Getting to Colorado... It Ain't Easy

We've been AWOL for a few weeks. Sorry about that. I could say we've been busy and that's the truth, but more honestly, I just haven't felt like writing. The Muse has left the building, but perhaps she's returning... at least for the day.

Usually getting from Las Vegas to Denver isn't all that difficult. It's a long ride, 750+ miles, but we've driven it so many times in the past, we kind of do it on autopilot though some of the scenery is pretty spectacular. We have our usual places to stop and because our bodies don't tolerate really long driving days, we usually split it up into two days with an overnight stop in Grand Junction This trip was not a pleasure trip, but instead a business/working trip. I'll explain more in the future about that, but instead, I want to concentrate on the trip itself which was quite unsettling.

Not even two hours out of Las Vegas, just north of St. George, Utah on I-15, there was 1-1/2 hour delay due to a serious accident involving several cars. Wreckers and ambulances sped along the breakdown lanes as we waited rather impatiently to get moving. Traffic was at a standstill for miles. Our GPS directed us onto an exit that bypassed most of the backup. We never know whether to believe the GPS... more than once we've been led astray. This time, however, we drove along a serpentine road that somewhat paralleled the interstate. It was slower going and longer, but at least we kept moving and finally joined the highway again beyond the holdup.

One of the clearer moments driving along I-70.

We intersected with I-70 and began driving east. The sun was a dull orange orb. The chunk of highway between Green River and Richfield, Utah is usually picturesque, rugged landscape with brilliant red rock formations. It's usually almost surreal in contrast to a cerulean blue sky. Not today. Instead, the sky was a muted blue-gray, dulled by the pervasive smoke and soot of the wildfires to the west. We stopped briefly for a stretch, but the air was hard to breathe. It smelled second-hand, used and dirty. As we drove, the smoke was sometimes so thick it was like driving into a haboob sand cloud. As we entered Colorado, there were no mountain views, no sculpted white clouds in a crisp blue Rocky Mountain sky. There no views at all save endless brown smoke that melded into a gray-brown horizon with little discernible difference between earth and sky.

We continued on to Grand Junction and spent the night, but the usual 250 sail from Junction to Denver was also longer and more difficult. I-70 in the Glenwood Canyon area was closed in July due to a massive mudslide. The Colorado DOT was hoping to get the interstate open by ski season... months away! The detours north or south were long and convoluted. Most folks went north through Steamboat Springs, but we opted to go south along scenic US-50 through Montrose and Gunnison. We found to our amazement, that US-50 had also been closed for roadwork and repair due to rockfalls, but had just reopened to allow I-70 traffic through. It, too, was slow-going as we maneuvered curves and hills through canyons on rough, construction-area roads and single lane traffic corridors.

Usually stunning, but not today.

As we passed through the area, we thought it might be worthwhile coming back to visit some of the sights and national parks en route. Something to keep in mind. Our circuitous route finally led us to Aurora, a Denver suburb, where we planned on 'camping out' in our old, currently vacant homestead. Like I said, this wasn't going to be a pleasure trip.

In all, we probably detoured about 150, mostly smoke-and-soot-filled, miles to reach our destination. A sad and somewhat depressing journey. Flash floods, mudslides, out-of-control wildfires, drought, excessive heat, hurricanes, tornadoes... pandemic. What's next?