladder they had over the fence so that the Gooding boys could play with her kids. We talked to Randi about business ventures and to Sarah about her childhood life with the Gooding boys. It was a hoot watching Randi’s sister Elsa who has down syndrome interact with the kids. They absolutely loved her and she loved them back.

We received some beautiful champagne toasts from Dan’s father and his brothers. They made mention of the story that we already had and how it might develop into the future and I loved that Peter said he is excited for the whole Gooding family’s life together moving forward. Cheers!

We spent the next few hours of the evening eating some delicious food that Peter Snr. had prepared and catching up. And we still had Christmas to get to! Since the kids hadn’t been over to Momo’s house since Christmas, the presents were still under the tree waiting to be unwrapped. Once the Day family had said goodnight, everyone got into position, me with a blanket over my knees with my husband by my side. It was our second time doing Christmas with the kids and it was just as good as last year. Wrapping paper went everywhere, new shoes went on, necklaces were strung around necks and very few tears were had – I think we’d had enough during the ceremony!

With the kids’ bed time fast approaching, the farm family bid us goodnight and we settled down to enjoy a few quiet hours on the couch catching up with Peter and Jody. Debi caught us clearing a few plates and we were quickly shut down from doing that. No cleaning up! I poured her a beer at least and we all put our feet up.

At around 10pm, Debi chauffeured us down the hill to the McCormick hotel. A night here was a wedding gift from Peter and Jody. We went armed with champagne, beers and a few snacks and were promptly handed keys to our bridal suite. It was a lovely room with a HUGE bed and great view of the pool and lake. It was in this lake that last night’s fireworks had been launched from.

We spent the rest of the night sipping beers, listening to our “Married AF” playlist and doing the obvious. What a wedding day, what an adventure. We are Mr. and Mrs. Gooding.

Cardinals, Kids and Cigars

We took our sweet time waking up in our glorious room and threw back the curtains to see a beautiful view across the pool and lake onto the eighteenth green of a gold course. Dan wrapped himself in the hotel doona, made himself a terrible-quality coffee and we sat out on the patio for a late breakfast of pork belly sandwiches and wedding cake.

We sat and watched golfers putting and locals walking by the lake for a good hour just chatting and before we knew it, it was check-out time. We were at the front desk minutes before noon and the courtesy shuttle driver was just walking by so we got a lift with him back up the hill to Debi and Peter’s house. The driver was a chatty bloke so we bantered with him but when we came upon a 4-way stop just below the house, all conversation stopped as Dan and I pointed and cried out in surprise. There was a Formula 1 Mercedes safety car crossing the intersection. It had the old F1 logo across its side doors and the safety lights across its roof which were fully alit. What? Follow that car! If we’d been driving, we probably would have! Maybe there was an F1 race coming to Phoenix? How strange.

At the house, we were greeted by Debi, Jody and Petey. Petey was having a tough time, running a fever and developing a rash on his tummy. We figured he was about ready to get back to Hawaii and his island boy lifestyle. We hung out with the ladies for an hour or so then made our way out to the farm for one last visit. Matt, Dan’s oldest brother, had brought a few cigars to enjoy with him after the wedding yesterday but the opportunity never arose. There were still a couple of odd jobs needed done at the farm and Dan sorely wanted to enjoy that cigar with his bro so off we went.

The drive was a familiar commute to us by now and I continued to enjoy the mountain scenery as we crossed the highways. The older girls were just back from a bike riding excursion at their neighbour’s house as we arrived and after saying hi to the grown-ups inside and checking in on the Cardinals football game, Dan and I were separated. I played with the girls outside while he played Mr. Fix-It. He hung a flagpole, fixed a slow but persistent water leak in the front yard, made some final adjustments to the trampoline shroud and fixed a closet door. Matt and Alex were forever grateful.

Us girls had a tea party, we played in their fairy castles and Emmi serenaded us with her Karaoke mic. We hooked it up to my phone so she could sing along to music and she was completely immersed. As the sun started going down, we moved into the front yard so that everyone could have a swing and we could all watch Uncle Daniel at work.

