Thursday,
August 7, 2025 Onward East
In my youth,
my humans called me Thunder Paws. I was
fast. I could run, I could fly, I could
go from one end to the big house that moves to the other in no time at all. Then I realized I could also walk. I can still jump, but that flying thing, not
so much.
There is the cutest little bird on our
tire. It’s just sitting there enjoying
the scene!
We start our
walk down by the river. There are a
couple of holes from the golf course that incorporate the river into their
design. Don’t go right… And don’t go left either as there is a
manmade lake there. And be sure to watch
for the streamlets that weave their way through the course. You are sure to lose a few balls on this
course! We scouted the campground and
headed into the neighborhood, where the cutest kitty greeted us. As Spouse headed back, I continued through
the hood going along the railroad tracks and checking out the houses. I love touring through neighborhoods. Sometimes, you find some interesting things. We are staying at Green River State
Park. Oftentimes, state parks are
difficult to get into, but it isn’t even half full. The spaces are large and grassy, with lots of
trees. State parks rate high in my book.
After a
quick shower, we readied Artie for the road.
I start out driving, east on I70.
The dominant color is straw… yellow… brown… ocher. Way on the horizon are some ocher
buttes. But overall, it is a large
expanse of nothing! There is a sign
warning not to hit eagles, that I assume are enjoying roadkill. The traffic is non existent.
We know
there are not a lot of RV options on the I70 corridor. We have the Denver Elks in our GPS. Or we might duck into the national forest if
it isn’t too warm. We will figure it
out. We are self-contained, so we are
not worried.
As we cross
into Colorado, like a light switch, the topography starts to change. The buttes get closer in and there are
ponderosa pines adding a nice green to the scape. I stop at a rest stop to change drivers, and
I have to navigate one of those horrible traffic circles. Instead of going into the visitor center, I
parked, we switched, then Spouse decided to take the frontage road. Only the frontage road does not take you back
to the interstate. This is the beginning
of our total distaste for Colorado roads.
Not only do they have lots of traffic circles (when you are towing, they
are such hemorrhoids!), but the often criss cross lanes under freeway
overpasses. You can’t just turn left
like a normal driver, you have to figure out which lane is going to take you
where you want. I suppose locals get
used to it. I hate it!
Ultimately,
we get back to I70 and continue east. We
are following the Colorado River. The
buttes get closer forming a narrow valley.
The river, some vineyards, some train tracks. Then the vineyards disappear, and the road
narrows, and closely follows the contour of the rivers, necessitating slowing
down. It opens up, it narrows. And so it goes until we get to Glenwood
Springs. Then it REALLY narrows! Rugged rocky walls tower hundreds, if not
thousands, of feet above us. The road is
really quite a feat of engineering. The
westbound lanes are on an elevated bridge, while the eastbound lanes are below
on normal ground. The eastbound lanes
were probably both directions at one time.
There are tunnels. Not just
quicky tunnels, but going through rocky mountain tunnels. The going is slow. Out of the tunnels, the Rocky Mountains strut
their stuff. I love the grassy meadow
grasses covering their peaks. It is
beautiful… but slow. It is narrow. And slow.
Then there is road construction… more slow. Then it opens up for all of a minute, then
stops. More road construction. Towing through road construction sites is
never fun. I always feel I should hold
my breath to make us skinnier, as if that would work! It is slow, slow, slow. It is crowded. As we pass Vail, I see the ski area from the
front. You can’t see the beautiful back
bowls from here, but they are etched in my mind. Slow… crowded…
We are
finally able to pick up a little speed.
Spouse decides to stop in Frisco to pick up a few things at the
store. Off the freeway… road
construction… and a detour. An hour
later, we are so frustrated. We were
thinking of staying at the Elks in Denver, which is only about 50 miles
away. But we were DONE! We know that 50 miles may take hours! So, we pulled
into a scenic viewpoint, and called it a day. It was only a bit off the highway, so it was
noisy. NOISY! But my vodka tonic still tasted good. Dinner was great! I could read and do puzzles. The temperature was comfortable. Screw the noise. The view was quite nice. A river, trees, railroad tracks with a
tourist train. It was pretty. But noisy…
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