Trip - Day 1

July 13, 2017

We drove uneventfully to Raton, New Mexico http://www.ratonnm.gov/, my traveling companion doing the driving.  At Raton, I took over the driving.  Although my traveling companion owns an SUV, the dashboard and feel of the pedals was very different from my SUV.  I drove immediately into the Raton Pass https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/american_latino_heritage/Raton_Pass.html, hilly, curvy, fast and windy.  And I drove into a storm: wind, heavy rain, pea sized hail, thunder and lightning.  I drove slowly, and sometimes the visibility was poor, but we continued going, unlike many drivers who pulled over, sometimes not totally off the road.

Then we got to Colorado Springs https://coloradosprings.gov/.  And we got into heavy traffic.  We faced heavy traffic from then on, into and beyond Denver https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en.html.  I was in the left most lane when I saw the sign for the by-pass around Denver, but could not cross the four lanes to get to the exit.

When we arrived at our destination in Fort Collins, Colorado https://www.fcgov.com/visitor/, I was looking down the street at a McDonald’s and almost drove down a bank! My traveling companion alerted me in time to save the day!

We are both tired. We bought fast food take out before we registered at the hotel, and broke out a bottle of wine for a night cap. 

My traveling companion found a TV channel that was binge broadcasting Blue Bloods http://www.cbs.com/shows/blue_bloods/  Makes me feel good to watch something comfortable.

My sharp eyed traveling companion saw antelope on the roadside, and pointed them out to me, even when she was doing the driving.