Wednesday, May 10th: We hunkered down at an RV Site to ride out the storm surge that blew through … and liked it so well, we decided to stay another night :-)
Thursday, May 11th: This morning dawned with blue skies, high humidity, and short bursts of wind as we pulled stakes and continued forward.
We were headed towards Denver Colorado, so I checked the weather there too; it didn't look good. Holland hates snowy weather :-(
And we were packing a lot of weight behind us - things could get dicey in a hurry.
We packed up and carefully hit the road; we were cautious, but not fearful.
The severe weather reports kept coming in … and I spotted a sign in the sky that assured me Elohim had His eye on us, and would see us safely through :-)
We stopped at a Rest Area to stretch our legs, and let Bleu relieve himself - and another alert sounded on Holland's phone; so I hustled Bleu back into the pickup, and off we went: Holland was pretty sure we'd be seeing snow at the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado.
But there was nothing to do but push forward.
No chains.
Only a hope and a prayer.
Around 9 P.M., we pulled over along the side of the road; Holland set his wrist watch alarm to go off in three hours, I put Bleu in his kennel … and we slept.
Alongside the road.
In the pickup cab; again.
The alarm went off around 4 A.M.; we shook the cobwebs off, and drove towards Colorado.
The last time Bleu left his mark in Kansas, it was pretty dark; we had to exit the freeway to find a place to pull over before he peed on the car mat - or on me :-(
It was raining furiously.
It was very cold.
We could barely hear each other's voices.
Holland would have to back up … and the space was tight.
I said I'd jump out and guide him backwards. He said it was raining so hard, he wouldn't be able to see me. I said, "Roll down the window; I'll put this towel over the open end, and then you can hear me: you know I can be real loud. Hahaha." He was worried he'd hit one of the cars - behind, or alongside the edges of the gravel parking lot; he said, "Scream if I hit a car; then I'll be able to hear you."
I was thinking he'd hear - and feel - hitting a car, before my voice carried to him on the wet and wild wind.
But I guided him true, and the only damage was to my coat; which was soaked by the time the activity was completed.
I-70 West is a very rough interstate highway: there are holes in it large enough to swallow a Volkswagen Bug, and it was raining so hard the road in front of us was barely visible … hitting some of those potholes jarred our backs and gave us serious concern about the 5th Wheel's safe passage :-(
The highway was very narrow in places.
The road needed serious work done to make it passable.
Holland said we'll need new shocks and a front-end alignment when we get back to the PNW.
We drove straight through Colorado without stopping, we wanted to put as much distance between us and foul weather as we possibly could: we didn't see any of Colorado because we drove through during evening and early morning hours … but, we felt every inch of roadway through Colorado. Holland had driven through Denver many times, and told me where we were along the route - the Denver sprawl (just the lights of it) told me it's spread was massive: I don't care if I ever go back.
Large cities make me feel crowded.
Cities hold no appeal for me; at all.
Holland said we'd be coming upon the Eisenhower Tunnel at any minute. He said it was the highest Pass in America; and he was concerned there would be snow there.
Located about 60 miles west of Denver, on I-70 W, the Eisenhower Tunnel passes through the Continental Divide Mountain Range at the elevation of 11,112 feet. When it was cut and shored up, the tunnel was the highest vehicular tunnel in USA - it was also the highest in the world.
We had no chains - just a Jake Brake, and a Trailer Brake.
We would have a 5th Wheel of roughly 1,1240 lbs. empty (it's not fully loaded yet), pushing us from behind as we traveled up and down a steep, icy, mountain road.
There was snow on the ground heading into the Eisenhower Tunnel.
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