Stage Three: Fort Collins, Colorado

Depart: Courtyard by Marriott, Grand Junction, Colorado
Arrive: Residence in by Marriott, Fort Collins, Colorado
Miles Traveled: 299.5

It was supposed to be an easy, stress free day.

Distance-wise it was the shortest day of the entire trip ~ but that was just the distance we traveled horizontally, and therein lies the source of the stress I felt.

You see as much as I like my car, in the final analysis it is a four-cylinder compact. As such it was never intended do things like climb the Continental Divide. At a tad under 11,500 feet in elevation my little Corolla was going too fast to follow behind the big rigs that were crawling but too slowly to pull out and pass.

Then there was the 8% grade coming down the other side.

All-in-all it was a white-knuckle day at the wheel.

I will say that once we arrived in Fort Collins we were very pleasantly surprised at how nice the community is. Three friends attended college at Colorado State University, and have always had good things to say. However, another friend ~ a super-duper good friend ~ absolutely hated it, so we weren't certain what to expect.

There was lots of shopping, plenty of golf courses, and two of the largest non-chain cycling stores I've ever seen (along with the widest, most accommodating bike lines a person on a bicycle could ever hope for).

We made quit trips to the grocery store and REI (Christine needed another pair of shoes ~ two simply was not enough), and were quite enamored with the area.

Super-duper friend's cred is may be doubt.

Next we travel to Rapid City, South Dakota ~ look for an update soon!

Stage Two: Grand Junction

Depart: Kachina Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park
Arrive: Courtyard by Marriott, Grand Junction, Colorado
Miles Traveled: 438.7

After having traveled a number of state roads through Arizona and Utah, I have decided that the thing I look forward to most on this trip is getting to drive home on Interstate 5 from San Francisco to SoCal. Ahhhh, four, sometimes five lanes! Right now it seems like a heavenly idea.

Certainly the scenery that we were able to drink in while traveling north was lovely ~ we passed through the Painted Desert (easy to see why it was given that name), and eventually came upon Monument Valley. That was amazing ~ it did not appear to be real. Here is a taste of what we saw:






So, the things we experienced were spectacular ~ but are two lanes in each direction too much to ask for? Or perhaps a serviceable shoulder? I never thought I would be so excited to see I-70 again. It's not that I've never driven on narrow, two-lane roads it's just that I do not enjoy it very much.

One other thing I learned was not to go nine hours without stopping for food. I was not that hungry, nor were the kids, but by the time we pulled into the hotel parking lot Christine was very displeased with me.

Important tip for long road trips ~ keep the spouse happy.

Saturday is another travel day, but the shortest of the entire vacation. We'll be moving from Grand Junction up to Fort Collins, as we get ourselves into position to get to Rapid City, South Dakota on Sunday.

Thanks for keeping tabs on us, another update tomorrow!