Eclipse over and it's time to hit the road. Up until now
I've been shocked by the lack of crowds, but as Robert Frost once observed
"Nothing Gold Lasts"... We had returned to the Wind River cabin by
1:15 ish and made our grateful good-byes by 1:30. This would normally have put
us into Denver around 8:00 PM. Enter crowds. It started slowly, but once it got
going we quickly became part of a never-ending caravan heading out of Wyoming
to the south. The vast majority of drivers had Colorado plates. And guess what?
I hate Colorado drivers! They are impatient, arrogant, rude, fowl mouthed and
fowl gesturing gits...each and every one! I had been warned of this, and
thought it prudent not to paint with too broad a brush--but I was wrong--even a
roller isn't wide enough!
At one point, staring 8.4 miles west of Muddy Gap (which is
just a fork in the road with a truck stop) it took me two hours to inch our way
to and past the fork. I managed to make it to Rawlins where I was able to get
gas and then waiting another 20 minutes in line for use of a restroom--and the
gods help whoever's job it was to clean that place!
I got to Laramie about 30 minutes after dark and then turned
south again 287 only to come to a stop again. This time it was only about an
hour to traverse a distance of 7 miles... Entering Colorado, I was also
concerned because I do NOT like to drive in the dark, and here I was on a
strange highway full of twists and turns and a lot of other anxious traffic. It
was a bit nerve racking, I'll admit. Add to that the fact that I had not packed
food for the drive, so had a couple of granola health bars, an orange and some
watermelon flavored hard candy for caloric intake. Fortunately, I can manage
going without food for periods of time like a day. I've always been able to do
that.
Getting into Fort Collins, I decided to go with the gps that
plotted an off hwy route into Denver that was 11 minutes faster! But everytime
I got a glimpse of the freeway and the glow of taillights going nowhere fast, I
accepted the odd turns and sometimes confusing surroundings of the alternate
route.
I arrived at my hotel just after midnight.
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