Alternative Transportation

We still haven't gotten another car. Not only haven't I gotten a car, Joey's been leaving his truck up on the mountain, which means we have NO car. One day I borrowed his buddies spare pickup to take Jonas to the dentist in Glenwood Springs, otherwise we've been completely car less. I haven't minded it at all.

In an effort to get at least one of the kids to ride with me the one mile to the gas station, I accidentally bribed them with candy. My plan was to get Jonas to come with and then Jake could stay with Jewel so I didn't have to haul her, and her forty pounds. Must never bribe them again.

The way up (all up hill) we took the main road there but discovered an excellent path that led in and out of tunnels made of aspens, weaving obscurely through the neighborhoods. Not only was the ride home beautiful, it was fast...it was all downhill.

The RV park also has a free shuttle service that runs four times a day, anywhere in town I want to go. All for free. It's basically a little old guy driving little old ladies, and four hippies, to the Senior Center, library, store, and Activity center, in a minivan. It's nice and all, but I have to go by their schedule, and well....I don't even wear a watch.

Once we rode three miles to the Activity Center. The kids were determined to go, but we missed the shuttle, and they said they could do it on their bikes. I never thought they could do it, but I figured since I was hauling Jewel I'd need a lot of breaks, so I'd just wait up for them then. HA! They smoked my ass! It was eighty percent uphill, and I walked/pushed the bike sixty percent of it. They had to stop and wait on me. Finally they asked if they could just meet me at the gas station. If I weren't hauling a six year old, I'm convinced I could have kept with an eight year old.


This view made me tell Jewel that I could actually live here, here in the place they call "The Colorado Dream". I thought she'd agree with me, instead she said, "YOU'D live in a house??" She knows me so well.

We pushed on from the gas station another uphill mile to the grocery store. I thought I'd have the kids convinced to just get some groceries and then go back home since we already had such a good workout, but no.....they wanted to go to the activity center still. I soldiered on, savoring every sweaty second I have riding with them. I don't know how I did it, but I finally made it to the top, the very top.


You can see the path we came up, and the mountains that Joey calls work.

After that long, hot, sweaty ride, can you believe we forgot our swimsuits? A cool plunge would have been nice, instead I worked out about ten minutes and then joined the kids in the game room for some Foosball and air hockey, before introducing them to racquetball, and how painful it is to get hit by one. Sorry Jonas.

Joey and a coworker were driving by on their way home from work and saw these two blond girls and a woman that looked like they were DYING, pushing their bikes up a hill. It was actually his sons and his wife, but we forgive him. He gave everyone a lift home, including the extra weight I added with groceries after the gym, except me. Now that I was lighter and I had done all the hard work and all that laid ahead of me were downhill slopes, I was finishing what I started! I walked it one more brief minute, but other than that it was me with the wind in my hair, fleeing down the path, oohing and aahing and pointing out the sights to Jewel....who was already back in the bus.

Glenwood Springs on Dwellable