Long Weekend: Part Two

The weekend started out wonderfully. Matt got his first paycheck of his new job, Sean came up and hung out with us for a couple hours on Friday night, and we headed off to Glenwood Springs on Saturday morning. The drive was great, it was a nice sunny day and the mountains looked great with snowcapped pine trees on them. When we got to the hotel, our room hadn't been cleaned yet, so we just walked around town for a little bit and got a bite to eat. After that, we got settled at the hotel and went to the pool.
If you have never been to a hot spring before, DO IT. Once you get used to the smell (and taste) of the sulfur, it is super relaxing. Since we went when it was so cold out, the pools had a mist rolling off of them. Plus, we went before sunset and got to see the sun go behind the mountains and the clouds turn pink. Then, once it gets dark, you can see the stars through the mist and it's awesome.
After soaking in the pools for a few hours, we washed the stink off of us and went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner, which was really nice. Matt and I stuffed ourselves so much that we ended up passing out before we could even turn the T.V. on back at the hotel. We woke up at 3 a.m. realizing that the lights were still on and we were still dressed from earlier. Whoops. It worked out though, because we ended up getting 12 hours of much needed rest.
When we finally did stumble out of bed, Matt and I headed up to Sunlight ski resort to do some snowshoeing. Neither of us had ever been before, but we decided it was definitely a good winter activity. Being free, it heads to the top of the list. Also, we like that it is like hiking where you get away from everything and everyone. Next time, we are going to bring a sled for the way down and hope we don't run into any trees.
So, up until this point, it was a perfect weekend. We got exercise, got to sit in a hot pool at sunset, ate great food.... but that's too good to be true.... on the way back, around Vail, the car started lurching and jerking. A definite transmission problem. So we stopped at the nearest exit with a gas station (about 10-15 miles because we were driving through National Forest land), and checked the fluid levels. Almost no oil and no antifreeze/coolant. Bummer. So we filled them up and tried that out. Since that didn't work, we made some phone calls and decided to try driving it to the next exit. Still shaking, violently, at times. Matt ended up calling his dad and having him come pick us up and we left the car at a shop up in a ski town, but since it was 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, no one could do anything then. Matt's mom said we could use her car for the time being,which was super nice.
This morning when I called the shop, they said everything was fine. No lurching. Matt and I drove back up the mountain and picked up the car and came home. Except that after about 15 minutes, it started up again, and I ended up driving most the way with my hazards on - afraid the transmission was going to fall out the bottom of my car. Luckily, we made it all the way back to Boulder and dropped it off at a shop where the guy who owns it is a family friend of Matt's.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! If Matt didn't need the car for work I think I would have put it in Neutral and shoved it off the side of the mountain.