Colorado

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The drive through the Rocky Mountains to Denver was a memorable one. The road snaked through the elegant mountain valley and rose imperceptibly ever higher. The slope up to the pass was so gentle that you can actually always had the feeling to drive in a shallow valley level. And the road was no comparison to the usual mountain roads in Europe. Here droned the pickups and trucks on a 4 lane highway up the hill and we drove in 5th gear at 80 km / h, the pass counter while the temperatures outside shuttled around the zero point. So we went up, surrounded by a vast, snowy mountains getting higher, while outside was getting dark and the initial rain developed into a sizeable blizzard. Again and again, we checked with our navigation system our “altitude” and determine a bit worried that we had already cracked the 3000 masl mark. Colorado is known that a blizzard can blow 50 cm of fresh snow on the road within a few minutes. So we were more than relieved when at 3340 masl the pass was achieved. We were determined to escape the predicted snow and sprayed the switchbacks down to the brake shoes were glowing. The rainwater had collected into larger lakes in the street and as we then overtook a pickup, we just had himself feel to have crossed a lake because our windshield was full of water and for a few seconds, we could not see anything. Our hearts beat some beats faster and the adrenaline was palpable. Puhhh, everything went well. In Denver we parked in front of the Walmart and while Stefan chatted tired kids with a bedtime story to sleep, Heike shopped through the mall to the refrigerator to refill.

Trauma with TRUMA

“Snow” roared Noam next morning – and promptly ran all out of sleep. Outside danced the flakes a wild dance around our motorhome while indoors the temperature to 10 degrees Celsius were dropped. Our gas supply from TRUMA (Seco-Motion) had decided overnight without our help, turn off the propane gas. She tried repeatedly to Stefan (in pajama pants and a thick sweater), to move the TRUMA regulator to our heating, a fridge and a stove to be supplied with gas. With some creativity, our board engineer managed the gas supply so as to “manipulate” that at least worked one device. In family council therefore following plan was quickly negotiated:

  1. With Cooker Coffee and tea cooking (without heating and running refrigerator)
  2. Refrigerator switch on and share breakfast (without heating it with a thick sweater)
  3. Heike and the children go to Denver from Children’s Museum, while Stefan visited a local TRUMA representatives so that we get a new gas regulator

According to the Internet, there was a small family business in Denver that for TRUMA products offered service achievements. Stefan has been received from the mechanic and the boss of the company friendly. They took care of immediately to our “patient” and fetched from TRUMA telephone still further expertise a. After about an hour we agreed at the joint briefing on replacing the gas regulator incl. Pressure bottle and leads by American products.

The company promised TRUMA turn for a necessary transition element to be sent by post, so that the new controller from the US could be connected to the European thread. Thus, we agreed a date for installation in 3 days.

The children had meanwhile abated the Children’s Museum. After a snack, we drove from Denver to Fort Collins where the family Warren lives for a year. Tamara, the mother of 3 children grew up in Switzerland. Stefan knows them for over 18 years. Antony, her husband comes from the USA and currently studies in Fort Collins. We are very thankful for the visit and the time together at the Warren’s. With delicious tortillas and salad we left off the evening while the children up late at night raged through the house.

„Colorado is great“

After the snowstorms of recent days the weather improved noticeably in Colorado. With 300 days of sunshine, a beautiful mountain panorama and diverse industries, the region attracts to Denver to many US citizens. The region is on the rise and we understand the euphoria. Colorado is really nice .. only the sea is a bit far away.

In Discovery Museum of Fort Collins, there was much to be discovered and the time passed in the speed of light so we were almost late for Lego Challenge in the library.Here the children built diligently on a jungle camp from Lego while we on the Internet did the correspondence parents and the home extended. On Sunday we strolled through the second hand market and buy for Noam-new cowboy shirts for $ 3 a piece and for a snazzy Jala sunhat and chic leggings. As Sunday afternoon program, we went to one of the many RV dealers. Before the large exhibition hall were over 200 campers and caravans all were open and could be visited. In the exhibition hall we visited the large A-class Mobile. These vehicles cost around 200,000 dollars, offer plenty of space for 2 people, usually have 4 huge TVs and washer and dryer installed and swallow around 40 liters of fuel per 100 km. We have up to this day still wondering why the expensive camp sites with so-called “full-Hockup” (means: electricity, water, waste water and TV antenna) are always fully booked. The campers in the US require a 50 amp socket so that the on-board electronics work perfectly during our Carthago also by 3 days without socket make ends meet. The longer we travel, the more we appreciate our Carthago e-liner!

Schopping in Boulder

On Monday we drove into a hip little town called Boulder. Just outside the city there was a Dodge City plant that should, according to our preliminary investigations also can perform an oil change at our FIAT Ducato. We drove without an appointment directly to the maintenance shed and were greeted warmly. The professionals examined first based on past service documents from Switzerland, whether the appropriate material (such as air filter, oil filter, etc.) for storage and then have also started simultaneously with the service. Two hours later, we got our Carthago back with a comprehensive report and a detailed invoice. We can hardly believe it. The whole service including oil cost us only $ 119. We are excited!

