First off let me apologize for misuse of words and poor grammatical error’s (get it?)… I was raised in a pretty decent public school system but still manage to suck at the English language. Don’t let this get you thinking you are better than me after you read this because 99% of this country is just like me and you probably aren’t one of the 1% (don't read into that politcally, I'm not that smart).
Anyways Day Two… oh day two… this day turned out to be the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of all days. After a night of “mint on the pillow” accommodations at the Abilene KS Super Eight (or at least that’s what I told Mike was on the pillow when we got in the room) we enjoyed a nice free breakfast in the lobby and with belly’s full we departed for our final leg of the outbound voyage. I have to remind myself Mike R. is from a small town and spooks easily at the first sign of anything out of the norm so things like poop/cockroach on the pillow might push him over the edge and have him running from home. The day’s events were pretty much the norm as it goes driving in KS. After our first fill up I took the wheel and our average speed increased 5-8 MPH. I will say one great thing about KS is the 75 MPH speed limit.
In a Porsche that isn’t yours you can really take off from exit ramps and get up to 90 in no time. The winds really were whipping the bikes around on the roof, we could see the shadow’s on the dash and started to notice a little more movement than normal.
You would think an overpriced “Porsche” bike rack would hold up to the rigors of driving cross country but after a quick exit onto a middle of the nowhere ramp we soon realized the front mounting point had become very loose. It’s key to remember we were literally in the middle of nowhere. One abandoned gas station and dirt rounds surrounded us. Mike R. being the ever vigilant and overly thorough friend he is insisted we take off the entire rack and readjust. One time I can’t fault him for being that guy, as we soon found out that every allen bolt at each mounting point had managed to come loose. After running through everything and remounting we were back on the road and making great time with peace of mind our bikes would not be flying off the roof and landing on shotgun-toting Jeb’s rusted out 1972 Dodge pick-up.. see link for reference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozksR8QLWzM).
In all honestly I can’t harp on the rack too much, it is very nice but after a passing Subaru went by with the exact rack only rebranded as Yakima I saw a look of disappointment rear its ugly head in Mike R. face. I assured Mike that he still looked cool and the matching Porsche rack was typical of every Porsche owner’s personality, please read between the lines.
Sad Face
We had planned to make a run for the Smithalo in Longford KS that morning but Google maps showed us dirt roads on the route and dirt roads did not agree with our current vehicle. This was disappointing to say the least so the first signs for the World’s Largest Prairie Dog had me giddy as a school girl. I knew on a trip like this one roadside attraction was in our future and anything with World’s Largest in the title was “gold Jerry… gold”. $20 later and we both entered the world of Larry Farmer and his exotic pets. From pigeons to bobcats Larry had it all, but I didn’t let these measly attractions ruin my focus on viewing the behemoth.
Finally after yards of walking it was there in all of its full “let down” glory, as with most things in life lots of build up and complete let down. I’m an Ohio State Buckeye grad so I encounter this pretty annual come bowl season. So we turned our focus to the five/six legged cows, some peacocks and depressing faces of foxes clearly unhappy with life. I can see sometimes why PETA people are the way they are but the Kobe burger I would soon eat would bring me back down to reality. After a quick breeze through the gift shop we were back on the road and four hours later finally we had reached Colorado!!!
"thumbs up for being ripped off"
Our final state and we could smell the mountain air tickling our nostrils, with a hint of manure. A quick stop at a gas station iHop for lunch, that’s right lunch and we were on our way to Colorado Springs. I let Mike R. take us in on the final stretch and soon we could see mountains in the distance, out came the cameras and many of the proverbial distant mountain pictures were taken.
They are there I promise!
It really was a sense of relief to finally be “there”… it had been months of waiting and days of planning during work hours to get us to this point. The drive was long but still beat flying, as we get older in life we don’t always get to see our friends as much and with Mike being 6 hours away it was great to spend time behind the wheel with him. The weekend before I drove from Sarasota FL to Columbus OH with a lifelong friend who is expecting his first child, and it was great spending time with him as I know he too will not have many chances in the next few years to make that kind of trip with friends. Please take time to grab a tissue and clear your eyes… okay back to the trip.
