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Introduction:

The idea for a “proper” road trip was brewing for a long time.
I certainly was sick of “resort vacations”,  literally, I was sick “to my stomach”. Two years ago we went for a two weeks holiday to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and halfway through the first week I got pretty sick. Not only it affected the rest of our stay there but, as it turned out, it ruined the rest of the summer for me. After our return to Canada, I found out that I actually caught some nasty bacteria and had to go through  series of strong antibiotics. The side effects of that therapy were more than I could bargain for and made that summer of 2007 pretty forgettable.

So in 2008, with a brand new SUV and a visitor from Poland (Mariola’s niece Justine) we were eager to hit the road. A week long trip to Charlevoix region of Quebec (see pictures here) was a sort of a ‘trial’ for a longer trip we knew we were going to undertake the following year. First of all we had a great time driving our new truck. Secondly we knew we can do a 1000km/day without being overly tired. We also knew that with our newest acquisition (we were picking up our new puppy right after the Quebec trip), a road trip is the best option for our next year’s vacation.

Originally I planned a ‘classic trans-Canada’ west coast trip: Toronto to Vancouver. That would require minimum 3 weeks. But with uncertainty growing around my approved vacation time (big project coming up in the summer) I had to plan an alternative route.
The two week ‘plan B’ was to still go west but only as far as Yellowstone - not all the way to the Pacific coast. And the longer I looked at the map, the more appealing this option looked - regardless of whether I’d get two or three weeks of vacation. Going West and then South look even more inviting to us because in 1998 we visited Arizona and we loved it there. We actually made a promise to ourselves that we’ll come back to Southwest one day and see neighbouring states of Utah and New Mexico.
So our final itinerary ended up being drastically different from the original one: instead of all-Canadian trip to British Colombia we were heading straight for Colorado - not even including South Dakota and Wyoming (Yellowstone) in our plans.

And what follows is a diary of what happened, day-by-day: 21 days, 13 States, 8400 km and $540 worth of gas…

 

July 19 - August 8 2009

 

Day 1 - Sunday, July 19

Mississauga, Ontario to Rock Creek State Park, Iowa

Distance driven: 1253 km

We decided to leave on Sunday instead of Saturday for two reasons:

• 1. We had a whole day (Saturday) to pack up and get ready
  2. There would be less traffic going across the border

So, first thing on Sunday morning we were ready to go. A quick breakfast and we hopped into our already packed truck. Shortly after 10 am, we arrived in Sarnia. Uneventful crossing to Port Huron, Michigan and we’re at full speed, due West once again. Our spirits were high, the skies completely cloudless and endlessly blue, music blasting full tilt !  We stopped only for meals and washroom breaks. This continued pretty much through the whole day and thanked to that ‘better than expected’ performance we covered quite a bit of distance.

For most of   along the way overnight stays I planned three alternative destinations: one for when we wouldn’t  do as much driving as we hoped  for, one which would be the most realistic and likely to cover, and one for when we would do better than anticipated. On day 1 we got to that third, most optimistic destination, which was a campground in Iowa. After Ontario, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois we crossed into Iowa, arriving in the Prairies still before the nightfall.

Rock Creek State Park was a bit tricky to find (our GPS proved to be indispensable) but the view of the serene lake and picture-perfect grassy campsites was more than we could hope for. We were sure to have a blissful and restful night before the next full day on a road. What we mutually agreed as the best campground we ever camped at there was nothing that could ruin our stay. Well, there was… Our own dog! As we found out that night, all the theories about some dog breeds being ‘hardwired’ for certain functions were true. Miniature Schnauzers are ‘designed’ to be alert. I think Obi learned he too possessed this ‘quality’ that night as well. In the near absolute silence of the night, regardless of his good manners and our constant pleas, he couldn’t help but constantly growl at a very distant barking of farm dogs. The farms must’ve been miles away and we barely heard the dogs but it was enough for Obi to stay alert for most of the night and keep us ‘protected’. Good dog Obi!

 

Day 2 - Monday, July 20

Rock Creek State Park, Iowa to North Platte, Nebraska

Distance driven: 750 km

Even though I had fewer hours of sleep than I hoped for (Obi factor), I woke up quite rested. It was still very early and I had a privilege to witness a spectacular sunrise over the lake. Perfectly flat and pristine water was covered by a layer of mist and the morning dew rising from grasses all around created a stunning scenery.
I picked up my audio field recorder and, while the whole campground was still asleep and silent, I set out on a morning walk to capture the sounds of prairie birds that were abound in the nearby woods. I thought I could ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and took Obi for a walk at the same time. Bad idea… So yes, I had recordings of beautiful bird songs, but they were often interrupted with loud growls and barks of my 4 legged companion.

