Grand Junction to Denver

When we reached Colorado it was dark, but that full moon continued to illuminate the snow on the mountains and I can't say enough how gorgeous the landscape was. We hit patches of fog and finally stopped for gas when it was really thick. We decided to grab a bite to eat at the AandW in the gas station and even the service and food there was better than we expected. It is always nice when someone willingly goes out of their way for you and we experienced that more often than not throughout this trip.

When we got back on the road the fog had mysteriously lifted. About the time we started hitting tight curves and tunnels, we also hit light snow. We noted how pretty Vail and Breckenridge were as we passed them in the night, but Vivian kept one eye on her rear view mirror as we turned and descended to make sure none of the semis got too close. I give her some major props because 30 miles of that would have been a little nerve wracking for anyone but you'd never know it to see her.

We arrived in Georgetown (just west of Denver) and decided to stay there for the night so we could see Denver in the daylight. The Super 8 was even cute with its chalet feel. That night we wanted to update but for some weird reason I could get wifi on my ipod but Viv couldn't get it on her laptop. So we checked the weather and sighed with relief that everything seemed to be clear the rest of the way home. Then turned in so we could get a decent start the next morning.

Our room at the Super 8

The view. Wanted to check out Mad Mike's but either the snow was fresh or the river was high and he was closed- at least that's what it said on the sign.

In the morning we admired the view and grabbed our free breakfast at the motel before setting our sights on Denver. We stopped at a Walmart to get the essentials: cheap sunglasses, trashy magazines, sangria. We didn't realize that 76 was going to come up before Denver so we missed out on actually seeing Denver itself. We expected to see foothills most of the rest of the way until we got to Nebraska but we were wrong. We weren't on 76 long before the scenery turned into flat grasslands. It felt like we left Colorado without saying a proper goodbye even though we hadn't actually left Colorado. I believe it is one place we're all destined to return. We all grabbed a tourist magazine at the hotel and I bet we each plan a future vacation there. Maybe someone else could buy a car so we could get a vacation? Any volunteers?