11 October 2010 (pic: Dinosaur NM) A few days ago we found ourselves heading to the hospital in Vernal, not once but twice. It was amazing how many tests that they gave Louise and it’s also amazing that they really didn’t find what her problem was. Yes, she had a lot of pain, and yes it did get a lot better for a couple of days but as far as being “healed”…not. Louise felt that maybe we should head on to Steamboat Springs, Colorado and getting back on the road might just be the answer (and also give her mind something else to focus on). Just after crossing the state border and into Colorado, we made a side trip to Dinosaur National Monument. At this location we were able to visit their visitor center and go through the artifact displays that they have uncovered from the local hills. Then after gathering material and soaking up all the information on the dinosaurs we hustled out to the waiting bus that was going to take us into the “fields of bones”. The bus ride lasted about 10 minutes and took us to the base of the volcanic hills from where our hike was to start.
The trail wasn’t too long either but short or not, we did find some petrified dinosaur bones embedded into the rock outcroppings.
(both pic: Thigh Bone)
Thank God there was a volunteer at the end of one of the trails that took the time to point out the elusive bones, otherwise we may not have found them at all.
(Pic: Dinosaur Backbone)
After getting back to the coach, we saw that the rain clouds were dropping the rain heavily in the close hills to the west, and coming our way. Well it was lunch time and it didn’t look like we stood a chance of out running the inevitable so we stood our ground and let it come. The rest of the ride to Steamboat Springs was wet, wet, wet, and the clouds were so low that we didn’t see any of the famous Steamboat Mountains as we arrived in town. Fortunately Carol gave us good directions in finding their home so we had no problem getting right to their driveway. Now let’s talk about the “driveway”… I saw that Sol had backed their 5th wheel down their narrow and steep downhill drive so I thought I would be able to follow. Well first of all, I couldn’t park next to their 5th wheel so I had to take another course, park up next to the front porch. This meant to either back down the narrow drive blindly or drive down and make a sharp right while still on a heavy slant. I won’t go into details but we did get it down and set-up, but now let’s wait for getting it out…
After getting back to the coach, we saw that the rain clouds were dropping the rain heavily in the close hills to the west, and coming our way. Well it was lunch time and it didn’t look like we stood a chance of out running the inevitable so we stood our ground and let it come. The rest of the ride to Steamboat Springs was wet, wet, wet, and the clouds were so low that we didn’t see any of the famous Steamboat Mountains as we arrived in town. Fortunately Carol gave us good directions in finding their home so we had no problem getting right to their driveway. Now let’s talk about the “driveway”… I saw that Sol had backed their 5th wheel down their narrow and steep downhill drive so I thought I would be able to follow. Well first of all, I couldn’t park next to their 5th wheel so I had to take another course, park up next to the front porch. This meant to either back down the narrow drive blindly or drive down and make a sharp right while still on a heavy slant. I won’t go into details but we did get it down and set-up, but now let’s wait for getting it out…
the rest of the afternoon and evening we stayed close, ate a lot, and had a couple of drinks before heading off to bed. I must admit, I was really tired and slept very well. First thing in the morning we had Sol knocking at the door and telling us that the “bagels are hot and fresh so hurry in for breakfast”. Well we were mostly up and ready, so I went over and Louise soon followed. We were sitting down to a breakfast of Lox, Bagels, Cream cheese, Sliced Onion and tomatoes…absolutely wonderful !!! Following breakfast we joined in Sol and Carol’s car and headed off for a tour of Steamboat Springs, and all the time enjoying a sunny sky and a cool day.
Carol had planned a dinner party for that night so after our tour we headed back to prepare for that. Besides us, Sol and Carol had invited Tom and Kelly, some close friends of theirs and we really had a great evening of fun, dining, and conversation with all. Very early the next morning we made another trip to a hospital, only this time we pretty much knew what the problem was. Unfortunately it took an overnight stay before we got the OK to “check-out”, but we feel confident that all is well now and we can look forward to continuing on with a healthy body.