Lots of days led up to these three days. They were mine to use. And I did. As best I could! Let me tell you a little bit about these three days in September.
I blame a race in Leadville CO and a bunch of cyclists who got an idea two years ago and did something about it in 2015. I have to share in the blame too since I have now driven my VW Westy from Toronto to the middle of Colorado (& further west) for a 3rd time. All to meet Andrea here… destinations Moab, Leadville and now Fruita. So here I am.
The days before – well the weeks before! – were all prep for getting on the road. The objective was being in Denver by noon on Sept. 28 and I couldn’t leave before Sunday morning (the 25th). I’m in a suburb of Denver now. My plans didn’t work out tonight so I’m going to enjoy a shower in the morning. The state park I had planned on spending the night at was full and I hadn’t planned on that. It was too far a drive to find another, the local Walmart doesn’t permit camping, so a room for the night.
Lots of changes were in the works in the weeks leading up to this trip. Some major changes including a new turbo charger which I generally don’t like to do before a “race”. So far so good though! And I just got a message from Andrea that she’s in Chicago with the first leg of the flight done and the next soon to start. She arrives here a little before 2pm (8:30am as I write this).
It’s about 1,500 miles from home to here. And I feel pretty good about having driven the full way in 3 days. Keep in mind that old VW’s don’t go fast so a mile a minute was the plan. That’s still 25 hours of driving plus stops for gas, food, and the occasional photo. And here I am.
Day 1: 678 miles, 1 province & 3 states. Slept in a huge parking lot and didn’t even hear all the trucks!
Day 2: 530 miles & 3 states. Passed a sign on Hwy 36 that said “Geographic center of the United States”. Slept in a motel after watching the presidential debate.
Day 3: 250 miles & 2 states. The state park I wanted to spend the night in was full so another night not in my camper.
Now let me share a few of the photos.
