Day Nineteen

Divide, CO - Palisade, CO
Date: 06/29/2002
Distance: 369 miles
Weather: Partly cloudy 90's.

Waking up in the still chilly mountains of Colorado we cleaned up camp and set off directly for the coin operated showers. Advice to those who use such things in the future- One: the shower begins right after you put in the minimum amount of coins. Two: time yourself so that you are not caught with shampoo in your hair or toothpaste in your mouth when the water suddenly shuts off.

Heading back towards the town of Colorado Springs we decided to engage in some distinctly touristy activities. First, a visit to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Aside from the "boisterous" middle school kids and a gift shop bigger than a museum, the dwellings were pretty neato. It was such a small and rocky place to put a family- but remarkable in its craftsmanship.

Next onto Colorado's Garden of the Gods, a famous collection of rock formations and scenic views. At the rock garden, near the base of Pikes Peak Mountain, we joined an annoying throng of people. However, a short deviation from the trail found us eaily alone to enjoy the scenery, which Ogden then tried to eat.

Driving north towards Denver we made our next destination a swanky outdoor mall nearby the city. This does sound like an odd detour, even for us, but there was both an Apple Store there and a Bananna Republic. Jared updated the website and checked email, and Corin bought a lovely new frock for work. We retrieved our retriever and also had lunch there- which was an excellent fare from an eatery who's motto is "a loaf of bread in every arm."

Okay, now for the driving. A trek along Interstate 70. We stopped at the Loveland Pass, climbing high into the sky for an awesome walk along the continental divide. There was actually snow that high up! Jared built a snowman, and Ogden knocked it down. All three slipped and slided like it was December. Overall, Route 70 is lovely. Everytime you look out and up you see the giant Rocky Mountains.

On to the fires. When we were just outside of Denver we saw smoke billowing in the distance. When we stopped for dinner at a small town outside of Aspen, all of the trees on the other side of highway were burned. We asked two high school girls about the trees and they said a forest fire had swept through 3 weeks ago. It ruined a bunch of homes, including one of the girl's home. She had just gotten new converse shoes because her's melted in the fire.

After the most bizarre "hot dog" dinner, we continued west in search of a place to stay. There was a KOA campground just down the road, so we went to check out. We went four miles, then turned on to the road, only to be confronted by a police officer blocking the road. Another forest fire. He recommended we continue further west. We decided it was some good advice.

A few more miles down I-70 we stopped at a Super 8 to see about a room since it was 9:30 pm. Smoking rooms only, $64, and the guy was kind of a jerk. We were both awake, so we thought we would head a few more miles east to a nearby state park. We stopped almost an hour later and set up camp in the dark. Then right to sleep. WELL ALMOST- Ogden decided that she would try being a guard dog for a night and each small sound woke her up with bursts of barks. We left early the next morning to avoid restitution from the neighbors.