Junie woke me up to nurse around 6 am. Since I could see that the sun was up, and I knew that everyone (except me) wanted to get home, I decided that when June drifted off to sleep again, I’d begin the preparations for our embarkation. Sid got up and joined me in the bit of work left and when everything was in order, we pulled out onto the 70, with a very, very, very long road ahead of us.

I drove for 9 1/2 hours with only a couple of quick stops. One when we stopped at Del Taco, and the next when our fuel gauge *suddenly* read empty and I pulled off at the nearest gas station sign. When we found that sign was going to lead us 15 miles off the highway, we had to risk getting back on the 70 and waiting for the next gas station. My theory was that the gas light comes on way before the threat of running out of gas should be a realistic concern, so that you’ll get frickin’ gas and not run out on the road. Despite my theory, I was concerned, Sid was concerned, it’s only a little bit funny now because, well, if you’re married to a very vehicularly conscientious person, you’ll understand. To say that I was berated would be an overstatement, so it wasn’t too bad, not as bad as when I crashed us into a cement pole at a gas station on our first long motorhome trip. Anyway, we drove quite a way (I’d say 20 miles minimum) with that empty fuel light on, so I’d say my theory holds water.

Entering the Las Vegas area the outside temperature was 121˚!! I had not ever been in that degree of heat before. The A/C had our motorhome probably around 100˚, so that was nice, but not really.

We woke up and everyone got busy but me. I was thinking we were going to be hanging out awhile at our spot, but soon Sid started driving. We were off, back onto the 70, through those gorgeous Rockies.

We stopped for some supplies and got back on the road. We were heading toward Rifle, hoping to check it out a bit more. Before reaching Rifle we pulled of the highway at Glenwood Springs. The downtown area there was just as cool as in Rifle, so we cruised.

I spied a sign pointing the way to Doc Holliday’s grave and we decided to go check it out. In case you don’t know about this interesting dentist turned outlaw cowboy, he had tuberculosis and supposedly traveled to Glenwood Springs seeking healing from the vapors of the hot spring. He ended up dying there and was buried in Glenwood Springs Pioneer Cemetery (the name has been different through its history). The cemetery is way up on a hilltop, overlooking the city. It’s somber up there, but also serene and beautiful. We enjoyed reading the info posted at Doc’s memorial site. On the memorial plaque there was a quote of Wyatt Earp’s reading: “Doc was a dentist not a lawman or an assassin, whom necessity had made a gambler; a gentleman whom disease had made a frontier vagabond; a philosopher whom life had made a caustic wit; a long lean ash-blond fellow nearly dead with consumption, and at the same time the most skillful gambler and the nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a gun that I ever knew.” Wikipedia gives a great account of the best anyone can figure of this man’s life and death.

We left Glenwood Springs and cruised. I don’t know if there’s anything I enjoy more than a cruise through such amazingly gorgeous environs. It soothes me so. There’s nothing to be done, but sit, no pressing issues, so there’s freedom to let the mind wander, no details are offered to take anything away from the daydreams conjured by the wonder of the place.

We were searching for a campsite Sid had seen on the way out that was situated right on the Colorado River. We found it! And it was so nice and pretty.

Everyone went and fished while I cleaned the motorhome with some nice, new, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, aaaahhhh. Miss Aveline caught a fish! And then one by one each of the kids returned to the motorhome for some DVD viewing. Sid was a lone man on the river for a bit. But I needed to do the [barf] laundry at the campground’s laundromat, so the kids went to join him fishing as I sat with the wash reading my book. Sid had cautioned me to be careful because he felt the character of some of our fellow campers could be legitimately called into question. I have to admit that spooked me out a little. And further, I thought I’d keep an eye on the laundry since I’d had an unfortunate incident in high school, living in an apartment I did my laundry in the community laundry room, and my favorite bodysuit, along with a few other things were stolen from the dryer. I don’t mind sitting with the laundry going anyway, the white noise is soothing, I have the feeling of getting something done without having to do anything and it smells nice in there. What if I made a personal rule to always sit down and read while the laundry was going at home?! I’d bet the pioneer women would be gratified that I was savoring a convenience they’d never know . . . or else they’d think I was ridiculous for not using that time more productively!

We all enjoyed our morning time visit from little Lincoln. There he came, knocking on the motorhome door, ready for some good times with “the kids.” We messed around a lot and got off to a late start. Our destination, Rock Ledge Ranch, a pioneer period farm. All of the workers there dress to the period and perform period tasks such as gardening, playing with stilts and blacksmithing. This was such a beautiful place to spend the afternoon! I had some alone time in the gift shop and enjoyed the items there and the fact that they had to be things that could have been around in the pioneer days. There were Native American tea formulas for all kinds of ailments, herbal formulas for medicines and lotions, sunbonnets and folk toys. I bought a few of the inexpensive toys and was very amused when my children showed significant enthusiasm in playing with them! We got a spool tractor, a set of nine pins, a buzz saw and a spool knitter. Did you know that our contemporary bowling game includes ten pins because the old-time game of Nine Pins was prohibited by law? It didn’t say definitely, in the history of nine pins pamphlet that came with the game, but I assumed it was banned due to the gambling that accompanied its play back then.