Something that should probably have been mentioned in Part 1, Thursday was Rachel’s birthday. She had spent all day in the car and she was now not going to make it to her new house. One of the motivations to get to Colorado Springs as soon as possible was to salvage any piece of a birthday we could for Rachel.
So, I left off Part 1 as we decided to stop and spent the night figuring that accommodations in a ski resort town in the winter couldn’t be too bad. Directly behind the Diamond Shamrock on the exit where we fueled up was a Motel 8. We got a two double bed room at the Motel 8. The instant we opened the door to the room, we knew for sure that the Indians who checked us in also owned and cleaned the place. The thought crossed my mind to try to get our money back and look for another place, but the wind gusted and I thought of trying to drag the 5th wheel around in the subzero temps and blowing wind looking I know not where for another room. We went ahead and unpacked with the idea that our noses would soon numb to the smell of curried food. As soon as I got everyone in the room and unpacked, I left to find some dinner.
There is a Subway across the street from the Diamond Shamrock. The place was deserted as I walked in. I tried to give the guy behind the counter my order and he informed me that the place closed at 8:00pm. I checked the time; 8:04 pm. But apparently, “the meat has already been put away, sorry”. The only other place I could see within walking distance was a bar. I considered trying to get some food to go, but it was a half mile away, and it was bar food. I went back to the Diamond Shamrock to see what I could find.
Convenience stores are lousy places to find food on the best of days. I was not having much luck finding anything more than soggy sandwiches, frozen burritos, and hot dogs that have been roasting on the rollers for the last two or three minutes, hours, days… weeks? The cashier asked if she could help and I explained the situation. She recommended hot dogs and I agreed. I know, I know, sounds gross, but she put fresh dogs on the rollers for me. I wandered around the store while I waited for them to cook. I grabbed some chips and candy bars and some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for a little stinky crowded motel room birthday celebration. When the dogs were hot, I made them up, paid for everything and headed back to the motel.
By the time I returned, Jen had just about finished bathing the kids and getting PJ’s on. We ate and hopefully we sang happy birthday before digging into ice cream and candy bars; I honestly can’t remember any more. We did scriptures and prayers and settled in to bed.
I was awakened in the wee dark hours of the morning by banging sounds. I wandered to the window to look outside. Traffic on the driveway in front of our room had packed the snow down to a thin sheet of ice. The wind was peeling the ice off the pavement and blowing it into the air and our building, slamming into our window. As I was standing there, my left foot suddenly felt cold and wet. I looked down and I was standing in a snow drift that was blowing in under the door. I went to bed and tried to go back to sleep. As I lay there trying to go to sleep, I wondered why there was a constant stream of trucks with squealing brakes and loud motors on the little street in front of our room.
I was suddenly awakened by a loud slamming sound. I looked up to see that the wind had blown the front door open. I got up, shut the door, attached the chain and braced a chair against the door. I then went back to bed only to be awakened again shortly by the door slamming against the long chain and throwing the chair across the room. I closed the door again and tried to do a better job of bracing the chair. It worked.
I didn’t sleep well. When I was sleeping, I had dreams of going out in the morning and finding the 5th wheel on its side. Around 4am, I gave up and turned on the TV with the volume down low. I found a station showing news broadcasts. The news was all about record low temperatures, -22 degrees F in Denver, -20 in Colorado Springs; high winds and a chemical tanker spill that closed the freeway and forced all traffic onto the road that ran directly in front of our motel. That explained all the truck noise on a small surface street in icy conditions.
Eventually everyone else woke up. With the record cold temps, I decided I better go find an outlet so that I could plug in the truck. It was with some trepidation that I set out to find an outlet. The dreams of a 5th wheel tipped and popped open still swirled in the back of my mind. The frontage road was still backed up, but now with lunatic skiers. Sorry Ben, but double digit negative temperatures mixed with near triple digit wind gusts… There is such a thing as weather too bad for skiing. The 5th wheel was fine. I said a prayer of gratitude.
I went into the store to inquire about an outlet. In the Diamond Shamrock, there was a TV camera interviewing someone. It was weird, but with the weather and the traffic, not surprising. Then I noticed a young couple coming in the store doctoring a bleeding forehead on the male half. I talked to the cashier and he was not aware of any outlets, but I was free to look. I had parked the truck in the edge of the motel parking lot, just a few feet from the back wall of the Diamond Shamrock. As I stepped out the door to head around back and look for myself, I saw the TV interview had ended and the crew was chatting with the interviewee in front of a Honda Accord with the driver’s side windows blown out. So I asked. The windows blew out as he drove up the frontage road. There was no flying debris or rock thrown by tires. It was pure pressure difference caused by the crazy wind gusts. The camera crew pointed to their Jeep Cherokee across the lot, with all the driver’s side windows blown out. About halfway in between, I noticed the wounded couple getting into a Subaru with the driver’s side windows blown out and the sun roof bulged upward, the closing argument for air pressure from the wind being the cause. I was having second thoughts about Colorado. What had I gotten my family into?
After a second rate continental breakfast, I talked to the front desk and arranged to leave the truck and 5th wheel parked in the parking lot for another night. I was spooked by that kind of wind. We all loaded into the Expedition and headed out. When we reached an area that the Nextel worked, we called the realtor and arranged to meet that day. We called the big orange truck and delayed the unloading one day, which worked out fine for them as they were still in Denver (they were ahead of us and beat the storm) and had a move in Aurora. The next day, as the movers unloaded our belongings into our new house, I hitched a ride with a co-worker back to Georgetown to retrieve the truck and trailer.
Despite our less than cordial welcome, we are loving Colorado Springs.
Monday, January 4, 2010
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