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We left Grand Junction and headed east along Route 50 which is a scenic route and there are few towns along the way. The day started out great with sunshine and great scenery. We went through a town called Montrose and stopped for an early lunch at a place with a cow on the roof. We have a book that says to always eat at any restaurant that has a cow, chicken or big fish on the roof and the food was good.
We continued on to visit a national Park called Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Never heard of it before, but since we have an annual pass to the parks - why not? We drove up a long winding road way up and saw deep gorges and rock formations. The Gunnison River cuts through the canyon providing lots of trails, rafting and climbing opportunities. We looked around a little and took a short walk down lots of steps to view a gorge.
Back in the car we drove back down the winding road and continued east. About 45 minutes later we heard a noise and lost the power steering and the engine began to quickly overheat. Jeff was able to pull into a large gravel turnout where he announced that our fan belt had broken. It had actually shredded into tiny strips.
We called our emergency road service and they promised to have someone out in 90 minutes. Sitting in the afternoon sun we waited patiently and just before 6:00pm a repair guy showed up and agreed with Jeff that the fan belt needed to be replaced. He was able to get all the old belt out as it had wrapped itself around the fan. He left and said that his helpers would be back with the belt. Now remember we are about 45 minutes from the town so they came back after 7:00pm and the belt didn't fit. They headed back to get another belt and said they'd call us. Luckily we had phone service.
By this time it was getting dark and raining on and off. We were stranded on a lonely road with no street lights except passing traffic. A few folks stopped in our turnout and I got nervous as they saw we were stuck there. I told Jeff I was going to town and stay in a motel. I called and found a few places with rooms who allowed pets and we packed up and headed back. Along the way the phone rang and the servicemen said they had found the correct belt and were coming back out.
We turned around and met the service guys who arrived with 10 belts to make sure they had one that would fit. The first one they tried went on easily and our problems were over. It was after 10:00pm and I did not want to stay on the side of the road all night. So we drove almost an hour to the next town and stayed in a WalMart parking lot.
We continued on to visit a national Park called Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Never heard of it before, but since we have an annual pass to the parks - why not? We drove up a long winding road way up and saw deep gorges and rock formations. The Gunnison River cuts through the canyon providing lots of trails, rafting and climbing opportunities. We looked around a little and took a short walk down lots of steps to view a gorge.
Back in the car we drove back down the winding road and continued east. About 45 minutes later we heard a noise and lost the power steering and the engine began to quickly overheat. Jeff was able to pull into a large gravel turnout where he announced that our fan belt had broken. It had actually shredded into tiny strips.
We called our emergency road service and they promised to have someone out in 90 minutes. Sitting in the afternoon sun we waited patiently and just before 6:00pm a repair guy showed up and agreed with Jeff that the fan belt needed to be replaced. He was able to get all the old belt out as it had wrapped itself around the fan. He left and said that his helpers would be back with the belt. Now remember we are about 45 minutes from the town so they came back after 7:00pm and the belt didn't fit. They headed back to get another belt and said they'd call us. Luckily we had phone service.
By this time it was getting dark and raining on and off. We were stranded on a lonely road with no street lights except passing traffic. A few folks stopped in our turnout and I got nervous as they saw we were stuck there. I told Jeff I was going to town and stay in a motel. I called and found a few places with rooms who allowed pets and we packed up and headed back. Along the way the phone rang and the servicemen said they had found the correct belt and were coming back out.
We turned around and met the service guys who arrived with 10 belts to make sure they had one that would fit. The first one they tried went on easily and our problems were over. It was after 10:00pm and I did not want to stay on the side of the road all night. So we drove almost an hour to the next town and stayed in a WalMart parking lot.
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