We stayed overnight in a nice hotel in downtown Colorado Springs. It was late and dark for a few hours before we arrived. We know we were in the mountains, climbing up and over along the Colorado border. After leaving the hotel, we rounded a street corner, and boom mountain! I guess we forgot where we were.
We stopped for our obligatory Starbucks run, looking for one on the way and not in a grocery store. It’s our experience the grocery stores don’t do as well, plus we like drive-thrus. As we were pulling in, Amanda was failing her navigator duty, so I looped around for her to get the mobile order in. Pulling up, I asked, you did select this store, right? Nope, two oat milk flat whites were sitting in Amarillo waiting for us. The barista was friendly and just made them for free, and we also received an oat milk apple concoction that was a mistake by someone else.
Off to Pikes Peak, don’t follow Siri; she takes you to the cog rail and hiking trailhead! After following a pleasant parking attendant’s instructions, we made it with only a few in line ahead, waiting to go up. There was a high wind advisory, so we wouldn’t be allowed to make a run to the summit, only mile 13 of the 19 and about 11,500 feet in altitude. Without much traffic, we could space out where we didn’t see the truck in front of us, and after a bit, the car behind realized what I was doing and backed off as well.
It was a nice mid-60s day in Colorado Springs, but at that high altitude, it was in the low 30s. The high wind would make it feel bitter too. We looked around the visitors center, just expensive touristy junk, and got a few pictures next to a hall rock cliff and headed back down. We looked like Patagonia sponsors, both wearing our puffers. They were warm, but without much on beneath, it was still cold. Amanda’s nose was running, and her cheeks were red!
This detour put us a few hours behind, but the views going down were worth it.
Once getting to the bottom, I knew Amanda probably had to go potty, but my girl wasn’t about to go into the nonheated outhouse. It was perhaps a good call because the typical park compostable toilet was a little drafty for me with all the wind! I met with a wooden Sasquatch outside for a photo op on the way back to the car.
We stopped for lunch in Denver, about what you’d expect in downtown Denver, a hipsterish place. I got in well with my shorts sleeves and wool beanie on. The food was good, but the portions were tiny for plant based meals. When eating as we do, we consume vast amounts because the calories typically aren’t high. At least for actual whole food; not all the fake plant based meats and cheeses you see in the grocery stores, we avoid those. It was nice to have plant based options, but it set us on a day of being bottomless pits!
Traffic was terrible from Colorado Springs to our lunch spots, then for another hour to Ft Collins. Before leaving Denver, we did make a grocery store run for road snacks later on. We stopped once the traffics died down and fueled up. Then head west on I80, the same interstate that runs across the state where I’m at in Iowa. I knew we were at that latitude because I started seeing Kum and Go gas stations, Taco John’s, and -30 degree whaler fluid, all staples in Iowa!
I put it on an Americana station on Amazon music that was popping; it was enough county to keep Amanda likings it and enough folk for me. Listening for hours, we drove west with a heavy crosswind for what seemed like forever. Just the other side of Laramie, we got into 30-degree temperatures, and the snow flurries started. At first, just a light blowing of snow on the road, but by Rawlings, most was white. A gas store clerk said the snow started the night before.
At Rawlings, we turned and started heading north. I called another Texas railroad borrowout that had been in the area to check on him. We hired out together, and I missed the Rawlings call with the cutoff being ten, and I was 11 right behind my friend on the seniority roster. About 250 miles showed left on the GPS as we made a mad dash for a Thai restaurant in Lander.
Bottomless pit mode was still active, and we wanted soup. We are such opposites. Amanda got Tom Yum, a broth-based soup, and I had Tom Kha, a slightly creamy coconut-based soup. Both loaded with veggies, of course. Amanda eats the broth saving the veggies for the end, and I eat the veggies and save the broth, polar opposites. A couple of spring rolls, lettuce, veggies, and noodles wrapped in rice paper, accompanied our Toms.
We wheeled out and continued north. I thought we were out of town, increasing my speed. When I saw the oncoming SUV burst into red and blue lights figured my choice to speed up was a bad one. I looked down at my speed, 50, and glanced over at the GPS speed limit, 30, and knew I was getting a ticket. The officer was friendly, returning the ticket, saying he only wrote me up for ten over. It seemed to be easy; there was an envelope with instructions. Only a $100 fine, I got a $10 discount for having my seat belt on. Much more straightforward to deal with a local city cop than a highway patrol. He told us how to get where we were going and where to watch for deer, and we were on our way.
We could have turned it in there, we were about done. The extra two and a half hours were kicking us in the rear. We started gaining elevation and hit heavy snow. Climbing up the continental divide, it only was worse thick snow cover, and I could only see a hundred yards or so in the blowing snow. We were driving between 30 and 40 and very cautiously. I’d passed a truck miles and miles before, a local, with distinct headlights. He was far back and never gained on us; I only saw his headlights a few times. This made me feel better about my choice of a slower speed. I was far more worried about the descent than the climb; I did not dare hit the brakes going down.
The Subaru did great; one thing you don’t hear much praise about with these vehicles is the upholstery. It’s tough; I figured it would have a hold in the driver’s seat after a nighttime snowstorm continental divide crest. Let’s just say the pucker factor was high on that 30-mile stretch! Pitch black, snow-covered roads, blowing snow at 20 degrees, tiered, and on your 13th hour of driving wasn’t fun, but oh, the memories.
Once leveling off, we were in the Tetons and arrived at our snow-covered cabin. It wasn’t red roof inn, no light on. The heat wasn’t on either, but it didn’t take long to warm up as we shuffled around unpacking a few things. It took two trips to unload the car, one load with their “luggage cart,” a wooden wheelbarrow. It worked well but didn’t handle as the Subaru did; I couldn’t keep it on the narrow path. Then off to bed, it was.