Going nowhere fast: Three weeks to get back home

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was the absolute best Season 2 finale we could have asked for. We already knew when we snagged camping reservations that we would be more pressed for time getting back across the country to Massachusetts. You may know that we travel opposite to many RVers; when everyone else is migrating south for the winter, we happily return to our old home state, ready to enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Thanksgiving and Christmas are a big deal in the Anderson household, and so we spend the holidays with Nicole's relatives. Spending the time at home also gives us a chance to regroup. We get renovations and mods done that we can't easily do on the road, we have doctor's appointments, and we don't have to worry about the pressure to explore because we've already done all the things in the Boston area. It also gives us a demarcation between "seasons" of travel. We began RV life on December 30, 2021. That was the day we sold our house and downsized everything into our new 28ft home-on-wheels. Though we remained stationary for a couple of months, we always felt like the end of each calendar year is the big turnaround. Last year, after spending a couple of months with family in Massachusetts, we launched back out on December 30. This year, we plan to do similar, spending the holidays at home and then launching back out around New Years for Season 3 of travels. It's a good way to signify an "end" and "new beginning."

We stayed at the Balloon Fiesta until the very last day, Sunday, October 15. From there, the plan was to immediately head east, making it home a little before Thanksgiving. Plenty of time to drive the ~2300 miles! Only, in the RV life, plans change. One thing on our end-of-year schedule was for Anthony to get nasal surgery. He's suffered from chronic sinusitis and a whole host of breathing problems for his whole life, but we'll spare you the details and just leave you with this:

The surgery was initially scheduled for after Thanksgiving but ended up needing to be moved to November 10th because Anthony's surgeon got another job and was squeezing all his appointments in before he left. We didn't find out about this until we were in Rapid City in late August, and so by then our plans were pretty much set in stone. We decided to stick with attending the full Fiesta and then hightail it back to Massachusetts. Over 5 weeks of travel time turned into just over 3.

But then we got displaced in Denver, and during that week of repairs, there were a few things that couldn't be completed, mainly because parts hadn't arrived yet. We decided to head back to Denver after the Fiesta, finish the repairs, and then make our way east from there. Over 3 weeks of travel time was now looking like 3 or less.

We also work full-time, and Anthony will be taking off work to recover from his surgery, so it's not like we can drive any and all days. We'd need to be strategic about which days we could drive and which needed to be designated work days. We also wanted to make sure we remained safe and didn't get too overwhelmed or stressed. We needed to arrive home in good spirits so Anthony could prepare for his surgery.

Right after Balloon Fiesta, the plan commenced. We had an appointment at Complete Trailers outside of Denver two days later, which allowed us one overnight on our drive up from Albuquerque. At first we thought we'd split the difference in half as close as possible, covering a few hours of driving on day 1 and a few on day 2. But, once we got on the road, we were smooth sailing and decided to go further. We made it as far as Pueblo, CO and booked an overnight with Harvest Hosts, on a farm just east of Pueblo. We arrived just before sundown.

When we exited off I-25 to head to the Harvest Host location, we saw some signs indicating that the interstate was closed just north of where we got off. We made a note that we might be dealing with the closure the next day, but otherwise we didn't think much of it. After all, our longer drive day meant that we'd only need to drive a couple of hours the following day. Lots of time to get to Denver.

We enjoyed an evening getting to know the farm animals. Our host Travis demonstrated how he milks the goats. We didn't stay up too late because we were still on Fiesta time, but the great thing about Harvest Hosts is that there is no real check-out time, so with our hosts' permission, we were able to stay until early afternoon to get work done, before heading out on our way.

The morning before we left, we talked to our hosts about the closure on I-25. Travis had gotten stuck for over an hour on the detour that morning, and both he and his wife Melinda went over possible routes for us. The closer detour road would be gravel, and then a further road would be paved. We had some decisions to make, only it turns out, they wouldn't end up mattering anyway.

After Melinda told us that the gravel road was well-maintained, we decided we'd just stick with that, and since we'd be leaving in the middle of the day, maybe the traffic wouldn't be as bad as what Travis had encountered. We also heard from Melinda what had caused the closure. Evidently, a train had derailed, hitting a semitruck in the process and killing the driver. The interstate would be closed indefinitely while crews worked to clean up the mess. The train had been carrying coal and it had scattered all over the road. Turns out, that wasn't the full story. We later read that the train was going over a bridge and the bridge collapsed, trapping the truck underneath.

