In retrospect, googlemaps was right to recommend 80>25. It really is a quicker, smoother drive, even if a bit longer in distance. But as Marianna has posted, that eastward drive was -- for us -- boring enough to drive us almost crazy. And of course it doesn't help that our 50-something bodies aren't built for sitting in a car that many hours at a stretch, or at a series of stretchless stretches. Then lo and behold, you turn south on 25 into Colorado, and everything looks -- and even smells -- better. That state would have felt welcoming, even if we didn't have a daughter waiting for us. For experience's sake, I'm glad we chose another route back: 70>50. Highway 70, through the Colorado Rockies and along the Colorado River, was worth every sitting moment. And this was a perfect time to take that drive: we dropped Liana off at a Denver light rail station (for work) around 4:30, then got to chase the sun through the mountains for the next few hours. Gorgeous. (I hope M posts some pics....) The Plan was to head to Moab, UT for the night and visit Arches National Park in the a.m. But 'twas not to be: from Grand Junction, we called one Moab h/motel after another after another after..., and there was a grand total of zero vacancies. So we kept going west, spending Sunday night in Green River, followed by the longest single drive -- and therefore, of course, the worst day -- of our vacation, as we crossed most of both Utah and Nevada on "The Loneliest Road in America." Even with 2 of us trading shifts, it was too much. Marianna hates driving in general, night-driving in particular, and night-driving after an entire day of driving borders on Unspeakable Horror. So as we zoomed through the endless, dark desert, trying to dodge whatever rodents were scampering across the road, it became clear that the fantasy of making it all the way home on Monday would have to remain just that. It would have been impossible anyway: with an hour or so between tiny towns, we began stopping at each one, if only to get out of the car for a while. Several highlights among those stops: an actual salad bar in Delta, Utah, followed by a coffee-to-go at possibly the oddest retail establishment I've ever visited. It seemed to be making a vague attempt at creating an 'alternative' cafe/bookstore atmosphere, with fancy coffee drinks, internet-access PCs, a coupla couches.... But the books were by only 3 authors (Anne Rice was one), and the floor-to-ceiling air conditioner was (understandably) blasting away -- and blowing in a scent that resembled... maybe something like fried fish? Onward... our last worthwhile stop was in Austin, NV, where we walked around enough to chat with some nice local folks, have dinner, and head off into a too-early sunset. We chose Fallon as our final stop for the night -- only to find that all hotel rooms were booked. (A nearby air base needed them.) So we made the rounds among the cheap motels and found a room at the cheapest ($49 for the 3 of us), which was seedy enough that someone was arrested just outside of our window shortly after we checked in.
But we made it! Thanks so much to Liana for hosting and spending time with us, and being our late-night tour guide through Boulder, and to Toby for being our companion, driver, and DJ. As much as we enjoyed the vacation as a whole, I think my favorite times were the nights we hung out together as a reunited nuclear family -- talking, walking, eating, and eventually falling asleep.
OK, now to figure out how to re-enter life here in Nevada City....
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