Colorful Colorado

Before I reached Colorado, I had to drive through a few more hours of Kansas. When I thought it couldn't get any flatter, it got flatter, and flatter still. Endless plains on either side of me. I got very tired despite a full night of rest, so it may have been the straight boring highway and lack of landmarks that wore me out. I made a few rest stops here and there just to ease the pain.

When I crossed into Colorado I was anxious to see mountains. I forgot whether or not Denver was close to the state line. When I saw a pale blue object along the horizon, I thought I was looking at mountains. For about an hour, I drove toward this thing trying to decide if it was a big blue cloud or a faded mountain range. It turns out that was no mountain range, but just a coincidental cloud formation. Denver and the Rocky Mountains are not very close to the border. It was some time later that I finally saw the true Rockies.

From Cross Country

Denver's another great looking city that's cleaner than New York. Paul arranged for me to crash with some of his old friends, Molly and Irene, who now live in the suburbs of Denver. I got there much too early and they were still busy. Conveniently, beside their building is a bar with wifi, so I managed to entertain myself while I waited for them.

When she got out of her class, Irene met me there, we had a drink and she invited another friend along. We all went out for Japanese at Sushi Tazu. Really tasty sushi. Then we went to downtown Denver and hit the bars. It was Tuesday and Denver was virtually dead. Either way, I was tired. I had woken up extremely early, and it was getting late. As the group was just starting to have fun and Molly got out of work and joined us, I was falling asleep at our table. Not long after, they took me home and I went to sleep on their couch.

I awoke, again, bright and early. I heard Molly getting up a little later, she had to teach her kindergarten class. We left the apartment together and that concluded my time in Denver.

Denver sits just east of the Rocky Mountains. Drive west on I-70 for just a little while and you'll find yourself climbing up higher and higher. You'll be in a neighborhood where peoples homes sit on the tops and sides of big brown mountains with even bigger snow-capped mountains way off in the distance. It's like nothing I've seen before. The Honda Fit barely maintained its speed going up the hills. Then, going downhill is a frightening experience. You shift to a low gear and you try not to rely on your brakes as your car just begins to accelerate on its own. The confident local drivers just breeze past you and take the hill at full speed. I was too focused on driving to truly appreciate the view at that moment, but once the highway leveled out, I got to see the Rockies from within.

From Cross Country

From Cross Country

From Cross Country

From Cross Country

I saw four rams just wandering by the side of the highway and I noticed a dead coyota being pecked at by a couple of crows. There were a few cool mountain tunnels to drive through, too. It's such a beautiful ride with nice curving roads. I wish my car wasn't so packed so I could've had a little more fun on those turns.