Rocky Mountain High
Everybody sing along now, "And the Colorado Rocky Mountain High - igh."
It's not easy being a flat lander up here. Last night, Meagan got winded riding up in the elevator (yes riding, not climbing the stairs), and all three of my travel companions were cheap dates - feeling the effects of the alcohol after just one drink at 5000+ feet. We all slept great and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to journey on, though.
Today we drove from Denver to Salt Lake City. Actually, Devra drove from Denver to Rawlins and I drove from Rawlins to Salt Lake. Sarah and Meagan were a little concerned about "mountain driving." As we drove the fairly straight shot across Wyoming on I-80, I found myself feeling a little guilty about not taking them the I-70 route. Not that the Wyoming scenery wasn't new and beautiful to them, I just knew damn well the drive leading to the Eisenhower tunnel would have impressed the shit out of them! Maybe next time ladies. While I would never tried really hard not to laugh out loud at them, I did have to chuckle at comments like, "Wow, look at that. What is that?" To which I replied, "A rock formation." "How did it get there?" "I suppose that's just where it formed." And when I told them about how my kids like to drive up to Breckenridge with a bag of chips in the car so they can see if it explodes, they seemed a bit upset I hadn't brought a bag along for them to experiment with.
On the way, they anxiously looked for herds of any kind. We saw cows, lots of cows,
camels, lamas, sheep, horse, and a lone buffalo. We even saw an Emperor penguin! Unfortunately, the deer and the antelope were not playing at the lower elevations in this heat. Although, we all found the weather to be gorgeous - warm and dry! It's travels like these that remind me how lucky I am to live in such an incredibly beautiful part of the country.
Our arrival in Salt Lake brought us to a charming place called Hotel Monaco. We learned it was an old bank building and we all found it to be a warm welcome for our tired bodies. We did not, however, find our bug encrusted SUV grill and windshield to be either charming or welcoming.
Tomorrow, we are off to Reno! Lower elevation, a new time zone and... well, we'll just have to wait and see what another day on the road brings us.
Good night Sarah. Good night Meagan. Good night Devra. Good night John Boy. Good night Mary. Good night ma. Good night pa...
I have never been to Colorado, save for the Denver airport...but that doesn't count! I have heard it is just beautiful! Isn't it amazing how one can become so used to seeing things that are amazing to others?
Have a safe drive tomorrow!
Posted by: Queen of the Mayhem | July 16, 2008 at 04:56 AM
Good luck on the road today and win big in Reno!
Posted by: Mom at Work | July 16, 2008 at 06:23 AM
While in Reno visit the Grand Sierra Resort and tell them Joe from last year's Blog Tour sent you.
Posted by: Joseph Ferrara.sellsius | July 16, 2008 at 02:26 PM
oh Lord, i have had some of the worst hangovers of my life at altitude on ski trips. good call going to bed after one.
Posted by: Carrie | July 16, 2008 at 09:01 PM