It was getting chilly by the time we moved inside for some dinner and the Cardinals were in their final quarter. We knew Peter was at a pub with some mates watching and after a touchdown from the opposing team, it was a great last few minutes. We all watched together as we ate then finally the boys could enjoy their cigars. They moved outside and Alex started doing the girls’ nails while I played cars with the boys on the floor. Once everyone’s nails were done we needed another distraction so I started playing piano with Emmi. That started up a game of musical chairs and three people playing the piano at once! It was great fun and a brilliant way to say goodbye to everyone.

We thanked everyone for being a part of our wedding and said goodbye to my new family, they promised their backyard pool would be ready by Summer and that we should return so we could supervise the kids in their new oasis.

On the way back to the house, we picked up Panda Express for everyone and were surprised to come home to a quiet place. Debi was looking after a quietly inquisitive Petey while Jody was out picking up Peter from his football shenanigans. When they returned, we sat around the kitchen counter and on the couches nibbling on Panda and sharing concern over Petey’s rash which had worsened.

We said more goodbyes when the young family retired for the night since they’d be up early for a 7am flight back to the island. What great people, it is so nice to catch up with them and there was much talk of a trip to Hawaii some time in 2022.

We said goodnight to Debi and venured to stay up and watch a scary movie but I didn’t get very far. When the main character jumped off a ski lift and broke both of his legs, I’d had enough. By midnight we were in our van for the night.

No Dam Tours, No Damn Drive

We were up early to make sure we caught Debi before she left for work. It was time for us to make our way home via Tahoe for a few more days of snowboarding. We showered a had a small bite for breakfast and stood outside for a bit to watch the sunrise through our wedding arch. We both marveled at all that Debi had done for us and how special she’d made us feel and now after all of it, she was going to work for ten hours!

There were more tears when we said goodbye – at this point we were all laughing at ourselves with all the crying we were doing. After a quick clean-up of the van and lending a hand to Peter to straighten a rug in their bedroom, we were off, loaded with wedding cake and pulled pork.

We drove north-west out of Phoenix, avoiding the dreaded “fuel-pump hill” that had become way too familiar for me and driving past Lake Pleasant, an old stomping ground of ours that was nice to reminisce about. We were in Nevada in no time, crossing over the Hoover Dam.

While both of us had driven over the dam before and stopped to admire it, Dan had never done a dam tour so we ventured down to the dam. There were people absolutely everywhere but unfortunately, no dam tours. They probably never got going again after COVID which is a crying shame but no matter, we parked up on the Nevada side of the dam and enjoyed a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad.

As we made to leave, a guy walked past the back of the van and asked, “My friend! Do you have jumper cables?” Why yes, of course I do! He seemed relieved and asked if we could help which we absolutely could. It then took us five minutes to find the car keys. Dan had misplaced them digging around for something in the van so the poor guy who we’d just agreed to help was probably thinking we’d decided against it.

Keys found, we moved over to his car only to find the rangers converging on him at the same time. We sat in the van thinking that they would probably take it from here, but no, after talking with the guy, they got in their SUV and drove away. Huh. So we hooked cables up and got him going as the rangers came back over in their car, as if to just be involved. The guy had told us that a tow truck wasn’t able to come down to the dam and they didn’t have cables so he was basically up shit creek without people like us. He’d been there two hours asking people – it was a rental car.

Feeling charged up with good karma, we wound our way back up to the highway and down into Las Vegas. There is no bypass highway here, you drive straight through the guts and we felt no FOMO for driving right past. Been there, done that. We carried on north-west out of Vegas and towards Area 51 – another very lonely part of the country. It was around 4pm and with our clocks being wound backwards, the sun was thinking about setting. It made us think about camping but we both agreed we were happy to carry on through the night a bit to give ourselves the best chance of snowboarding in Tahoe tomorrow.

