to the mountains

We knew the drive would  be long and sometimes on winding roads but it was one worth making. When folks asked why Denver? I would respond Mary has never seen the Rockies in person, so we must go and see them together. As plans were being formulated our oldest daughter Ashley would join in as she had never been to this area either even though she had been to many other places in her world travels. Unfortunately, having it be a family affair did not happen as circumstances did not quite work out that way.
Yes, we are retired, so we had time to drive and a relatively new vehicle to do it in. So once that was decided we had to come up with accommodations. We had never booked our own air bnb nor stayed in one although Ashley had experience with them she let me take the lead. I came up with one just 10 minutes outside downtown Denver in Lakewood neighborhood. On website it appeared in a decent area although one review said area around it was questionable even though it appeared there was a park, walking trail right beside the place which was a little bungalow with a cute little patio area outside. perfect for 3. I booked it as the price was right for our budget. Ashley would go along with it. She was excited as she found out Brandi Carlile was playing 3 shoes in a recently opened venue in Denver during our stay. We had all seen her in Boston couple years before and are big fans. Bonus!! Tickets were purchased for Friday night.
September had been a busy month for us and this would end up the month for a projected 9-10 day trip leaving a little leeway time. We headed out early September 24 sunny and a bit warm wanting to get as far as we could on the first leg which we planned for nights on the road.Indiana, Illinois flew by without any bad traffic and we breezed over the Mississippi River and into Iowa in the afternoon. Temp was mid 80's and climbing. Storms were brewing on the horizon.

But we we were lucky and the tornadoes stayed away from us. We did a quick booking from the phone for the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa on the border with Omaha, Nebraska.. After a long 8 hours plus of driving and a scramble to hit the right exit we realized our quick booking was not the best choice as we had a problem even finding an entrance so not liking the vibe we called and were able to cancel and we found a better place nearby. The Missouri River runs through this area and we found out much of traffic is rerouted or roads were still closed from Spring flooding. A nice place for dinner was found nearby and the first night on the road was in the books. Our goal tomorrow Northeast Colorado and less driving?
I rarely sleep well on the road so more often than not I am up and ready to hit the free breakfast before Mary but she did pretty well this trip and we were usually on road by 9:30.We were fortunate again as it was sunny and forecasted to be another day in the 80's. Omaha was in the rearview quickly and we were into the wide open spaces of Nebraska. Haystacks, trucks, farms,cornfields, silos, and cattle repeated over and over as we drove on Interstate 80 west through the occasional small town but literally land as far as an eye can see on a grander scale than most Midwestern states that border Michigan. Our day was going smooth ahead of our loose schedule until we ran into a major backup just before I-76 towards Denver. Then as I saw extent of backup I did something I would not usually do but the median was fairly low and I made a UTurn on median headed back to closest exit where my WAZE map system told me there was a detour to take. That set us on a real back road adventure that not even the GPS had an answer for.The road our detour told us to take back to hi way was blocked by state cop directing us down the road. Soon the narrow state 2 lane we were on going west ws filled in both directions. Of course up ahead of us was a WIDE LOAD caravan too wide for this road kicking up dust and semis coming other way had to go off road to avoid the manufactured  home being towed. This lasted a few miles of slow, vision impaired driving until they pulled over and let others pass. This diversion through some real small towns took us by a historical marker for some wagon trains headed west in the 1800's. We could only imagine those times traveling along the North Platte River with a caravan of hopes and dreams and hardship.  After a hour or so of guessing how to best return to I-76 mainly by using the old technology of our 2006 USA Road Atlas and stopping to ask someone in Sydney, Nebraska we headed south to meet up with I-76. Just before nightfall after another  8 hours of driving we pulled into "historic" Fort Morgan, Colorado.Denver was almost in our sights.

 Fort Morgan is a historic town settled to protect emigrants and supply lines along the Overland Trail headed west. This night I was going to try a "less expensive" room in a mom and pop style motel. . It was small, had cable so we could watch the Country Music doc on PBS, and was close to food and gas.Not many others stayed here that night cept for one little cockroach that surprised me in the middle of the night. Note to self, these types of places are hit and miss, buyer beware.After a restless sleep for me the next day dawned sunny and predicted to be warm again.

long trains that stretch the landscape
night trains moans that tell the story of a place
tracks taking someone something somewhere
across this land your land