September 2025 – The Destinators

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

On my cross-country bike trip in 1983, I stopped in Morrison, CO. A local suggested I check out the Red Rocks Amphitheatre – a natural outdoor theatre that had been enhanced and turned into a performance venue. Although there was no show there that day/evening, it sounded like it might be a cool place to see, so I biked up to the entrance. I was in awe of this performance space tucked in between giant red rocks, surrounded by such stunning views! I spent the rest of the day hiking in and around the theatre.

Had there been a show, it would likely not have fit into my bike-bum’s budget. Sigh. Coming back someday to see a show was one of the first official items on my shiny new bucket list. It only took me 42 years to check it off!

Parker, CO

As mentioned in Doug’s post, the uncertainty of how long we’d be waiting for RV repair was unnerving. Sitting day after day in a dimly lit hotel room with only a bed and 2 chairs at the Quality Inn behind the Mercedes repair center would get old fast. And although we were surrounded by shopping malls with a huge choice of chain restaurants, the prospect of visiting those twice a day for more than a couple of days had limited appeal. We needed a change of attitude, a plan B. After all, people fly into Denver for vacation all the time without RVs. What do they do? What could we do without our RV?

Ohh, Nooo…

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. And that point was on I-70, near Grinnell, KS, just after 2:00 on a Friday afternoon, when our engine suddenly quit, every light on the dashboard came on, and we coasted to a stop on the shoulder. Trying to restart the engine failed. Jump-starting failed. We had fuel, the fuel filter wasn’t clogged, there were no ominous fluids leaking from underneath, not overheating, plenty of oil, no smoke, nothing obviously broken or burnt – no failure or problem that I could figure out with my limited skills and automotive knowledge. So we made our first-ever call to the roadside service provider we’ve had on retainer ever since we got the motorhome (Good Sam). They found us a diesel repair shop in Colby, Kansas, about 40 miles up the road from where we were stalled, and dispatched a tow truck to take us up there.