Wednesday went from our usual frantic last closings and loadings to leaving Libre and driving ten and a half hours; if it wasn’t for crossing out of Utah and gaining an hour for our twentieth anniversary dinner at the Border Inn, appropriately located on the Nevada border, it would have been eight p.m when we stopped…for my chili burger and two glasses of “Merlot”; L. celebrating with a burger, fries and “Chardonnay”.
Around 9:30 that morning we’d collected mail that had somehow gone from Benicia, CA, to Nashua, N.H., on its way to Gardner, CO.; the postal system moves in mysterious ways, priority.
Up the road for gas in Westcliffe, north to 50;
…followed the Arkansas to and through Salida, then virtually no traffic from Pagosa Springs – passed a cattle truck and a pickup pulling Monarch Pass; two guys in a Corolla blew by us a little ways out of Gunnison. – to Gunnison…weird but good.
Our usual albeit in this instance extremely brief and freezing lunch at the Reservoir;
Mountains done, gas in Montrose from whence L. drove…
Vehicular investment opportunities, Delta, CO;
After Grand Junction’s astounding Abundance of Things the Interstate [our usual stop at Rabbit Valley not shown], then Utah…
…in rain and mist 80 on 70 regardless unto darkness…
…after which I took over from Salina for the nighttime Western Desert, getting us into Nevada for the aforesaid dinner and all night roar of an overworked propane heater…
Woke Thursday in a different country; wintry wonderland with the plows just beginning to make inroads on the roads east of Ely…
[certain people not too certain]
In Ely for gas a guy from Yakima trailering his five-window deuce to Arizona for the winter pulled in…some good stories shared across the pumps until he headed south into the storm and we downtown to the Nevada Hotel for breakfast.
[Breakfast]
…followed by unsettled weather pretty much all the way to Eureka
and somewhat better conditions, at least in the valleys, most of the way to Austin.
Which was, however, a touch greasy through town…
Soon; more miles!
Very soon.
M
Thank you for the armchair visit to the beautiful cold mountains. Lefty has such character, I think he is “deep” makes me think of Bukowski – don’t know why……
Bukowski! Well I often thought he’s the reincarnation of a button salesman or tailor from the Weimar Republic…but I don’t know the why of that, either…
Colorado departure was certainly more colorful than Utah or Nevada. 50 looks a bit dangerous or, at the least, cold. Glad you made it safely to Austin!