When you've lived in the desert for a while, any change is good if for just a week. In early 2008, Vickie and I depserately needed a break from home. In early January, she'd undergone a heavy dose of radiation to deaden a small brain tumor. She was still recovering a month later with a constant headache (to give you an idea, imagine having a large, heavy metal helmet SCREWED into your head with a small amount of numbness injected, then having it on you for hours while heavy gamma rays hit one small area several times).
Well, in early March I was on my track break. That means, in the world of year-round-school, I had a few periods of 3-4 weeks off. These came in November, March, and late June/early July. It was an interesting system and it worked while I was in it...but when the year-round system came to an end for budgetary reasons, I had to adjust big-time. I will probably never blog about that year of adjustment because it also involved an emergency move, my grandma passing away, and just being in a bad year of teaching all-around.
ANYHOW, the master digressor will now get back on track. Vickie had been wanting to show me where she grew up in Colorado for some time. As track break was approaching, it seemed a good time to do it.
I've already blogged about the trip to Salt Lake City, so I'll sum up the Nevada part of the drive: boring! Once we hit Utah, things really changed. In fact, once we got into Cedar City, we were hit with some pretty impressive snow. Occasional flurries and heavier flakes hit us here and there for another hour or so. Just north of Beaver, we got onto I-70. I was familiar with this stretch of road already, but it had been 10 years. As we climbed in elevation, we got hit with more snow. We stopped in Salina for a quick gas-up and snack, then got back onto the road...and entered a snowy, long stretch with no services at all...110 miles! I was trying to stay behind trucks that made good tracks in many areas. Suffice to say, it was fairly stressful. At least I had a good copilot. Finally, we hit Green River, the first service in several hours. We stayed there for probably an hour. Bathroom was a necessity, and a few snacks and drinks were also in order...a little refueling was also needed.
Back on the road we went, and even though it was still snowing in areas, the stress was off. Before we knew it, we were in Grand Junction, Colorado. This was a good place to stop for the night. We'd made reservations, but when I learned what the cost really was, we opted for a lesser, but cheaper, inn...after some dinner at Red Robin.
The next day, we got up, had some good breakfast, and got back onto 70 on a bright sunny morning. Just outside Grand Junction, the scenery is beautiful with red rock cliffs and tight turns through canyons. My favorite stretch, of course, was Glenwood Canyon. My dad and I had first hit this 16 years earlier when the road was still being built to environmentally-happy code. After Glenrood Canyon, 70 goes through a valley sprinkled with some mountain towns, then hits Vail...and begins a steep climb to the Eisenhower Tunnel. This is the point of the continental divide and the highest section of any Interstate highway. We also hit more snow after Vail, so I once again stayed behind trucks. After the tunnel, we started a VERY long downhill (about 60 miles) toward Denver. After a lot of stressful braking, we finally got a rest in Georgetown. Vickie thought there was a good bakery there, but it had closed down. We got back on the road and made it to Denver. It was a welcome sight.
We stayed with Vickie's friend Marilyn for about a week. While there, we saw some good sights. We visited the Children's Hospital (I know that doesn't sound fun, but Vickie's childhood had a lot of connections there). Actually, the hospital was quite nice and child-friendly....and got a lot of sunlight. We also saw Loveland, Fort Collins, downtown Denver (including the capitol), ate a few times at Gunther Toody's diner, as well as Old Spaghetti Factory, and Boulder (no hint of Mork and Mindy). All in all, it was a pleasant week. At that time I really thought about moving there (and I still do). It's just a beautiful blend of plains and mountains.
We headed home on a Saturday and made a goal of Grand Junction again. We stopped in Glenwood Springs and had a good dinner, and then drove the 100 miles to Grand Junction and stayed at another cheap place. The drive home after that was uneventful but safe and, as always, the Nevada part was the worst.
We would like to take a part 2 of this trip soon with Natalie, but we'd fly and rent a car. This is one of my favorites in terms of trips.
