From Winter to Summer to Winter in Ten Hours

We left Dillon, Colorado in freezing winter weather. It was about 22 degrees F., which is something like minus 5 or 6 C. The car windows were covered with ice, and with freezing hands, a credit card, and the defroster on full, we finally cleared the windows enough to be on our way. As the morning unfolded, the temperature increased and the sun shone. By the time we got through most of the mountains the temperature soared to 22 degrees Celsius. We drove on after supper since the driving was easy and we weren't too tired until we reached Burley in southern Idaho. The temperature dropped again, and the close-by hills were again snow covered. You've probably never heard of Burley, Idaho -- neither had we. It's about 200 miles north of Salt Lake City on I-84, but we have no idea what the place looks like since it was dark when we arrived and is still dark this morning.

I forgot to mention that we saw two Rocky Mountain big horned sheep right next to the highway between Denver and Dillon. We were surprised and delighted because those animals are usually found only in remote mountain areas. I have seen them before, but never that close. Too bad we were on the Interstate so we couldn't stop and have a better look.

I have been to Colorado before, but I am still shocked by the fact that by far, the largest part of Colorado is arid. The plains in the east are just a continuation of Kansas, but when I think of the Rockies, I think of huge mountains and trees -- even if they are high altitude trees. Well, as we drove through the Rockies yesterday, the area looks more like Kamloops than the Hope-Princeton. We saw huge mountains, for sure, and some were snowy crags, but, for the most part, they were big bald yellow mountains separated by wide, arid valleys. By the time we crossed the state line into Utah, the valleys were bigger and the mountains and hills were the strange shapes that go with the beautiful Arches of southern Utah. The other thing that impressed me was that there are huge distances between settlements. People living in a remote little village miles and miles from any kind of city makes me wonder what on earth they do for a living. Some settlements were mining communities and, of course, Vail and surrounding areas were ski resorts, but there were plenty of others that seemed to just "be there".

One of the massive "rocks" along the way.

See what I mean by wide, arid valleys?

Still arid and beginning to show some interesting shapes.

Some hills looked like this, others just like castles, yet others like pyramids. Strange shapes.

We turned North at Provo, Utah. Provo and Salt Lake City almost run into each other in one large megalopolis. We arrived just in time to experience rush hour. Well, other than two slow downs because of construction, I don't believe we drove more slowly than 60 mph during the entire time. If that's rush hour, then these folks from Utah certainly know how to do it.

We stopped in Ogden, Utah -- just a bit north of SLC at a Cracker Barrel for supper. We looked at the map and at the books and decided to carry on for another couple of hundred miles. I pulled into the Fairfield Inn parking lot and was able to hook into their free wireless service in order to reserve a room in Burley. I felt very much as if I had found a real bargain by saving the cost of a phone call! The roads are good, and like earlier in the day, I was able to set the cruise control for 75 mph and on we went, passing only big trucks and being passed by a few cars. The GPS did its thing, and we arrived at the motel we had selected without incident.

It's light now -- and cloudy. Nita just looked out the window and described the area -- "Farm country with snow on the hills." We're off in a few minutes to drive through the surprisingly large state of Idaho (I always just think of that northern little part of Idaho), through a bit of Oregon, and then into Washington. It's interesting that as soon as we came out of the mountains into the Salt Lake City area, Nita and I both felt more "at home". Idaho feels closer, Oregon will feel good, and by the time we get to Washington, we will be virtually "back home."