The evening before we left to come home Cassie noticed a slight noise coming from the left front wheel area of the car. She is in tune to such things and I usually play them off as nothing. This time I could hear it but it really didn't sound like much to be concerned about. We woke up the last day and drove Trail Ridge Road and the noise was somewhat more noticeable but I still thought it was something maybe we should have looked at when we got home. As we left the park it was real bad and the more we drove the worse it got until the front end was shaking pretty bad. We were on the highway about 2 hours out of the park when we decided to find the nearest Dodge Dealership. Being out on the flat plains of Colorado by now, the closest shop was 30 miles away, Wolf Dodge in Sterling,Co.
I called and gave them our 2 week tour of America story told them to expect us, and we limped along not knowing if we would make it. We have AAA but we did not want to set our ETA to home back by waiting by the side of the road for a tow for hours when we thought we could make it. Which begs the question "Then why did you get AAA Scott?" Good question.
But make it we did. Just barely. We got there just after all the techs had gone to lunch so we took a seat outside so Cassie could at least work a little more on her tan. I talked to the GM of the dealership who was from Worcester and he was happy to break out his accent and say "wusstah" to people who would understand him. Small world. After a bit,our van got taken in and the tech quickly assessed the problem. We had snapped off a stud on the front left wheel and the other lug nuts were barely holding on. Why did we get AAA again? We would need a new stud, rotor, brakes, and driving on it had ruined the front tire. Then minutes later, before we could mentally absorb the unexpected hit to the wallet, Amy the service manager came out and informed us that the dealership and in fact half the town had lost power and they didn't know when they wound get power back, when they would finish the job or even if they could get the parts because all computers of course were down.
These were not good times But just when we were feeling sorry for ourselves and thinking nobody's life sucked like ours, we started talking with an older couple who had arrive 15 minutes before us, and were in the same situation, but much worse.,They were from Minnesota and by coincidence were on their way to west to Utah to see the National Parks and had broken down nearby as well. Their timing belt broke and while that can be an easily solved problem and you will have to just replace the belt, usually that is not the case. Most of the time a broken timing belt causes serious engine damage and repairs can be in the thousands of dollars. This is what happened to them, 1000 miles from home. We talked to them and they told us the dealership said they could give them a little money for a trade in if they wanted to buy a car but that repairing their car was not going to happen. That really was their only choice so as bad as our situation was, they provided us with perspective. At least we didn't go on vacation only to have to lay our beloved vehicle to rest somewhere out on the lone prarie of Colorado like a horse that collapsed from exhaustion while carrying a wagon train of settlers to California in the 1800's.
Amy came out to us with keys to a loaner car and told us that a few miles down the road they might have power so go get some lunch and come back in a few hours. We appreciated that and if Beyoncé has taught me anything it is when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. We found a Pizza Hut and had lunch and tried to figure out how this happened. Was it the dealership back home who did a pre-trip checkup for us and didn't torque the lug nuts tight enough? If so how did we make it this far? Was it sabotage by some Colorado stoner with a lug wrench as we slept in our hotel as Cassie suggested? Unlikely but that is a theory. Was it just one of those things? Probably. We also worried about their ability to get the parts and would we be stuck in Sterling, Co. for days? I did my best to stay positive and keep Cassie's spirits up and when we made our way back to the dealership, we found they had power back ,our van was up on the lift and the tech had the parts to get it fixed. Hallelujah.
It took a few hours and by then the Minnesota couple had left with a 2014 Ford now filled with their belongings for two weeks of fun out west. A little over 4 hours after arriving, our van drove up to us all fixed and ready to go home and after paying the bill and thanking Amy we were on our way hopefully to never see Sterling,Co. again.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. We got to Des Moines Iowa by the end of day one then drove a marathon 1100 miles to New York on day 2 leaving us a short drive home for day 3. We slept in the van at a couple truck stops. You would be surprised how comfy it was and going in and cleaning yourself up while communing with the truckers at the truck stops adds to the adventure. 
We still made it home Saturday safe and sound and a little tired. We made memories to last forever and have vowed to tackle the northern parks like Yellowstone and Glacier NP next time. We also vowed to keep on hiking this summer around home, even trying to climb Mount Washington. Most of all we were just happy. Happy to have spent a special two weeks together. Happy to have been as Willie Nelson said " going places that we have never been, seeing things we may never see again".
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