We didn’t plan on going to Colorado.
It was winter and we were still new at driving the truck and trailer, so not excited to take on mountain roads. We figured the best bet would be take the southern route from Arizona to New Mexico and on to Texas.
But life has a way of throwing you curveballs, and when you’re traveling full time in an RV those can mean course changes.
PRIORITIES
While we were visiting the Grand Canyon Cynthia wasn’t feeling well. She was short of breath and had low energy. At first we thought it was the altitude. But after 5 days at the canyon she was only getting worse. She said she wanted to go to urgent care – and she never wants to do that so I knew she was serious! We immediately set our plans aside and detoured south to Flagstaff.
ER doctors in Flagstaff ran a battery of tests and discovered she had severe anemia. But they had no idea what brought it on and so quickly. It could be an iron deficiency or a long list of increasingly scary things. The plan was for her to take iron for 10 days and then get tested again.
But what about our trip? It doesn’t take long to switch priorities when someone you love is sick.
Our insurance is with Kaiser Permanente and they do not have services in Arizona. We were faced with either returning to California or go to the nearest Kaiser doctor – in Colorado. Returning to California so soon in our trip felt like a defeat and we were trying to keep our spirits up in the face of whatever this illness was. Obviously if she needed more serious treatment we would have to pull the plug on the whole trip and return to get the medical care she needed.
For now, we decided to make the 10 days a leisurely trip through northern New Mexico and then north to Colorado.
ALL IS WELL!
Without going into too many details, she went through tests in Pueblo, and then in Denver for some procedures and more tests. We waited for results, then more tests, then more waiting… and in the end the iron supplements got her blood levels back up and, most importantly, there was no evidence of any of the scarier possibilities!!! We still don’t know why it happened. We will be stopping in Georgia at some point to visit another Kaiser for a check-up.
We were in Colorado for 2 weeks – but with all the weight of giant uncertainties it felt like months.
She’s feeling much better now, (obviously we will continue to watch for any issues), and we are all quite relieved! And on top of that, we got the go-ahead to continue our adventures!
Colorado Here We Come
So here are the non-doctor things we did in Colorado…
UNPLANNED DESTINATIONS
The closest in-plan doctor we could see was in Pueblo. Traveling with the rig is not as simple as “let’s get a hotel.” RV parks in the Pueblo area were limited. We did find one that could fit us – but it was pretty sketchy. It was almost completely permanent residents in a lot of older, run-down set ups, and in a shady part of town. So when the Pueblo doctor advised we go up to Denver for more tests we were glad to move.
Next we stayed south of the city in a Jellystone campground at Larkspur. I’m sure this unpaved park is a wonderful summertime family destination, and we really didn’t mind the trains on the railroad tracks directly outside our windows… but in the early spring those dirt roads are a muddy mess – plus they had construction going on. Three nights was more than enough.
We moved on to Chatfield State Park, SE of Denver. This was perfect. With all we were dealing with we didn’t need a difficult place to stay. Here we had a level pad, hookups, space for Alex to ride his bike and water to fish in… and it was close to where we needed to be.
Visit Colorado! See all the Seasons! (in the same week!)
All in all we were there 12 days. Some were filled with doctor visits and tests, but as Cynthia felt better we began to get out more…
DINOSAUR RIDGE
A great outing for us was a visit to Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, CO. It’s a simple self-guided mile walk (uphill) where you can see actual dinosaur footprints and fossils embedded in the rocks and cliff side. They do have a paid tram version if your party isn’t up for the hike, but we were glad to get some fresh air and sun and bring the dog with us.
A VISIT WITH FAMILY
One great thing about being here was being able to spend time with ‘cousin’ Shirley! We haven’t seen each other in years and getting to catch up with her on her home turf was a great addition to our trip. Shirley gave us a tour of Denver one Sunday (though sadly we were a few days early for the Rockies opening day against the Dodgers).
When walking past the State Supreme Court building, a woman who was going in (to catch up on her work – it was Sunday) invited us in and gave us a personal tour of the empty courthouse!
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Making the most of our detour, we got to visit another National Park! We didn’t think we’d see RMNP until the return leg of our trip… but since we were so close we zipped up to the town of Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park.
On our way we discovered Colorado Cherry Company! We had to stop for pie! Alex loved the Cherry Pie and Cherry Cider… as you can tell from the big smile on his face!
In addition to being the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, Estes park is home to The Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for Stephen King’s novel “The Shining” (and where they shot the 90’s tv version, not the movie). Being fans of these old hotels (and The Shining!) we had to stop in and have a look around.
From there we made the drive into Rocky Mountain National Park. It was late in the afternoon, and at this time of year the higher roads are closed… but we still got to take in some spectacular views and see a herd of elk on our way out of the park.
This was a long drive and a day trip, so we didn’t expect to return. But the a few days later it snowed! The forecast was warm so the roads were clear, so we decided to go…
BACK TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK!
We decided to go back to Rocky Mountains NP again for a different view of the park (and more cherry pie). And boy did it pay off! The sky was gray and still lightly flurrying so there were no majestic views this time… but we happened upon the snow play area at Hidden Valley.
We were completely unprepared. No sled, no ski pants or boots and no change of clothes… but how can you deny a chance to sled in the Rocky Mountains?!
We borrowed a sled we found lying around until its owner was discovered. We had a few runs, and were trudging back when a family stopped us. They were done with their day on the slopes and GAVE Alex one of their sleds “We have lots of these at home.”
We continue to be blessed by THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS!
Alex headed right back up and sledded until he could sled no more! For a while he had the slopes mostly to himself!
Here are videos of just a few of his runs…
BACK ON THE ROAD!
With the positive news from the doctors and the OK to continue our trip, we said goodbye to Colorado and headed back to New Mexico!
Latest posts by Brett Dewey (see all)
- Geologic Wonders: White Sands NM and Carlsbad Caverns NP - September 1, 2019
- Getting Weird in New Mexico - May 21, 2019
- Our Colorado Detour - May 17, 2019
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Lolol. What a chuckle I got watching this, especially Alex saying, “ You’re going to regret this, Mom.” Oh, my, Alex, what did you have in mind for your dear, sweet mother? Lolol. It looks like God intervened and fouled your plans to mow your dear mother down! LOLOLOLOL. Yes, I watched to the very end.