On the Road - Grand Junction to Denver, CO 05-18-11

A lot of pictures tonight - 13 to be exact - and an adventurous day for me.  At the advanced age of 72 I finally drove in a snowstorm.  Not a terrible one, but bad enough, and the snow did not stick to the ground.  Maybe it did behind me, but not right where I was.  I was amazed that drivers kept to the speed limit, only a few of those 90mph fools who think they own the road.  I wasn't afraid, just cautious and careful at 60-65.  As for the pictures.  I hardly ever look toward the picture, I just point the camera in the right direction with one hand and click the shutter, all the while keeping my other hand on the wheel and my eyes on the road.  When I can't do that I don't take pictures.  And sometimes, as you will see, picture taking becomes impossible.

I put captions below the pictures - you can click each picture to enlarge.

In Grand Junction the sky was low and very dark and the Colorado River more than filled the space from river bank to river bank.  Here it looks almost placid, though it was running fast.

Just a short distance later I followed the sign that said I-70 and ran into construction (a forewarning for the rest of the day) and a STOP sign to get on the highway.  I thought it was odd, but with construction one just takes one's chances.  It turned out I was on I-70 BL - BL standing for Business Loop.  With all the construction I decided it would be easier to keep on the BL rather than try to figure out how to get back to my starting point and on the Interstate.  About 12 miles later I was back in business and sailing along on the REAL I-70.

Quite a few miles later I pulled off at one of the "Parking Area" signs which are generally intended for trucks, but there wasn't anyone there and I wanted to try to adjust my camera - which required reading the manual!  Here is the Colorado rushing to the west (left of picture) right after making an almost horseshoe bend, guided by this massive abutment.  Most of today the river was on my right, but this little loop road went over the river and back again about a mile further east.  

There is a nice rest stop and tourist info center in Rifle, CO., where I stopped to use the facilities and found myself taking the binoculars out for a walk.  Red-winged Blackbirds, scores of swallows, some grackles, and one little yellow warbler, but they are so quick and so secretive I couldn't see it well - might have been a Prothonatory Warbler.  This picture is a different kind of wild mustard called Rocket. 

The flowers are smaller and the foliage (below) is different. I should look it up, but I am too tired tonight.

There were several plants I am not familiar with - I'll look them up later also.

Yes, more construction.  This time I-70 became a two lane road - one lane in each direction.  Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic and almost no trucks.  The speed limit was forty and the construction zone went on for miles and miles.  

As I drove along at 40mph I could get a good look at the Colorado, now a raging torrent.  Notice the train cars higher up on the right - they look like ore cars, but I don't know what was in them.

Up and up and up, until I was spacing my breathing due to the altitude.  11,156 feet is enough to press in on my chest so I know that I need to regulate my intake and outgo!  I do love driving through these particular tunnels - right through the mountain that rises up pure white above the entrance. It was spitting snow and the pavement was very wet.  Since I started driving vehicles with cruise control I am in the habit of letting the cruise control take over, but one cannot do that when the pavement is wet.  So, it takes more attention and more control and more adjustment of the right foot and is, therefore, more tiring then using cruise control.  Of course, you all know that, but just in case someone has forgotten...!

When I came out the other side it was still cloudy, but not raining.  However, the distant trees were dusted with snow.  Maybe the shadow of the mountain protects this area somewhat.

Not for long!  Within a few miles it really started coming down.  It wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick to the pavement which was very wet.

I put down the window on the passenger side to take this picture of the snow rushing past.

 
Finally, I took this shot with the snowflakes splatting on the windshield and put the camera away.  The storm just got so bad I could only concentrate on driving.  There was even lightning (and, presumably, thunder) with the snow! 
I managed to get into Denver just as everyone was leaving work and drove around for almost an hour trying to find the hotel which has minimal signage.  All the one-way streets amidst the towering buildings were so confusing I couldn't ever turn the way I wanted when I wanted.  My GPS is not working right - I never think to update it and it can't even find a Starbuck's.  I have postponed my attempt to cut down on my Starbuck's habit until I get back home. 
When I stood at the counter at the Comfort Inn the first person I saw that I knew was Linda Colsh, here from Belgium for the conference and a visit with her family on the east coast.  I knew that she would be here, since she is on the SAQA Board, but to see her first thing after such a stressful day, was just like receiving a prize!  I joined her and a couple other Board members for dinner at the Brown Palace Hotel, connected to the Comfort Inn by a second floor pedestrian bridge.  We can go back and forth to our meetings without going outside in the rain, wind, snow, whatever Nature throws our way.