TIME Warp

 Day 61—Saturday, October 1—Grants, NM to Denver, CO

523 miles

523 miles takes at least 10 days in good weather by bike; 10 hours even by car in the rain, including stopping for gas, brunch, and to see the hot air balloon festival over Albuquerque. After 60 days traveling mostly at an average rate of 7 mph, it felt like a time warp to me.

The night at the KOA in Grants was the third worst besides Hartsel behind the bar, and Whitefish next to train. In Grants, freight trains ran all night and blew their horns loudly at grade crossings.  Earplugs not much help.

Early morning farewell to Eric who may be facing some weather challenges in the coming days, and to Don and Dan, who finally has his new tire. Andy and I left before sunrise and hit I-40, reaching Albuquerque in time to see several hundred hot air balloons floating over the city. 

People parked on the side of the highway for miles, wrapped in blankets with their kids on an early Sat. morning to experience the event. In a vast sky that stretches 360 degrees in every direction, the balloons give the sky some scale, making it look larger. Their flight appeared like a cross between an invasion and a hanging sculpture in the blue.

At Santa Fe, rather than skirt around to the south and pick up I-25, Andy suggested US 285, a smaller highway that connects to Denver and provides a far more scenic route compared to the efficiency and utility of I-25. I was all in. On a number of occasions we overlapped with short stretches that I had covered on my bike weeks before;  near Como (recall the reference to the building with the Chinese laundry name), Poncha Pass (we climbed this paved road to get to the Marshall Pass gravel road after leaving Salida), and Hartsel.

It was a little surreal to see these stretches and imagine passing an older dude on a bike making his way slowly but steadily along. We did not see any bike packers.

We stopped for brunch in Espanola and had an amazing New Mexican meal (can’t get enough green chili) and then proceeded. By the time we got close to Salida we were back in the presence of the Fourteeners (highest mountains in Colorado) which were shrouded in clouds. Rain seemed certain and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint. We made a pit stop in Fairplay and came out of the gas station to see snow covered mountains as the clouds lifted.

Snow in higher elevations in the Fourteeners 

Eventually we made it to Bear Creek Lake Park, a city of Lakewood campground where I will continue to enjoy the outdoors until Molly arrives on Monday and I’ll move indoors to a rental.  Tremendous thunderheads we’re overhead and thankfully moving east and away from us. Very lovely suburban setting with a view of Home Depot up the hill and a glimpse of the Denver skyline.  There are dinosaur fossils nearby and we’re close to Red Rocks Amphitheater which is an outdoor venue for popular music.

Campsite looking towards Denver and massive thunderhead (zoom in for little rainbow near the tree)

Andy and I had dinner in Morrison in a funky little old commercial district wedged between rock outcrops. Got some ice cream. Sun went down. Talked for a bit in the dark. To sleep.

Big lovely sky

Still processing “what it all means” as I conclude this adventure and hope to have a post script or epilogue in the coming days if I can come up with something!  A lot to process but I’ll try to simplify.