Crossing cold, colorful Colorado
So, what did you think of my weather forecast from last week? I told you that you would need a sweater for the Labor Day weekend at Florence and by gum, I was right. All five of my readers have called to say, "Wow, way to go!"
The mister and I left Peabody Thursday night to go to Colorado and move daughter number two back to Kansas. It was raining on us as we left Marion County. By the time we got to the interstate, it had quit and we buzzed right along to Salina on dry pavement.
About 13 minutes after we pulled onto I-70, the rain started again and it stayed with us in varying degrees for the next three days. And it got cold. The farther west we went, the colder it got. And I had ignored my own advice — I didn't take a sweater.
Since we were pulling a trailer on this trip, we decided to skip the challenge of navigating Denver traffic and we launched ourselves north through eastern Colorado at Limon. Egad — what a desolate 75-mile stretch of highway! That area is a phenomenon unto itself. Travelers whine about western Kansas being uninhabited and boring. Ha! They've obviously never seen that little corner of the world.
There is absolutely nothing there. I mean really nothing. At one point I turned to the mister and asked, "What time do you think you would have to leave to pick up your date for the prom if you lived out here?" He said, "Wednesday." I think he is probably right.
There is not even any trash along that highway. No one who drives it has been to a McDonald's or a Burger King in recent memory. They have nothing to toss out the window.
And there are no birds. Not a one. You know how you drive down a country road and there are birds on the fence posts, hawks swooping out of the sky, or flocks of sparrows diving for the left over grain in the fields? Well, there are none on that bleak piece of real estate. There are no ponds, no creeks, no trees, no hedgerows, no nothing for nesting or sustenance. Thus, I guess no birds. It is a barren section of the Midwest. I bet it has never been featured as the "go to" place in any tourist magazine. I bet even Colorado ignores it.
In addition to the thrill of trying to find signs of life in Eastern Colorado, we were among the privileged Labor Day travelers paying more than two dollars a gallon for gas. I think that was a first for us.
And we discovered that Colorado has the same state symbol for summer as Kansas — the orange construction barrel. Always amusing and challenging on a long trip, they are even more fun to maneuver around in a driving rain when you are sandwiched between two 18-wheelers! I assume that since we paid such an inflated price for the gasoline to get us from one set of barrels to another, the roads will be finished more quickly. Sure they will.
I'm ready to stay home for awhile. The holiday weekend was a glut of fun and excitement. Hope all of you enjoyed it too.
— Susan Marshall
