Mountains to Prairies

It is funny how at a certain point in any trip you switch into going home mode. We are now in the middle of the flat expanses of Kansas and driving hard to get home by Saturday night so that we will have Sunday to re-acclimatize and prepare for the world of work.

We spent a lazy morning at the Mesa Verde campground yesterday enjoying the last leisure of our trip and soaking far too long in the hot showers. The remainder of the morning we toured the Anazai cliff dwellings then started driving north-east again.

The poor van struggled up and over the many ten and eleven thousand foot passes through the Colorado mountains, climbing slowly in third gear and sometimes in second. We passed through beautiful ski resort towns nestled amoungst the mountains. They were contrasted by the quiet and decay of abandoned mining towns.

As dark fell and we came down out of the mountains, our mindset changed and we started driving to get somewhere instead of driving to see. We stopped for what will probably be our last good meal in Canon City at just after 9pm. The restaurant was closing, but the kind owners kept it open for us and we enjoyed a Mexican feast.

After dinner, Juliette crawled into the back to sleep and I drove into the night, through Colorado Springs and toward the I-70. By midnight I could not keep my eyes open any longer, so I parked at a truck stop, pulled the curtains and joined Juliette in the back for the night.

I woke slowly this morning and crawled out of bed as we were leaving Colorado for Kansas and Juliette was searching for our next tank of gas. We are now driving with purpose. There is nothing to look at except the horizon that we keep striving for, but never seem to reach.

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