The Long and Winding Road

(steve)

We finally made it all the way out to Denver. Along the way, we had some interesting events spice up the trip. First up: car issues. For the past five years we have been proud owners of a 2001 Toyota Prius. Just the 6th buyer from predominately "green" Boulder, we felt pretty cutting edge. In fact, our purchase has helped convert a number of family and friends over the years to the hyrid lifestyle. Well, the ride back to my parents house from Yosemite saw the first real car trouble Prius-style.

As we were heading down the hill away from the park, just about every single warning light possible illuminated, including the dreaded red triangle of doom (perhaps best appreciated by other Prius owners). I did the only thing you can do in that situation. Pull over and turn off the car. After a brief call for roadside help, where I learned the wait would be at least an hour, I turned the car back on to see what would happen. Result, the warnings were all gone. With that, we cruised down the hill pretty slow, irritating all those behind us, until we felt good enough to go full speed. A call to the local Toyota dealer brought news that this kind of thing happens from time to time. We decided to try driving for a while to see what happens. Skipping ahead, the lights came on again later in the week in Los Angeles.
A few days later the Toyota dealer relieved me of $750 to fix the problem. And to boot, the air conditioning stopped working. Diagnosis: $900 to replace the condenser. Ouch. So much for all the fuel savings. The drive down the San Joaquin valley was a little tense, with me staring at the instrument panel the whole way. Even a stopover in Stockton (to visit the Karen's grandparents) did little to ease my tension.

We ended up spending a week in LA visiting with friends, with brief stop by to look at our belongings in storage (had to pick up the interview clothes). The week was lots of fun with a couple of unexpected reunions as well as getting to see the Yosemite crowd again. Nick was gracious enough to let us crash in our former residence. I must admit it was a trifle strange to sleep in our old room and wake to see Nick's furniture. Another great treat was our visit time with young Addison Ickler (and her parents, I guess). To her credit, Addie demanded to see us before the big trip, to the tune of a premature birthday. Eight months later she is a handful, but really an extremely well behaved baby. We look forward to finding her on our doorstep in the future.

Our final day in LA was filled with an impromptu visit to San Diego to visit my brother and sister-in-law. While in Fiji, I received an unexpected message imforming us that we were going to be Aunt Karen and Uncle Steve. The good news made the week more exciting. Since they live outside New York City, we had to make the time to see them as soon as possible. Just for fun, we took the Icklers to give them a first hand view of just what taking care of a baby entails. Angela was all for it, but Russ took a more cautious approach. Based on their response, I bet they'll make great parents.

What would a drive from LA to Colorado be without a visit to Las Vegas? Well, for us that meant a stop in nearby Henderson to visit the Karen's other grandparents. Here's where the lack of air conditioning becomes important. Our transit of the desert outside of Vegas was made at a balmy 110 deg (F) outside temperature. Imagine the windows down, whipping a really warm breeze into the car. It felt like someone was breathing on us for about 4 hours straight. We peeled ourselves out of the car and didn't leave the air conditioned house for the rest of the day.

The next day, we departed at 9 am with the mercury all ready at 100 deg (F). Once on the highway, the road almost immediately climbed, and the temperature dropped to a more tolerable 90. We spent the day driving through southern Utah and even did a little car dancing when we crossed into Colorado. At 5 pm we decided to stop in Grand Junction and call some local friends. Despite having no notice, Joe and Kelly invited us over to their new place and absolutely refused to let us go on. We spent the evening talking over beer and a great pizza. We had a great time and can't wait to return the favor on their next Denver visit. Given our newfound love of wine tasting, I'm sure we'll be back to Grand Junction soon too.

The next morning we drove the final few hours across the Rockies to Denver. The temp never got above 75 deg and the view was beautiful, reminding us exactly why we wanted to come back (we also learned that the Prius protests driving over 10,000 ft altitude). Our arrival begins the next phase in our adventure, where we have to return to reality, find jobs, find a new house, and carry on with our lives. Based on our last couple of weeks, it's going to be a fun ride.