As if I’m not confused enough trying to keep calendar dates straight, this week I’ve been on the borderline of Central Time and Mountain Time, which “smart” phones and laptops that want to switch between them so I am never sure what the correct time is! I end up googling “What time is it in Denver?” at least once a day! It is fitting, then, that today I’ll make Denver, after five hours or so of highway driving.
Let’s recap this crazy week:
Wednesday: Drove 170 miles south from Minnesota to SE of Des Moines.
Thursday: Drove 100 miles south and west to a different park. Quieter, water views, and a massive sunset bird party.
Friday: Drove 120 miles to a suburban state park SW of Omaha.
Mon: Drove 300 miles straight west, or pretty much the length of Nebraska. Since the goal was just getting it done, I stuck to I-80 and averaged about 60 mph for the duration. Taking a walk break every 1-2 hours makes the trip slightly longer but definitely more pleasant.
If you’re keeping track, that’s 690 miles in a week, which is the most I’ve done in quite a while. And that 300 mile day was the longest one in a while, too. One more slog (230 miles) and I’ll be in Denver and sitting pretty for a week. Whew!
Now let’s recap the week in way more pleasant terms:
Thursday at Elk Rock State Park in Iowa: There must have been a couple hundred birds playing in the treetops before sunset. The noise was incredible!
Friday: Although my two-night stay was at a fully packed campground, the park itself was huge and had a lot of walking paths so I enjoyed those a lot. And I finally saw a red-leaved tree. It was awesome!
Saturday: Cold and windy so I went into town and saw probably the worst disaster movie ever released on the big screen: Geostorm. Truly awful, but the lounger seat and popcorn eased my disappointment. This movie was big-budget but way worse than anything SyFy channel has every put out there.
Sunday: Ah, the day of endless driving. That’s one shot in the cover photo…
… and another one, this of the Archway Historical Exhibit. It spans the freeway. And it’s just butt-ugly. Nebraska, you can do better than this.
Monday and Tuesday: After surviving two full days of howling wind that made whitecaps on the lake and Breeze rock and roll a bit, the silence when it finally stopped was golden. And so was the sunset.
After tearing through three states, it will be quite nice to hang out in Denver for a week, seeing family and friends and enjoying below-freezing weather. OK, maybe not that last bit. I’m pretty sure Denver hates me: snow in late April and perhaps this week again. Oh, well, it will be worth it to see my little sister turn 60 🙂
I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Thank you for making such a huge effort to be here with me!! Glad that you saw your red tree,
(harder to find than you’d think!), and made it safely.
Huge Hugs and thank yous for the best birthday ever!! ❣️❣️
(Bummer on the crazy weather; Denver does have a “thing” for you…).
Ah, good point. I do need time to schedule some things, and also on days when I’m moving, I like to leave by x time and the campground does too 🙂
Beautiful photos, and except for your mention of it, you did not mention one instance where the exact time was really necessary …
I truly enjoy reading your travel blog. I think of ‘Travels with Charlie’ John Steinbeck each and every time. Best.
I read Geostorm is expected to lose $100M.