We drove and drove and drove. Our goal was the Denver suburb of Golden
where we were going to meet Kim and Bryon and their families for supper.
We ended the night before thinking we were
in the foothills of the mountains, but we still had 300 miles to go. We drove through different ranges but mostly
canyons; we stopped and gawked at the “Salt Wash” and other vistas. We went by canyon lands and Arches National Park. The canyon landscape is another kind of
beautiful, the colors and vastness and deepness.
The Colorado River snaked its way along
the road, curving back and forth, sometimes on the left side of the road and
sometimes on the right, at times seemingly going the “wrong” way. We were heading down a steep grade while it
was traveling downstream in the other direction—an optical illusion!
Then we were officially back into the “traditional”
mountains. The mountains changed their
look. The striations were different,
their color more diverse and the layering of said colors. Some layers were horizontal to the road,
others at angles. The ranges of colors varied
from browns, reds, blacks, whites, and shades in between. Some mountains were covered with scraggly
trees, some bare, some just tinted green with new growth of the summer. Some mountains looked just like sand dunes,
the rock crumbled around their bases. We
had traffic congestion and encountered those irritating drivers that still zip down
around you even though the signs say to merge right long before then. We spent time in tunnels through those areas
we could not cross, one such tunnel where the railroad was “under” the road, or
at least it appeared to be! The rail followed
the road and then it curved towards the ONE tunnel entrance and then curved
back out again upon exiting the tunnel.
When signs said “falling rock” you
literally crossed your fingers when you went past those cliffs. Some of those rock faces looked like they
were just hanging on by a thread! Piles
and piles of rock of all shapes and sizes make up the landscapes.
We drove by a huge lake (Sevier Lake) that looked like
it might have been much larger. It turns
out it is usually “dry” as many of the tributaries that feed it are diverted for
water, and has been completely dry in its history. It is also one where it salinity is really
high, higher than an ocean’s.
We saw several signs referencing Gerald
Ford and wandered why. Gerald was apparently
an avid skier! He first “discovered”
Vail in the late 1960s and loved skiing there so much he bought a house. His vice-presidency and presidency brought even
more fame to the area.
Andrew enjoys driving so he did all of it
today. I spent time looking at mountains
and deserts and finishing the book I was reading, “Changes” by Jim
Butcher. HOLY COW! It is one of the Dresden books and I was completely
caught off guard by what happened in that book, and it ended so I really,
really, really want to read the next one.
It is a pretty addictive series (Harry is a private investigator and
wizard. J), so I can only read a couple and then I have to put them
down for a while or I wouldn’t do anything else but read. I have that kind of addiction to really good
books!
One thing I HAD to do before I returned
home was to get my hair looked at. Full
disclosure: I have been coloring my hair
for a LONG time and it has to be done frequently now as it is, for the most
part, literally all gray. Being gone
from home for 40 days doesn’t help my “schedule,” and we have a wedding to
attend on Saturday and I needed to make sure my hair was done before then. Vanity.
It's all it really is. I am just not ready
to look into a mirror and not recognize myself because my hair is gray. Someday, yes, maybe.
But I have never been be completely gray as I’ve been coloring it
since it was just individual gray hairs, so it would be like looking at a
stranger! So, to find someplace to do
this. We got to Golden a bit early for
this reason and I knew it would take a couple of hours. I had to call seven different places to find
someone that had an opening for a "walk-in"! Then I was
thinking, “I hope whoever I get is good!!”
Not a lot of places were even open as it was Monday, but we drove a
short distance and Heidi worked her magic.
I have been wearing a hat most days to keep the sun off of my nose/face
so it has been flat and hat-shaped. She said actually
part of the flatness is due to lack of humidity. She colored and toned and trimmed and then
actually kept it straight when she syled it. It is a bit
darker than what I have been doing lately, but my hair had really faded due to the things it’s
been through, mostly campsite showers' varying mineral content and sweat from hiking and biking. It feels really good, but a good cut and color
will do that to you! Andrew also got his
buzzed off to nearly bald level while we were there. He was ready to go bald but then he'd have aw white head with a tan face!
My family was already at the restaurant
when we arrived. Everyone looked
great. It is hard to believe how grown
up Kim’s kids are. When we saw them
last, little Aspen literally took a running leap and launched herself at
John-Paul (To luck he was quick and caught her!). That was about 10 ½ years ago. Tre is now going to be a junior in high
school, Trent a freshman, and “little” Aspen an eighth grader! Kim looked the same--how can that be!! Still great! We also met her boyfriend Mitch and his two kids, their ages between Kim’s kids!
Bryon and his wife Michelle and little one
Lily also joined us. Bryon also looks the same and Michelle brought us some pictures for us to keep-what a very thoughtful thing to do--of their wedding and of Lily. Lily is the lucky
recipient of the curly gene pool with the most amazing blond tight little
curls. I finally got to hold her and got
a smile out of her before we left. She is only 19 months old so I am good with a smile and quick hold. We
did get to visit for 2 ½ hours. Thanks
to the staff at the restaurant for letting us invade their space for that
long.
We said our goodbyes and let’s not wait another 10 years, before we headed south. We need to get New Mexico checked off our
state list. We debated about setting up
camp at this late hour, or a hotel using points. We did stop at a campground but then opted to
drive another 20 miles and use the points.
One thing that keeps occurring to me and I
don’t understand: why do people shoot
road signs? So many signs, literally
almost all of them on the roads that aren’t Interstate. And it isn’t just in Colorado, but really
every place we’ve been the signs have holes or bullet-shaped indentions. It didn’t matter what kind of sign, there was
no discrimination on whether it was a stop sign or a moose crossing sign…they
were indented or holey. Sigh.
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