It was about then that Ramsie lost drive. Dan was sailing along the highway at 75 mph with cruise control on when the engine revs kicked up as if he’d knocked her into neutral. He backed off, then throttled on again and she came good. I was not encouraged. We were three miles from the last turn-off before Area 51 so I suggested we pull over to assess the situation. Dan did so and the result wasn’t good. After coming to a stop, he couldn’t get going again. With the gear selector in DRIVE, all we had was neutral. He was able to reverse ok and move forward when he put it in FIRST, but that was it.

I checked the ATF dipstick and while there was ample fluid, it came out smoking and it was a dark brown instead of the usual light pink. Not good. We were parked flat on a nice big pull-out so we decided to leave it for an hour to cool down before trying anything else. We brainstormed and I figured out that Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) solenoid must have crapped out, which meant the torque converter wasn’t locking up at highway speeds, which meant the fluid was getting overworked, which meant it was getting way too hot and non-viscous so it couldn’t do its job anymore.  With this theory, we figured we might be alright once she cooled down. In the meantime, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and I called O’Reilly’s in the nearest town to order a new TCC solenoid and all the accessories we’d need to do the job on the side of the road.

An hour later, nothing had changed so we were camping for the night. We put her into first gear and drove across the road to a spot further off the highway, but not by much. I took Cleo for a walk then chatted to Mum and Dad about our latest development. They told me not to lose sleep over it and I told them that Dan and Cleo definitely weren’t, they were both snoring beside me!

There were all sorts of scenarios floating around in my head, but I was just happy that this had happened to us now and not 200 miles into Area 51 or in the freezing cold weather in Colorado. I heated up some leftovers for dinner, then we watched our first round of the Dakar rally, an event we’d been excited to watch for a while.

Back to Vegas

In the morning, I took Cleo on a slightly longer walk than I normally would and it took me slightly longer to make coffee and breakfast. I was procrastinating, scared of what the morning would bring. It wasn’t great news, but it wasn’t bad either. No change in Ramsie’s performance with ice-cold ATF. That meant we were going to the closest town, Pahrump, which was south of us by 27 miles. We could only hope we’d make it.

Dan put her into first and pulled onto the highway. After we got rolling, he shifted into DRIVE and she was ok. Once he got to highway speed, we could hear the engine revs higher than they should be, telling us that the torque converter wasn’t locking up but there wasn’t much we could do about it. We cruised just fine into Pahrump aiming for the O’Reilly’s. At our first traffic light, things got worse. After we came to a stop, we got going again in first gear, but that’s all we had – nothing in second gear and nothing in drive. We went into O’Reilly’s to get our parts but we knew this wasn’t the TCC solenoid, we were thinking that the torque converter was no longer transferring drive from the engine to the transmission.

We ventured along some nearby service roads, trying to figure out some configuration of gear changes that would get us into gear and we found one that worked. Start off in first gear, get up to 20 mph, then shift into neutral and quickly into drive. That seemed to get us going ok. We were trying to make our way to an Autozone now, this time to get a code reader and confirm the engine codes we feared we had. We made it there ok and confirmed we had a TCC code along with a couple of others. We knew we couldn’t replace the torque converter on the side of the road, so now it was a question of whether we could limp home.

We found a few more service roads to continue trying out our new gear shift hack and we barely made it a mile before we started losing drive in all gears. Now we needed help. Dan pulled over and I started calling every shop in town. A lot of places didn’t answer and even more couldn’t do the work but those that couldn’t pointed us to Pete’s Auto Clinic. When I got him on the phone, he said he’d be able to take a look and so we made our way over there. Now things got really dire. Dan drove gently in first, but two times out of three, he’d put his foot on the throttle and come up with nothing. He mounted a kerb and carried on slowly moving with his hazards on to avoid the traffic coming fast behind us and we crossed into the turning lane in the middle of the road to get out of everyone’s way. It was a stressful drive – we barely made it the two miles to the shop. When we parked it, we knew that was the last time we’d be driving it.

