Days of Future Passed

Now that the care of the Critters has been safely turned back over to Lorelyn and Travis it’s time to officially start our Annual Eastward Migration. Our Itinerary has been modified of late as an unexpected bit of niceness has been inserted into it.

Backstory….

Enter….. 1972 Graduation, Montville High School.

The chums had been together for years and back then it was not easy to stay connected as it is today. No emails, Face Book, Instagram, cell phones, etc.

There was only Snail Mail, and writing letters was a chore. Life and its facets got in the way; time passed…… I’m sure we all can relate.

Exit…… The Chums.

Fast Forward to numerous Re-Unions, sans the Chums. Try as she might, Paula could not locate her friend Sue. Sue had vacated the area and headed West, Colorado was rumored to be her new nesting spot, but the trail grew colder and colder as the years went by.

52 to be exact.

Lots of Gatherings were put on hold during the Covid Crisis and that classes 50^th Re-Union was one of them, until two years had passed, and something got organized. As the emails and texts flew back and forth around the country indicating who was, and was not, attending, Sue’s name popped up and Paula was able to secure the appropriate contact info.

A deep breath and a purposeful text later, the Chums had been re-united, the next step being a joyous phone call topped off by a planned visit as guess where we were?

Yup! Only seven hours south of where Sue and Rob live, just outside of Denver, and….. practically right on our way Eastward!

So, that’s where we are for a day  😊

The trip from Durango up to Denver can be made several different ways, head due east til you hit the I-25 North (too boring) or, up through all of the San Juans and Rockies (too stressful!) or, the Goldilocks Route, up through what we call the Big Pretty Valley (just right!).

I haven’t been on this route since Lorelyn and I used to travel this way when she went to law school in Boulder, and I would fly out to Denver, and we’d drive down to the Four-Corners area for an adventure.

It’s just as pretty as I remembered it!

The rest of the trip eastward depended on one significant factor.

Hot Water.

Our water heater had been acting strangely over the past week or so until it finally gave up and croaked. This is not your everyday go down the basement and work on the water heater scenario. This has the potential for being a disaster as one of the significant components of the water heater is located on the back side of it which can only be accessed by removing the entire vanity assembly in the back bathroom.

 It is a Major Job.

We had the problem sort of diagnosed in Durango, and parts were checked on, but could not arrive in time for our scheduled departure from that area. So…. “Hey Sue! I know you don’t know me from Adam, and you haven’t seen Paula in fifty-two years, but can we have some parts shipped to your place and we get them when we visit and do you mind if I work on the motorhome in your driveway while we’re there?”

“No problem, Don!”

Parts hastily ordered, Amazon responded, and when we arrived I let the two Chums get re-united while I attempted to fix our fritzified water heater starting with the valve assembly which was the key here. it was the “easy” part to install. If the “other” part was the offending member, then we would have bee-lined it back to New Jersey for more serious work.

But…… Yes!

A few connections, a few errant flames (hastily extinguished) and Ta-Daaa! We have Hot Water!

So, (hopefully!) without any further developments, we can proceed as planned and visit the proposed stops along the way.

You will be the first to know!

Oh, and not to leave you in suspense…. yes, the Kitchen Modification was completed, not without some angst, but that was short-lived! My ‘piece of cake’ description of this project to Paula, turned out to be a giant sheet cake worth of work, but hopefully worth it!