Colorado Vacation Post #3: Vail

 

Well, when we last left off, we were traveling down I-70 through the mountains of Colorado when our brakes started shimmying BADLY!  We started to get really scared, especially when we saw signs like “Runaway Truck Ramp 1 Mile” and “Lost Brakes?  Don’t Exit.  Stay on I-70.”  And I’ll tell you what–that runaway truck ramp was about the scariest thing I have ever seen and did NOT want to experience it!

What was really frustrating about this was that we had had shimmying brake problems before our trip.  We specifically took it into the shop to get it looked at, knowing that we were going to need really good brakes going through the mountains.  The mechanic had told us the brakes were fine, but that we needed new shocks and tires, so we spent a lot of money getting that done.

Now, well, let me just say my husband was NOT happy.  We made it another 20 miles until we came to the town of Idaho Springs.  It was about 5:30 p.m. and the first thing we came to was an auto supply store.  My husband went in and talked to the man.  He told us that all the mechanic shops were closed for the day, but after hearing all our car symptoms was pretty confident that we’d make it to Vail in one piece.  So, we went on.

We did make it–Praise God!  The next morning my husband and older boys took it to a shop.  They changed the rotors–which fixed the problem, of course!  But then we found out that the mechanics back home had put the WRONG tires on our van!  (We got the tires replaced when we got home, and that mechanic got fired–not just from our complaints, but from other problems he had caused in the last few weeks.  We are so grateful to the Lord for keeping us safe.)

Well, you may be wondering why we went to Vail in the summertime.  No skiing then!  Well, we aren’t skiers anyway.  🙂

I like to use the website VRBO, Vacation Rentals By Owner, when we go on road trips.  It’s so much easier for our large family to be in a home than a hotel.  We planned this vacation so late this year that there was nothing available in the Denver area, so my husband said, “What about Vail?”  We found a great deal!

We were in a townhouse at a racquet club.  They had a playground and a pool.  The home had 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths.  The patio overlooked the rushing creek.  It was beautiful and peaceful.  We stayed there for four days!

 

The playground:

 

 

Vail Village, fun to walk around in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back view of the townhouse:

 

 

The view of the creek from the deck:

 

The view from the creek:

 

 

Walking Mountains Science Center:

 

The pool at the racquet club:

Vail has a free bus system which had a bus stop very near to where we were staying.  This worked out great for the day when our van was in the shop and for the next day when we split up so my husband and sons could go bike-riding.

Be sure to join us here for the next Vacation post–about our exciting adventure to the town of . . . . . . Leadville!

(See Vacation Post #1 here, and Vacation Post #2 here.)