YCGL - Sunday, March 31, 2024 - Day 1 - Easter and St. Vrain - 115 miles

 




I made it!  I got all packed up with an estimated time of departure of 1:00 and an actual departure of 3:00.  Not bad!  

But let's back up.  If you read yesterday's wonderful account, you may have noticed that it was a little frenetic.  I'd attribute some of that to a large cup of black, strong coffee, which I don't drink much anymore.  And being way behind schedule.  And it got worse the later it got.  And then I started some house cleaning.  And that's never good.  So at 4:00 am, as I was getting into bed, I Iooked at my propane app and it indicated that I had 19% of the tank left.  Three hours later, when I got up a 7:00 to get to church for a choir rehearsal.  , it was down to 14%.  The reason for having two propane tanks is so that you can run one tank to empty and there is another next to it that is full, because you filled it, right?  I was pretty sure I had, but not 100%.  so I pulled the empty one, and drove to Tru Value to check if they were open on Easter which they were from 10-4.  

Church was fun.  It was packed like the old days when people used to come  There were many two-a-year people there who come on Christmas and Easter, but the numbers looked good.  And the choir sang for the first time since Covid hit.  There were four basses(!) and one tenor, Larry Hazlett, the director, of course.  And about 10 sopranos and 10 altos, so a typical church choir.  But we sounded good.  And I took off after church skipping the breakfast to get my propane,  The picture below was just after I had unloaded the full 37-pound tank (and 30 pounds of propane) out of the back of the Sonic and gotten it into place.  And 4-1/2 quick hours later, I was off.  I did talk to both neighbors before I left, and Sharma across the street has been in India for five months, so he didn't care.

I learned something from my brother Pete.  Don't go too far the first day.  Pete and Carol go five miles to a KOA campground at the end of their subdivision.  That way, they get settled in and are ready to go the next morning and if they've forgotten anything, they can run home and get it.  I went a little further than that, 115 miles, but I got here early enough that I could have headed back to Laramie if I missed something really important.  As it is, the only thing I can think of is my Sonic toothbrush, which for some reason, I just seem to remember from other trips also.  But I keep a couple of toothbrushes in my travel kit, so I'll survive.  Somehow.  

I'm staying at the St. Vrain State Park in Longmont, CO.  It is just off of I-25 at a major highway intersection with several truck stops, and a variety of fast foods, including the only Popeye's Fried Chicken I know of in Colorado.  I will occasionally stop there on my way home from Denver, but I know I'll get some in Texas.  I am pretty sure the lakes here are not natural, but borrow pits for the highway construction, but apparently good fishing with the birds providing plenty of feed.  


Though the scenery isn't great, the actual sites are very nice, level concrete pads with very convenient water and electricity columns and nice sheltered tables.  Too bad it's cold and windy, but it was nice being inside.  

I have about a four hour  drive tomorrow and  it's plenty late, so I'll talk to you again tomorrow.  

Thom


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