1999 Teardrop
Adventure - Page 9
by
Teri Fahrendorf
24 DAYS ON THE ROAD
After lunch for all of us including baby Jake, I disconnected the camper from the car again so we could bring the Honda in for an oil change. Unfortunately the street sloped a little, so I had to anchor the camper with the RV wedges again. Even more unfortunate was the side-to-side street slope into the gutters. Hit the sack by 9:00 pm, but I rolled toward the edge of the street all night because of the slope, and got my pajama knickers in quite a twist by morning.
Up at 6:30 am. Luckily, Heidi, who's up every two hours these days to feed Jake, checked the phone messages as fellow brewer, Jaime Jurado from Shiner and Bridgeport Breweries, was arriving via taxi at 8:00 am. Jaime caught a ride with me in the Honda back over I-70 to the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) National Convention in Keystone, Colorado.
After a full day of meetings, headed back to Denver on murderous I-70. I was beginning to get used to that road, but of course I didn't have the camper attached, and it was Saturday so the traffic was lighter. Then I noticed my car was making funny knocking noises. Hmmmm.
Back
at their house, Jan insisted on washing my laundry so Heidi and I could visit.
Hey, I didn't argue! Jan thought the Honda's knocking was caused by the oil pump,
but repair shops wouldn't be open till Monday, so it had to wait. Re-hooked the
camper to the car so I could level the side-to-side slope with an RV wedge. No
more knickers in a twist, but the wind howled mercilessly all night.
Heidi and Jake came to visit me in the camper about 8:30 am on Sunday morning. It was fun to have them over to "my house." Jake seemed content, as he slept through it. Got up about 9:00 am and made my famous blueberry pancakes for Heidi & Jan.
After a full day of visiting, took a shower and got ready to hit the road for Keystone and the MBAA President's Dinner, down murderous Hwy 70 again. Parked my car-camper-combo in the conference center parking lot for the night. Met up with the master brewers in front of the lodge, and we all took two sets of gondolas to the top of the mountain for dinner. Wandered about looking for my brewer friends while trying to avoid being pulled into the chicken dance with one of the lederhosen-clad oompa band members.
After dinner we departed down the mountain, accepting the lap blankets the gondola attendant offered. That was a wise decision as the ride was long and the gondolas were nippy. It was an interesting experience, feeling the movement of the gondola, seeing the stars and the black outlines of the forested hills. Everything else was black; no light in the gondola, no headlights like a car has, nothing, just the stars and the lights of Keystone below us, and the silent movement of the gondola through the dark mountain air.
That
evening the air was crisp and snappy, even with a coat. Checked the thermometer
in the teardrop that read 37°F, which wasslightly warmer than outside. Oooo,
it was going to be cold for sure! Some brewer friends had offered me the sofa
in their hotel room, but I declined, writing down the room number just in case.
It just wouldn't be right not to stay in the teardrop every night of this trip,
as that was part of the fun.
Click here to go to 1999 Teardrop Adventure Page 10.
The story is 16 short pages total. You can jump to other sections of the story here:
Page
1 - Departure
Page 2 - Washington
Page 3 - Idaho
Page
4 - Glacier
Page 5 - Montana
Page
6 - Yellowstone
Page 7 - Tetons
Page
8 - Denver
Page 9 - Colorado
Page
10 - Utah
Page 11 - Idaho Again
Page
12 - Wild Horses
Page 13 - Oregon
Page 14 - Enterprise
Page
15 - Lovely Drive
Page 16 - Home Again
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