Cold Weather in Denver!!

Headed for Denver

Wednesday 11/5/13

Got a good start, on the road a few minutes after 10 AM. Uneventful day with goo weather all the way. Stopped for the night at the Cracker Barrel in Council Bluffs, IA.

Thursday 11/6

Up early, had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and were on the road by 8 AM, an early start for us. Another nice day with good weather, other than a persistent headwind that hurt our fuel mileage both yesterday & today.

By mid-day we were close to our planned stop in Ogalla, NE. We were both feeling pretty fresh so we decided to go on to Cherry Creek. Called the park and verified that we could get in a day early. Stopped just South of Ft. Morgan and filled a propane tank, then on into Denver.

Of course that meant that we arrived on the North side of Denver right at 5 PM and fought stop and go traffic all the way around to Cherry Creek on the Southeast side. Got in and settled by 6:30. Ran over to Casa Vallarta for dinner.

Friday 11/7

Unloaded the car and got registered at the campground, purchased our annual Colorado State Parks vehicle pass. It works out well for us as we get in three visits on one annual pass. This one is good through November 2015, so it covers us for this visit as well as spring and fall next year.

On over to Emily’s house to see the family. Babies are 14 months and close to walking now, Miles is an active 3 year old. Ordered pizza for dinner.

Saturday 11/8

Emily is out of town at a conference and Gregg is on call this weekend, with rounds to do today, Connie, Laurie, Nancy & I are on child watching duty. Laurie and I took Miles to his soccer practice, which was a different and interesting experience. Miles was not in the mood to cooperate this morning so he did a lot of standing around watching.

Quiet afternoon with the kids and then Connie & Laurie went with Nancy & I to Tag Burger Bar for dinner.

Sunday 11/9

Weather forecast says it is going to get REALLY cold this week, predicting lows below 10 degrees! WIll be a good test for our “winter package” on the fiver!

Watched the F1 race from Brazil, than off to Connie’s in the afternoon. Laurie made a nice chicken dinner which we took over to Emily & Gregg’s so the family could eat together. Nice evening with a lot of laughter.

BAck home we watched the Blackhawks vs. San Jose on the DVR. Looked like they were going to throw away a 3 goal lead for a while in the 2nd, but they got some mojo back and won 5-3.

Monday 11/10

COLD, COLD weather coming in! It was 62 degrees at 10 AM, I went out and filled out fresh tank, checked things over and plugged in the block heater on the truck. The North wind started howling and by Noon it was 36 degrees! Headed for 12 degrees tonight! Forecast is for daytime temps in the 20’s and lows around 5 for the next three days! Sure will test the cold weather ability of our trailer.

Nancy went off this morning to spend the morning with her sister and the kids. I stayed home to fill our fresh tank and make sure everything was closed up to protect from the cold. We have a sheet of silver, quilted insulation that we put in one window that gets the late afternoon sun in Tucson. Figured that would help against cold as well, so after Nancy came back at lunchtime we went over to Lowe’s and bought another roll.

It was snowing quite hard by that time, big fluffy flakes, but not really sticking as the ground is still warm. Back home we cut the insulation to fit and put it under the pull down shades on the big windows in our living room, which are facing into the North wind. Worked well, we were snug and comfortable all evening. 14 Degrees when we sent to bed!

Tuesday 11/11

10 degrees and 6:15 AM! We survived the cold just fine so far, in fact it was a bit warm for sleeping last night. We usually turn the heat down and crack a window even when it is cold. Last night I left the furnaces both turned up to keep our water tanks and lines warm. 

Wednesday 11/12

Thought 10 degrees was cold yesterday, but this morning it was right at zero when we got up and at Noon it was still only 3 degrees! Also snowed most of the morning. Sure picked a fine week to visit Denver. Trailer is doing fine though, both furnaces are running 24/7. Like I said yesterday, only problem so far is a bit too warm at night.