Ok folks, it's true. There are no roads from Phoenix to Denver.
Well, ok... I could have taken the interstate. NOT. The car did
quite well. I managed to wear out the brakes, but other than that, it
fared the 1650 mile journey in two days quite well!
Soooo, I decided to take the scenic route by taking this cute little
gray road on the map from Georgetown, CO, to Grant Co. Well,
according to the map this road was supposed to be paved. NOT. Man,
that added two hours on my trip right there. BUT, I drove over 11,000
feet into some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Amazing.
>From there I drove to Durango, then headed south on route 666 through
New Mexico. No, I didn't do this on purpose, I missed my turn to the
four corners, which would have cut about 1/2 hour off my trip. This
turned out to be a crucial 1/2 hour as I arrived in Phoenix around
midnight. This was the designed time of arrival, but I took a wrong
turn once again and found myself in front of a 7/11 on the phone...
talking to my pal's answering machine. Where was he? He was on route
home from work. Anyway, I finally found my way to his place and was
in bed by 2:00am. (Don't forget that's 3:00am by my clock!) If I
hadn't made that wrong turn, I would have found the place an hour
earlier!
The return trip was a little more eventful. You see, I decided to
take a different route back. Through Utah to Route 70 into Colorado.
Not a bad route I thought. Uh... I took a wrong turn. I was
following the route numbers on my map and they had changed since the
printing of the map. If I had used the city names everything would
have been just fine. I eventually get back on course. Anyway,
sitting on your wallet for hours can put a crick in your back. So I
pressed back on the seat to yank out my wallet (fat with gas credit
card receipts) and SNAP! I broke the back of the frame in the seat.
DOH! Well, I guess it's time to take that sucker apart and find a
welder. Should be a piece of cake, but I still had 10 hours of
driving to do! Thank goodness that little playmate fit behind the
seat to hold my back up. (Did I mention the little playmate is a
cooler?) So I drive all the way to Denver, and yes, I miss my turn
once again. It's about 12:30 at night, and I add another 1/2 hour to
my trip. *sigh* Down the big hill we go, and *flash* *flash*
*flash*... Oh sure, pull me over now... GRR...
HIM: "Can I see your Drivers License and registration please..."
me: "Yes Sir."
He eyes the several empty mountain dew cans, pretzels, food wrappers
and etc, in the car. Boy, I'm glad they don't test for caffine!
HIM: "I pulled you over because you were doing 59 in a 45. I'll be
right back, sit tight"
me: "Uh, officer? I just drove in from Phoenix, and I'm very tired.
I had no idea that I was going that speed." (mainly because my
speedometer isn't that accurate, but I didn't tell him that!)
HIM: "Sit tight... I'll be right back"
me: "Doh!"
15 minutes pass
HIM: "Here's your stuff back... Look, watch your speed. You traveled
quite far, you're too close to home to mess up your trip now.
Drive safely."
me: "Yes SIR!"
Upon attempting to restart the car, nothing. I mean nothing. I pop
the hood and put the starter wire back on. Varrom! It's amazing what
I learned on the drive from maryland out here. The next 30 minutes
went by uneventful, I arrive home at 1:30am.
Moral of the story: If you can't get there from here, go somewhere
else first.
-Scotty
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