{"id":2107,"date":"2017-03-24T20:48:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T20:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=2107"},"modified":"2017-04-03T20:26:13","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T20:26:13","slug":"ava-and-the-beast-ride-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2017\/03\/24\/ava-and-the-beast-ride-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Ava and the Beast ride again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thursday morning after a walk around Golden Ponds with my brother, the dog and I took the Beast up to get Ava. \u00a0As we rounded the last corner the Beast bucked just a little bit as though he couldn&#8217;t wait to hook up with Ava again. \u00a0Sheba was in heaven running around with the farm dogs and the cat while I hitched up for the short ride to Longmont to get Ava packed up for our little spring break trip to the western slope of CO and the Moab area. \u00a0It has been dry as a bone and in the 70s most of March and the ONE day we&#8217;re going to be driving with a 38ft, 14,000 pound trailer over the Continental Divide the forecast calls for snow. \u00a0Well, Friday morning came with pretty clear skies in Longmont and the forecast was clear all day. \u00a0We pulled out about 9:00 and had smooth sailing the whole way. \u00a0There was fresh snow in the mountains but I-70 was dry until right before Eisenhower tunnel where\u00a0the roads were wet until Silverthorne&#8230;then again they were a little wet on Vail pass. \u00a0Nothing slick, nothing scary. \u00a0It really looked quite pretty with the fresh snow and the blue skies. \u00a0It was a good drive and it felt good to be on the road again with the family&#8230;including our new addition, Sheba, our trusty pup. \u00a0I&#8217;m not really sure what Sheba thought of the ride&#8230;she was very restless the whole way&#8230;.just couldn&#8217;t seem to settle in and get comfortable. \u00a0She is usually pretty chill in the car but I think the chucking from the trailer just made it a bit rougher than she likes. \u00a0But she did fine as I think she was just happy to get to come along with us.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Snow on the pass\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/32951840963\/in\/album-72157682065286375\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/4\/3851\/32951840963_ff181cdd44_z.jpg\" alt=\"Snow on the pass\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Back to the main characters of the story, the Beast in particular. \u00a0We had a rough beginning, the Beast and I. \u00a0You might recall how I <a href=\"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2015\/11\/25\/hes-here\/\">got a great deal on our truck<\/a> until I had <a href=\"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/01\/14\/failure-to-launch\/\">problem<\/a> after <a href=\"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/01\/06\/hitch-in-the-plans\/\">problem<\/a> that delayed our departure last year and thinned my wallet tremendously. \u00a0There were a few weeks when I hated that truck. However, we finally got on the road and had very few troubles for 13,000 miles. \u00a0The Beast was a champ and pulled Ava around like she was a featherweight camper. \u00a0But most of the time we were on the flats&#8230;.no high mountain passes to contend with. \u00a0Today though we were going over the continental divide and I wasn&#8217;t sure how this was going to go. \u00a0Well, I&#8217;m pleased to report that the Beast did great! \u00a0He is not shy about using\u00a0diesel but we went over those passes like they were nothin&#8217;. \u00a0And coming down&#8230;I just let that Allison transmission do its job and I hardly had\u00a0to touch the brakes!<\/p>\n<p>As we dropped down Glenwood Canyon the temperature began to rise and it started feeling like spring. \u00a0No snow around and leaves starting to bud on the trees. \u00a0We stopped for fuel in Glenwood and ate lunch while on the road. \u00a0Our destination of Fruita Colorado came early afternoon and we pulled into the <a href=\"http:\/\/cpw.state.co.us\/placestogo\/parks\/JamesMRobbColoradoRiver\">James M. Robb Colorado State Park<\/a> about 2:00, got checked in and found our site which was an easy, level pull through. \u00a0We all remembered our jobs and had everything set up in record time. \u00a0Ah, time to relax&#8230;&#8230;&#8221;Huck there is water coming out of the faucet handle&#8230;.like a LOT OF IT!!!&#8221;. \u00a0I run out of the rig and shut off the water. \u00a0On closer inspection it is not a burst pipe but seems to be a leak in the handle itself. \u00a0So, since I can&#8217;t make it any worse (can I?) I decide to take it apart and have a look inside. \u00a0Everything seems in tact but there was a gasket that seemed a bit out of place. \u00a0I reseated it and put everything back together, turned on the water and even MORE water was squirting out. \u00a0Unfortunately there isn&#8217;t a way to turn off the water to JUST the kitchen sink so we&#8217;d have to do without water for awhile while I try to find a replacement faucet. I disassemble\u00a0the handle again but realize I hadn&#8217;t even gotten close to cinching the nut down all the way&#8230;.doh!! \u00a0So I cinched it down, reassembled everything, turned the water on and&#8230;&#8230;WOOOHOOOO \u00a0no leaks!!<\/p>\n<p>What a great campground! \u00a0Huge pull thru, full hookup sites at the front door of Colorado National Monument. \u00a0We explored the playground, the 2 ponds and the Colorado river. \u00a0We watched clouds go by&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9Fy-oAefk5U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We ate dinner outside and Dacen made a campfire for the roasting of marshmallows while we watched the sunset.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oAN0tuYSebg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And we enjoyed the morning lights&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2GelXoncw84?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ah&#8230;.I love this. \u00a0Family time, travel, outdoors and warm spring weather!!<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157682065286375_9623\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53725965596_4bf6fb7cfb.jpg\" title=\"DSC03535\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03535<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53726180478_e2fc216c26.jpg\" title=\"DSC03537\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03537<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53726407375_bc9e2ffe1f.jpg\" title=\"DSC03538\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03538<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53725965601_d8096aea03.jpg\" title=\"DSC03534\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03534<\/p><\/div><div><img 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src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53726180973_c7f5047a83.jpg\" title=\"DSC03507\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03507<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53726312644_8423e4286e.jpg\" title=\"DSC03500\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03500<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157682065286375_9623\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":3000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thursday morning after a walk around Golden Ponds with my brother, the dog and I took the Beast up to get Ava. \u00a0As we rounded the last corner the Beast bucked just a little bit as though he couldn&#8217;t wait to hook up with Ava again. \u00a0Sheba was in heaven running around with the farm [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[77,81,82],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2107"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2116,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions\/2116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}