Colorado Road Trip

Well, I was barely home from the Caribbean a week before I got the itch to get going again. 

I got Jason and Kelli all moved in to their new house, but my moms move was delayed another week.  Just enough time for a little Colorado road trip to get some winter skiing in!

I threw some stuff in my good 'ole Honda Pilot (okay, way too much stuff...) and took off early Tuesday morning.

 

Front passenger seat full of food!

As much as I love Kansas, there just isn't much to look at if you're driving along I-70.  The road is flat and straight and looooong...

There are lots of wheat and corn fields, and a few wind farms.  And that's it.  Literally. 

I guess I forgot how windy western Kansas can be.  When I stopped for gas, I about blew over! And the closer I got to Colorado, the colder it got, too.  I left Kansas City in flip-flops and shorts.  That didn't cut it for long.

More of this...

 

...and then more of the same.  Even in "colorful" Colorado!

Eastern Colorado is just as boring as western Kansas, just with a little more traffic, and a few more curves.  It only gets better once the mountains come in to view.

 

I made it to Denver in the afternoon, and traffic was already getting bad.  Thankfully I made it through before the actual rush hour hit, but I still had some stop and go moments on the way.

The clouds started to get thicker and lower as I kept driving east, but I didn't think much of it.  I had checked the weather before I left and there was just a chance of some light snow.

The higher up in the mountains I got, the more worried I got.  It just didn't look good up ahead...

And sure enough, about an hour past Denver, this is what I was driving in.  And this wasn't the worst of it.  This was just a spot where I felt safe enough to take a picture while I was driving.  :)

The roads got icy and the visibility was terrible.  It's actually one of the scarier times I've had driving.  Talk about white knuckles on the steering wheel...that was me for half an hour making it up and over the mountains around Keystone/Breckendridge/Vail.

Thankfully, the storm cleared up as I got closer to Glenwood Springs.  The valley was just beautiful with the fresh snow and sun light.

I got off I-70 in Glenwood Springs and headed south towards Aspen.  Mount Sopris just outside of Carbondale is one of my favorite Colorado mountain views.  That thing is just a beast!

I made it to Whole Foods in Basalt (just outside of Aspen) around 7pm - 12 hours of driving was enough for one day.  And it was definitely time for some real food for dinner, as opposed to the snacks I'd had all day while driving. 

I walked around some shops and checked out some ski boots (I need to buy new skis and boots since I lost mine in the house fire) before heading back to Carbondale to wait for Jackie, my Couchsurfing host, to get done coaching high school soccer.

I didn't take any more pictures that night, but Jackie picked me up around 8 and we went out for dinner -- again -- to a little Mexican restaurant in Carbondale.  She has a super cute little one room studio apartment with just enough floor space for a twin size air mattress for me to sleep on, and she's a super kind and SUPER fun chick!  

Can't wait for some adventures in/around the Aspen area the next couple of days!