Day deux....on the open road

Day Deux...on the open road...

“On the road again…”

Those are the familiar strains that greet our ears each time we start the day. Its become our lovely little am anthem….

stats :weather: mostly overcast and grey with spitting rain throughout the day states passed through: UT & CO Smiles, waves highfives, gawks and [fistpumps] : about 20

After visitng my sister & her family in Ut (sorry sis, no pictures of you…why is that, I wonder? Someone doesn’t really like to be in pictures..) Strapping the tarps over my collection of roof rack items (thanks Chris for your expert tarp skills…) we were headed to Colorado…

"I love tarp"

You can see from this photo that the car is full, and there is quite the collection of items on the top of my car...a guitar, a 72 kit in a huge backpack (with my sleeping bag & pad), a keyboard, and some other items...making a strange little top of car package. Oh yes, Marquette is strapped to the tope of the car too. 

Who is Marquette? She is my other traveling companion, the mannequin. Heidi was concerned that she may have to go on top as well, but you can see there is no space. So, Heidi barely squeezed into the space we call the passenger seat. Its only a passenger seat for a very small dwarf. Even the Travelocity  roaming nome would have trouble fitting in that space.

Sorry, what can I say? I am moving my life cross-country within the four doors of a small compact car...space is limited...

And we begin...

The rain has begun. It came as a thief in last night and gave marquette a bath...dirty girl, she needed it after the dustshowers of Nevada. Since the roof rack made a break in the seal of the car doors...the rain may have made its way inside...gratefully, Heidi is crafty...

 Hey Heidi, your grandmom has been saving that towel since 1962 for just such an occasion!

Moving through the outskirts of UT and into Colorado brought beautiful vistas and charming off-the road photo worthy sights... 

“Pop, treats AND worms?” What a delight! 

“What is that? What is THAT? A flagpole? On a motorcycle? Of course. We’re in Colorado…

We weren’t sure which was missing the name…the mountain or the sign –So, we named the mountain Brown and the sign Greene and decided we could be officials on the committee of sign and mountain naming… 

Decorating the car brought us such joy:

“Im going to DC, I heard there was a mall”

“CA to VA – from c to shining sea”

“Ms. S goes to Washington”

Also considered were: "DC with Bust" (figuring that Marquette was under the tarp, we didnt want to confuse passerby's) and "I'm goin' huntin-huntin for senators!" (this too was abandoned as it could be relatively close to what some of our Redneck huntin friends might actually do, and not in the dating sense I was trying to reference. Emphasis is real hard to convey with car window paint pens)

This also seemed to bring others much joy as we began to get more looks and conversations when we stopped for gas and snacks...now thats what I call entertainment!

Oh look, a handsome tan boyfriend for Marquette here in the quaint town of Aspen…

 We drove through the rockies of Colorado just as the sun was dipping over the horizon - it was a majestic sight to behold the sharp red rock formations jut out from either side of us and weave in and out of the mountains on a narrow 2 lane road.  The scene was truly breath taking - flat plates of rock, sediment, and earth stacked upon each other like broken dishware. I felt small and miniature - As we continued, the river snuck out from under us, curling around on the right side of the road and the crisp, dramatic red and sepia mountains on the left - I felt if I put my hand outside the window, I could touch it - but then I snapped alert realizing I was still driving. Sometimes I get carried away into the dreamy landscape -as if I was in a movie or a postcard. 

Tonight we are staying with the Campbells. An adorable family that I became very close to when I served my mission (part of which was here in Colorado.) It was very sweet to reunite with them.

Day Deuex - a delight.