Inside Pete’s, the guy behind the desk asked what’s going on and his diagnosis was that the clutch packs inside the transmission were fried, hence the deterioration in every gear. He was very clear in what our options were and got his transmission guy in Vegas on the phone to give us a time estimate. They would pull the transmission out there, ship it to Vegas to their rebuild guy, then ship it back and re-install it. He quoted us $4,500. I was thankful to have my husband with me then. I probably would have just said ok because what were our options? Dan though, said we should go outside and talk about it. It was a somber chat, we even mentioned selling Ramsie right there and then, but no, this wasn’t the end of the world. I started calling transmission shops in Vegas just to understand if we were being ripped off at $4,500 and when I got a few quotes for under $3,000, it seemed feasible for us to get the whole van back to Vegas. So I started calling tow trucks in the area and I only got one good lead at a cost of $450. In doing all this, it was clear we wouldn’t be home by Friday night for me to go back to work so I called Dave to see if he could cover my shifts, which he could and that was an amazing relief. Next up was finding a cheap hotel that was pet friendly. It was clear that hotels in Vegas were cheaper than in Pahrump so it was looking more and more likely we’d all be going back to Vegas. We bit the bullet then and booked in at the AAMCO transmission shop in Vegas and with Desert Towing in Pahrump. Dan went inside to tell Pete that we weren’t interested and thanked him very much for his time. Dan managed to get Ramsie out of their carpark and onto the side of the road with the little drive we had and then we posted up to wait the 1-2 hours for the tow truck to get to us.

We competed at finding the cheapest lodging in Vegas and debating whether you could take an Uber with a dog. I won for the cheapest lodging and Dan figured out the Uber. It was cheaper for us to get a hotel right on the Vegas strip than out in the suburbs where the transmission shop was.

By the time I’d made a quick lunch, Desert Towing was calling me to confirm pick-up, they were only ten minutes out. They made quick work of getting the van onto the back of the truck and they welcomed the three of us into the rear cab of their truck. We learnt that Desert Towing is a family run business and they were busy! They’d just returned from Death Valley where a crazy man had set his truck and trailer on fire – they’d brought back the remains. They had all sorts of crazy stories and the driver especially hated Teslas. He’d towed many of them, mostly due to owner’s running out of battery, but he had qualms about how they could be towed and how low they were to the ground. He told us all this after I confessed I’d worked there and we found out his sister works at Stanford. Small bloody world.

About 24 hours after we’d seen the back of it, we came over a rise and there was Las Vegas again. We were in the AAMCO carpark on Tuesday around 3pm and Ron, the owner, met me inside. I told him the whole story and he reacted without a shred of surprise. He’d heard it all before and didn’t foresee any issues in having the transmission removed, rebuilt and reinstalled by Friday. He told us to leave the van right where the tow guys had dropped it and he’d be right to it. He was not kidding. We were still mucking around packing a bag for the hotel when he called me asking if we were done yet. We emptied our climbing bag and filled it with clothes and Cleo’s stuff and threw all our food into a bag. I gave Ron the keys and we were off to get our very first Uber with Cleo.

We only waited a minute before Leslie showed up in his Chrysler 300C. Well, I’ve never been treated so much like royalty! He was out of the car quick as can be, opening the doors for us, placing our bags in the boot and saying hi to Cleo. He laid a towel down in the back seat for he and we were barely on the road before he was offering us water and complimentary mints. We learnt that he had been in the aerospace industry when COVID hit and had lost his job. He and his wife were doing all they could to find new jobs, doing Uber in the mean time and contemplating taking jobs from out of the state and commuting via plane on the weekends just so their kids could stay at the same school. It was an interesting drive and he was lovely to talk to.

At the Linq+ hotel, he drove us through corridors of parking garages to the “front door” of the hotel, which was more like the back, and we were on immediately on a casino floor. Feeling very strange walking through a carpeted building with Cleo, we found our way to check-in and spoke to someone near the counter. She informed us it would be $20 to check-in early. With all the action, we hadn’t even considered the time! We only had half and hour to wait and so we wandered off and sat down to have a drink. I was feeling cheap so opted for water and Dan winced as he paid $8 for a bottle of bud light.

