Southwest 2021-10: Colorado - Snowed In!

March 11-16, 2021

What awaited us in Colorado...

...and warmer days behind us.

    A quick recap: When the van's fan quit working during the warm days early in our trip--we could only open and close the vent cover--a Google search led Marilyn immediately to a forum titled the “deadly green light.” This led her to the fan fuse, which she pulled and put back in, and voila, the fan worked! 

But after the fourth time she had contorted her body into the awkward space while holding a flashlight to pull the fuse, we concluded a trip to VanWorks in Fort Collins, a bit north of Denver, was in order. They did our conversion in 2019, so we called and talked with Barry, their sales manager, who said just give us a day’s notice. 

    We went on our merry way south until we started hearing  "snow" and "Denver" together on the news. When we heard "epic" snowstorm, we decided perhaps we should get to Fort Collins ASAP. But not before we went took two days for Valley of Fires, Carrizozo, and Gran Quivira. THEN we headed to Raton (Spanish for rat) just south of the Colorado border, where we'd reserved our first ever KOA.

    We awoke the next morning to 19 degrees in the van. After one more warm shower, we were on I-25 heading north past frozen ponds.

As you come across 7,835-foot Raton Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the first sight of the snow-covered Rockies is absolutely breathtaking. The picture does not begin to give them justice.

Not long after we crossed into Colorado, warning signs began to appear on I-25.

Good thing Doug had new snow tires put on the van, for that improbable just-in-case-we-needed-them scenario.

                

    Arrived in Loveland, a little south of Fort Collins, we  had a lovely front porch visit with Jane, a friend who'd moved there a couple of years ago.

    Then we did errands: an electric heater for the rare occasions when we are plugged in, and groceries, ho-hum.... Coloradans take storm warnings seriously! Cars circled the parking lot, masked customers politely wove their carts around each other, clerks frantically restocked shelves—yes, there were no bananas or onions, and friendly, if fatigued, cashiers moved customers through quickly.

     The signs near Denver had been more dire, so we crossed our fingers, hoped the snow would hold off until Friday, and spent Thursday night in VanWorks’ parking lot. 

    We cannot say enough about VanWorks, for with every problem we’ve encountered, they have been completely accommodating. It turns out our fan and Promaster aren’t completely simpatico, so they installed a new board. They also pulled the fridge to retrieve a light Marilyn had knocked down behind it, then covered the opening with netting. And they charged nothing. Yes, we recommend them.

    That white stuff came later, long after we checked into our AirBnB. The studio was on the right, up the stairs above the garage. 

    Despite the cold temps, of course we met Marilyn's niece Alexa and her family outside at a brewery--that's what we do when we're in Longmont! Above: Marilyn, Michael, Beckett, Alexa.

We were about to leave—feeling a bit frigid despite down blankets from the van plus brewery blankets—when a fire pit opened up, and the owners built a blazing fire. Asher had left to pick up Harper from volleyball practice—they were smart and went back to the house. When the fire burned down, we went to their house for dinner, the returned to our AirBnB. Still no snow.

Marilyn's niece Alexa and daughter, Harper

The next morning we headed back over to Alexa and Michael's. 

Harper had asked Marilyn the night before if she'd teach her to crochet. Would she!?! What a wonderful day they had together  learning basic crochet stitches.

By dinner, Harper had completed a granny square of double crochet, chains, and slip stitches. 

A few days later, to Marilyn's great pleasure, she sent pictures of a flower she'd completed and a stuffed animal she'd started. 

Meanwhile, Asher was working with his Robotics team, and Michael, Doug, and Beckett were running errands. About 1:00 PM it started to snow.

 

The chickens didn't seem too concerned as they pecked around the yard outside their heated coop. They even produced a few of their colorful eggs that day!

    Since Marilyn grew up in snow in Pennsylvania, she was kind of excited. Her older son, Andrew, had told her if it snowed she'd have to build a snowman. So she did! It was about 12" tall. Andrew pronounced it more grass-and-twigs-man than snowman.

Michael and Doug decided we should park the van at our place and let Michael transport us. We have the new snow tires and front-wheel drive, but they have a big truck with four-wheel drive. The van parked, Doug settled into a chess match with Beckett. 

    The house has a huge basement, where Beckett, Harper, and Marilyn played miniature golf, and Beckett and Harper later put together their dad's new desk.

Asher surfaced from his basement room after his all-day robotics meeting and generously built a fire.

Michael and Alexa kept talking about going on various errands.

Meanwhile, Doug entranced—or mystified—Beckett with his explanations.

    Alexa and Michael finally decided they'd go to the wine store. They returned shortly with new rugs for the dining and living rooms. Marilyn says it runs in the family: she and and her dad once went to pick up pizza and returned with a new camera for her dad (and the pizza).

After briefly enjoying the new rugs,

and the fire, and eating dinner, all concurred it was time for Michael and Asher to take us home...

...before the snow got worse. Their street when we left...

...and ours when we arrived, after a bit of slipping and sliding across town. We agreed that they'd pick us up in the morning.

Doug had wisely remembered to raise the windshield

wipers on the van.

So this is how it looked in the morning. And it was still snowing. Alexa and Michael live on a slight hill that hadn't been plowed, so no-one was going to be driving.

The main streets had been plowed, which meant a snow wall up against the van.

Windshield from inside van.

Doug was excited to shovel snow for the second time in his life. The first was at Marilyn's aunt's in Ohio a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, Marilyn made a proper snowman in the courtyard, complete with a tam o'shanter made from her face mask. Andrew approved.

Doug also shoveled the sidewalk to our digs...

...and three hours later it was covered again in snow. 

Doug's hat after a  brief shoveling foray.

The third morning, the road had been plowed again, meaning what was snow was now ice, and Doug got to dig out the van—again. 

Snowbear in the park.

We went for a walk—we really should have brought our snowshoes on the trip instead of the inflatable kayaks.

If we had to be snowed in, at least we were in a beautiful area. And, our AirBnB not being reserved again for a few more days, we were able to stay an extra day.

In the afternoon, the snow began to melt. Doug dug the van out again. He quit counting at the fifth time. By the time he was finished, the snow was cleared from the front of the van, though it now was sitting on a sheet of ice.  

    Sunset was lovely from our second story perch as we prepared to leave the next morning. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Alexa, Michael, Asher, Harper, and Beckett again, but we'll be back.