RV-Junke's: 2012 West Coast Adventure Day 6

Day 6 June 28th, 2012:

Good evening / morning from Royal Gorge, Colorado…

What a fantastic change of pace today! It was NORMAL…no issues at work for the 1st time since we left, and it was a normal get up early put a few hours in and then enjoy the family…which I did!

We started off by driving about 70 miles to a place to have each wheel on the Motorhome weighed, which is unique and not a lot of places do this. The place we went was a few miles away from Colorado Springs, and we saw the fires which are absolutely devastating to the area. The owner of the RV place had to evacuate and is living in a MH at his place of business. The stories are unbelievable, and the amount of damage is staggering! The biggest concerns now are looters, and scammers setting up fake web sites to get donations. Our prayers go to all the families and firefighters!

After the short visit, we drove through the lower eastern part of Colorado, and OMG, is it BEAUTIFUL! You can absolutely see why people fall in love with this state and never leave. After a short 100 miles, we ended up at Royal Gorge to go Zip Lining. We did 9 stations with over a mile of walking. The runs ranged from 200 – 900 feet, nothing scary high, but high enough to get a sense of how beautiful this region is. The first 4 stations went off without a hitch, and then it happened…Nicholas went to jump off, and his trolley malfunctioned…dangling him about 8 feet off the platform, but up about 40 feet…after the guide and I tethered him to me, and then to the station I got calm, but Patty did not handle this so well. He hung there for a good 15 minutes until they came with some items to get him back. It took 2 guides, and me to finally get him back to the station. He was definitely shaken, rightfully so, but he sucked it up and forged on…and had a great rest of the experience. He was the hero from that point on with everyone in the party…he really was brave today! Patty hung, but was definitely shaken beyond repair…she made it but it was not without a lot of coaxing. I need to state he was extremely safe, we just couldn’t get him back. You know it’s bad when the experts, go geez never saw this before…

After zip lining we drove a whopping 2 miles to a KOA, which is a dusty lot…but BEAUTIFUL location. Before I could get settled I had to bleed the fuel line again on our generator. Didn’t take long, and I am now becoming an expert on diesel engines…LOL! Once settled in the boys went, swimming, and yes that’s right…GO-KARTING!!!! Patty cooked an awesome dinner, which we all devoured, and then the boy’s went swimming again…I can say, even with the scare with Nicholas, it was a great day and we are all blessed!

Tomorrow we site see at the Gorge, and Michael and Nicholas have pick a gazillion things to do…so until the next blog…have a Blessed Day!

The haze you see is actually from the fire...these houses have not been evacuated yet, but may if they don't get a hold of the fire...today they made some headway since it was not very windy, it is 5 percent contained. Thank GOD! ...p.s. Photo provided by Nicholas D.