The Wandering Goose :: vol 16 :: Limon KOA (again!)

Day 1 of KS-2-WA 2013

Chapter 1 : Getting Ready
We bought a new truck to pull the trailer with, that was the first and most awesome upgrade we did this year.  The kids have way more room in the back seat and the truck is able to pull the trailer with no problems.  There will be no top speed of 45mph going over the passes this year!  I figure a new truck is less likely to break down on us, so this year I've predicted the truck will do just fine, but the trailer will probably explode.  It should be exciting!!!

Chapter 2 : The Neck
Royal destroyed his neck sleeping one night.  He woke up last Saturday and couldn't move his head at all.  He was walking around with his head all jutted forward and moving his whole upper body when he needed to look at things.  I kept singing to him, "Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto" because he looked like a robot whenever he moved around.  Hilarious.  But Royal didn't take it easy.  He mowed, edged, and weedeated the lawn.  Then Sunday, neck not much better, he pruned some trees and did a bunch more yard work.  Monday he woke up and still was in quite a bit of pain, so I told him to crash mine and the kids' chiro appointment later that day.  He said he couldn't because that was right during basketball.  Ok, sure, whatever.  He called me later at 2pm, after he'd played basketball (and "totally dominated" he says), but now his neck was worse and his fingers all tingly and could he please have our chiropractor's number.  So, he goes and see's Dr. Ashley on Monday, and then again everyday until we left today.  His neck's mobility really is much, much better, but he still says it hurts pretty good.  Then while driving down the road today, Royal says, "Hey watch the road for me, for a sec, Dr Ashley told me to stretch my neck a bunch."  And then proceeds to do this:

And this :

Um, safe????  I'm not too sure.....

Chapter 3 : Sam
Sam got a major upgrade this year.  With the new truck, he got promoted from hot box in the back to getting to ride in the cab with us!  I think he will be much, much happier!  He just lays on the floor at the kids' feet.  I think it also helps that it's not 110 outside!

Chapter 4 : The Ride
 Well, the ride today started out a bit exciting.  We had just pulled onto K-96 out of Wichita and somehow managed to merge into a bunch of big rig traffic.  This never happens on K-96, it's almost always wide open.  But we were following another truck and trailer, and there were like 3 semis and tankers around us, when a semi truck pulls right up next to us in the left lane and tries to merge right.  Only we are still in the right lane.  Royal swerves partway onto the shoulder while the semi truck is halfway in our lane now, but because we hit the rumble strips the trailer is really starting to swerve back and forth and Royal is trying to get control of it again and finally the semi truck sees us and gets back in his lane, and Royal tries to get back in our lane, but the trailer is still swinging.  It felt like forever before we were back in control again and I thought for sure we were crashing or were going to lose the trailer or something disastrous was going to happen.  But Royal managed to keep it together and then quickly passed all the big trucks and after that we really had no problems!  Blue skies and sunny!

AND we didn't miss I-70 this year!!!  See, we are off to a slightly better start than last year!  Head West, Young Man!!

Our goal for the day was to make it out of Kansas.  We didn't leave our house until 12:45pm - Royal had to work in the morning, so we knew we couldn't get super far, but we had to at least cross a border and a timezone!

And guess were we ended up for the night?  Limon, CO!  Sound familiar?  It's the exact same campground, my dad and I got towed to last year when the truck's fuel pump died.  At least I knew they would have clean bathrooms!  We arrived here around 6pm MST, so it was a good 6 hours in the car, but the kid's did awesome, not much complaining and pretty darn happy. 

Chapter 5 : The Bathroom
The bathroom in the trailer has always been a huge novelty for the kids.  They use it All. The. Time.  I never knew anybody could go to the bathroom so much until we started camping in the trailer.  This year though, the excitement of a low to the ground toilet just hasn't had the same effect.  Usually 45mins into the drive (if that!), Willow is desperate to go to the bathroom.  Today, it was hours and we were stopping for gas before she finally got out to go.  I'm not sure whose kids these are, but I'm kinda liking the less bathroom drama.  I mean, I put them to bed tonight, and they didn't get out once to use the bathroom.  Crazy!  We shall see if it lasts.

Chapter 6 : The Campground
Well it's just about the same as last year.  Dusty, dirty, but with clean bathrooms and a warm pool!
We are planning a really early departure in the morning, so we didn't even unhook the trailer from the truck, just put down the stabilizer jacks to keep the movement to a minimum.

After dinner, the kids went swimming while Royal and I took turns walking Sam around the park.

 Now to bed and we shall see what tomorrow brings!