Driving to Denver

My company made everyone take the week off at July 4th.  At first I was mad.  I wasn't planning a vacation.  But then I had an idea form...I had no plans but that didn't mean I had to sit around!  I decided to take a small trip to visit my dear friend Carolyn in Denver.  And so that is just what I did.

I took Rebekah and Ruth with me.  William would have come, but he was in the middle of a big project at work and has even told those working under him no vacation.  Since he is planning a trip to a Bears game this fall and is taking Peter, we thought it would be a good time for the girls to go on a trip.

Denver is 10-ish hrs away.  There is some funny math you can do there and 10 hrs is really a "safe bet".  (It shouldn't take longer!)  Fri I got off work early and got everything packed and ready to go.  I piled the girls in Saturday morning early.  I had intended to leave the house by 5:30 AM.  I was late - and we didn't get off until 6:00 AM.

As I made my way north I wondered how I was going to conquer the whole 10 hrs.  Our normal 5 hr trip seemed so long and this was DOUBLE!  The task seemed insurmountable.  As I was driving with snoozing girls in the back an idea leaked into my head and planted itself firmly there.  This drive was like my half marathon.  A mile was similar to an hour.  The first thing they tell you when you are running long distances is to concentrate on the current mile and take it a mile at a time.  The second thing was that I really needed to sit back and enjoy the trip itself.  It was, afterall, 50% of the trip itself.  (We were arriving in Denver on Satruday and leaving early Tuesday morning.)

Before I knew it - my first "mile" was under my belt and I felt like I could do another hour no problem.

This analogy really got me through the drive.  Just a little over 3 hrs in (or so) I ran across some windmills.  These were beautiful and fun to look at.

But once they were over there was just this.

Nothing.  I've never seen a more boring drive.  And you'd think it would be beautiful once Colorado is entered.  Nope.  Pure boring nothingness until Denver smacks you in the noggin.

But there is one rest stop that was a highlight on our trip.

They had a playground right next to a Starbuck's.  If that isn't genius planning I don't know what is.  The girls played, we fueled up, I drank some coffee and we bought lunch on the way out of town.  Burger King it for the girls.  I skipped - we had enough snacks I didn't feel I really needed anything.  (I did regret this a little bit later as I felt like I could use something of substance.)

I did finally get sleep - but we added in one more rest stop and a little running around and I had pep in my step again.  The trip was really no problem.  I made it safely and easily.  The most shocking thing about the drive was that it really didn't seem all that much longer than the 5 hr drive.

More on my trip to come.  I can't wait to talk about the adventures we had. :)