Figure it was a good day to report in. As I am typing this out, it is snowing and 9 degrees (F) outside with the "feels like" factor of -9 degrees. We're located on the outer fringes of the polar vortex that is now pushing through the state. I will cut to the chase and tell you, "It's cold outside." Oddly enough, however, I am "ok" with all that is going on outside as my wife and I sit inside in front of the fireplace. I am ever thankful we opted to construct our new home with ICF, instead of frame, and insulated the structure to the max.
We brought another "trailer load" up from AZ a few days ago, comprising mostly of Christmas decoration, car show trophies and one work bench.
While it's a pain in the rear to pull a trailer through the Colorado winters it's still remains the easier option vs. loading a trailer in AZ, during the summer' when it's 110 out. We will continue for the rest of the winter traveling back and forth as long as our personal business continues in AZ. I am grateful for every moment we can spend in Colorado since this feels more like home to us. Life is considerably laid back when we're in Colorado and it's the kind of life one wants when you get old and cantankerous like me.
LOL!
I mentioned we brought "Christmas decorations" to our Colorado home and "Yes"...We did put the decorations to use...Already! LOL! Reason behind that is mostly scheduling. We are returning to AZ for Thanksgiving and sometime during the first week in Dec. we will travel back to Colorado. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time to decorate. So we decided to decorate now. Especially, since our youngest daughter, her husband and our granddaughter will make the trip just before Christmas. Our daughter made it known to us, their trip will be short, yet she wants it to be "eventful" by spending "quality time" with her parents. Fine with us. So, we reserved a horse drawn sleigh ride in Breckenridge (CO) for all of us. It should be fun and "eventful" since this is something both her and I always wanted to do!
Speaking of "horses" and horsepower and all that stuff, yup!...my little HEMI is still kickin'. The last time, we were here in Salida (CO), I had some problems with the TPMS sensors. The local Dodge dealership, Town and Country Ford Dodge Chrysler Jeep, put their best technician to solving the task. He poured his heart and soul to solving this stubborn code and fixed the issue. Two days later, I developed a serious "thump" from the front end. It always "rattled" some with the new shocks. It turned out the "rattled" worn an elongated hole through the spring seat, driver's side, for the top end of the Bilstein adjustable shock to come through. Again, we took this little problem back to Town and Country and, again, they put their best technician (same guy actually) to fixing the problem. We discovered, later, the shock was installed by another outfit loosely.
I pointed this out to the "other outfit" that I had noise, three days after the installation and they of course gave me the ole' line of the spring is spong. I am such a sucker! While the Town and Country Tech was elbows deep, he pointed out another problem with normal wear and tear on the tie rod ends and we had that fixed as well. Problem solved within a day after I requested new tie rods inside and out, new spring seats each side and new Bilstein adjustable shocks each side. I refused to take any chances, since this is our main ride to and fro hwy 160. After the fix, the wife and I took the opportunity, to check out some fall colors (Sept. since we spent Oct. in AZ) and enjoy some light duty off road down Phantom Canyon. All went well without even a tic from the front end.
When we returned to AZ, I got lazy and decided to let my favorite AZ Dodge service, Bill Luke, to change spark plugs and service the transmission. More money! Told the service manager while it was there, to double check the front end. All was good. I am happy with that and feel confident to let Town and Country fix the big issues since I don't have all my tools in Colorado...Yet! Who knows...I might get lazy again. LOL! While we were in AZ, I ordered a new 87mm Modern Muscle throttle body and installed that myself...with a blindfold on. LOL! My little RockyMtnXpress runs like a rabid ram now, when it comes to pulling that trailer over the continental divide. Happy, happy, happy.
If my "Reporting In" seems a little chopped up, it probably is. My wife had me jump up, at least a half dozen times, to come and check out our resident vixen (fox). Seems the first time my wife noticed it today, the little all red rodent killer, was up on our back deck. Paw prints in the snow covered deck confirmed it for me since she didn't hang around long (and yes I know it's a "she" since I observed her marking her territory one day). Fun to watch the wildlife in action!
If I don't sneak back here to HTC before Thanksgiving...To all, I wish you a "Happy Thanksgiving!"
Signing off. It's soup time for this old geezer! Mmmm-Mmmmmm good!
We Support our Troops
2005 Dodge 1500 ThunderRoad
Blue Max II
Ghost
Charged 392 srt killer
2004 Dodge rumblebee
Ford
downhill skiing there too 
.
Must be all that "Global Warming" lol
Linear Mode
