Big Truck Across America - day 12

Day 12 began with all 3 of us sleeping in - so far for the trip this is the first time we've all slept past 7:30am (consider the whip not cracked). It also marks only the second time thus far that we've stayed in the same place for 2 consecutive days (Zion was the other).

As you can see, one of us got a very good night's sleep, and apparently is also a large fan of Flock of Seagulls, or Donald Trump.

With a late morning start, Jordan had a lot of energy, and had just enough taste of the playground to be addicted. After calming her down through her morning routine, we made a break for it. She may have outrun Usain Bolt to get to the swingset.

Jordan put me through the paces at the playground, and after about a half hour of it, her friend from the previous day (named Mikayla - no substitute for the real 'Tia' back home) brought her dog Daisy over and they all played for a while.

From there, today took a bit of a different turn. After 11 days of parks, hikes, camping, and the Big Truck eating miles, we decided it was time for some good old fashioned consumerism. Fort Collins has an REI store, something we are online members of but there are no stores anywhere close to GR. We stopped by there and spent quite a while checking out all of their gear. Nearly 2 weeks of outdoor recreation had given us a pretty good idea what we needed, and with some remarkable restraint, we left there with just the essentials.

This next little anecdote needs a bit of a sidebar to set it up. As some of you know, I own a '94 DR350 that has been stolen, run over by a combine, recovered, and stripped from its streetgoing SE roots to a more dirt-friendly enduro-style bike. Well, on the way out of the store I saw what the DR aspires to be when it grows up. Whoever was piloting this beast is to be commended, taking a slow, underpowered pig and loading it up with a hundred lbs+ worth of gear for some sort of undoubtedly cool adventure. I bet his doesn't have a cross-threaded spark plug and scars from a farm implement.



For a 3 year old spending more than an hour in the same store, Jordan was fairly well behaved until she embraced her inner klepto and tried to make a break for it with Kayak Joe. I was just quick enough to grab her by one heel and trigger a nice meltdown as I explained the finer points of transaction vs possession to her in the checkout line. Once back in the big truck, she was able to enjoy her new Jamaican-themed kayak action figure.

One of my underlying goals once we made it to Colorado was to try to find an excuse to visit New Belgium Brewery. It's not that I am an undying fan of their beers, although I do enjoy their Abbey Ale. It's that I appreciate their ability to market and create a culture around their business. They have become known for being bike-friendly (hence their signature beverage, Fat Tire Ale) and proponents of sustainability. Any time those two things come together, enter the hipsters. The tasting room was full of them, with their ironic t-shirts, horn-rimmed glasses, and pricey duds made to appear thrift store-ish. In spite of them, the operation was quite impressive, and they have become a pretty successful player in the industry.

In keeping with our non-traditional day, we stopped back at the campsite for a quick nap for Jordan, then it was on to the outlet stores. I realize most people are not in the habit of hitting outlets while on a 2 week camping trip, but it was part of the deal from day 1. Rather then try to shoehorn a Michigan City stop into tomorrow's likely 18hr day (more on that in a minute), we decided to hit the Loveland CO Outlet Mall.

As we left, we were reminded yet again how spoiled we have become. This was our vista while leaving the State Park for a shopping center 3 miles away.

Once there, Jordan and I split off from Kimberly to allow her to properly focus. After wandering around for a bit, we met back up in a Carter's outlet store. Jordan immediately put her newfound Lego skills (thanks, $59 Legoland child admission) to work by building a tower using all available pieces.

Meanwhile, Kimberly put her extreme couponing skills to the test by walking out with 3 bags full of stuff for $40. Dutch West Michigan: 1, Loveland, CO: 0.

Tomorrow, Day 13, brings a likely straight shot home (Loveland, CO to Marne, MI 1,160 miles). The last couple of days have included a few reminders that although life on the road is great, there are things back home that we miss and are excited to see. Jordan misses (in no particular order) Reggie, Grandma, Papa, Papa B, purple cabbage, her cousins/aunts/uncles, preschool, Michigan Football (she loves Brady Hoke - or maybe that's me) and her bedroom. If all goes well, we'll be home sometime Sunday AM. Expect one more wrapup post with some trip stats and some thank yous. So far it has been the trip of a lifetime.