Road Trip part deux

We lost our driver's side mirror outside Chicago. A rogue stick flew from the beneath the wheels of the Jeep in front of us, and the mirror was gone. 

Kansas City was the next stop, short and sweet. We stayed in this storefront/church that had been converted into a venue and a residence. We had timed it so the night we stayed there was a sweet little show with all sorts of acts: tape loop songs, thrash, shoegaze etc.







Next was Colorado, after an agonizing drive through vapid nothingness that is the state of Kansas. The Rockies were beautiful - I don't think I've seen anything like them except maybe when I was too young to remember. 

 

  We were taking in everything around us when we hit one of those miles-long steep downgrades. A friend of mine had told me to put the car in second gear (we drive an automatic) when going down long steep downhill grades.  The triple A booklet and the owner's manual gave the same advice. DON'T DO IT!

 We severely overheated. Neither Dane nor I were used to the car yet, so we didn't notice that the temperature gauge climbing. Because of bad design,  the check engine light is blocked by the steering wheel. We had to be towed in Vail, Colorado, a tiny ski resort town which happens to be one of the highest elevations of I-70. Meanwhile, the sun was setting and the mechanics shops were closing.  Our tow truck driver informed us it was the height of ski season, so a hotel room would cost between $400 and $600 a night.  If we couldn't get the car running that night, we would have been screwed. 

     

   The tow truck guy must have felt sorry for us. He fixed our cracked manifold for $80 in 30 degree weather at 8 pm.  I remember my feet freezing through my shoes just by standing on the icy parking lot of the car shop.