At 4pm, we walked back over to check-in to find a huge crowd. We should have seen that coming. It was a shit-show with only two people behind the desk and another two people directing people to the check-in kiosks which didn’t work. When I inserted my driver’s license, it immediately threw it back out across the floor. We finally managed to get both of our licenses verified and our booking confirmation in only to be shown a screen saying “your room isn’t ready yet, we’ll email you when it is.” I wasn’t going to accept that shit. We were paying customers, check-in time is 4pm and we were past that. I got the attention of a lady and she came over. I explained and then she told us to wait out of the queue. At that point a lady with a dog came up to us and we were surprised if she wanted the dogs to say hi here, but she wanted to know how much the hotel was going to charge us for the dog. I was surprised, because there’d been no mention of a pet fee on their website and she told us they’d had to pay $75/night just for their dog. We were only paying $60/night for the room so that made no sense! Right then the lady came up and asked if Cleo was a service dog. After saying no, she told me it would be $75/night so Dan piped up then and said she is a service dog. The lady tried to argue, but Dan was firm. “She is a service dog.” You could see the lady deciding not to bother arguing the point. She brought over a pet agreement to sign saying that we’d pay for any damages Cleo did to the room, which we both read very thoroughly before signing, then we had our keys. This is why we will never travel in this way. There are always hidden fees and lack of information on websites to trick you into paying more than you expected because they get you when you’re at the front desk. Anyway, we all had a place to stay for the next three nights

It was a challenge navigating ourselves through the casino to district three of the hotel where we found the elevators to take us up to our room. We had to try two different elevators in order to get our key scanner to work then we walked through a dimly lit corridor with doors on either side to room 5136. It was a lovely little room with a beautiful view of a concrete wall and a carpark. Hey, we weren’t here to have fun. We were surprised to find there was no fridge and no coffee machine, but by the end of the day, we’d filled the two rubbish bins with ice from the ice machine to cool our beers and Dan had tried boiling water using our French press and the iron provided (it didn’t work).

We had a shower and I was thrilled to put on my pant-dress that Debi had given me for Christmas. I vowed this is the only thing I would wear while inside the room it was so light and comfortable. Dan did very well in finding a walking route for Cleo away from the strip which we tried out and stocked up beer for the next few nights at a liquor store along the route. While Dan was inside the store, I meandered along the sidewalk with Cleo a little and laughed my arse off when she got very interested in a low rosemary bush, then did a perfect antelope-leap into the middle of it. I cackled as I pulled her out and she maintained a posture suggesting there had been a cat in that bush and she’d gone in to destroy it.

As I sat on the bed eating wedding cake and watching TV, Dan was wrestling with Cleo and wondered why on earth she should smell like rosemary and so I explained. We stayed in the rest of the night, exhausted by the day’s activities, and thoroughly enjoyed some brilliant Dakar coverage.

A Day to Waste in Vegas

We were happy to not be in Pahrump, but after one night in a hotel room, we were wondering how all those people who have had to quarantine for fourteen days could do it. Without a window to open or a patio to sit out on, by 9am we were desperate to get outside.

Dan topped his efforts from yesterday and we followed a great walking route away from the strip and into a business complex with palm-tree lined streets and grass everywhere you looked. Cleo was in heaven as much as we were. You could still see the strip but there was none of the chaos or filth. On our way back, we could see the MSG Sphere under construction – a grand piece of civil engineering being erected right behind the row of casinos and hotels. A quick Wikipedia told us it is going to be a virtual reality hub where attendees can immerse themselves in an experience surrounded by 360 degree screens. It was a monstrosity, one that would have been fascinating to see come to life.

As we approached the hotel, I got a call from Ron at AAMCO. Still calm as ever, he informed me that the internals of Ramsie’s transmission were totally shot. The main shaft was broken, the gears had been mashed like potatotes, the whole thing was fucked. I asked if he thought my theory about the overheating was correct and he said it was hard to know which came first – the overheating or the shaft snapping. Anyway, he had parts on the way and was still confident for Friday. It sounded like he wanted to say Thursday but didn’t want to rush himself. He said he’d give me another update tomorrow.