For day 2 of our trip we knew well we wouldn’t have such a spectacular day (mileage-wise) but, because of the extra kilometres we did the day before, we also knew we didn’t have to push ahead so hard. We could afford time to find a place for a decent breakfast and take time to enjoy it. So, on the advice of a nice elderly couple that we ran into before leaving the campground, we headed to a nearby town of Nelson for a real ‘all American’ breakfast. We were not disappointed. Classic prairie town dinner offered bacon and eggs, pancakes, hash browns and, of course, all the coffee you could drink. After a meal like that I was ready to go… back to sleep! Clearly, seeing this Mariola offered to drive first thing in the morning. I knew that driving through the Prairies surely would be easier than what I had done the previous day: with a long stretch of hwy 401 in Western Ontario, all of Michigan’s small towns and busy Chicago’s suburbs. Well, it didn’t turn out quite like that. Mariola ended up driving through good part of day 2 but it wasn’t the nice (and almost boring) driving I remembered from Saskatchewan and Alberta. After crossing Missouri River in Omaha we were in Nebraska and Interstate 80 was under construction in long stretches. Lane reductions, slow trucks and miles of old concrete road that, with its rhythmic clicky-ta-clack sound, could tire even the most enduring driver.  The weather conditions have changed drastically too. We started in the morning just like the day before: with blue skies and perfectly dry roads but towards the evening clouds stretched all the way to the horizon and short but intense showers made the road slick. In western Nebraska these clouds started to look ‘funny’ - real dark and visibly forming funnels in the far distance. I was still hoping for some clearing before the nightfall and a possibility of camping but that ended at one of the gas stations before North Platte were we watched tornado warnings on a TV monitor suspended over the clerk’s head. The nice lady didn’t miss the opportunity to show us a picture she took a week before on her cell phone , when a tornado touched down right next to the gas station. So the Quality Inn in North Platte it was.

 

Day 3 - Tuesday, July 21

North Platte, Nebraska to Colorado Springs, Colorado

Distance driven: 520 km

The morning in North Platte greeted us with blue skies again. No sign of last evening tornado scare. Buffet breakfast and we’re on the Interstate again. Funny enough, as soon as we cross the Nebraska - Colorado state line, the boring landscape ends and a true prairie’s ‘Big Sky’ begins. The road is wide, the horizon line far, far ahead and sky seems endless. We finally see the sights I expected to see a lot sooner: huge cattle farms, seas of yellow grasses, oil pumps and wind turbines scattered all over the landscape. The change of scenery feels real good and, even though there is no sign of the mountains yet, we definitely sense we’re out of the Midwest and the Rockies not very far away. We are actually driving straight South now -  no longer on I-80 (which continues West) but, after bypassing Denver, we’re on hwy 25. The little of Denver that we see from the distance looks very nice. Reminds me of Calgary. Some of the subdivisions that we see close by from the highway look a lot more attractive and are conceptually more innovative than the boring and lifeless ‘burbs’ of Toronto (namely: Mississauga).

Well, too much of Nebraska driving can play tricks on your mind and even I look forward to our lunch stop at Castle Rock giant shopping outlet centre. We don’t have time to see all the stores that are there but Matthew ends up with a new pair of DC snickers and a middle-eastern looking scarf. I just roll my eyes because this is not what you want to buy when you’re are in the Cowboy country!

Between Denver and Colorado Springs weather changes a lot and we know that that this will become a norm now. We’re close to the mountains and that the unpredictability of the weather is a constant here. We vote again against camping - no point getting wet and grumpy when we know we’ll have many more opportunities to camp once we’re in Utah, in much drier and more predictable conditions. We check in at a very nice La Quinta hotel and, since it’s still early, we head out to Manitou Spring. Manitou is the ‘original’ springs and is a very nice little town just outside of Colorado Springs. We enjoy an evening walk up and down the main street full of little artsy shops and galleries. We stop and listen to some local street performers (nice acoustic blues duo). I find a store with the most original and unusual instruments, have a chat with its owner who also is, as I learn, a renown luthier. I contemplate buying a didgeridoo (Australian wind instrument developed by aboriginal people some 1500 years ago) but it’s too big and I can’t take up any more of our precious cargo space, especially considering that this is just a beginning of our journey. I wish I had found this store on our way home! I could even strap the didgeridoo to the roof rack. Just imagine the sound it would make as we blasting down hwy 401! I think we would make it to the local evening news …

 

Day 4 - Wednesday, July 22

Colorado Springs -The Garden of the Gods - Florissant

As every morning so far on this trip, we are greeted by the brilliant, clear blue skies. Today is also the first day  we know where we’ll be staying for the night. As a matter of fact we will spend the next 3 nights at a rented log cabin in the mountains. The owner will meet us at around 5 pm so we have most of the day to get there. We head west but stop just outside of Colorado Springs to see The Gardens of the Gods. Unusual red rock formations look like huge golden nuggets lit up by the rising sun against the perfectly clear sky. We wonder about in awe for more than 3 hours, taking pictures, videotaping and taking it all in.

