Day 1: Colorado Bound!

On Sunday, I left Utah for a little break. I'd just finished a four-week stint at the hotel, working 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day and on-call overnight. It was time for some headspace. Plus, the plan for Colorado is to collect some river willow sticks. I have an idea for a project and a friend who will be landscaping and removing some. Win-win.

I started the morning at the Hole-in-the-Rock campground in Escalante. (I left the hotel Saturday night after work and a shower.)

For the most part, I had to keep the engine between 45 and 55 mph to avoid overheating. This was intolerable on the stretch of 70 through Utah, where the speed limit was 80 mph. As a side note, I think the next big RV project should be a new radiator. This one leaks, which means keeping an ever-present jug of antifreeze by my side.

The other concern was with how much gas prices have risen since Biden-Harris took over the office of the president. Looks like this might be the last big trip until their energy policies are reversed.

Across the Colorado border, I immediately felt at home in the motherland and thought about camping up on the ridge at Rabbit Valley, but with business to take care of in Grand Junction, I pushed on.

The first stop: Cabela's to return shoes. Their shoe policy is to replace shoes for any reason within a year of purchase. This is why I buy my expensive daily shoes (Keens) there, and--sadly--my December Keens both developed a rip in the heel that rubbed the backs of my feet.

While talking with the lady at the counter, I kicked off my shoes, ready to hand them over.

"I'm sorry, but we no longer honor that policy."

Sudden confusion ensued. How could this be? What was happening? How is this even possible?

She continued, "But we'll exchange them just this one time. Do you have your receipt?"

This is where it got dicey. I'd bought the shoes, a dog collar, and ammo at the south Vegas store last December. I had the receipt at a Kansas City store in March when I returned the dog collar because it didn't fit Buena. I think I told them to keep the receipt.

"Can you look it up?"

"I can't find their store number. Are you sure it was a Cabela's? You know Bass Pro bought out Cabela's. All the data hasn't merged." The lady said, raising the stakes.

What ensued involved me explaining how aware I am of the merge after living in Missouri within ten miles of both a Bass Pro AND Cabela's. I was there when the merge occurred...a few YEARS ago. The next step had me calling the Vegas store, causing the employee on that end--a gnarly cool, old dude--to briefly speak with a district manager who happened to be visiting their store.

In the end, I walked out of the store wearing a new pair of Keens. Not only that, but these were the Keens I wanted back in December, but they didn't have my size. Now I had them on my feet, and they were brand new! I only had to pay the difference between the two. Praise the Lord!

Next stop...Natural Grocers. I'd run out of Zinc, D3, and C. Time to restock!

As we pushed eastward out of Junction, Buena and I watched a storm to the south. It looked like it would converge with us somewhere around Delta. Sure enough, it did. That's when I learned my wipers are broken. Maybe not 100% broken, but they flip around at weird angles with the metal above the blades almost touching the glass. I'll have to stop at an auto part store to see if I can replace the whole blade.

We stopped for the night in Gunnison.