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Tuesday, October 4, 2005	Wednesday, October 5, 2005	Thursday, October 6, 2005
Friday, October 7, 2005	Saturday, October 8, 2005	Sunday, October 9, 2005

Depart from Denver - Tuesday, October 4, 2005

I hit the road at 8:20pm on Tuesday night after a frenetic evening of getting ready. I was getting a later start than I had intended, as tends to happen, due to circumstances beyond my control. But, having managed to take care of the little things, I was on my way. I could feel the imposing weight of the mountains pressing down upon me, pressuring me, saying "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! or we're gonna get you" A snow advisory had been issued, and I was keen to get over them before the weather got bad. Los Angeles was my destination. I had made the drive from L.A. to Denver many times before, time to beat - fifteen hours. The weather was cool and dry as I turned onto Interstate 70 and headed up into the mountains. As I downshifted my little Honda into fourth gear and began the steep ascent, it was as if someone had pulled back the curtain and said, "HA! We were saving the bad for last." No sooner had I begun to climb than WHAM! The fog hit like a brick wall. "Oh crap" I thought, "No way I'm going to make good time in this." My speed went from 70 down to 30 in an instant. Cars with their hazard lights blinking winked in and out of existance as the fog embraced them and I crept past them. Fog makes one lose track of time. Or at least being surrounded by thick, pea-soup fog as one drives up a mountain road at night makes it unwise to remove ones eyes from the little bit of road for even a second. After what seemed like an hour, as if someone said "Okay, we're not going to stop you with that," I pop out into the clear. I realize what I have just driven through was not fog after all, but clouds. I'm glad to have them behind me and hope to make up some lost time before I get out of the mountains. No such luck. Within moments of ewntering the clearing, whomever's running the weather war against my travel intentions decides to try a different tack. This time, it's rain. Not the hard, pounding rain that at least rinses your vehicles exterior off fairly well, but the tiny-dropped, sticky, almost-freezing rain that apparently windshield wipers weren't designed to wipe off well. The defroster heats the window just enough to dry the gunk on the outside bottom, which causes the wiper blade to clean the window quite well, with the exception of the part that is directly in front of my eyes. And the defroster doesn't seem to be having much actual defrosting effect. In fact, it was more like a frost-enabler. Little spots of snowystuff start forming on the bottom on the windshield. The sign ahead states that icy conditions may exist ahead. Way to take a stand. As I continued along through the intermittant rainysleetsnow, I would do occasional brake checks to validate the grip levels of my tires on the questionable road surface. The road was just wet, not icy. "The Department of Transportation always puts the signs up when there's even a risk of icy roads. Probably a liability issue." I thought. Many times in life I had presumed to know the reasons for various things, and many times life had slapped that arrogance down. I reminded myself to not disregard their warnings, but they still seemed overblown. No sooner had I finished reminding myself of that when, a mere 40 yards ahead of me, I catch sight of an SUV pulling a trailer that had picked that very moment to jackknife across the right hand lane and slide off the road onto the shoulder. As the car in front of me slammed on its brakes and also started sliding, I checked my mirrors to ensure I wasn't going to be rear-ended, pulled into the left lane and started pumping my brakes. I needed to slow down while I was still moving in a straight line, so I could maintain power through the curve and not risk a spin. Several people were already pulling over to help the unlucky SUV driver as I passed them by. Eisenhower tunnel. Vail pass. Glenwood springs. The rain would turn to snow over the passes, and back to drizzly muck at the lower elevations. Finally, with great relief, I made it down to the flatlands after the western slope. The clouds behind me, I was welcomed by pitch black with millions of stars peppering the sky above. Now was my opportunity to make up some of the time lost by the inclement weather. I picked up my pace, drove on, and managed to escape Colorado in around four hours. Weariness started to take hold, and despite my desire to continue, I made the prudent choice and stopped for the night at a hotel 300 miles outside of Vegas. I got a room, brought my stuff in, and settled down on the plank-like bed to grab some Z's. The one soda I had drank about an hour ago decided that this was a good time to kick its caffeine into my system, and it took me an hour to fall asleep.

Other Blog Entries
Tuesday, October 4, 2005	Wednesday, October 5, 2005	Thursday, October 6, 2005
Friday, October 7, 2005	Saturday, October 8, 2005	Sunday, October 9, 2005

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