Day 6:
I brought the car in to various Frisco auto repair
shops, but no one was available to look at it
immediately, and they all said the check engine light
was nothing to worry about, so we headed on.  We drove
to Glenwood Springs to soak for a little in the
world’s largest hot spring.  We noticed the car
starting to vibrate continuously (it was vibrating
intermittently before) so we found a BP service
station as soon as we got off the highway and dropped
the car off to be looked at.  What better way to while
away the time than to soak in the springs.  They had
water slides too, so we were happily occupied.  The BP
guy pronounced our car’s engine peachy keen, said the
vibration was most likely due to wheel alignment, but
no big deal, so we got back on the highway west.  We
cruised along for a while, 80 miles per hour, when
suddenly the tire blew out.  The other back tire,
shredded.  Joy.  This time we were stuck on the side
of the busy and fast I70 in the middle of Colorado,
not near much with sketchy cell phone service.  We
couldn’t budge the bolts, so I called Geico, who
couldn’t get a hold of a towing company to change the
tire.  Meanwhile I called 911 to get a cop to stand by
us so we don’t become a news headline.  A cop from the
town of Parachute, CO, pulled up, and he called for a
tire guy.  We chatted for a long while – very nice
guy- until the tire guy came.  In two seconds he had
the tire changed.  We drove on the spare to Grand
Junction, about 40 miles down the interstate, to get
to a Sears to buy a new tire.  We decided to replace
every single tire, because we were about to head into
true middle of nowhere Utah without cell phone
service, and if I couldn’t get emergency roadside
service in somewhat populated Colorado than I would be
flat out of luck in Utah.  I don’t understand how a
tire could shred, let alone two.  When I bought the
car I asked the mechanic who looked at it if the tires
were good since I was driving cross country.  He said
they were fine.  When the first tire shredded I asked
the guys at Sears in PA if the other tires were fine,
and they said yes.  Grrrr.   We had a great tour of
the Mesa Mall while we waited  Alexa conquered the
tools section of Sears.  2 hours later we were on the
road again.  Our original plan for the day called for
a brief stop in the hot springs, then an afternoon
hiking in Arches National Park in Utah, dinner in
Moab, sleeping in Richfield, another 2.5 hours west.
We didn’t reach the Arches exit until after dark, so
it was pointless to go.  We still went to Moab for
dinner because there is nothing else for hours in UT
and we were hungry.  Fighting fatigue we pulled into
the hotel in Richfield about 1:30 in the morning.