East to West, Continental Divide

Today's drive was from Pueblo to Grand Junction, about 360 miles. Traveling north on I-25 we found more and more development, though the area around Castle Rock seemed quite nice.
We picked up I-70 just west of Denver and started our trek westward. This house looked very alien and would have been interesting to see up close.

(Remember, you can see any of these pictures bigger by clicking on them - then you can return to the blog by clicking on your "back" arrow)
A steady climb brought us to the highest point of our travels and also the longest tunnel!

While we were in the tunnel we were lost - at least the GPS couldn't find us!

Another great summit was in Vail, CO. I know it is well known for it's skiing - but it seemed too high class for us and I don't think I would want to live there.

What was beautiful, however, came to the west of Vail - an area where the roads and the Colorado River competed for space between the deep gorge. It was amazing how much engineering went into the planning for the travel corridor, and how much the natural beauty was left for everyone to enjoy.

We stopped at one of the rest areas that could allow for a big rig like ours (many had a limit of 35'). The area we stopped had signs explaining how much effort went in to creating this route as well as information about the river and the surrounding area.

The water was flowing quite rapidly but there were still some adventurers out in rafts and canoes.

As you can see, we enjoyed the chance to get out of the RV and walk around for awhile. Apollo did not have such a grand day. He had to sit and watch the river and all the lakes we passed by and just whined : (

Had to put in a picture of our RV and truck.

In Grand Junction we are staying at a KOA campground. It's small, but nice and has all the amenities you normally expect for a KOA. We did go into town to look for pizza as we have not had any our entire trip. Main Street was great for walking and eating. Lots of restaurants with outdoor dining are up and down the main drag. There were also lots of sculptures. I took this picture because bicycles are so prevelent in this area.

The picture of Main Street shows Pablos Pizza on the right, where the outdoor tables are set up. It had really unique pizza choices - we had a variation on our typical Hawaiian and it included mandarin oranges and shrimp!

We couldn't help but take this picture for Doug - if you look closely you can see Gary making "chug-a-chug-a" sounds as I took the picture. It's too bad I didn't record the sound, too!

We talked to Melah and Heather today. It's been quite hectic at their house having 7 children there most days. I know Heather and Mark are anxious to get out of town and leave all the chaos. We are all waiting to hear when he gets the chance to fly to Hershey to do a tasting table for the chef at the hotel. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers that all will work out for them.
Planned for tomorrow is a stop in Utah, somewhere along I-15 north of St. George. That will allow us to drive into Las Vegas on Sunday to spend a few days with Mark, Heather and the kids. We are looking forward to seeing them and helping out where we can. Gary and Mark will be working on changing the transmission in Mark & Heather's Jeep. Sounds like fun, doesn't it!