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| they come in all shapes and sizes, but this gives you an idea... |
It has been a crazy few weeks getting ready for this
workshop I am headed off to – learning how to build a dirt bag house. Really, that doesn’t sound right, but that is
exactly what we will be doing; building a house out of bags filled with dirt
for a Buddhist monk in a remote part of south western Colorado.
Remember all that equipment I bought to take to South Sudan
last summer? Well, I have had to buy a
lot of it again. No hotels where I am
going! Camping under the stars in the wilderness! And, everything I own is still in South
Sudan!! What is a girl to do?? Go
shopping of course! And every time I hit
a website looking for gear – I could hear God up there laughing! She has a tent, but let’s help her buy a new,
light weight one. Sheets, blankets and
pillow, all in South Sudan? Flashlight, dishes, silverware?
Clothes?? “I know, they are all in South
Sudan, too”. No problem, that is why I invented Wal Mart. (snicker, snicker!)
And, as God sits up there on His throne snickering at me, he
said “Let there be electricity and let her test it in Colorado”, so he provided
me with a link to what looks like is going to be a great solar system and the
opportunity to field test it in Colorado before lugging it half way around the
world. God may be laughing, but He is
good about providing opportunities to grow and learn new things!
God laughs??? I know
he does. He is laughing at me today and
all the stress of getting to this workshop over the past few days. You know, nothing is ever simple when I
decide to travel! I remember back to
the days when I had a “real” job and people would be waiting at my desk on
Monday morning to hear about my “adventures” on a weekend trip. Some things never change I guess.
Everything was going so smoothly I should have known a
glitch would pop up at the last minute.
But the eternal optimist in me always hopes that it won’t. It all started on late Wednesday afternoon
with a phone call from Scott (who is leading the workshop) saying he wouldn’t
be able to pick me up in Denver after all.
It is a 6-7 hour drive from where he is to Denver. I have to stop here and explain that Scott is
from Portland, OR, so when he made these arrangements several weeks ago, he
probably didn’t realize the logistics of it all. He did have the name of a girl who was
driving down from Denver that could bring me.
After a conversation with her it became obvious that option
wasn’t going to work. In order for me to
get to her, I would have to take public transportation to downtown Denver. Yes, one armed me plus two almost 50 pound
duffle bags and a back pack!! Back to
Scott – any other options?? Yes, there is a bus that leaves from the airport
that can get you to Salida, 3 hours
way and he can pick me up there. He did
a great job of sending the link. The bus
leaves at 2 PM, I arrive at 1 PM. IF the bus had left from the
airport, that might have been a great option.
It doesn’t! It leaves from the
Greyhound station in downtown Denver – 45 minutes away!!
Logistically, it is impossible for me to land at 1, collect
my luggage, pulled by one armed me to the public transportation location, load
it and board a bus that will drop me ¼ mile from the bus station and get to the
bus in time to load by 1:30! Back to the
drawing board (internet) to see what my other options are.
And God is sitting up there in his throne, poking Jesus in the side and laughing "Look at her! Doesn't she know we already have this worked out?"
The best option is to spend the night in Denver at a hotel
that has shuttle service to and from the airport – they load my bags! I checked into getting a hotel downtown close
to the bus station – not only do they not provide airport pick up they are twice
as expensive as an outlying hotel. So
after hours of researching every conceivable and least expensive option, I
landed on a hotel that could pick me up.
Enter a phone call from Scott: Better news!
A last minute person is coming, her flight arrives pretty close to mine
and she is renting a car. He’s given her
my number, we can hook up and ride down together. Great news!
Until I talked to Laura, that is.
She hadn’t booked her ticket, it didn’t look like she would be able to
get a flight until Saturday, and she hadn’t planned on renting a car!!
By this time I had already researched renting a car and just
driving – 18 days = $1200! No, I did not
leave out a decimal point! TWELVE
HUNDRED DOLLARS was the cheapest rate I could get! It seems, after searching every car rental
option at DIA (Denver International
Airport) website and by countless phone calls, that you cannot rent a
car at DIA and return it any place close to where we are going!! GRRRR!!!