The Schopping-mile from Boulder made then for another storm of enthusiasm. The car-free pedestrian zone was decorated with beautiful tulips, the view of the nearby mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains are stunning and the shops fantastic. Luckily the space is limited in our camper, otherwise we would have spent find no less than a fortune. From here we went to sleep right after Denver, because the next morning we wanted to be on time at half past eight in the RV business city.

The solar system

Already 30 minutes before the official opening of the Zoo-cash stood Heike and the children before the entrance gates of the zoo from Denver. Here they wanted the day with the animals enjoy during Papa with the men of Trailer World Denver gas controller auswechselte. But when Stefan drove up at the company, he was intercepted by the mechanic at the entrance, because the transition piece that by post the day before should have arrived, was still lying on the post in Denver. No problem found Stefan, then we are building in the meantime, a solar system in our Carthago one. We need it not for the US, but in Mexico, this plant will make us much more autonomous. A small photovoltaic panel with 40 watts of power is sufficient to enable us to camp 10 days on a place in the wilderness without a socket. Stefan decided to use a “mobile version” instead of a “fixed” on the roof of the mobile home. That is, the solar panel can be set up within minutes and placed in the sun during our camper parked in a shady place. With the mechanic Stefan built a two sockets. The whole took about 3 hours. We paid $ 300 for the panel and included for mounting. Material measly $ 65. Unfortunately, still had not surfaced well after lunch the postman. So we had no choice but to repair the gas plant to move to another day.

Sweating at the vet

While the kids watch the many animals in the zoo with Heike, Stefan decided with Emma to go to the vet because the annual vaccination for our guard and family dog was long overdue. We were warmly welcomed without reservation and asked for a waiting period of 10 minutes into the treatment room. A nurse examined Emma’s health and asked the owner a lot of questions while diligently in computer drafted a protocol. Then she left the room with the remark “The doctor is equal to them” . A few minutes later came the said veterinarian in the treatment room and also launched a comprehensive investigation of Emma, the indifferent everything let go through. The doctor was visibly impressed by Emma and gushed in the skies of our dog while the dog owner with pride geschwelter chest compliments enjoyed. Now the young doctor left the treatment room again with the comment, “I .. would like to briefly pick my colleague” . Now it was Stefan fear and worry, for he indeed wanted only a small syringe for the dog and not a comprehensive health analysis. “That is certainly once again a fat vet bill” thought Stefan (see chapter expensive socks in the blog of New York). A short time later entered two vets the treatment room. A holding the dog and the other administered the syringe while Emma calmly and without flinching all let go through. “That’s it .. I go with them now to Checkout” says the doctor, visibly relieved. At checkout sat a young man who now typed all instructions of the doctor in a computer and then asked the dog owner: “Pay in cash or by credit card” . “Au Weija ..” thought Stefan, “.. well I have the credit card with me. ” ” So Mr. Broder, then I get them $ 34 for the treatment ” , the cashier says from behind the counter. ” What .. that’s ridiculous. ” Stefan thought grinning and paid in cash. was so cheap in Switzerland not even the vaccine.

A new gas controller

The next day we drove the whole family back to Trailer-World to Denver. Unfortunately, the package was still not delivered. So we ate first a bite when Mexicans and hoped that in the early afternoon the postman would finally deliver the long-awaited part. When we re-stamped in the company’s office after lunch, let us know the nice boss that he had found a company that could manufacture an adapter for us and install a complete gas conditioning. He handed us a piece of paper with the address. We drove to the said address, where they were received by 4 barking dogs in an area, which was more like a junkyard than a gas company. The owner – a 84 year-old warhorse with cane – was called us warmly as he was clearly and unambiguously understand his 3 staff that they would confiscate once such fiber-pressure bottles (which we had used up to now), because of the US security are prohibited. Then they built our system completely and disappeared for more than 90 minutes completely out of the picture. During that time, Stefan looked around a bit in the company’s accessories store. It was ruled a wild mess and the dust layer on the shelves was so thick that the dead flies the drive was only noticeable. The windows were hardly the bright sunlight into the room during the dog was walking around on the tables while keeping the leftovers of previous meals lapped up. “If that is only good.” thought Stefan.

Suddenly the door of an old barracks sprang up and the boss walked with his 3 employees and a new gas construction on our camper to. The installation went round and all connections fit perfectly. We got 2 new gas cylinders and a detailed briefing on the new facility. Under the strict supervision of the CEO’s staff checked the tightness and the gas flow of the new plant. We were excited because this company had made specially for us a transition piece, so we can change (at a later time) on a European system without any effort. Now we were definitely ready for the next adventure in Yellowstone National Park. Here we again expect wintry temperatures, because we are long 5 days in Yellowstone at about 2000 m stay. Whether the new gas plant this hardness test, you experience then next Bog from Yellowstone. See you!

2016-11-07T05:09:13+01:00