Author: Steve

Wow! Blue sky, moderate wind, and no degrees when we got up this morning.
Zero. None. Nada. Not a single Fahrenheit to be found. From inside, we
couldn’t tell. No ice on the windows. No cold air on our heads. The
furnace runs a lot. The inside of the windshield, behind the drapes, has
ice on it. But zero outside? This was the kind of weather that drove us
out of the Bounder. It was unacceptably cold and drafty in the Bounder at
zero, cold air falling on our heads, anything touching the walls wet with
condensation. That was zero and calm. This was zero, with gale force winds
rocking the rig. Engine block heater on for the night, the motor starts right up. Defroster
on the windshield, unhook the electric, run the slides in and out a few
times to clear the snow and ice off them, bang on the retractor with a mop
handle while Judy runs one of the bedroom slides in and out a couple more
times until the frozen retractor breaks free, and the slide awning rolls up
like it’s supposed to. The first hundred miles were a challenge. Snow
pack, slick, and windy. Mostly trucks on Interstate 80, the occasional car,
but mostly trucks. We picked a medium speed one and stuck with it, passing
slower ones, while the faster ones blew by. We were out of the dangerous
conditions by Cheyenne. No more snow pack, just wind. Another hundred
fifty miles south and we were in Woodland Park by dark. Tonight’s forecast, a balmy ten degrees.

Weather update for Rawlins, Wyoming: high winds diminishing overnight, snow
ending, clear and very cold tomorrow morning. Sounds like traveling weather
to us.

Now it’s time to clarify. We’re warm and dry inside the motorhome.
Outside, the blizzard has hit. It’s a sideways snowing mess out there,
outside the windows. Wow, did we make a good decision not to move this
morning.

We’re reconsidering our travel plans. It didn’t look that bad here at
Rawlins last night, but Interstate 80 east of here was closed all night
because of snow and high winds. The Interstate is open this morning, but
road conditions are snowing, slick, and high winds. We’re going to stay
here, warm and dry until conditions improve.

The point of being in Bend was to get a few things taken care of on the
motorhome. It took a few days. Day one, the old couch is gone, the new one is in, the drop down visor, and
some interior curtains got fixed. Day two, an alignment correction on the
big laser guided alignment machine to make the rig handle as well as it
should. Day three, snap-on external sunshades to cut down the solar gain
from Imax when we’re parked. Day four, an improved tow-car braking system
and some paint touch-up on the outside cabinet door I dinged. Friday, out
of here, across the Oregon desert, headed for a new client in Woodland Park,
Colorado. Stopped for the night in Vale, Oregon. Saturday, continue across
the Great Basin in cloudy weather, through Idaho, stopping for the night in
Salt Lake City and a visit with Uncle Johnnie. Sunday, a short day through
deteriorating weather to stop for the night in Rawlins, Wyoming and watch
the Broncos crush the hated Raiders (it actually worked out that way).
Cold, snowy, and windy all day, but the roads stayed dry. The good news is,
it was a tail wind. Tonight, we’re rocking and rolling in high wind and thirty degrees.
Tomorrow, wind and snow permitting, the Boulder County Fairgrounds and
dinner with Brian, Becky, and family.