FRIENDS IN DENVER, CO

6/28 (Day 20): On our way back home to the heartland, we had a chance to meet up with some of our buddies in Denver. The Schipfers (Above: Christine, Dan [en route], James, Abby) are well acquainted with the Slome clan since they still live in Fairway, KS and were on vacation visiting family in the area. The Tomlinson’s (Below: Alison, Gregg, Remy, Augie [in crib sleeping]), friends through Wade’s work, treated us to a great shish kabob dinner. Alison had to cut out for a while to a ‘neighborhood watch’ meeting, but we assured her that we were not running a mobile ‘meth’ lab through our RV. Thanks for the hospitality!

GUZZLE/PATCH-METER UPDATES

Guzzle-meter: $2,072.34 total. Looks like the $2 grand barrier has easily been broken; if you’re playing the futures market, then you may want to short gasoline futures once the Slome-adventure is completed. Those Saudi imports are likely to slow.
Patch-meter: I’m not sure whether I’ve completely grown out of puberty yet because, at this point, I had higher expectations for my masculine growth. Instead of a dark, thick, grizzly patch I’ve established more of a fuzzy smudge on my chin. I’m still not losing the faith though– there are still three days left on our trip.

(Progress, but no perfection)

WINTER WONDERLAND…AT 72 DEGREES

6/27 (Day 19): Whitney was definitely fired up to hit “Santa’s Workshop”, a smaller and redder version of Six Flags found west of Colorado Springs just off the path to Pike’s Peak. Life’s good for a five year old when you can go to the North Pole in a t-shirt and sandals, and then also see Santa during the month of June (a full 181 days before the big present collection day). When we finally reached Santa’s house, Whitney was quite uncharacteristically gun-shy. She looked like a deer in headlights when asked “What do you want for Christmas?” Perhaps this was merely a reaction to Santa’s appearance; he looked more like a retired truck driver than Mr. Claus. Whitney gracefully recovered by gaining valuable information – his favorite cookie is peanut butter, chocolate, oatmeal. I quickly reminded Whitney, that Santa also loves Double Stuff Oreos: the cookie of choice at the Slome household over the last few years. Regardless of cookie choice, Santa will be a happy camper come December 25th. After getting our fill of junk food and nauseating thrills at the fifty year old park, we navigated back to the Lone Duck campground in a nick of time before a massive hailstorm hit. We have a few things on the agenda tomorrow as we head to Denver. As usual, the Slomes will check in later…

(The Slomes spending more $$ to support the economy)

FEAR FACTOR? OR SURVIVAL DELIGHT?

6/27: No. What you are viewing is NOT part of a ‘Fear Factor’ insect ingestion challenge. Rather, what you are observing is the multi-day accumulation of bug guts on the Beast’s death-shield. The average observer would be repulsed by such a sight (Robin included), while not fully appreciating the survival benefits of this creature-feature. What would one do if stranded in an RV for an extended period of time, with fully-depleted food resources? No problem, the Beast is fully functional as a George Foreman grill; it’s completely stocked with a near endless supply of protein. The preparation options are almost infinite as well. If you like it sushi-style, then no problem, just scrape a freshy off the windshield. If you like a crispier variety, then just pull one off the “barbie” from the hot engine grill. Although not quite the five-star meal like the dinner previously highlighted in our blog, our grill of goodies serves as security blanket in the event of an emergency.

The kids get a kick from the larger specimens retrieved from the engine grill (i.e. butterflies, dragon flies, moths, etc.)

DETOUR

6/26: It was the great Bugs Bunny who coined the phrase, “I knew I shoulda tooke that left toin at Albukoykee!!” Well, so too does it go for Slome Adventure 2007 – Albuquerque was just not in the cards even though it was on our agenda. At 11:30 p.m. last night we decided to forgo Albuquerque in exchange for a 25 degree temperature improvement at Gunnison National Park (Colorado) and mercifully save 250 miles in driving on the Beast (and the Slome family).

GOOD GOLLY, WE’RE IN GUNNISON

6/26: With population of 5,300 it didn’t take long for us to find the only Park in town. Half of Gunnison’s population is enrolled at the world renowned Western State College, home to the Mountaineers. We enjoyed a scenic drive through Gunnison National Park and its Lake Fork River and Blue Mesa Reservoir, as a stepping stone on our way to Colorado Springs. Skipping triple digit heat in New Mexico feels like the right decision and tees us up for a future trip to the ‘Land of Enchantment’.

BUG BUFFET!

6/26: A recurring ritual across many of our campsites has been Whitney and Hayley’s intricately prepared ‘Bug Salads’. Here the munchkins are paying homage to the insect smorgasbord for all the local hungry critters.