We left with the knowledge that our drive day might be more than just a couple of hours, but we were fine with that. We just headed up the road, US50, towards the interstate juncture, with plans to turn off onto the gravel road detour. Only we got spooked when our RV GPS notified us that it might not be a road suitable for RVs. Our GPS tells us this with roads all the time, basically any time it's a backroad and hasn't been specifically told that RVs are allowed. Even some roads leading into RV parks give us this notification. We usually ignore it, but we were feeling extra anxious about the closure in general, and then needing to drive through Colorado Springs' and Denver's metro areas, which we hate. The roads in the area are not easy for RVs. So we tried to be extra diligent and didn't risk the gravel road. We continued west, stopping at a gas station to figure out our plan. We found a road a couple miles west that would bring us to I-25 further up, and so we went with that...for about 2 minutes. As soon as we got back on US50, we started seeing signs, "Don't take Purcell Blvd to get to I-25. Extended closure." Purcell was the road we were going to take. We aren't exactly sure what happened, but sometime that morning, the crews closed a few more exits on I-25N. This meant that even our initial gravel road detour might have been closed and we had no idea. Guess not taking it was a blessing in disguise. We quickly changed gears and went all the way to CO115, which would then backtrack us to Colorado Springs. We later saw signs specifically telling vehicles to do this, so at least we knew we were on the right track.

The problem with CO115, though, was that it was under construction for 15 miles. Lanes had been narrowed and workers were digging up dirt and asphalt. No one was expecting so much traffic to be diverted this way and it was slow moving. We had to tow extra diligently to stay in our lane - something that many vehicles passing us didn't care about, as they gladly went over the line despite an RV coming toward them. It was not a fun drive.

By the time we hit Colorado Springs, rush hour was starting. For the rest of the drive, we were dealing with traffic, bumpy roads, and the usual metro-Denver chaos. We barely made it to our campsite by sundown, and right afterwards, we needed to prepare for our service appointment. One of the things we were getting done at Complete Trailers was having a vent fan put in our storage bay. We had too many overheating issues this summer and knew we needed more airflow. That meant taking everything out of the storage bay, which we weren't able to finish until after dark.

We were utterly exhausted by the end of the day, but we were thankful for two things: 1, for having a "shorter" drive day as opposed to what we would have endured had we split our two drive days in half, because our two-hour day turned into 5. And 2, while it's annoying to get detoured, we can't imagine the devastation of that truck driver's family. We're always thankful for our safety.

We were up and at 'em the next morning to bring our trailer over to Complete. We battled morning rush hour and got there just after they opened. We had booked a night at the La Quinta where we had stayed last time, but we were told that we most likely wouldn't get the trailer back until Thursday - two days away. Later that day, word hadn't changed, and so we booked a second night at La Quinta and prepared for a "hunker down day" in the hotel room, getting work done.

The next morning we got a call from Complete Trailers letting us know that all the work was done early. We were happy to hear this, except that meant we had paid for an extra night at La Quinta for no reason. We ate the cost of the night so we could get the show on the road.

We were thrilled that our storage bay was now sufficiently vented. We'll need to fiddle with it a bit, and of course the cooler temps are rolling in, but hopefully in the warmer weather this will be enough to keep our inverter and batteries in good working order.

We also got our front plate replaced. Our trailer is a Pro level ATC, which was supposed to come with diamond plate from the factory, but since it was a COVID build, the plates were out-of-stock. We had actually forgotten that we were supposed to get diamond plate, until John our solar installer reminded us. Among the many repairs and renos that Complete Trailers did during our two visits there, they gave Buggy a facelift. The diamond plate should be much better at deflecting rocks that fly up from the truck's wheels. Our solid plate was sheet aluminum and it had dents and dimples all over it. We're excited to see how this new material holds up.

Unfortunately, RV repairs seem to never end, so while we got a few more done, there are still more on the list. Some we'll try to tackle ourselves, but others will need to wait until we can get to the ATC manufacturer. Thankfully, nothing is keeping us from traveling, so we could finally start heading east. We got on I-70, which would be our main interstate for most of our drive. Time to make ourselves at home. First stop was the KOA in Strasburg, CO, where we would have a couple of nights to settle back in and reorganize our storage bay. That would be our final stop in Colorado before crossing into new territory: Kansas.