After dropping Cleo back to the room, we ventured onto the strip for the first time in search of breakfast. Feeling very poor, we declined to sit down at a restaurant but didn’t come across any street food either. When we saw the golden arches nestled amongst the tall buildings, we went straight in. Maccas breakfast isn’t the best but it will definitely keep you full for the day.

We continued walking a ways up the strip to the Mirage, Treasure Island and then back through the Canal Shoppes. Dan told me all about the pirate show that goes on at Treasure Island each night where ships were sunk, people were shot at and pirates walked the plank, all for the streetgoer’s entertainment. We planned to return there later that night to watch the show that Dan had seen in his youth.

Having been out for about two hours, both of us were ready to return to our rooms. It didn’t feel right leaving Cleo in such a new space and so we were eager to get back. She’d been fine, just lazing on the bed, stretching herself out as a welcome home to us. I killed the next few hours blogging on the bed while Dan caught up on his Duolingo and news. We were having ourselves a very lazy time.

Itching to get outside for some fresh air, we ventured out for another walk, this time heading south on the strip. We meandered through the Flamingo casino and into their wildlife park where they had real flamingoes on display in a manufactured habitat. It was a sweet little area, a small piece of paradise amongst poker machines.

We crossed the road then and made our way towards the Bellagio where we thought we’d check out the Botanical Gardens – obviously we were interested in all the tourist attractions that didn’t cost money. Dad called as we made our way through the casino and as we walked by the huge pond out front where the fountain show happened, I noticed a few people hanging around and thought there might be an imminent show. Sure enough, it was ten minutes before 3pm so we hung out and I updated Dad on the Ramsie situation. I promptly hung up on him when the show started and wow was it a treat. I’m sure I’d seen it years before, but I don’t remember it being this impressive. The water fountains lit up the sky to the tune of America’s National Anthem (one of my favourites) and we marveled at just how high the water jets reached into the air. It was wonderful! Here we were with a broken down transmission and we were having a laugh in front of the Bellagio!

Time for a beer now and we found the ABC store we’d run into our last trip out here and beveraged up for our walk home. Since we were coming into the evening, all the ladies wearing feathers were out looking to get photos for money. They were ruthless! We had to stop making eye contact as we sipped our beers and walked north up the strip. It felt more like sunrise than sunset, seeing the lights come on and the crowds filter out onto the street.

Time for our afternoon walk with Cleo now and we did the same loop as the night before, noting that all the construction workers at the sphere had gone home for the night. The business park was quiet and we enjoyed the solitude.

It was dark by the time we were back at the hotel and we went straight upstairs to relax a little before heading out for the pirate show. We ducked out at 6:30pm, thinking we had plenty of time, but we ended up walking briskly past the crowds gathering at the Mirage for the volcano show, hoping we wouldn’t miss the first “Arrrrghh”.

As we approached the boardwalk, I was disheartened by the lack of people around and when we asked a man selling tour tickets nearby, he informed us that the pirate show had stopped running years go due to a death of one of the actors. We had wondered how the two ships in front of the hotel would be sunk with a giant boardwalk in the way and he explained that when it was canned, they’d built the area out, though they’d kept the two ships. We’d have to look it up on Youtube or something.

Oh well, we managed to make it back to the Mirage for the volcano eruption which didn’t involve any actors but was spectacular nonetheless. Talk about a cheap show to impress the people, they can do a lot with fire and water!

Our fun cards were full then so we hit In-N-Out burger on our walk back and took it up to our rooms. We ate on the bed and watched Apollo 13 enduring way too many ads in the process, but hey, we were on holiday and had nothing better to do.

On The Road Again?

We’d just about finished our long morning walk with Cleo when I got a call from Mr. Mechanic calmly informing me that Ramsie was ready to go. I stopped on the spot – I was in disbelief. We’d dropped the van off less than 48 hours ago! I let him know I’d call him back, that we needed to make a plan. That we did, though it took us a while. It seemed like we had the option now to get home before my Friday night work shift. We’d already paid for the night in the hotel, but we’d spend more than that on another round of food for lunch and dinner so I was happy to go.

