October 15-22: I left Danbury on a Saturday morning, heading to Boulder, Colorado and staying the first three nights at Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. My original plan for Fall travel was to go to the southeast, visiting North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. I would head farther west tie permitting.
Going south had less driving, and it had some practical advantages over a trip west. The southeast had campgrounds available with two-week blocks of time. Most of these were Army Core of Engineer Campgrounds, while others were National Forest Service or National Park Service. A common factor in selecting these places is that most provided a hookup for electric. I could use my electric heater, refrigerator, and I would always have lights and plugs for any devices. In contrast to this, out west most of the parks I would visit had campgrounds with sparse availability, so it might be a challenge staying at them. Most of them did not have electricity, so I would have to rely on my generator and battery power, which would prove to be a challenge of sorts.
About a week before the start date, I changed my mind on the destination. Putting the practical aside, my heart was wanting to go to Boulder and see friends, even if briefly, and then spend time in Utah, as October is a great time to visit. Marcus Irrek and I went to Utah in October 1988. The weather was great, and we had the time of our life visiting national parks. So, for this trip, I went with my feelings, cancelling the reservations I had for the southeast.
On day one of my drive west, I took I-84 out of Danbury, CT, going through parts of NY State and Pennsylvania, picking up I-81 in Scranton and driving south until I could change over to I-80. I stayed on I-80 until I stopped around midnight at the last rest area on the Ohio Turnpike, outside of Unity. I pulled in with the big rigs, lowered the shades on the van windows, and I had a solid, six-hour sleep. It was still dark when I woke and got back on the highway. I watched the day lighten, with the sunrise in my sideview mirror, as I drove farther west.
On day two, I continued on I-80 driving through Indiana and Illinois before entering Iowa. I stayed overnight at the last rest stop on I-80 in Iowa, near the town of Underwood. It got chilly overnight, down around 30, but I was plenty warm in my sleeping bag. There are plenty of windmill farms in Iowa!
On day three, I crossed into Nebraska in the early morning, beating rush hour through Omaha. Later in the day, I stopped at a rest area, near Roscoe. I liked the view of the highway from there, so I moved my chair out on to a grassy area, and I sat and watched traffic run by for about half an hour. Trucks and cars of all types and colors, the country and its people moving from place to place, on business, for pleasure, doing a thousand different tasks.
I was within distance of making it to Longmont before sunset, and I arrived with about 30 minutes of daylight remaining. The air above the front range cities looked very dirty. There was a substantial haze that had me shaking my head and thinking how this phenomenon was a disappointment.
That night, I walked around the local environment. There was a lot of commercial activity in the area, strip malls, grocery stores, movie theatres, all the major chains seemed to have a presence. I had never known Longmont to be like that. It was like being in Boulder or Louisville/Superior. I got an ice cream cone at McDonald’s.
Next day, Tuesday, October 18, I rode my bike from the campground up to a little mountain town, Ward. Ward is a very small town on the Peak-to-Peak Highway, at the base of Brainard Lake Road. It was 52 miles roundtrip. The ride goes up Left Hand Canyon, plenty of climbing. Total time: 4 hours 10 minutes; 4,300’ climbing; high altitude 9,178’. It was not a hard ride, except for the final two miles. Much of the climb was 4%-7%, with substantial in the 8% range. But the final two miles had plenty of 10% or more, and that took some effort!
Next day, Wednesday, October 19, I rode my bike into Boulder on CO 119. There is a lot of traffic on that road! They have a bike path, but it is not paved, it’s gravel, and with my bike that’s not going to work. There was a pretty strong headwind riding to Boulder, tailwind going back. One must become familiar with and accept the ways of the wind. There are just some days it cannot be avoided. I went to Breadworks and saw my friend Denise for about an hour. I had a muffin and some tea while sitting at a table and watching people parking their cars or locking up their bikes, going to and from various places, and walking into stores. There were a couple families and some others getting ice cream. It was a hot day, a good day for ice cream.
The Boulder set is an interesting mix. On one end of the spectrum, there are the homeless. On the other end, there are the very rich, millionaires and then some. They all seem to mix together in a combination of clothing and color and transportation types. And at times, it seems hard to distinguish one from the other based just on appearances.
On Thursday, October 20, I drove to Louisville, where I stayed with my friend Liz for a couple nights. We did hikes Thursday and Friday. One day we went to a park off of RT 93, in an area I used to hike near Bluebell Trail. Another day, we went to a trail not too far from her house. It was a very dog friendly park, too. So, we took her friendly dog, Ivy, both days, of course.
On Friday, I rode my bike to see Denise again, from Louisville to downtown Boulder on trails along old familiar roads. It was very windy, too. I spent about an hour with Denise and Dave, then came back to Liz’s. She and her son had gone to a Marvel movie. Later that evening, I took the bus to Boulder and met Jonathan and Marty, two friends from Harvest Restaurant & Bakery days years ago.
On Saturday morning, I got up early and Liz joined me for some morning cereal, after which I left for Grand Junction and Colorado National Monument.
That's a practical description of some activities and fun stuff. There's always more to the story ... like ... how does all this feel, what do these travels and experiences do for one's spirit and heart? That's another story, next time ... :-)
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