Update — Those who want to meet the Cringelys can come to Graphic.ly, an electronic Comic Book startup, at 1601 Pearl Street, Suite 200, Boulder, CO. This is at 4PM on Saturday. If you can. please bring a small unwrapped toy for my kids to distribute at local hospitals and shelters.
And yes, I DID have the RV checked-out and serviced before we left Charleston. Stuff happens.
Bob
That’s the catalytic converter from my RV. It literally fell off when I hit a puddle during a rainstorm last week in St. Louis. It dragged for a quarter mile or so before I got a clue there was something wrong. When I took this picture I’d already found a piece of string and tied the cat to the door handle. There was no similar piece of string for the tailpipe hanging out the other side of the bus. It dragged the last mile to the RV park.
When anything goes wrong at an RV park, men instantly appear. You never know their names, they just start to help. It’s some Americana throwback that rubes like me find very useful. In this case the samaritan wanted to go further than I did, though.
“Looks pretty bad,” he said. “Want to cut it off?”
“Cut it off? How?”
“I’ve got tools. Let me fire up my grinder and we’ll have that off in a jiff.”
I declined.
Later, when another camper came out to complain about my attempt to asphyxiate his kids with my generator exhaust, he said, “I know you.”
Remember my picture is on the side of the bus about 10 times life size.
“You’re from Plane Crazy.”
I sure didn’t see that one coming.
But if you live in or near Boulder, Colorado, know that the Cringely’s are coming and we’ll be around this weekend.
If someone can suggest a place to meet on Saturday afternoon we’ll do just that. Remember to bring a toy for my kids to give away (not keep) and Mrs. Cringely will allow you to admire her muffins.
Can anybody suggest a good location?
Wish I were in town to chat! I suggest you plunk the RV in the parking lot at Chatauqua Meadows. Lots of room for the kids to run around, great views of the Flatirons above and Boulder below. Excellent day hiking from there if you’re the energetic type. Have fun!
https://www.chautauqua.com/chautauqua_map.htm
and if you need a good mechanic while you’re in Boulder, call Verner’s 303-444-8307
at 3280 Valmont Rd # D Boulder 80301. I’ve found them to be honest and reasonable.
I’ll second that Peter. There’s nothing more Boulder than Chautauqua except for skinny people in spandex running around…
Plenty of picnic tables on the open green for an impromptu gathering.
See you there Cringely!
Don’t forget the aboundance of non-materilistic hippie students paying $30k/year to attend college.
Chautauqua is beautiful. The parking is difficult.
Downtown Boulder near Pearl Street is an historic area with many shops, trees, and the Boulder Creek. The parking is medium.
29th Street Mall is an open mall, is definitely mall flavored. The parking easy.
The HOP bus runs between Pearl Street and the 29th Street mall.
Bob,
Try Scott Carpenter Park, off 30th just South of Arapahoe. Chautauqua is great, but I can not imagine trying to get an RV in and out.
The park is across from the “new” Mall. It is much easier to park and get access. Plenty of grass for the kids and space to run. There is also a pool, to cool them down.
There are no Walmarts in Boulder, sorry.
Excellent!
Four places to check out:
1) Chatauqua as other’s mentioned. You can park along Baseline (which runs along the 40th Parallel by the way). There may be music when you’re hear, and folks even sit outside the large open windows and listen on the lawn. Wonderful hikes up to the iconic and beloved Flatirons
2) There’s a wonderful Farmers Market going on Saturday mornings – 13th St between Arapahoe and Canyon
3) A little ways up the Creek (west on Arapahoe) you’ll find Eben Fine Park wtth a delightful eclectic mix of folks, tubers coming down the rushing Boulder Creek, and maybe even the magical Cairns built in the Boulder Creek by local artist Mike Grab, and finally
4) The outdoor Pearl Street Mall comes alive in the evening between 11th Street and 15th Street. Wonderful buskers, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch the best act of the season, the juggler and acrobat, Cate Flaherty. She wears a big star on her outfit, but you won’t be able to miss her.
Have Fun!
Rocky Mountain Joe, Boulder, Colorado
I have to agree with RMJoe recommendations. The Pearl Street Mall is a great place to meet a group of people in downtown Boulder. The outdoor amphitheater at Broadway and Arapahoe is nice place to talk to a large group of people.
If you need a place to camp in the RV overnight, the Boulder Elks Club has overnight camping for an RV and a nice outdoor pool for the kids. The Elks Club has the only RV camping in/or near Boulder, but the RV camping is restricted to Elks Club members.
