Grand Junction, CO: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Our saga with the Zinger has finally reached a conclusion, although we're not fully in the clear just yet. Steve came back with a report on our VW organ donor, a 1988 Vanagon that he had in the back of his lot. It passed the engine compression test with flying colors, seemed to run ok for having just been fired up for the first time in a few years and the transmission appears to be in good shape (much better shape than our old one at least). And while it might not have the guarantees of a rebuilt transmission, at this point we'll take what we can get. We're going to go ahead and make the full swap (engine and transmission) with Steve promising to mix and match the best parts from both vans. With the total price estimate being not too much above the price tag for the rebuilt transmission we're feeling pretty good about this. And for being stuck between a rock and an expensive place, it definitely could have been worse. The Zinger will live to see another day and hopefully many more. We've still got about 5,000 more miles before we'll be back in VT but we're confident we'll make it.

Steve let us borrow an old Mercedes til we could score a new rental car and on his insistence we immediately drove over to the Colorado National Monument to take our mind off things (as you can see from the pictures below- Kim's still feeling the hurt from the deposit made on the van). Now we're back at the Mesa Inn plotting our next moves. 

The van won't be ready until mid next week so we've still got some time to kill. Our plan is to make it over to Boulder tomorrow to see our good friends Caleb and Maggie. Then we'll potentially head over to Castle Rock to visit Kim's aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, several massive wildfires are currently threatening the region so we'll have to keep an eye on that situation as it unfolds. Hopefully we'll have a speedy rental car by then that can outrun any dangerous situations!  The main thing is that the Zinger is going to pull through this unfortunate series of events- long live the Zinger!