Croncast - 2006-06-14.mp3 Show: #236 Length: 1:02:26 Size: 42.8 mb Format: mp3 Betsy and her husband Kris June 14, 2006 Act #2 is twice the length of our normal shows, but just like our trip we keep pushing through to make the Friday deadline for a full Act #3. That way we won't ever have to talk about this trip again. So buckle up compadres as we take you on day 2,3 and the close of day 4 as we go from Omaha to Kearney, NE (we love Kearney, Midway Dodge and Thomas Hardage) to Denver. So where were we? Oh yeah Omaha Go back to Monday, Act #1 if you haven't listened yet We don't have time to reflect up it Awake after 5 hours of deep sleep . . . yeah right Epiphany for Kris, he figures out what the problem is with Slowsky It appears that the gas peddle can't reach the floor or is being stopped Handling dirty carpet Slowsky is accelerating awesome Up I-680 no problem up a hill Air conditioning still blowing out the defrost vent We hit fourth gear and Slowsky bogs down You looked like someone had hit you in the crotch really hard Did we stop or turn around in Omaha?Nope I was gonna pull the oxen through and over the Rockies Common sense would have turned us around Betsy asks the cashier at a truck stop about our issues cause they should know Our game plan becomes eat only at McDonald's and get to Denver Stopping for gas over and over and over Rolling at 60 pushing Slowsky to the breaking point Betsy says cars are loaded weapons I drove slowsky like a retired polo pony Once AAA was taken care of it was on, drive it like I stole it My foot is to the floor burning up the car Slowsky's cry for help . . . check engine light flashes and then dims Nebraska is the windiest state Drafting with semi trucks because I can't go over 65 Speed limit is 75 which means 85 for all People in Nebraska know there is nothing worth driving slow for I still have no respect for the slow driver The oil pressure gauge was nearly in the red The van may explode at anytime All the fun of a road trip and fantasies about stopping and eating the natives food, gone No tourist traps for Slowsky 35 miles to the next exit The arch over I-80 is where the Check Engine Light stays on Hilly Iowa, not the hilly Nebraska Calming the kids to soothe the hunching Kris We get lucky and find Kearney, NE Even luckier we find Midway Dodge of Kearney Right next door was Enterprise We meet Thomas Hardage, the only person not to let us down on this trip It's 11:30 am and they close and 12:00 pm He was a Slowsky prophet he let us know that he 5 hour drive would take us 8 to 9 hours to Denver There's Enterprise, we should leave car for repair Kris says, "no" we're going to Denver and Betsy agrees Help was put in our path and we tell it to fuck off There was no charge to look at our car You should not drive off into the great beyond in your broke ass van "In Denver it will be really expensive", we pass again Back on the road, 55 mph tops Kris tries to make it go 56 entire way to Denver We followed the same truck for about 300 miles I-76 West down to Denver off of I-80 We are gaining control We can see mountains Now we are back to the itinerary, Yes! Two straight days in a van I will tell you when you can go to the bathroom Telling Betsy over and over that we should have flown and what we would have been doing From now on we fly, first class if we can afford it, 2-3 days at destination, rental car waiting and fly out on day 3 Coming in on the wrong side of Denver Car collecting seems to be a hobby in Colorado Hotel has Denver in name but it surely isn't in Denver Slowsky is now down to 50 mph tops But we've made it to Denver now We're still in control . . . sort of Slowsky was making death nells Right near our hotel exit there is a Dodge dealer, John Elway Dodge on Arapahoe The ultimate welcome to Denver . . . an arrest in our hotel parking lot Navy wife-beater doesn't go with blond chest hair Doesn't matter how nice a hotel is an arrest in parking lot harshes the mellow We hit the hotel, 6th floor 18 giggling 12 year old girls right next to our room Awesome birrthday for her They were playnig door slamming game, Kris says no Elliot loses his mind when we return to front desk to get another room It is time to eat I was bleeding money our of my eyeballs, really, dollar bills Should have tossed one of the party girls over the balcony Big wedding reception at the hotel, but no one was staying there, not one The restaurant is out of highchairs, all in use for reception It was time to start crying We couldn't catch a break One lone patron was going to hear our woes What restaurants are near here? We make it to Outback Nothing goes wrong so Kris hugs the waitress Elliot gorges himself, turns grey and runs to bathroom to puke He has same gene that Betsy and I have where we eat to comfort ourselves Where's that cereal? Do we have milk? Needs to feel good in my belly How sad is our happiness an Outback? We could have done this at home!!!!!!! Research will take up whole half a work day Talk begins about putting the family on a plane Betsy understands her father's actions now from when he did it when she was a kid It was time to stop the madness We arrange for a rental car from Enterprise Only place to do so is at Denver International Airport on Sunday Shuttle is $20 but you need an appointment, what? Concierge calls taxi for me and off I go Denver knows nothing of urban sprawl There could be free range beef within city limits I tell cabbie DIA The airport was 29 miles from our hotel Ride to Ohare will take $28 bones of my money in a cab Cabbie asks for $65 dollars for the ride!!! WTF More notes and photos later. To get the rest of this you'll have to listen to the show for now. It is really hard to keep reliving this. But I can't leave out the Act #2 cliff hanger . . . John Elway Dodge doesn't call us, we call them to hear, "Mam, the service manager didn't call you? Well, there's a problem with your vehicle. You see, one of our lot attendants . . . " Coming up on Friday . . . Vacation: Act #3 Denver to Naperville Update: These photos are from our 3 hours in Colorado Springs at Garden of the Gods and someplace in the downtown area. Family photo credited to guy I thought was homeless but turned out to be one of the dudes who just hang out to watch people go by.