Colorado and Utah

 Continuing where my previous post left off, we'd purchased our food items at Whole Foods in Frisco and topped off the gas tank.  As Pav already informed you, the altitude really affected him terribly and he slept so poorly the night before, so I started the ride from Frisco to points west.  

This portion of the drive went through some of the most beautiful countryside imaginable and as I drove along, I knew that any pictures I took would never truly capture the colors, the shadows, and the tremendous beauty that I saw. Still, it didn't stop me from grabbing my Canon with mini-tripod attached and snapping a photo every now and again as I drove.  [I know, I know--bad driving habit--but I only did this a few times and only when I knew our car and those around us were

safe.]

Somewhere near the town of Eagle, CO, I decided to make a rest stop.  Pav still needed to sleep, so I resumed driving and came upon the only serious accident we encountered on the entire trip thus far.  It must have occurred only a minute or two before I passed it, and it involved not one, but two tractor trailer trucks.  I'm sure that it was going to be quite an ordeal to remove those two vehicles from the narrow, two-lane southbound road and that traffic would be severely impacted.

Of the entire ride through Colorado, one of the most congested sections of road was the area around Glenwood Canyon.  I couldn't even get a picture because I was white-knuckling the steering wheel while trying to absorb the spectacular views of the canyon around us.  Our friend, Marci, had encouraged us to stop there for the hot springs, but there was no way I was straying from the route knowing how much farther we had to go.

I think back East I always heard or read about the beauty of the landscape of Colorado but never heard a word about Utah before, so it came as an immense surprise to see glorious desert landscape throughout the ride across the southern part of the state.

And now, to hell with landscapes!  We stopped at a lovely, hot rest area to use the facilities and to enjoy our lunch when Pavlin spotted something moving across the sand.  Apparently the arrival of picnickers opening bags of corn chips, seltzers, and sandwiches is the rallying cry for the appearance of prairie dogs.

Come to find out, we didn't really need that many corn chips for ourselves and had plenty for the little guys (and gals) as they boldly approached us for handouts.  Seems they also fancy bananas as we broke apart the last one we had and watched them scurry off with chunks to their burrows (see the pair below.)

Being entertained by them was truly a highlight of this very long driving day. And so I end this post with just a bit more to come.