Thursday, July 20, 2023
Stats: 429 miles driven, 8 hours driving, Jackson, Wyoming to Grand Junction, Colorado via Utah
Today was a travel day as we make our way towards our next stop in Colorado.
How can I describe my view from the passenger seat? Unbelievable. Constantly changing. Many different worlds. Beautiful. Mountains. Valleys. Desert-ish mountains. Sandy. Barren. Lush. Wheat and corn fields. Cowboys and cattle. Mindblowing variety.
We went from temperatures in the 50’s to 97 degrees. I’m confused on my geography, it is like a mountain desert here in northern Colorado. I did not expect that. Yes, the USA is in a heat wave, but the residential landscaping makes it clear that this is more desert than mountain. Grand Junction landscaping reminds me of what we see in St. Petersburg, Florida – lots of rocks, little grass, hot weather plants…
Wyoming continued to give me a down-to-earth vibe. Lots of land between homes, grazing land with cows and horses, small towns… We stopped in a quaint town for chai latte for me and flat white for Gregg. It was the best chai I’ve had in what feels like forever! The spices had a nice “bite” to them and it was just sweet enough to compliment the spice, not overpower it.
We drove over a dam and I thought about how my father would have loved to stop and check it out. Especially since there was a large gear or something on display at the visitor’s center. The blue of the water against the red rock and sparcely dotted greenery was a unique beauty, inviting and refreshing to see.
Just inside Colorado, we drove through Dinosaur. Wait, what? Google Maps just said to turn right onto “Stegosaurus Highway?!” Haha! And, look, there is a stegosaurus in front of the public library. They sure are having fun with this. Aparently, many dinosaur remains have been found in this area of Colorado as well as north of them in Utah. I also saw signs to view sea fossils. Who’d have guessed?
As if the typography hadn’t been varied enough, we suddenly found ourselves driving through a plain containing wheat fields with a combine harvesting it. There were corn fields on the opposite side. Of course, there were mountains on the distant horizon.
When we got to a mesa, there was a prairie dog on the shoulder of the road. It had its back to the road and was sitting on its haunches. Gregg and I both were sure it was holding binoculars, looking for something in the field. Haha! It never flinched as we drove by. It happened too quickly to catch a photo.
As we wound through a section of switch-backs, we passed a doe on the side of the road. She startled a bit when I put my window down to get her picture but she recovered quickly and gave me a nice pose.
I think that’s about it for the wild animal sightings today.
For those of you who tried to read yesterday’s blog post, the links in this morning’s email are messed up. MailerLite has fixed the issue if you get to my website and click on the BLOG tab. I resent the post this evening, with the full post in the email.
Tomorrow is another long day of driving, although we also plan to stop at Black Canyon first. We have a hotel reservation for Colorado Springs tomorrow night. This is turning into our Rocky Mountain vacation – Canada and US.
I’m glad Gregg likes to drive. I asked today, and he confirmed that he doesn’t get tired of driving. I couldn’t do it. I’m quite content in the passenger seat, gazing out the window, taking pictures, and serving snacks.
I have been listening to a book, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta, forward by Beth Allison Barr. It is enlightening, though provoking, and spawns good conversation.
I am brainstorming whether it might be a topic for children’s books – to share about the strong, amazing women in the Bible. It is easy to overlook them, yet they are clearly there, respected, appreciated and commended by Jesus and Paul. Wow!
That’s the nice thing about long road trips. It gives my mind time to settle and make space for brainstorming.
Until tomorrow.
