Hunkered Down for a Sept Winter Storm

The wind was strong last night. I could hear it howling. I could hear freezing rain hitting the windows. I could feel the occasional shimmy as the Cruiser was buffeted. But the wind blew in the direction in which we are parked in our site, so the shaking wasn’t bad.

By the time we were ready to roll out of bed this morning, the temp was already above freezing ... barely. A stiff breeze was shaking the trees, but the Cruiser was steady and strong. Mui put out the slide and hooked up the water.

Bald Eagle Pond looked ethereal. The mist was rising off the water ... cold air meeting the surface of warm water tends to do that. I bundled up in a fleece jacket and went out to take a quick video. It was very peaceful ... and very cold 🥶

On our last outing in Custer State Park, an engine warning light came on ... along with an alert that there was a problem with the traction system. We checked the manual, which told us that we could drive the car, but that we should get the issue looked at sooner rather than later. Since we’d be towing and not driving until we got to Colorado, we were good to go ... with plans to get the Honda checked out here in Longmont.

Alas, none of the repair shops Mui called this morning could accommodate us on such short notice. The technicians we spoke to all said that as long as the light was steady, we were OK. But if the light started blinking ... well, not so OK. The question was when would it start blinking? They didn’t know the answer, nor did we. So, we sat down to jiggle our plans.

When we set out on this camping trip, we were going to follow our visit to South Dakota with a couple of campground stays in Colorado. St Vrain — where we are currently — for six nights. Estes Park — to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park — for four nights. Then home.

The Estes Park portion we canceled a few days ago due to the Cameron Peak fire. Today, we decided to cut our St Vrain stay down to three nights. Mui went to the park office and got the balance of our stay refunded. We’re set to take off Thursday morning. Mui already has an appointment to get the Honda checked out Friday morning.

New plans in place, we bundled up to go for a walk. It was drizzling, but we figured a little wet stuff wouldn’t hurt us. We didn’t count on the wind chill. We made it around the Red Tail Pond before we called it quits. Our layers kept our bodies warm, but the drizzle — sleet really — felt like icy pinpricks on our exposed faces.

Turns out it was a good thing that we came back to the Cruiser when we did as it started raining in earnest soon after. A quiet afternoon in the motorhome was the order of the day. I read and caught up on the missing footprints for South Dakota. Mui connected the second cable to convert our SatTV receiver from single line to dual. Now we can watch one channel while we record a second one.

It’s now early evening ... almost dinner time. The rain that fell all afternoon has changed to snow. But the flakes are small, melting before they hit the ground, which is warm after the recent spate of 90-100F days. I doubt there will be any accumulation overnight. But I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out for sure.

By the way, from yesterday to today, we had a 45 degree temperature drop where we are. From a high of 90F yesterday to a high of 45F today. Luckily, once the storm passes, the forecast is for more normal fall temps, so we won’t have to endure this “early winter” for long. Nonetheless, I think a hot water bottle would help to keep me cozy tonight.Read more