3500 Miles: Day Four

Day Four seemed simple enough. We were done with the small states. Only big states to go. This day was all about going from Kansas City, KS, across I-70 to Colorado, then heading up around Denver to Longmont, where my uncle has a ranch. This was the first day without any cities to go through, without much at all to go through, just Kansas.

It was hot, though, and windy. There was a strong wind from the south the whole day, a hot wind that pushed so hard against the truck that by the end of the day, the steering wheel was turned several inches from battling to stay on the road.

Plus, the heat and the slow uphill climb towards the Rockies caused the truck to almost overheat. We were in the farmlands of Western Kansas when we nearly got stuck. Fortunately, we stopped a few times and all was good. One of those stops was at a drive-in fast food chain where we saw a woman driving a pick-up truck, trailing a beat-up little two-door, with a dummy in the passenger seat. That doesn't sound so strange now, but 500 miles from any city big enough for a carpool lane, it was odd.

Reaching Colorado was a huge milestone. We'd cross the halfway mark. We were in the Rocky Mountain Time Zone. We weren't in Kansas anymore. But then, there were still a couple of hours until Longmont, the first couple looking a lot like Kansas.

I lived in Denver for about a year in 2001/02. I didn't have a car, but I'm pretty sure the toll-based bypass road didn't fully exist then. Somebody went and built a road around Denver with toll booths every couple of miles. We hit the first one, paid $6, thought ok, so it goes. Then, a few miles later, another $6. Then another. And we were only going about a quarter of the way around the city.

By this time, the big scary mountains were in view. M-N, never a heights-enthusiast, and I, thinking about the truck barely making up the hills of Kansas, were cautious. Of course, driving to my uncle's ranch, near Boulder, were close to some of the biggest mountains in the range. (Fortunately, we'd head north to Wyoming the next day.)

This ended up being the second longest day of the trip, one we were glad to have over, finally reaching the ranch, sitting by the pool, relaxing for a bit. This ended up being the breaking point for long, grueling days. If this was The Oregon Trail, we'd have to adjust the pace after this day (and maybe do more hunting).

There were mountains ahead. And Mormons. And casinos. And, eventually, California.