First things first, we had to go get Ramsie. We made sure Cleo was comfortable in the room then requested an Uber from the outside maze of carparks and tall buildings and were soon ripping across town and into the suburbs. Ron was waiting for us at his very busy shop – there were cars everywhere, I just don’t understand how he could do ours so quickly! He knew we were trying to get home, but this was something else.

He spent a good five minutes with us going over everything he’d done and what he’d seen and while I was disappointed he hadn’t saved any souvenirs, like the broken shaft he mentioned, we received stellar service. The 12 month/12,000 mile warranty was a nice touch too. Probably industry standard, but I’ve come to have very low standards for all mechanic shops.

After parting with $3,600, we drove away in what felt like a new car. Having been advised to drive at city speeds for the first 100 miles, we took the long way to O’Reilly’s to return the transmission parts we’d naively thought we’d be able to fix the problem with. In the carpark we had a little scare when Ramsie wouldn’t start, but the gear shift lever was tighter than it had been and so wasn’t quite in Park, stopping the crank. Next, we drove to a lunch spot and then since we were on the west side of town and Dan had never been, I suggested we do the scenic drive through Red Rocks National Park.

I got over the idea when you had to make a reservation and pay money, but Dan egged me on so I paid the $2 and scheduled a slot for the next hour. You can’t just show up anywhere anymore. It turned out to be a great idea, we cruised around at 35 mph for the 13 mile drive and went up and down a few hills so it was a good test for the transmission.

By the time we took a long way back to the Strip, we had about 80 miles on the clock and that was enough for us. Back at the hotel, Dan illegally parked and stayed with the car while I went up to vacate our rooms. I interrupted Cleo’s nap on the bed and did a final sweep of the room before lugging our shit to the elevators. I’m sure Cleo was happy to have had her last elevator ride. I dropped her and the stuff off to Dan in the van and he took her out to pee while I went back inside to check out. We probably could have just left but I wanted to make sure they didn’t try any surprise charges on us.

Of course it was bloody check-in time so I had to wait a while but eventually I spoke to someone (the same lady that had checked us in, in fact) and she confirmed no extra charges and made very clear that we wouldn’t be refunded for the night we weren’t staying. Of course, I would have been silly to ask.

Just like that, we were headed home. After 50 miles or so I messaged Dave to tell him I’d be able to work after all so we were committed now, but in a good way. We were all ready to get home.

We made it just west of Bakersfield and I found us a sweet camp spot just off the highway where the PCT crossed it. We were right next to a train line and like all other train lines we’ve camped near, they somehow always seem disused but never are. Our first train came by within the hour and we must have had five throughout the night.

It was a pleasure to cook dinner out the back and even more so to sleep in our bed again. We had an early night in preparation for an early start in the morning.

My Christmas Present

Dan wasn’t stirring when my alarm went off at 6:30am so after I’d taken Cleo (and myself) out for a pee, I took the wheel and drove us north-west and onto Highway 5. Dan slept like a log in the back staying perfectly cozy. He didn’t make a peep until about 8:30am when I stopped for fuel.

We were thankful for an eventless drive, though we did venture into some very thick fog just south of the Bay Area. By the time we reached San Jose, I was tiring and sick of driving so when we pulled into Guitar Center, my work was done. Dan had already checked online and they had the digital piano in stock that we’d picked out in Phoenix. He found it as soon as we walked into the store and it was soon in the back of the van. I couldn’t wait to play it has been too long.

We came home to our vans, the boat and our home just before 1pm. I was so grateful to our past selves for cleaning the house so well, it was so nice to come home to a made bed which I jumped straight into for a pre-night shift nap. By the time I woke up, Dan had mostly unpacked Ramsie and we had a piano in our living room.

This one will go down in history. We’d been away nearly a month, had great fun on not much snow, got stuck in the mud, nearly adopted a dog, got hitched, hung out with the fam and given Ramsie a new lease on life. That last bit of drama we didn’t really need, but it’s all part of the adventure.