Colorado to Nebraska to Dubuque...

November 2, 2010

I was just serenaded by the radio to buy a mule for all of my farm and field work needs; yes we are driving across the unending state of Nebraska.  I couldn’t possibly accurately measure how many thousands of cows in feedlots we’ve seen so far.  And the smells!  Every so often, in wafts decisive skunk or cow pie or horse or animal on the road scent.  Delectable. 

We’ve just come off of three nights and two days in the Denver area with Nick’s aunt and uncle, spoiled and chubby, we’ve ended the last leg of our trip in style.  Jill and Dave in Littleton, CO treated us with showers and three plus square meals a day, great conversation, and Halloween hijinks with Maggie the Wonder Pug and Max the floor rumbling, rambunctious German shepherd mutt.  I got to see cute kids in costumes, and they actually came to the door, a completely foreign phenomenon in our Chicago apartment style living history.  The Littleton cake was iced by amazing sushi with the whole family for Will’s (Nick’s cousins) birthday, candy apple making provided by Renie (Will’s wife), and a somewhat tedious but rewarding hike at Red Rocks.  I even ran up the stairs for a view! 

Nick, Will and Renie dunk and decorate their caramel apples. 

YUM

Awesome Uncle Dave and Aunt Jill (Dave is hiding behind Jill) ... we miss you guys!

The view from the top of Red Rocks, a sign says that I burned a mere 40 calories running up the umpteen steps... lame. 

Cousins!

Of course my favorite part was the close up I got of these mule deer.  I had to sneak up on them, it was totally worth it. 

We are about halfway through the 14 hour drive back to Dubuque, my mind is already reminiscing about our last night camping at Arches, the stars were probably the best we’d seen.  I had a left over star map from a night ranger program at Zion, and so many constellations were clear.  The milky way looked dimensional, and Jupiter was huge and sparkling.  The longer we craned our necks back, the more we saw.  It’s addicting, seeing the lighter stars get more visible as eyes adjust and allowing the shapes to take form.  Of course, my knowledge of constellations leaves something to be desired, but, I think my burgeoning desire to learn is commendable.  

We had our last campfire and went out in style, burning all of our wood at once in a huge bonfire.  Our last meal was anticlimactic: we had sandwiches with cheese, spinach (day old= 99 cents!) and salt and pepper potato chips, but I toasted mine a little on the cast iron skillet, which made it gourmet.  We still had a hidden chocolate bar from Vancouver which punctuated the meal perfectly and made the cheap tasting Utah beer palatable.  

I know these sandwiches don’t sound too satisfying, but understand that after a big hike in the sun, everything tastes great.  In Arches we did a few short trails to different sights, but the big trail we did was 7.2 miles, and it was labeled “primitive and unmaintained” which should have clued us in to the incredibly strenuous aspect of the trail.  We stared the trail in the afternoon at around 2:30, and had mild concerns about finishing it before sunset, but were mostly excited to be out again (even though we’d just left Zion that morning).  The sights and feats and rocks were amazing.  Arches is mostly carved out of a red sandstone, which grips hiking boots really well, but also offers a fair amount of slippery sandy areas.  We scrambled over rocks and up nearly sheer edges, hiked along ridges, got great views of the valley and the mountains, and were awed by the splendid, naturally formed arches.  It was here I was most convinced that a God exists, if only because Nature is so powerful and full of beauty and simultaneous purpose.  It all exists within a cauldron of planning and abandon, perfectly formed and raw.  

Leaving Arches, we felt grateful for the experience, for the constancy of the sky and the sun, and gift of time.  It was a little strange, knowing that after Denver, we were going “home” to whatever that is right now.  Home is the car, and each other, and that’s been the reality for a while now, it’s bizarre to think about a return, and not know what that return is.  I once took a dance workshop called Opening to the Unknown, and that is really what I am trying to do right now.  




PS- Nick is promising to write and post pictures about Arches, it was amazing.