From the iHop it was another two hours and we made our push to CO Springs. We expected some smoke to still be in the area from recent fires but the haze was not as bad as we had imagined. A small dust tornado got Mike R. a little worked up thinking it was smoke but I calmly reassured him he was only seeing dirt whipping around. It had been hot all day, multiple times we ran into 100⁰ temps but the car still was running at normal to slightly above normal temps. Mike R. is really well versed in all things mechanical and noticed a slight drop in throttle response but we just chalked it up to altitude. As we pulled in to our Garden of the God’s camp site, which ended up actually just being an RV Park we gave a little fist bump in our accomplishment. We both were a little let down as to what we expected from the resort… looking for more of a camping atmosphere as opposed to the RV crowd but oh well live and learn. We checked in and were promptly told to follow the man dressed in the Khaki tuxedo with the golf cart. Car on and moving forward we revved slowly past the RV next to us and cluh chug, Lorena (her name only for the trip) cut out on us.
“Overheated…?”
“Probably…” first attempt to restart… turnover and nothing. Second attempt same as the first.
“Is this really happening??”
Khaki Guy “Hey let’s go…”
Me under my breath “%$&@ YOU!”
We had marveled the entire trip how well the 14 year old “Kraut Wagon” had worked for us. Pulling when needed even with the extra weight, handling like she was riding on rails… we were never disappointed except at the height of our arrival delight. As we pushed her out of the way I can only imagine the similarities in Mike and I’s thought process, are we stuck here, how are we going to get back and is that guy really dressed in all Khaki? We both were hopeful that it was a combination of heat and altitude but in reality we knew 6,000 ft wasn’t the problem and heat probably wasn’t the issue.
We gave her another 30 minutes to cool down and I truly believed we would get her to start. However after multiple attempts all we could smell was gasoline. Although our trip had taken a turn for the worst it seemed like it was meant to be. CO Springs ended up having a dealership and they couldn’t have been more accommodating. Julio the service representative said to get her over ASAP and they would be able to look her over first thing it the AM (it was roughly 6 PM at this point). The AAA tow truck driver was equally as helpful and the one highlight of his trip was notifying Mike R. that his car would be making the “wall of tows” with the phone pictures he had taken. The highlight was short lived as we realized we needed a rental and that we might be in COS (Colorado Springs moving forward) for longer than expected. I think Mike R. also realized this trip just went from being fairly inexpensive to potentially wallet busting.
"Bye Bye Lorena..."
So as we watched the car drive away on the back of a tow truck along with all the dirty people over our shoulder in the resort hot tub, I knew only one thing would fix this problem, margaritas at the restaurant our AAA driver recommended… which was conveniently in walking distant. Since Enterprise was also closing at 6 PM we only had our feet and bikes to take us anywhere for the night.
As we sat down I think Mike R. tried to forget what he had just experienced but I could tell by the look on his face that he was still thinking about his baby.
The dinner was just what we both needed… when we asked our server if they had any local beers and he responded in a broken Mexican accent with “Coors” it was just the response we needed and weren’t expecting.
"What can I do to make this better?!?!"
Mike’s distressing look soon disappeared after a beer and two $8 margaritas
...and on our walk home we both noticed that our Garden of the God’s camp site was situated next to one of COS many “wellness centers” which was a good laugh for two Midwestern boys. Neither one of us partakes in that extracurricular activity but the pictures we took clearly reflected on the state we were in.
We continued our night back at our cabin (I upgraded us after realizing we needed a bed for the night due to the extra stress from the evening) with Breckinridge’s finest we picked up at the local liquor store and went to bed not worrying about our current situation.
The master at work...
