Colorado
When I think of Colorado my mind fills with images of the Rocky Mountains, year round snow covered peaks, thick evergreen forests and golden Aspens. Driving into Colorado from Kansas is a little unsettling.
It looks just like Kansas, flat plains, fields of corn, the occasional oil well pumping away, and you listen to radio stations from Platte Nebraska. A road side sign lets you know if you climb a tower at the following exit you’ll be able to see six States. I figure this must be Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and New Mexico, but by now I’m really not sure.
It’s not until you reach Limon that the Rockies start to appear through the distance haze, and you feel confident you are in the correct State. By the time you reach the outskirts of Denver the Rockies are making a clear statement, and right outside the city Interstate 70 starts it’s hectic climb along with the temperature gauge of the vehicle.
Lots of history along the road, signs of tailings and mines, butted up against new rafting companies and homes. Over the Peak and the long slope down, past world famous ski resorts, they give the appearance that the recession hasn’t effected them. Lots of people on the golf courses and practicing their swings on the driving range, huge resort complexes draped in Tyvek under construction, and sailboats on Dillon Lake. But it could all be a sham, or maybe they know something we don’t.
Having lived most of my life in ski resorts I drive past the Vail’s, Beaver Creeks, and Copper Mountain’s and I wonder where all the workers live, and how far they have to drive to work every morning.
Then the long decent through the canyon, follow the Colorado and exit the Rockies. It seems so short and breathtaking, the type of road you travel on with the radio off to fully appreciate the surroundings.