Eben Fine Park is nice and shady, you can tube, walk down the bike path to downtown and the library. However on the weekends its pretty busy. Beach park on the “hill” at 13th and Euclid is a less used park with large fields and a stones throw from the university and hill shopping district. And the university also has some large quad areas for a gathering. It’s off Broadway and 16th.
Hometown Carterjay
Hey, welcome to Colorado! Boulder’s a pretty cool place to visit – I’ll keep an eye to see if you’re planning to meet up with folks to hang out. Lots of tech happening up there – a fair bit down here in Denver, too.
“Mrs. Cringely will allow you to admire her muffins.”
Bob, did you really want to say that? Yes, my mind went to the gutter immediately, but so will the minds of most men as they chuckle at your offer. Do yourself a favor and edit it out before Mrs. Cringely sees it. 🙂
Don’t worry, she’s proud of her muffins!
If there is an oven in that RV, maybe Mrs. Cringely has mastered a truly spectacular muffin recipe. The important question — was Bob talking about real muffins or something else?
Boulder gang, please take and post pictures and videos of your close encounters of the Cringely kind.
Don’t worry, we are all on her Christmas card list.
Looking at your account of mishaps so far, Bob, I wonder whether you had the rig checked by a mechanic before setting out on this trip. Exhaust-system parts, for example, don’t fall off unless they’re pretty badly rusted, something that would be obvious to a mechanic checking out the underside of the chassis. As a pilot, you know the importance of preflight inspections. The same applies to RVs. I don’t mean to lecture, but I can’t help wondering how many of these breakdowns could have been avoided by a good pre-trip inspection. If nothing else, all these mishaps have got to be tough on your family.
Way to kick a guy when he’s down, Andy. What business is that of yours? We don’t need your lectures.
“And yes, I DID have the RV checked-out and serviced before we left Charleston. Stuff happens.”
Just wanted to point out that that response from Cringely makes you look like an overly smug boob….
In all fairness to Andy, he did suggest a GOOD pre-trip inspection.
Paul and Scott make good points: the tone of my post was unsympathetic, and for that I apologize. As a full-time RVer, I’ve seen my share of unexpected breakdowns (as well as preventable ones). I should have known better than to think Bob might neglect to “preflight” his rig. I think if I were him, though, I’d be looking for a new mechanic–one who could recognize a rusted-out exhaust system. 😉
Check out Celstrial seasoning’s factory tour https://www.celestialseasonings.com/visit-us/
Kind of like an episode of the food channel’s “Unwrapped.”
In Golden Miller/Coors has a self guided tour. See the website for details
Those who want to meet the Cringelys can come to Graphicly, an electronic Comic Book startup at 1601 Pear Street, Suite 200, Boulder, CO. This is at 4PM on Saturday.
Bob
That’s a wise answer to a tricky quesiton
I assume you mean 1601 Pearl St, not Pear st?
Yes, it is PEARL St.,thanks!
Those who want to meet the Cringelys can come to Graphic.ly, an electronic Comic Book startup, at 1601 Pearl Street, Suite 200, Boulder, CO. This is at 4PM on Saturday. If you can. please bring a small unwrapped toy for my kids to distribute at local hospitals and shelters.
Bob,
I really wanted to come out and see your family today in Boulder. Unfortunately I went hiking with my dogs on a fantastic day in north boulder arounds a small lake in one of the many open space preserves. There were prairie dogs, deers, amazing wild flowers, mommy ducks with their rapidly growing adolescent ducks, geese…
My roommate and I got back and it was after 4pm. Her boyfriend just then got back from a day long rock climb on Longs Peak. He was exhausted, but he agreed to go to Proto’s Pizza in north Boulder, so we all got on our bikes and rode the 4 miles north along off road paths to a really great Neapolitan pizza place. We ate outside as the sun started to set and then rode the 4 miles back home.
Watching the deer in the field of mountain wildflowers on our way back was so beautiful.
So, I hope you are having a good time here and please get out to see why Boulder has more software engineers per capita than anywhere in the nation. you will see why it and the smaller communities around the front range are consistently considered the best places to live in America.
This is a special place and a great place to start a business (Go online and see what it takes to start an LLC here in CO vs CA).
Just ask Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal!
And if you are still here, have dinner at the Kitchen! Or Frasca’s. Or …….
Bob, a lot of people, myself included, loved Plane Crazy. I sense another documentary in the future. This one will feature you driving in an RV across the midwest for 30 days. We will see you desperately try to keep the RV from falling apart. The RV houses your family which you are trying to keep from falling apart, all in hopes of furthering a career you’re trying to keep from falling apart.
I think you should call it, “I’m Plain Crazy”.
Best of luck to you.
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