Around noon it is getting really hot and we find comfort inside the air-conditioned cabin of our Mitsubishi Outlander. We’re ready to move on.

As soon as we’re outside of the immediate Colorado Springs area the highway changes from a typical wide suburban 4-lane to a mountainous narrow hairpin road, full of fast switchbacks that take you to higher elevations. Gas stations and fast food stops are all gone and you are suddenly on the road that’s completely surrounded by mountains and wilderness. We’re passing massive Pikes Peak (elevation 14 100 ft) on our left and shortly after 1 pm we arrive in Divide. It’s time to take out the directions to the cabin which is somewhere between here and Florissant (next town). As explained by the cabin’s owner, maps or GPS won’t show the narrow roads and dirt tracks leading up to the cabin. Soon we find out that even his detailed directions are pretty confusing. First we miss the gate at which we should turn off the highway. Then, after driving up a dirt road, we arrive at a sign that reads “Dead End”. We all agree this can’t be the way. We backtrack our steps all the way to the gate and follow the directions again. We find only one dwelling in the fenced area behind the gate and it doesn’t look much as a rental: it’s definitely occupied with a pickup truck parked in front of it and two big dogs ready to “greet” us the moment we slip a foot outside of our truck. Meticulously following the direction once more, we arrive at the “Dead End” sign once again. That must be the way. We continue and climb a very steep and narrow dirt track that looks more like a hiking trail rather than something meant for motor vehicles.  But at the (dead) end there it is! A beautiful mountain cabin, as remote as we could image, without a sight of another dwelling, completely surrounded by the wilderness. Only the ribbon of the highway, far ahead and down below, reminds us that we’re not hundreds of miles away from civilization.

The whole ordeal makes us pretty tired and, knowing how to let ourselves into the cabin, we get in and crush for a short afternoon nap. As promised, we’re greeted by the owner at around 5 pm. His a very nice guy and we have great time chatting with him but doesn’t address some of Mariola’s concerns about the area’s wildlife the way I hoped. “Are there any bears around here?” Mariola asks. “Oh yeah, we have bears and mountain lions.” he says with a big grin. Then he proceeds to show us claw marks left on the porch posts just a few weeks ago. Then there is a shed door - half of it missing - that‘s a bear‘s job too!
It’s obvious now that no one but me will take Obi for a walk and that’s only when armed with bear spray and a huge walking stick with a bear bell strapped on top of it - you have to let the wildlife know that you’re in the area!

 

Day 5 - Thursday, July 23

Half a day trip to Eleven Mile Canyon

Clean mountain air does wonders and we all have very restful sleep. We get up pumped with new energy - we have breakfast on the bear marked porch with stunning views and we’re ready to explore. Just a short drive past Florissant is Eleven Mile Canyon and that’s where we decide to go first.

The road through the Canyon is pretty flat and easy to drive on, and I welcome some unchallenging driving for a change. The day is picture perfect - not a cloud in the sky, slow flowing river that’s a haven for fly fishermen and beautiful mountains on both sides of the Canyon. We go the whole distance of 11 miles, passing through some in-rock tunnels and other spectacular sights. Finally we stop for a relaxing picnic. We sit on a big boulder watching fishermen and completely tame deer wading in shallow waters nearby.

We’re back in the cabin in the early afternoon and we know what we want for dinner tonight. On our way here the day before we passed a huge outdoor BBQ smoker in Divide. Smoked ribs….mmm, yummy! After a meal like this we enjoy a few local beers in our cabin’s settings and there is a unanimous vote to spend a couple of hours in front of  the TV. Well, there is no TV reception here but we have a DVD player in the cabin and we brought a binder with bunch of movies and TV series for this trip . We decide on the “That 70’s show” and let the good times roll!

