We left the kids and headed south into Wyoming – on our way into Colorado.
There are a lot of fields to travel through between South Dakota and Wyoming.
Dropping into Colorado, the fun began.
It felt good to be in a snowless place – or almost. I did a short hike along the path and over the river.
This was a neat art installation at a park along a river – on our way to Estes Park CO.
It was fun seeing the mountain goats – near Rocky Mountain State Park. (Which was closed due to snow)
It was exciting to see this Elk – he was with a few ladies.
I walked down a few streets in Estes Park and happened upon a cool gallery. I LOVED the colors and the wonderful pieces of glass.
I can see how these would be super fun to create.
It was just fun to be in the presence of some cool art things!
We had a nice dinner at a Nepal Diner that evening. I had planned on going into town again in the morning, but….
We woke up to this sight out of our Hotel window. The night before you could see the mountains in the distance – now it was hidden behind the falling snow.
Falling snow.
And we had opted to take off the winter tires before leaving – so with summer tires and mountain roads. My option was to stay put. To weather out the late spring storm by exploring town and maybe going to see a movie.
My husband's idea was to drive out of it.
And, so we did.
Down the mountain roads winding and climbing – with cars and trucks racing past. Oh my heart. It was bad enough on the flat interstate – I had been in terror. Now. Now on the mountain roads. It was so insane- it was hysterical – funny but so not funny.
You never knew what was around the corner. More slush, more snow coming down, too many vehicles etc. Plus it felt to me – like we were all racing down the mountain. I purposely didn't look over to see how fast my husband was going. I tried to breathe calm into our car.
When there were snowbanks, I actually felt better. Something between me and the edge of the mountain. I would not have dreamed we would run into this sorta weather again – after the Fargo Bismarck stretch.
What was so triggering for me, was the unknown and weird way it would be. We'd go from dry roads and then back to slush. Just when I would think we'd be out of it, up over a summit we would go and more snow and slush.
Driving down from Estes Park into Boulder and down to Golden was all on slushy roads. Winding turning. We did not see the beauty that I am sure is there on a nice dry clear day. But, I was happy to be down – more or less. Well – I thought I was done with the snowy roads. They followed us through Vail and pass what I am sure are delightful sights – on a clear day.
West on I-70 we drove – with little surprises of snow along the way. But, we also saw some incredible mountains – when it cleared.
We stayed in a cool mountain town and I was feeling relaxed that the snow was behind us.
Lots of the western towns have incredible street art.
Cheyenne, where we stayed the first night after leaving the kids – had wonderful murals on its buildings. We also toured the Train Museum which was neat. To see how the railway opened up the west.
After a day of mountain roads and snow – was longing for the hundreds of miles flat plains we traveled through.
My husband said it takes you two days of driving before you start to see some spectacular views.
By the way riding with a retired snowplow driver – has its advantages and downsides.
He appeared to have no fear of snow, mountains and speeding vehicles.
And on a side note. The mountain road we came down – a semi truck went off the road coming up. His cab was hanging off the road – his trailer and not sure what else kept it from going all the way over. We saw more cars in the ditch, more accidents happened. There were travel delays on the opposite side of the road.
Oh, and this is an interstate. So we had two lanes going down. Cars would fly by you – with confidence of a fool.
An experience I will not soon forget – and I am grateful for my husbands ability to keep our car moving forward.
I M Perfect lady 