.....
I am ready for this trip, but I am also worried. I hope et no point do I get stuck somewhere or get in an accident. After saying my goodbyes I was on the road by 6:45 am. Starlight slowly gave way to pinking sky as I drove northwards. The sun not making its first full appearance till I was in Fort Collins. So many things already felt familiar, yet different. Like I was doing this whole thing backwards. The Art-deco gas station that now serves as a marijuana dispensary. The new owners electing to keep the original colors. Not for aesthetic reasons, ony because they were either to lazy or to cheap to do otherwise. Nevertheless the neon green and electric purple they used for the new sign gave it the feeling of a low-class strip joint.
I could not help but notice the sign on a car wash while I sat at a stoplight. "psst, your dirt is showing" I felt proud and giggled as a clean sedan pulled up next to me. No outdoor minded subaru owner would be caught dead with a perfectly clean and waxed car.
By 8:20 I find myself somewhere just south of Laramie pulled over for speeding. He says he clocked me, I am surprised since he came at me from the other direction. A nice enough guy and he seems to actually be sad he has to write me a ticket. I tell him it's okay, it's my fault, and his job. Somehow we end up talking about how until recently he used to own a ski-resort 'near-here'. But after the economy took a hit, well, now he is a cop. I drive away not exactly sure how that conversation came up.
Soon I am on I-80 picking my way through all of the United States tractor-trailer fleet, while simultaneously navigating the snow- packed roads. I take a little solace in the fact that all of the vehicles off the road are semis. Some on their sides, some facing the wrong way. That little bit of misplaced confidence is quickly shot down every time I see the grill of a MAC truck barreling up my ass. Add into the fluffy mix a handful of folks with far off out of state plates (Florida, Illinois, Missouri) that seemed overly cuatious about driving in the snow. So cautious that they were more dangerous. I was glad to finally turn off on to snowpacked 191 and get away from everyone.