It was a great day… we had accomplished our goal and it was a horrible day as we were potentially stranded. It’s the unexpected that makes taking these expeditions and adventures worthwhile and I think we both knew somewhere at some point in our lives we look back on this day and realize it was the start of something we would never forget.
Anyways Day Two… oh day two… this day turned out to be the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of all days. After a night of “mint on the pillow” accommodations at the Abilene KS Super Eight (or at least that’s what I told Mike was on the pillow when we got in the room) we enjoyed a nice free breakfast in the lobby and with belly’s full we departed for our final leg of the outbound voyage. I have to remind myself Mike R. is from a small town and spooks easily at the first sign of anything out of the norm so things like poop/cockroach on the pillow might push him over the edge and have him running from home. The day’s events were pretty much the norm as it goes driving in KS. After our first fill up I took the wheel and our average speed increased 5-8 MPH. I will say one great thing about KS is the 75 MPH speed limit.
In a Porsche that isn’t yours you can really take off from exit ramps and get up to 90 in no time. The winds really were whipping the bikes around on the roof, we could see the shadow’s on the dash and started to notice a little more movement than normal.
You would think an overpriced “Porsche” bike rack would hold up to the rigors of driving cross country but after a quick exit onto a middle of the nowhere ramp we soon realized the front mounting point had become very loose. It’s key to remember we were literally in the middle of nowhere. One abandoned gas station and dirt rounds surrounded us. Mike R. being the ever vigilant and overly thorough friend he is insisted we take off the entire rack and readjust. One time I can’t fault him for being that guy, as we soon found out that every allen bolt at each mounting point had managed to come loose. After running through everything and remounting we were back on the road and making great time with peace of mind our bikes would not be flying off the roof and landing on shotgun-toting Jeb’s rusted out 1972 Dodge pick-up.. see link for reference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozksR8QLWzM).
In all honestly I can’t harp on the rack too much, it is very nice but after a passing Subaru went by with the exact rack only rebranded as Yakima I saw a look of disappointment rear its ugly head in Mike R. face. I assured Mike that he still looked cool and the matching Porsche rack was typical of every Porsche owner’s personality, please read between the lines.
Sad Face
We had planned to make a run for the Smithalo in Longford KS that morning but Google maps showed us dirt roads on the route and dirt roads did not agree with our current vehicle. This was disappointing to say the least so the first signs for the World’s Largest Prairie Dog had me giddy as a school girl. I knew on a trip like this one roadside attraction was in our future and anything with World’s Largest in the title was “gold Jerry… gold”. $20 later and we both entered the world of Larry Farmer and his exotic pets. From pigeons to bobcats Larry had it all, but I didn’t let these measly attractions ruin my focus on viewing the behemoth.
Finally after yards of walking it was there in all of its full “let down” glory, as with most things in life lots of build up and complete let down. I’m an Ohio State Buckeye grad so I encounter this pretty annual come bowl season. So we turned our focus to the five/six legged cows, some peacocks and depressing faces of foxes clearly unhappy with life. I can see sometimes why PETA people are the way they are but the Kobe burger I would soon eat would bring me back down to reality. After a quick breeze through the gift shop we were back on the road and four hours later finally we had reached Colorado!!!
"thumbs up for being ripped off"
Our final state and we could smell the mountain air tickling our nostrils, with a hint of manure. A quick stop at a gas station iHop for lunch, that’s right lunch and we were on our way to Colorado Springs. I let Mike R. take us in on the final stretch and soon we could see mountains in the distance, out came the cameras and many of the proverbial distant mountain pictures were taken.
They are there I promise!
It really was a sense of relief to finally be “there”… it had been months of waiting and days of planning during work hours to get us to this point. The drive was long but still beat flying, as we get older in life we don’t always get to see our friends as much and with Mike being 6 hours away it was great to spend time behind the wheel with him. The weekend before I drove from Sarasota FL to Columbus OH with a lifelong friend who is expecting his first child, and it was great spending time with him as I know he too will not have many chances in the next few years to make that kind of trip with friends. Please take time to grab a tissue and clear your eyes… okay back to the trip.
