August 1 - 7, 2010 - "Cooler in Colorado"

We departed Bonny Lake in route to Denver via US 36; what a ride! It was like a roller coaster with the ups and downs of the terrain. Not so good on the fuel economy, gaining almost 2,000 feet in elevation while as we were also bucking a head wind, has me seriously thinking about a diesel pusher.

Arrived at Cherry Creek State Park and after set up decided to pay homage to a local culinary landmark, AND a absolute favorite of our old neighbor, Patrick. So, west bound it was to The Piper Inn for the best damn wings there are. Move over Buffalo, you aren't even close.The secret to their crispiness, while not being greasy, is the cooking process in a red hot wok with very little oil added to the process. The chicken wings actually cook/fry in their own oils from the skin.

Later in the week CC made an appointment with her friend (Harley rider and hair stylist) Wendy, to have her ears lowered. Guess this RV lifestyle is just not as user friendly to maintaining long hair as it is in the stix and brix. It looked to me that she left about 6 inches on the floor. (Please, no comments about the 6 inches)

Fester completed his employment with one last "unpaid" meeting in Denver. Following that, we had the rig scheduled into see the Doctor, as we had been experiencing refrigerator and air conditioning problems. We pulled into Steve Casey's service department bright and early on Wednesday, while we excused ourselves to run errands.

About an hour later, Steve Jr. from the service department called with some not so good news. The problem with the refrigerator was two-fold. One, it appears some insulation had come loose and was restricting the cooling fans air flow. Two, they claim the intake cooling vents on the side of the rig are designed for a 2-door refrigerator, and NOT for the 4-door unit we have. Their suggestion on that was "contact Winnebago directly as it appears it is a manufacturing mistake". Fix one required removing the refrigerator from it's location, and re-attaching the foil insulation, cleaning the vent and coils, all to the tune of about $500 for parts and labor.

A few hours later, Steve again called to inform me that the Intellitec Smart Energy Management System had a bad IC board. It is actually a mini-computer that manages the 3 energy systems we utilize and "remembers" the priority of that device, and manages all the other devices in use. Bottom line, if there is not sufficient electricity to run the microwave, it will turn the refrigerator from AC to LP gas for as long as the microwave is running. OK? That, they claim, is why our air conditioner is not performing at optimal levels. The cost, you asked, 'bout another 5 Benjamin's.

With that surgery completed, we made the Jefferson County Fairgrounds RV Park our home for the weekend. Definitely not a resort location, but it was close (and cheap)and we wanted to stay in the area for a few days to catch up with friends, see Dr. Odekirk about Fester's SI joint, and make our change of address with the bank and insurance company.

This was definitely a short week.