By Day Four I had over 2,100 miles on the car and was a little nervous about her ability to reach Vail, Colorado, let alone the coast of California.

Early morning (Denver, CO)

I woke up early on Monday (Memorial Day) determined to get some sunrise pictures of Denver.

The drive in was fog-covered and I thought my chances of landing some good photos would be lost. Fortunately, the fog lifted the closer I came to the capital.

One thing that truly struck me about the "mile-high city" is that it isn't in the mountains at all. In fact, the trip to Denver reminded me more of Kansas than what I had heard about Colorado. But the view of the Rockies off in the distance was stunning.

I drove to the south part of town. A highly commercialized district and apparently a university was near by. Being a holiday, the traffic was light as I drove through town at around 6 am.

Entering the Rockies (Estes Park, CO)

I made my way into the downtown area and snapped a few shots of the cityscape near the site of Coors Field and took a couple shots of the stadium itself.

Next, I drove up to Boulder, Colorado. This was a huge mistake. Apparently, one of the largest walking events in the world takes place in Boulder on Memorial Day. It's known as the Boulder Bolder. I found out later, there were upwards of 20,000 people walking in the event.

I quickly turned around and found another way up to Estes Park at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. The picture above doesn't do justice to the incredible view attained from this high vantage point. The town of Estes Park is in the valley below.

Lake Estes (Estes Park, CO)

Once you drop a thousand feet or so, you reach the beautiful resort town. With the mountains forming a circle around Lake Estes it makes for a dramatic entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

I quickly moved on to the park entrance because I had a full day planned. Then it happened!

All through Kansas and Colorado I had been watching my car flirt with overheating. As I pulled the first big mountain in the park, I pulled over to take pictures and heard the dreaded sounds of bubbling anti-freeze.

The car had overheated and I was stuck in Rocky Mountain National Park. I found a stranger who was headed down the mountain and asked him for some help. We checked out the reservoir and the anti-freeze was full. The only option was to drive the old Neon down the mountain and get some assistance.

In Estes Park, I stopped to talk with a service station mechanic and he told me my best option was to find a Dodge dealership, where they could hook her up to a computer. I called Dodge's roadside assistance and they told me they couldn't do anything for me on the holiday. So I decided to drive to Colorado Springs to find a dealership. The car seemed to be doing okay as long as I didn't push her too hard.

After finding a factory outlet to shop at for a while, I got back in the car and drove south. But it was immediately apparent the car was not going to make it 90 miles south. If I went over 60 miles and hour, she started overheating.

I found a Dodge dealer in Longmont and they told me to come back in the morning and they would help me. I booked a room at the Days Inn at around 3 pm. I never felt as disappointed as I did that night. I knew my trip was probably over. If I couldn't trust the car anymore, how was I going to make it the rest of the way to California?

> Day Five