From the Prairies - to the Mountains

October 4, 2008 - Saturday


Wow. WOW how beautiful America is! It just keeps taking our breath away with the diversity and the beauty of it all. This was a big driving day that got us up to 2300 miles total by the end of the day (thanks, Barry, for the suggestion to clock our miles as we go).


We got an early start and filled up with "cheap" gas. Somehow Kansas had gas at $3.09/gallon - so we stocked up and headed west - with the rising sun behind us. Kathy has caught a cold - or some such - so after about an hour of rolling hills, she rolled into the back of "Van Monroe" and slept. I enjoyed the unfolding vastness of Southwestern Kansas - a real beauty in what seemed like "nothing" - but a beautiful rolling, subtly-colored "nothing". We rolled right thru Greensburg, Kansas - home of "The World's Largest Hand-dug Well" - and not much else right now - since the entire town got levelled by a BAD tornado just last year. There are signs all over thanking the world for all of the help that has been given - and the town is clearly rebuilding. I felt a bit bad about just driving right thru (after stopping at the one stop light), but I didn't want to wake Kathy - and the world's largest metorite (1000 pounds) is currently on loan to a museum in Hays, KS - so on we went.


We got into Dodge - with its history of Wild West - and just drove right thru and "Got OUT of Dodge" - dodging tourists gawking at the mainstreet saloons and attractions. Again, I felt a bit bad about just flying thru, but my family had driven thru Dodge many decades ago and found it to be a bit too "tourist-y" - annnd I didn't want to wake Kathy for it.


As we neared the Colorado line, Kathy woke up and noticed that her cellphone had changed its time: we had crossed into Mountain Time - and gained another hour - with no apparent markings on roadsigns. We adjusted "Leila" the GPS unit - and our watches - and realized that we had an extra hour of drive-time for the day. I also noticed that as the sun had warmed the land for the day, we got to 83 degrees.


The landscape continued to change very subtly and slowly - and then we passed into Colorado - and I found myself thinking: "Gee... this reminds me of the land in *Colorado*" - white rather than brown. Still beautiful. Always changing.


We stopped to gas up and decided to give Monroe a bath at an automated car wash: a wonder of technology in itself, then we forged on across Southern Colorado - into landscape that got less and less flat. We just kept saying "WOW!" and taking more pictures. When some buttes showed up in the distance, I stopped in the entrance to one of the many ranches there and hopped out for a photo. My shirt says: "I've gone to FIND myself. If I get back before I return, keep me here". Seems rather appropriate for this trip:


The miles just kept rolling along and the views just got more and more awesome. Literally "causing some awe". We had been disappointed that we were too early for the changing of the leaves up to this point, but as we got into the truly-mountainous regions, the Aspen and Sumac (I think) were BRILLIANT yellow. Unbelievably brilliant - as if they were actually internally illuminated. When mixed with the evergreens - which looked *black* because of the overcast day, it was stunning:



We were getting into the mountains - I think around 7000 feet - so we had gained over 6000 feet - starting at 1350 feet in Wichita, KS, and driving up. And up. Then we started up a Pass and I noticed that the temperature had dropped - from 83 in Kansas - to 53 at the top of the Pass - and we broke out into a valley view - which - again - just defies words. We stopped and hopped out and the combination of the view - and the blast of cold air - was exhilarating and emotional. Note again, that clicking on any picture will get you a full-size version:



Down the pass, rolling thru foothills - and stop for lunch at the "Old West Cafe" - which was NOT just a nasty tourist trap - but had a "tortilla hamburger" - which was kind of a mix between a Burrito and a hamburger. Topped off with some amazing home-made pie (Apple for me, Cherry for Kathy) - it was a very-satisfying lunch (yeah, I know... food again).


We decided to drive about 100 yards and tour Fort Garland there: a restored outpost set there to "interact" with the Indians. Interesting, and we had the whole thing to ourselves. The day remained overcast and cold - a nice setting to wander around a fort - together - in.


Back into Monroe to just drive the remaining hours into Cortez - a big driving day. We had decided to just do the entire 650 miles and be ready for Mesa Verde - so we continued listening to our Mystery on CD book and settled in for a cruise.


Annnd it started to get colder.


And it started to lightly rain.


And we started to head up. And up. And UP.


And I watched the thermometer in the car as it dropped. And dropped.


And about the moment that I said "this may turn into SNOW" - Kathy announced that it had.


We were topping Wolf Creek Pass. Google it. It has quite a history.


The road got snowy. I estimate 3 *inches* of snow. We began to slide around a bit and have to choose our rut carefully as we slipped our way *up* Wolf Creek Pass. The snow was utterly beautiful, but I began to seriously wonder if we'd be able to make it up and over. The thermometer settled on 32 degrees - 51 degrees lower than we had started our day. I just kept moving - being thankful that I had *2* lanes to slide around in (the road was widened to 4 lanes rather recently) - and we finally topped the Pass. 10,800 feet above sea level. I began to worry about getting altitude sickness with a 9000-ft change in less than 12 hours.


We slid our way *down* the pass - passing "runaway truck turn-outs" on the way - and gawking at the view when we could. Just humbling and beautiful and exciting and amazing. As we finally dropped about 3000 feet of elevation and settled back to 47 degrees - for the remainder of our run to Cortez, Colorado - pretty-much at the southWEST corner of Colorado. We passed Mesa Verde on the way - and drove the last 2 hours of rainy, winding, road in the dark.


But it was an emotional day. A beautiful, wonderful reminder of the vast picture show that nature provides - just outside our windows.