The Lovejoy Family Great American Roadtrip Spectacular: Colorado

Monday, October 8, 2012

Vast and Seemingly Endless

On our way through the southwest I had failed to document the vast empty spaces that wized by our car window, partially because we just wanted to drive through it instead of stopping, and partly because while it was vast and empty it didn't really leave an impression until after the crowded forested east coast provided a stunning contrast. So as we reentered the western part of the United States farther north I decided that quality be damned I was going to document this vastness through the window of the car as we drove. We still didn't want to stop, but I couldn't help being struck with the seemingly never ending emptiness of the west. Here is the result of that study as we drove through Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho.

Our first snow sighting happened in Colorado just before we crossed the boarder into Wyoming.

We stopped in Cheyenne, WY for coffee and it was incredibly cold and everything was covered in snow. The boys were gleeful.

It seemed like we would be threatened with ice and snow through the length of Wyoming. It was at this point I mentioned how glad I was that I suggested we skip Yellowstone National Park, since it was almost mid-October. We looked up the low in Yellowstone for that night. It was expected to be 8 degrees fahrenheit. That would be uncomfortable in a trailer tent equipped only with summer sleeping bags.

This is the Lincoln Memorial in Wyoming. Yeah, we didn't know it was there either. This is placed very near the continental divide.

We went over a hill and the snow disappeared and Wyoming became high desert.

It turns out that in this part of Wyoming the continental divide circles a high desert basin, called the great divide basin. It was strange that it felt like it was the top of the world and the elevation was as high as 7000 feet at times, but it was so flat.

We stopped in Rawlins, WY for lunch and had descent Thai food. All the towns seem so western, sparse with a spattering of old architecture and a lot of unpopulated streets.

This is what Nevada had looked like though I had never gotten any pictures. It's what a surprisingly large part of the west actually looks like. Nothing for miles and miles.

Around Salt Lake City there were what looked like big mountains, but when I think about it, the entire state of Wyoming on the other side of those mountains is the height of the tops, so really we were just down in a gully.

Utah was more of the same, but with some farms.

Dust spirals moving along the vast emptiness.

As we entered Idaho we saw the occasional tree.

But there were still plenty of places where there weren't any trees.

The window of this gas station says it all, "Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere." Hannah enjoyed that statement so much that from then on when ever she woke up from a nap she would say "We're in the middle of nowhere!"

One thing that can be said for Nowhere, they have Alpacas!

Birthday in Boulder

Hannah turned four last week. She was very sad that none of her friends were going to be at her party. She had cried about it one night. I realized that she needed to have a very special birthday celebration to make up for the lack of friends. The best person to celebrate a special birthday with is Aunt Bonnie. She has a way of being joyous that is infectious. So we plotted and planned our travels in order to be in Boulder, CO for the day of Hannah's birthday. We rolled in with a day to spare. We managed to be driving towards Denver just as the first presidential debate was happening. I thought this was particularly fitting since we seemed to be running into election events through out our journey. The high winds and very rural radio reception made it hard for us to hear the debate, but we got the gist. We got to Boulder with a day to recover from the journey before preparing for our grand celebration.

We had a great day and a very fun party for Hannah. We found a really nice chocolate shop called Piece, Love, and Chocolate where we bought cupcakes and truffles, we found presents at a couple of different children's stores in town, ate crepes for lunch (Hannah got her's for free because it was her birthday), and bought a lovely feast and pink and purple flowers for the party.

Izzy Chose a Silk Crown For Hannah for Her Birthday.

They sat next to each other at lunch, and Izzy was sweet to Hannah since it was her birthday.

They're such a funny pair.

Izzy chose a silk crown as his present to Hannah, Eli chose a stuffed, knit panda, I had found a doll for her back in Woodstock that I had managed to keep secret. While we were out buying party supplies Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Eric found Hannah a beautiful ballet outfit that once put on her she refused to be without even into the following day.