ALMOST Made It Out of Colorado!

Tuesday was supposed to be the "back on road again" day, but it was not to be.

This was the plan: my last doctor's appointment was scheduled for 8:30, after which we'd go pick up my rig from storage, then head south towards Albuquerque and the Balloon Festival. We are supposed to be there no later than 3 PM Wednesday, and it is around 400 miles from here -- so a leisurely 200 miles each day should get us there easily.

My biggest fear had been that the doctor would be called away for emergency surgery, and I'd have to reschedule the appointment. But the appointment went off without a hitch -- I am doing fine, I have no restrictions, and, instead of the big, chunky boot, I now have a lace-up fabric-and-velcro brace that goes under my shoe. I still limp a little, and sometimes use a cane, but I am definitely walking!

The problem started when we got back to John's rig, got everything put away for traveling, and began to withdraw the slides. Actually, we never even began -- they didn't move at all. Thinking the coach batteries might be low, we hoped they'd retract if the engine was on -- but when we tried to start it, all we heard was "click...click...click." Not good. Since there was no turnover at all, John suspected the solenoid, and called road service.

At this point, it was about 10:45, and we still had time to get my rig and make 200 miles. We were given a 2 1/2 hour window for the service call, which would push it a bit, but we were still okay. We started to suspect we would not be leaving when, at 1:30, the technician called because he couldn't find the address. We are camped on South Federal, and he had been given the address as North Federal -- so he was clear on the other side of Denver!

He finally got here, discovered the problem was the engine battery, we got a new one (free, as the old one was still under warranty!), and were ready to go -- except it was now after 3, and we still had to get my rig, hassle with Denver rush hour traffic, and then not be able to get very far in daylight. So we decided to wait until today to pull out. As we can't easily make 400 miles and get there before 3, we're going to be a day late. But I'm sure there will be balloons left in Albuquerque when we do get there!