Everything is going smoothly

Everything is going smoothly. It's just not going according to plan. I intended to do a lot of biking in the Fort Collins area. That was before I caught the plague. The plague consists of running a very slight temperature, a mildly scratchy throat, a light cough, and a general feeling of blahness.

I am still going to do some biking. I will be leaving in a half hour or so to pit myself against Rist Canyon Road.

The big thing that I did not plan is a flight back to Michigan on the 13th of May. I will be back home for a week. No, it's not because of a funeral or even a court date. Really it is more an effort to avoid a court date. What I have known for two whole days before you is that I am driving around the country on an expired drivers license. It took a highly trained security guard at Intel to discover that.

Thankfully Michigan gives out of state residents a six month extension in order to give them time to get home. Unfortunately, six months expired three days ago.

One would think that the State would have sent me a letter letting me know it was time to renew back in October. Well, they did. Trouble is the envelope looks exactly like the "Renew your license plate on your car" letter. I distinctly remember wondering why they sent two of them within a week of each other. Like a good absent minded professor with a touch of ADD, I was quite proud of myself for going into the secretary of state, in person and on time, to renew my plate. Mission accomplished and expelled from my memory.

So the car is good to go, but I am not. Should I get pulled over, they can let my car go on without me. I want to avoid this as my car really has no ambition and would probably just sit around without me there to push it's buttons. So I am going to drive somewhat carefully to San Diego so my sister can watch my vehicle whilst I fly home to take care of this little issue.

I know it sounds a bit extreme, but it's better than the rash a stickler like me would get sweating every second I am out on the road. In all truth it will be good to spend a week at home. I need my spine adjusted (Hi dad), I could use another round of prolotherapy treatments for my wrist (Hi again dad), and I really should catch one of Tim's baseball games, baby sit Ava (My niece), and give a certain Brit a big pat on the back for surviving both high school and the family household.

I do have reservations to stay at Phantom ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon next week. I am thus, not exactly rushing off. I have been a bit illegal for six months, whats another week? I will be quite happy to not have that to worry about though. I figure with the (hopefully free) medical treaments and weeks worth of home cooked meals (I miss you mom) this unplanned bit of smoothness will pay for it's self.

Now to find a way to board an airplane without a valid photo ID...

Sam's Summary

• Sam already knows all this
• However, there is some delightful word play here that was not in the phone converstation
• He would have to read the whole thing anyway to appreciate it
• I actually have already taken care of the ID for the plane problem
• I am pretty good at taking care of problems when I know what they are
• As this is my most embaressing post I am sure all of you will find it the most entertaining
• Meanies!
  

Colorado Springs

This is going to be a long one. It amuses me how I will sit around for weeks with very little to write about, then in one day I do enough to justify a few more weeks of sitting around.

Thursday, April 23 2009 AD. I did it all today. At least I did all that could be hoped for, short of falling in love, and I am not sure I didn't do that as well. It all started with the most important part... sleeping in. I could not find a campground in the Colorado springs area so I got a cheap hotel. The Colorado welcome center even gave me a nice coupon for it. I am not complaining. I have not slept in a real bed since Virgina, nearly a month ago. Thus I slept in.

The next item on my agenda was to come to a screeching rubber laying halt at a stop light. I needed to test the break job I did before leaving home. What actually happened is that I was trying to find the Garden of the Gods. You try driving an unfamiliar road in the mountians while trying to filter out tourist trap signs. I can hardly be expected to see every red light with all that foolishness assaulting my senses.

Well the good news is that I did see every red light, if perhaps a bit late, and my breaks work splendidly. Highway 24 does have a nice new set of 40 ft matching black rubber marks now.

I did find the park. It was, and I presume still is, awesome. It is a big naturally formed play ground. It features endless Daniel sized climbing opportunities. That simply means rock formations that if fallen from would result in serious injury but remain short of death. It also sports numerous larger formations that are good for other, crazier people to climb, and me to look at.

The "Garden" is enclosed by three giant stone walls sticking sever hundred feet out of the ground. In the center there are perfect juniper trees (at least I think they were some sort of juniper) placed artfully about as it by some wild genious. It really does look like a garden. It just has a bit of a wild feel to it.

I hiked all about and around the park and played on all the rocks. I took every trail, a few things that were decidedly not trails, and a few other places that were not, strictly speaking, sanctioned visitor areas. I probably put 6-7 miles of hiking, wandering, and bouldering. I some times (not often) wonder what all the other genteel tourists think of the tall skinny guy skipping about like a mountain goat.

The afternoon found me driving up Pikes Peak. They charge $8.00 for the chance to test the first 2-3 gears on your car. The top of the mountain is over a mile and a half above the city. Quite the rock. At about 8,000 ft I stopped a turn off and noticed a horrible boiling sound from my hood area. A check revealed that coolant was bubbling into my resevoir and some was flowing out the over flow vent. A few calls to a coworker, my dad, and my mechanic verified that since my fluids were topped off at 600 ft they were over flowing at 8,000ft. Other than that one panic moment my little car performed beautifully. I did not even get blown off the mountain when the wind picked up. Man that was a bit freaky.

I had to stop a few miles short of the summit. They recently had 19ft of snow dump on the peak and were blasting through it with TNT. I did however get above the tree line. Which is more than some people I know can say. I am looking at you Mr. Otto. The trip down was quite exciting. Basically you just put your car in first gear and coast. Using the breaks too much will cause them to over heat and fail. I am sure the guy that found that out must have had a lovely trip.

Back in town I treated myself to dinner, watched an episode of Cold Case, and prepared for one mare adventure before the sun set. What I did not mention about the Garden of the Gods before is that they have a lovely road weaving in and about the park. That road has a ten foot wide bike lane.

I won't go into much detail, but suffice to say that I biked it... twice.. It was the first time that I had ridden since I burned my breaks on Roanoke mountian in VA. I noticed that my breaks had way too much play in them this time. I really did smoke them in the mountians. I used them liberally again this time. I really need to get some beefy breaks if I am going to continue on like this.

If you made it this far you are a champ. Thanks for reading. Next up, Fort Collins CO.

Sam's Summary

• I am really and truly out of Texas
• I left rubber on highway 24
• I had heap good time at Garden of the Gods yah!
• I drove my li'l car from 6,000 ft to 13,000 ft
  
• my coolent expanded
• I got above the treeline
  
• I feared for my life
  
• Gaurd rails are apparently for sissies
• I road my bike. Yeah!
• I have mixed feelings about continental breakfasts.
• Pictures to follow, since I have to check out now.