From the iHop it was another two hours and we made our push to CO Springs. We expected some smoke to still be in the area from recent fires but the haze was not as bad as we had imagined. A small dust tornado got Mike R. a little worked up thinking it was smoke but I calmly reassured him he was only seeing dirt whipping around. It had been hot all day, multiple times we ran into 100⁰ temps but the car still was running at normal to slightly above normal temps. Mike R. is really well versed in all things mechanical and noticed a slight drop in throttle response but we just chalked it up to altitude. As we pulled in to our Garden of the God’s camp site, which ended up actually just being an RV Park we gave a little fist bump in our accomplishment. We both were a little let down as to what we expected from the resort… looking for more of a camping atmosphere as opposed to the RV crowd but oh well live and learn. We checked in and were promptly told to follow the man dressed in the Khaki tuxedo with the golf cart. Car on and moving forward we revved slowly past the RV next to us and cluh chug, Lorena (her name only for the trip) cut out on us.
“Overheated…?”
“Probably…” first attempt to restart… turnover and nothing. Second attempt same as the first.
“Is this really happening??”
Khaki Guy “Hey let’s go…”
Me under my breath “%$&@ YOU!”
We had marveled the entire trip how well the 14 year old “Kraut Wagon” had worked for us. Pulling when needed even with the extra weight, handling like she was riding on rails… we were never disappointed except at the height of our arrival delight. As we pushed her out of the way I can only imagine the similarities in Mike and I’s thought process, are we stuck here, how are we going to get back and is that guy really dressed in all Khaki? We both were hopeful that it was a combination of heat and altitude but in reality we knew 6,000 ft wasn’t the problem and heat probably wasn’t the issue.
We gave her another 30 minutes to cool down and I truly believed we would get her to start. However after multiple attempts all we could smell was gasoline. Although our trip had taken a turn for the worst it seemed like it was meant to be. CO Springs ended up having a dealership and they couldn’t have been more accommodating. Julio the service representative said to get her over ASAP and they would be able to look her over first thing it the AM (it was roughly 6 PM at this point). The AAA tow truck driver was equally as helpful and the one highlight of his trip was notifying Mike R. that his car would be making the “wall of tows” with the phone pictures he had taken. The highlight was short lived as we realized we needed a rental and that we might be in COS (Colorado Springs moving forward) for longer than expected. I think Mike R. also realized this trip just went from being fairly inexpensive to potentially wallet busting.
"Bye Bye Lorena..."
So as we watched the car drive away on the back of a tow truck along with all the dirty people over our shoulder in the resort hot tub, I knew only one thing would fix this problem, margaritas at the restaurant our AAA driver recommended… which was conveniently in walking distant. Since Enterprise was also closing at 6 PM we only had our feet and bikes to take us anywhere for the night.
As we sat down I think Mike R. tried to forget what he had just experienced but I could tell by the look on his face that he was still thinking about his baby.
The dinner was just what we both needed… when we asked our server if they had any local beers and he responded in a broken Mexican accent with “Coors” it was just the response we needed and weren’t expecting.
"What can I do to make this better?!?!"
Mike’s distressing look soon disappeared after a beer and two $8 margaritas
...and on our walk home we both noticed that our Garden of the God’s camp site was situated next to one of COS many “wellness centers” which was a good laugh for two Midwestern boys. Neither one of us partakes in that extracurricular activity but the pictures we took clearly reflected on the state we were in.
We continued our night back at our cabin (I upgraded us after realizing we needed a bed for the night due to the extra stress from the evening) with Breckinridge’s finest we picked up at the local liquor store and went to bed not worrying about our current situation.
The master at work...
It was a great day… we had accomplished our goal and it was a horrible day as we were potentially stranded. It’s the unexpected that makes taking these expeditions and adventures worthwhile and I think we both knew somewhere at some point in our lives we look back on this day and realize it was the start of something we would never forget.
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