I figure about now, God and Jesus are breaking out the popcorn as they say "this is going to be a long one. She's never going to trust us until she's tried every thing else" snicker, snicker...
Next option – take one of the mountain shuttles – least
expensive one of those is $245 per person – one way!!! That hotel room and bus were sounding a lot
better! $85 for the hotel and $67 round
trip for the bus is still cheaper than any other option I had come up with
after about 10 hours researching various options!
So, my daughter and I are on our way to the airport this
morning when Scott calls…Guess what? If
you can catch the bus to Boulder then someone has room for you! At this point, I decided just to stick with
my latest plan. It is way too late to
figure out how to “catch the bus to Boulder”!
I have to admit, in spite of the hassles of the last few days, it was a beautiful flight...
Now, I am sitting in my hotel room and wishing I had taken that bus to Boulder!!
From the outside it is a typical Comfort Inn, from the
inside it is not! I have always had good
luck at Comfort Inn and that is why I chose it.
The reception area is small and old looking, although the people were
really nice. The “business center” is a
snap together computer desk shoved against a wall in the reception area. When I
walked down the hall, pulling my cart full of 120 pounds worth of luggage, (including the carry on backpack), dodging
room cleaning carts and maids (no bell boys here to help!! The carpet was so
dirty I was grateful to have my shoes on.
It was the kind that makes you want to go “euww-euww”! Then I got to my room and it smells like damp
moldy carpet. It’s clean, just
stinks! Kind of that three teenage boys
in the same room, dirty sneakers, kind of odor. And as I sit here typing, I am entertained
by the sound of the traffic flying by on the highway and the man next door’s
tv.
That was the inside.
Now on to the outside…the grounds are beautiful! The closest place to eat is a McDonald’s or
Denny’s, both attached to gas stations, across two six lane roads, right off
the highway in an industrial area. I was
hungry – one small airport yogurt and a bottle of water does not fill you up –
so I made the trek to McDonald’s. I made
a very important discovery along the way – I am no competition for 18 wheelers
and I am entirely too light complected for this neighborhood! That is going to make going to dinner a lot
of fun! Don’t worry, Mom, I will be back
before dark!
So, being fortified from my double cheeseburger, I made a
decision, I was going to change hotels.
There had to be something better, closer to edible food, and safer to
get to where I might be able to see a little more of Denver than the inside of
a hotel room I don’t really feel safe leaving.
So I sucked it up, the me who never likes to complain, and called Choice
Hotels customer service to see what they could do to help get me to another
hotel. By the luck of the draw I found
myself talking to someone who was familiar with Denver. VERY nice lady! VERY helpful!
The best she could do was advise me where I didn’t want to go and to let
me know my best option was the Comfort Inn downtown. For an additional $60 for the room and a $35
cab drive, I put on my big girl undies and sucked it up and stayed where I
am.
Free shuttle back to the airport tomorrow morning where I
will try to lug my bags across three islands in the commercial pick up/drop off
area where I will meet up with Laura and take a cab direct to the Greyhound bus
station for the next leg of this great adventure!
Lessons learned: Use
Google Maps to check out the location of the place you will be staying. That little yellow man on the zoom bar is a
wonderful tool! Just pick him up with
your curser and move him to any place on your map and he will give you a
picture of where it is. Go up to the
arrows and click on the right one and it will take you on a panoramic tour of
the location.
TRUST GOD! He has it all worked out any way, so why get all stressed out?
Well, my friends, it is off to dinner…wish me well!
Check back often. I don't know how much internet service I will have, but I will try to update as often as I can. But after reading this description, I just might decide to stay a while longer...
Life moves at a much slower pace here. The roads are gravel and dirt. No one is in any particular hurry. People wave at each other on the road. Neighbors watch out for each other. Coyotes howl in the morning while owls hoot at night. You might hear an occasional car or see the lights of an airplane. Satellites move across a sky brilliantly lit with stars. Even on a dark moon, the stars are bright enough to take a midnight stroll. Traffic jams consist of hay wagons and potato trucks, with an occasional herd of cows.
(description and photo courtesy of www.ghostmineranch.com)
But then again, it sounds an awful lot like South Sudan and I can't wait to get back there...