 

Day 6 - Friday, July 24

St. Elmo

We stayed up a little longer than we planned last night (“That 70’s show” marathon) so today we sleep in almost till noon. I have another half-day trip in mind. Ghost towns always fascinated me and I want to make sure that also during this vacation I won’t miss the opportunity to visit one.

Going further west on route 24 you end up driving up to elevation of 9 567 ft. to a spectacular vista on Wilkerson Pass. Below you see vast Arkansas River headwaters valley, across which majestic
Collegiate Peaks are clearly visible. Once in the flatlands of the valley we see enormous mountain ranges on both sides. It’s another clear and picture perfect day and we hardly want to move on - this place is so BIG! But, there is some commotion to the side of the road. We pull over as well. Buffalos! They come right up to the fence and one fellow, with a blond coat and bigger statue than the rest of the herd, looks especially distinguished.

Just before town of Buena Vista (very appropriate name!) we stop at one of the viewing platforms and try to identify the Collegiate Peaks that are stretched now directly in front of us. Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Columbia, Mt. Harvard, even Mt. Oxford. We enter a side road right next to Mt. Princeton and pass painting-like, almost white Chalk Cliffs. Past Hot Springs the road turns into gravel and becomes narrow and a bit challenging. This is expected of mountain roads and we’re getting used to it. The road goes to St. Elmo and that’s where it ends.

St. Elmo seems to be a Mecca for ATV enthusiasts (it was fly fishermen yesterday at Eleven Mile Canyon).
Other than us and some organized tour bus passengers everyone else seems to be busy getting their ATVs off their pickup trucks. ‘Zoom!’ as soon as they mount them, they disappear into the woods. We take time to see the town. Some antique shops offer typical ‘Americana’ souvenirs. In front of one of them, an unexpected ‘animal attraction’: chipmunks feeding! Across the street - hummingbird feeders attract dozens of those small and colourful birds which are completely unafraid of humans. They fly right up to your face and … stay there completely suspended in midair!

On our way back to the cabin we stop for delicious coffee at Buena Vista. No Starbucks here but a local, family ran and organic brew oriented enterprise. Tasty!

 

Day 7 - Saturday, July 25

Florissant to Glenwood Springs, Colorado

It’s time to pack up and move on. We really enjoyed our stay at this mountain cabin and, by the end of it, it started to feel like our own. Needless to say, the only wildlife we encountered here were chipmunks (which drove Obi nuts!). On my walks with Obi I explored quite a bit of the area in the closest vicinity of the cabin and became fond of these woods surrounded by huge rocky boulders and big mountains further out.

We head west on route 24 one more time and, once past Buena Vista, we turn north towards Mt. Massive (elevation 14 421 ft) and old mining town of Leadville. A quick lunch at a greasy joint in town and we’re once again on a road that seems to be climbing up to the sky. We reach Tennessee Pass at 10 424 ft. At  the end of a long decent we start seeing more traffic and finally hear the all familiar buzzing noise - Interstate!

Well, before we get on it we stop by a creek just to take a short break and say goodbye to this part of Colorado. Once we’re on I-70 everything happens faster again. It’s a bit of a shock to come down from remote and mostly uninhabited mountains and suddenly find yourself on this fast and busy highway that connects Denver with the Western States. We drive by resort town of Eagle where condo bonanza left its mark on the landscape. Before long we’re in the Glenwood Canyon carved by the mighty Colorado River. I sort of knew that this might be the prettiest part of today’s drive but what we see exceeds all my expectations. We’re still on I-70 but by now the fast highway is deep within the narrow canyon’s wall. We go in and out of ‘space age’ looking tunnels that cut through the canyon walls. The road quickly swirls left and right, left and right, and on and on… The canyon is deep, dark and narrow (there is only the road, railroad tracks and the river between the walls) and with the speed at which we have to travel it feels almost like a rollercoaster ride. Wow!

We arrive in Glenwood Springs in early afternoon. This fair size resort town is quite busy and we have trouble finding a good parking spot close to the world famous mineral pools. We vote against going into the world biggest natural spa - it seems really crowded and that’s not that appealing to us at the moment (we just spend 3 days in remote wilderness and feel like we didn’t get quite enough of it). We leave Glenwood Springs and head further west to Elk Creek campground. This privately run campground offers tent campsites but, as the lady at the registration office explains, they are frequently visited by a bear. Ok, we’ll stay in a cabin instead. Small and quite primitive the cabin is clean and  it overlooks a nice creek. We enjoy the hammock that’s hung on the small porch and start a fire after it gets dark. This won’t be the most restful night since it’s unbearably hot inside the cabin and we try to get some draft going through it for  good part of the night. Pretty much in vain…