We get today off as no events are planned for today, Sunday. We had arranged to fill, at Pioneer Natural Resources (PNR) private station outside of Trinidad, that morning and on the drive back to town, we encountered some interesting wildlife. I wasn’t quick enough to catch a snapshot of the coyote that raced across the road between us and an oncoming vehicle; that got our attention. But I did manage to get several shots of what might have been our Thanksgiving dinner (where’s a shotgun, when Gary needs one?). Oh well, I hear wild turkeys aren’t very good eating anyway.
After fueling, we ended up at the Colorado Welcome Center and met Joseph Tarabino, who helps us connect with his boss, Tara Marshall. There was supposed to be an event on Monday (29th Oct), but that fell apart. But Gary still wanted to talk to the folks who had expressed an interest in a public CNG station, so we now have a meeting at 10:00 on Monday.
Joseph Tarabino
After our visit to the Colorado Welcome Center, we headed up to Ft. Carson with plans to fuel there and do some sightseeing in the areas west of there (e.g., Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, the town of Cripple Creek, Great Sand Dunes National Preserve) while looping back down to Trinidad. At the only CNG fueling station in Ft. Carson, a Clean Energy (CLNE) station on the military base, the price listed was $4.499/gge. Attempting to fuel was futile… this station (and all CLNE stations in Colorado require a Clean Energy fueling card); normal credit cards are not accepted. I had acquired one prior to the trip, and it had worked fine buying about $11 of fuel in Denver on the eastbound trip, but now it was indicating “Credit Limit Exceeded”???
It was Sunday, so I got the recording that CLNE offices were closed when I called the number on the card. I did select the “emergency” option and left a call-back number. A technican called, but was not able to help. He can only come out to fix equipment, and is not allowed to come out and fuel for cash. So much for CLNE support. We would have to wait until Monday to resolve the fueling card issue.
Luckily, we had 11 bars of fuel left, so we made our way back to Trinidad, going slowly to ensure we’d have sufficient fuel to reach the PNR station outside of town. So much for our “day off”.
The pictures below are from the morning’s drive out fuel at PNR and back to the Colorado Welcome Center.
CNGTravels 