Thursday, July 23

Here's my second post of the day. If you haven't read my first, check below this post for a second, titled: "Friday, July 22." Anyway, today was just another driving day, with some more gorgeous scenery, towering mountains, and spatious valleys. Ahh, the Rockies . . . We got packed up very well, considering that Dad and I had to use a bunch of time putting our heads together to figure out how to fix the sewer problem. We got out around 10:30, and got to the new campground at 4:00. We had some interesting events going on in the meantime, though. The early drive was mostly the same scenery we had witnessed earlier over a few days, but as we drove on, more space came around the corner, evolving into the beautiful valley of South Park (no, not the Comedy Central show that spews irreverent humor throughout each episode). But even before that, we had a teensy weensy problem with the air brake, involving an hour-long wait, a lunch break, and sighs of relief after success. It broke down about 11:45, and we pulled into a small convenience store. Dad ended up making a long phone call to PacBrake, and Mom made sandwiches for everybody. After a long hour of waiting, we got the brake fixed, and we headed out with full stomachs towards Buena Vista. After about two hours, we passed into South Park. It is stunning. You could probably fit most of New York City into the valley; it's that wide! We just came over the hill and saw a row of mountains on the left, a row on the right, and about 8 miles of spectacular plains in between. Shortly after that, the Collegiate Peaks came into view. They consist of five (maybe more) mountains named after major universities. Of the ones I know, there are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, and Columbia. Cool, isn't it. We're going to have a lot of fun over the next three days, because there's whitewater rafting, horseback riding, and even a music festival in town from July 24-26. Those are the exact same days we have down time in Buena Vista! Anyway, our campground is great. We have great cable, great WiFi, a small garden, and lots of shade. So, here I am, writing the blog. Today's closing will be "goodbye and good night" in Hindi: अलविदा और अच्छा शुभ रात्रि!