Tuesday

On our way into Limon, Colorado, our destination for the evening, we had been driving eastward heading into an ever darkening sky. Up to this point we had pretty much avoided any bad weather, but by the looks of the dark sky our luck was about to change. The thought of camping out at a KOA was starting to lose its appeal in direct proportion to how dark the sky was getting.

I’ve always thought of camping as sleeping in a tent at a place that doesn’t have running water, flush toilets, swimming pools, spas, miniature golf, internet service, and a convenience store right outside your tent flap. I guess I have to renegotiate my definition of camping to include that because when you’re on a road trip that’s what it is. Did I mention that meals you can buy on-site so you don’t even need to cook?

As the skies got darker and the lightening flashed, raindrops falling, and the wind starting to gust I thanked my lucky stars that we weren’t on a motorcycle. Up to this point I was drooling at every motorcycle that went by and considered stopping at a Harley Davidson dealership to see what kind of deal we could swing if we traded in a 2000 S40 Volvo. We pulled off the freeway to a convenience store and took cover in the lee of the wind as the storm blew over. There was a motel next to the store and I suggested that we stay for the night as I didn’t want to stay at a KOA, even if they did boast about their 9 hole miniature golf course. We didn’t stay we drove on.

About 5 minutes later we pulled into Limon and checked in to the first motel we came to. Bad choice. We were directed to a 2nd floor non-smoking room where the last patrons must not been able to read in English the clearly stated rule about it being a non-smoking room. I wish I could remember the name of the motel so anyone that reads this doesn’t stay there. Just to be on the safe side don’t stay at any motel in Limon, even if they do have a KOA with a 9-hole miniature golf course next door, as we found out when we opened up the tattered curtains to air out the room. It was one of those kinds of rooms where you pray that they replaced the sheets instead of just making the bed and try not to think how many people had sat on the bed in their shorts, or worse yet, without their shorts. Perhaps that’s the reason that rooms like this are so poorly lit.

Mental note to self: Upon entering a prospective room, check to see if light bulbs are at least 150 watt. If they’re anything less it suggests that they’re trying to hide something.

When we got up the next morning after not sleeping well my feet and ankles started itching. I think that there were fleas or some other ankle biting vermin in the room. It’s been two days later and I’m still itching. I’m just glad that we didn’t stay longer or they may have worked their way even higher up my torso. Granted, I have a high tolerance for embarrassment, but even I would have been embarrassed to being photographed standing at 4 Corners scratching places on my body that shouldn’t be scratched in public.

We had a nice scenic drive to Pueblo, Colorado where Sand’s aunts and uncles lived. Our first stop was at Aunt Mary’s house to visit her and her daughter, Nadine. The next stop was at Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Harvey’s house. Then about a 1-1/2 hour drive to Frieta and Roger’s house in Texas Creek. Our final destination was to be at a KOA in Alamosa, Colorado.

After we left Frieta’s house we drove on Hwy. 17 past the town of Hooper. The drive can only be described as beautiful mountains on both sides of the road going down through a looonnnggg flat valley. There were many extensively used pre-mobile home trailers seemingly placed haphazardly beside a number of cars, truck, tractors, and farm equipment on blocks down the entire valley. From the looks of them they may have been there when the pioneers were coming through the area. They weren’t sold then and they still haven’t sold. In case you’re interested in buying property there, judging by the number of for sale signs, there is quite a bit for sale. I dare say we saw more for sale signs along this stretch of road than anywhere on our trip. Some of these signs were so old and faded the phone number signs were written in Roman numerals.

I have to give some of the people there some credit for trying to make a go of it as some are trying to start businesses and pull people off the road. Just before we got to the town of Hooper we noticed a hand-painted sign advertising a local RV park to travelers. They had trailer spaces, RV spaces, tent spaces, and UFO viewing platforms for rent with no silly trees or anything green to get in the way or confuse any possible sightings with. While it was a very clear night we opted not to stay there.

To put it mildly, the town of Hooper has room for expansion. Like many small towns, I don’t think it was ever a boomtown or even had a heyday. It doesn’t have a gas station or convenience store, but it does have a store called Hooper Parts and Supply and a Post Office. I don’t know what they offer or who exactly they cater too, but the building was painted green and had a flashing light on top of it, but they can get their mail. Visitors must be down these days since the paint was fading on the building. The only other store in town was closed but struck me as kind of odd. The sign said Antique Store, but I lifted the front sign up and underneath was a sign that said, Second-Hand Store. I think that they must put the antique sign up during tourist season and the second-hand store up the rest of the year. Again, I think our country is suffering a proliferation of too many antique stores.

It seems the valley would be a good place for solar panels, wind mills, and anything else that could make it look a little more modern. There were a few solar panels, but none too many. It appears to be situated in a natural wind tunnel and since there aren’t any trees to cut down on the wind and good place for wind mills.

The last business that we saw as we headed out of town was a sign just off the road that said, Reptile Farm. There were four metal buildings behind it looking pretty lonesome. I don’t know who exactly they sell their reptiles to, but I’ll bet they don’t worry about being broken in to.