Monday, July 31, 2006

Get Out the Atlas

We left Colorado Springs this morning and went to Denver. We were only there a couple hours, then I dropped my son off in Evans, a small town about an hour north of Denver. Ten minutes or so later I was at a Starbucks, meeting an old West Point friend I hadn't seen in 21 years.

Then I took off up I-25 towards Cheyenne. Then I remembered that my dad told me of a road that went from Fort Collins directly to Laramie, which would cut off about an hour of driving. I found it--US 287--and drove it.

Breathtaking. I have no words to describe the isolated beauty of that stretch of highway. In fact, it was so amazing that I got a hotel room in Laramie so that I can see more during daylight hours tomorrow. Honestly, I didn't want to drive at night through this land.

Tomorrow I get on I-80 West. I'll stay with a friend in Salt Lake City tomorrow night, and then it's a mad dash from Salt Lake to Sacramento.

So far, excellent trip.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Darren:

Sounds like you are having a great trip. I made the drive from CA to Virgina and back last month and my favorite part was from Denver, CO to Green River, UT. This is the southern route and after the summit it follows the Colorado river through some so the most breathtaking canyons.

Have a save drive home.

Chris

Duez said...

Isn't it interesting how Starbucks has turned into an offical meeting center for people. I have met there this summer 3 times with new teachers to exchange ideas (and for me to give them my powerpoint notes).

Glad you are having a good trip. School starts soon!

Darren said...

I've driven the I-70 route many times; my usual route, and indeed the one we took this time, is US-50 across Nevada and Utah to meet I-70 at Salina, then take that straight to Denver.

I've never taken "the northern route", I-80, before. I'm looking forward to it.