Day Three, Colorado

Good Morning Wellington, Colorado. 

We prepaid to get a space with an unobstructed view of the Front Range. So here's the view from the front windshield of the M.C.Kismet. No mountains this morning, just fog! 

Despite the fog we did have a good site. The concrete pad was much appreciated after another night of hard rain. Having arrived in the dark we were not too certain of our surroundings until morning. Only shore power had been connected on our arrival, but this morning we would connect the Kismet to city water for the first time. 

Watch that last step! 

Arriving in the dark I made only one trip outside, to connect the power. Then it was back inside out of the rain before leveling and putting the slide out. This morning I wasn't paying enough attention to that last step. Whoa, this will wake you up! About 15-inches between the step and the slab. Enough that the front tire was well off the ground. Add a small platform step to our needed equipment list. 

Using a new pressure regulator and hose we connected to the city water input in the plumbing bay. The valves were set to fill the fresh water tank and the supply spigot turned on. So far so good as we began refilling our two 45 gallon tanks. It took awhile before the water reached the overflow indicating full tanks. The valve was then moved to the "City Water Serve" position. With the pump off this pressurizes the motor coach's water system.  

More shakedown maneuvers for the Kismet. We flipped the switch and turned on the propane water heater. Two tests, how long to heat, and how long the hot water lasts. About 30 minutes later Linda stepped into the shower. 

Both of us took 15 minute showers about 15 minutes apart and never ran out of hot water. Wonderful. Even better was the overall shower experience. The glass enclosed shower-tub turns out to be larger than the shower we had one of our past houses. Not tight at all. Add to that the skylight above and there's lots of headroom and natural light. We had initially thought the shower head might be too low, but turns out it's just right. It's all good. 

Our morning was spent relaxing, showering, cooking a hot breakfast, and exploring our new highway hotel. Accordingly, our departure was delayed until shortly after noon. Then we were off south through Denver where Linda and I enjoyed the opportunity to drive past Mile High Stadium on game day. That was great! From the very nearby highway we could see a sea of orange going into the stadium. We also saw the huge tailgating party well underway. A short time later I turn on KOA, the Denver radio home of the Broncos and we listened to play-by-play for the first half of the game as we drove south away from Denver. 

Our next stop was Centennial, Colorado where we picked up more photo prints from Walgreen's. Since it was Sunday we moved into the adjoining Wells Fargo Bank parking lot for lunch. Then it was on to a Love's truck stop just north of Pueblo, Colorado. This was our third time to purchase diesel for the Kismet. 

Since our departure from Salt Lake City we have traveled 699 miles and purchased 79 gallons of diesel. That works out to an average of 8.9 miles per gallon. Not bad since we have done nothing to help with getting good mileage. We've run the dash air conditioner, kept full water tanks, and sure haven't watched our speed. There will be plenty of time to do those things in the future, but this is a shakedown cruise and I wanted to stretch her sea legs. I have to admit that she is so easy to drive you have to watch your speed on level highways or you'll look down and find you are cruising at 80 miles per hour. Sure glad I got the high-speed rated tires. I also pushed her up all the grades we encountered and left the engine idling for long periods during lunch and other stops. If there's going to be a problem I want to know it now. So far it's all gold stars.

Dinner was served by Cracker Barrel in Pueblo, Colorado. As we finished dinner we used our notebook computer to watch the score ticker for the last 10 minutes of the game as the Broncos beat the Vikings. Following Pueblo it was south into more rain. 

It's another late day on the road made possible by a late start and being in no particular hurry. 

By now we had another, albeit much shorter, list of things we need for the highway hotel including a few more food items now that we have confirmed the refrigerator and freezer are working dependably. Oh ya, did I mention that we made ice today? I turned the ice maker on this morning and as we were eating lunch at Wells Fargo there was a distinctive crash sound as a tray of ice was dumped into the bucket. We smiled. It's ice! The ice maker works, check. 

Our Kismet was clearly the largest object in the WalMart parking lot in the Trinidad, Colorado tonight. Next stop, Dalhart, Texas. 

Our journey was about to get a bit more challenging than just dark and rainy. Shortly after leaving Trinidad we ran into heavy fog. By the time we got to Raton Pass visibility was about 150 feet so we wound our way over the pass moving slowly. Once we reach the other side it was clear and more rain. 

Just before midnight we pulled in to the RV park in Dalhart, Texas. We were tired and ready for bed. Unfortunately however, they didn't hold our reservation and there was no place to dock or park so we were back on the road. 

Shortly after midnight we found a spot in Dumas, Texas. Parked and didn't even set foot outside. Connections would wait until morning. Jacks down, slide out, lights off. Good night.