Day Twenty-Five - Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Well, I'm back to finish the blog - I hope! Lots has happened since last I recorded the activities of the trip. We're home and I've spent three days in Delaware OH at Ohio Wesleyan University, and then Harold and I went to Louisville KY to find an apartment for Jennifer for her post-doc the the Center for Asian Democracy, and then I went to Naples FL for four days with 12 high school girlfriends from Sidney OH Class of 1965 , and then I went to Sidney with one of the friends. So the past week has been about catching up and enjoying the summer at the farm!

So ... back to Salt Lake City and whatever sense I can make of my blog notes to re-create the scene! We left SLC in morning traffic and soon found ourselves in the green mountains heading east and enjoying the flecks of yellow flowers along the way. Lambs Canyon was especially peaceful and green. Then the clouds came down to meet us (as Harold described the phenomenon) before we reached Park City where both sides of the road were covered with ski condos, businesses, and ski slopes for miles. The bridge underpass was adorned with the Olympic logo and visions of time share trade opportunities and the Sundance Film Festival filled our heads. All along the road were permanent snow fences - not those lightweight ones like we have in Ohio - real fully constructed and installed for the long haul - very interesting to us. ORV lanes filled the median of the highway - another first!

In the Rockport Utah area we found mountain plateaus that were broad and green and filled with horses, cattle, irrigation, ranches and farms. Further along the way the path through the mountains is wider and greener and the mountains themselves have turned to red sandstone and the railroad is back!

Reading along in the State by State book we get an interesting commentary on the Church of the Latter Day Saints and Promontory Point but today - nearly a month later - I cannot remember the point (!).

Our arrival in Wyoming is heralded at the 26 mile marker by miles and miles of wind turbines on the high plains. It feels as though we are next to the clouds - as though we can reach out and touch them as we roll through the hilly high terrain. On the Wyoming map we retrace our route from our trip in 2007 (see travelwithbussell.blogspot.com) and appreciate the memories of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks as well as the Theodore Roosevelt Parkway coming out of the east side of Yellowstone.

In Rock Springs we see what it's all about from an economic perspective - a huge mining town with a huge chemical plant that seems to go on for miles and miles and miles. Further along the way Rawlins WY presents a very similar picture. Of course what we appreciate is the rock, the altitude (6930 and 7000 feet in places), the colors of the rock as they change along the way. Just past Sinclair WY we cross the North Platte River, an historic river that figured distinctly in the area's settlement.

At mile 235 scenic roadway I80 starts and extends to Laramie for 75 miles with Medicine Bow National Forest to the south. Lots of cattle along the way with 11,156 foot snow capped Elk Mountain in the distance - beautiful and majestic - with clouds all day in layers of solid and fluffy marsh mellow designs and only hints of blue sky.

We're passing time by listening to another James Lee Burke novel "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead." We think we'll be finished with JLB long before we we're finished with JLB!

We are high enough that we see lots of snow on the mountains with splashes of green grass. At mile 270 we see another huge installation of wind turbines. It seems to be the perfect place.

At Laramie we decide to take US287 south to Ft. Collins CO (our destination for today) because it is a shorter and purportedly more scenic route. We are not disappointed. Broad mountain meadows with outcroppings of red rock (you know how I love red rock!) and pine trees and gorgeous houses. We are greeted by the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign and it really is. Red Mountain Granite Canyon is especially beautiful - breath-taking, actually - and followed by spring displays of white wildflowers and blooming lilacs and a gas gauge that says we only have about 30 miles left on this tank of gas! Fortunately we are on the outskirts of Ft. Collins and a service station appears miraculously on the horizon to save us!

Ft. Collins is a city of 118,652 population and and elevation of 5,000 feet. It is home to our son Mark and our daughter-in-law Trisha and our grandsons Ethan (14) and Jerad (almost 12). We find our way through Ft. Collins and arrive at their home just after the boys get home from school to greet us. As always, it is amazing to see how much they both have grown in the ten months since we last saw them. It is also amazing how much they have matured and much more interesting the conversations are. Of course, Harold has had a long day of driving despite my taking my usual turn, so he naps and entertains the boys with his snoring. Jerad especially is amazed and hopes that he'll be able to sleep tonight since our room is next to his! I play video games and talk with Ethan while Jerad awaits his turn to show Harold (aka Daddy Daddy - for Daddy's Daddy) his latest magic tricks. And of course the dogs Rosie and Jessie entertain all of us.

Trisha arrives home and off we go to Jerad's baseball practice. Fortunately it is just down the street but unfortunately Jerad takes a bouncing ball right in the knee cap and our practice is done for the day. Lots of ice and rest and he's back to full strength by morning.

Mark arrives home and the toasts begin! It is so good to be together. It is rare that we have the opportunity to see three of the four children in such a short period of time. We're lovin' it! Yummy fajitas and lots of great conversation ends our day together.