July 2 - Coolant Problems

Let's see, where did I leave off? I think it was having coolant problems.

Betty and Mike took me out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant, Mike took care of my computer which was running slow. Basically, I have too much stuff on here. It needs a major deletion effort, but that will have to wait until I get home. Betty and I caught up on gossip. She knows more about what's going on in Seymour than I do and she hasn't lived there for years!

After staying the night with the Appletons, they took me down to my car at Chuck's Corner.  Still there. Mike poured water into the the coolant well to see if it would go through but it didn't.  Betty had loaded me up with water and nectarines which came in handy. They had to meet a plane in Denver so they led me down to Indiana Avenue in Golden. They went left, I went right until I came to the “Big O” (really, that's its name) which was a garage. They did a cursory check. Nope, the problem wasn't in the hose, but there was no mechanic to do any work. I had coolant and water so I decided to charge ahead anyhow. If I had to stop every twenty minutes, I would. I'm obsessive about making my bookings.
My first overheating was still at the edge of Golden. I pulled off and went into a coffee shop for a cappuccino. While I drank it, I chatted with the guy at the counter who told me to just take it to Jiffy Lube, right around the corner. Excellent advice! Chains always have the required mechanics and they did. They explored the entire coolant system and came to the conclusion my problem was that the car was tuned to Wisconsin levels. My problem was not the car, it was the altitude. So, they sent me on my way with the same advice, add coolant as needed.
At Empire, I was overheating again. I stopped at the first place that looked open, the 1860 Tap. It was an ancient bar with lots of old guys drinking beer. I talked to the barkeeps about my problems, with the old guys listening in. I asked about a place to camp but they suggested the Peck Hotel. I went over to take a look. It was the oldest hotel in Colorado and beautiful it was with a long veranda and comfy chairs. It sounded like heaven but the restaurant was gourmet, the price was high and with no Internet connections in town, it didn't seem the right place to spend the night. Besides, it was too early.

I went back to the pub and ordered some ice cream. Ice cream solves everything.

As I thought about my options, Bob, one of the older old guys, started talking to me about his new pup. He'd had an old dog that he'd babied through many illnesses until the final put down. Oh the sorrow he'd felt. Then two weeks later, someone told him to come see a puppy. No, said Bob, I can't have another dog. I wouldn't be able to stand it. But he went and looked anyhow, and there was the spitting image of his old dog. Now he is training again.
I shared my photo of Jake Dog, he showed me the photos of his dog. It turned out that Bob was a retired mechanic. He took a look at the car, measured the coolant and water and did the first refill. He sent me on my way with a jug of proper coolant.
I filled the reservoir one more time that day, but once I passed the great divide, it was all downhill and things began to improve.
The campgrounds were busy with 4^th of July campers, but at Blue River in the White River National Forest, I found site no. 1 unfilled. Some Germans were there in the Mercedes Benz RV they had shipped over from Germany. I'd seen one of these before down in Texas. Amazing contraption, more a truck than anything. But site 1 was too small for them. They went on leaving site 1 to me.
The site was set aside from the other camp sites on a high hill. Adjacent was a campground loop that was closed. Some folks from Moab and I went over to take a look. It was infested with fire ants. Yuck, and I was right next to it. But my tent was up, the sun was near to setting, so I just zipped the tent shut and went right to sleep.