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| No Texting While Driving. Photography? |
We're resting on the western slope of the Rockies tonight in Rifle, Colorado. We drove here from the coast today, 825 miles, all of them interesting, even the tricky ones climbing out of the LA basin. But the absolute best mile, against all others, is Mile 145 on I-70 in Utah. We've seen it before, you may have too, a hundred or so miles of thrilling, heart-pounding geography that leaves you in awe and wonderment. Much of this stretch is posted at 80 miles an hour, which is a shame, because when you're gripping the wheel, leaning into the curves to stay in your lane, you miss so much of the show: An endless gallery of colorful tectonic thrusts, scarred through the ages by persistent erosive forces and left to bake under a blue sky.
We left Utah and followed the Colorado River 100 miles to Rifle through a spectacular gorge or two as the sun set behind us. Will the Colorado be sending enough water this year to recharge the thirsty reservoirs?
Tomorrow morning my little dog and I will climb the mighty Rockies and coast down the other side, then contemplate the meaning of it all during that long, long voyage across the Great Plains.
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| That's the Rockies on the distant horizon. |
