The Middle of Nowhere

We left Crazy Horse in South Dakota and drove down into Denver. There were a lot of storms in that area, but none directly over us. We were very grateful! 

Got to Denver in the early evening and just spent that night relaxing in the hotel. This was a nice sized room, and the hotel had an indoor pool. We definitely took advantage of that!

Beth and I hadn't seen Chuck's sister in a few years. She had a major stroke 25 years ago, and another one two years ago. She's been in rehab ever since that last stroke and she's not sure she'll ever be able to go home again.

We'd bring her lunch every day and sit out in the lounge for a few hours talking and reminiscing. It was really good to see her again.

After a few days we continued south to the bustling metropolis of Walsenburg, Colorado. Population 3,000. The Aspen Acres fire was burning in that area of the state and we could see it as we drove.

We were getting alerts on our phones about evacuations. Thankfully the town of Walsenburg never needed to evacuate, neither did my brother-in-law. But we certainly kept an eye on the fire and the alerts.

 

On July 3rd, we checked into the motel, then headed out to Ken's. He and my sister Kathy bought 40 acres and were building a house when she suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.

We were out there in October of 2020, and it was the last time I ever saw her. These two pics are from that visit -  

Ken's in his 70's and lives in the 5th-wheel on the property but he keeps working on the house. And it's 22 miles from Walsenburg, in the middle of nowhere. Yep, this is the road to his house. 

Still going - 

There it is! He's done so much work on it since Kathy died.

We sat out on the porch to catch up and talk about life.

My niece and her boyfriend were there as well, staying a week to help her dad with the house. As we started back to the motel that afternoon the fire really picked up.

We went back out to the house on the 4th and right around dusk the wind really picked up so he didn't shoot off fireworks this year. We were okay with that, Beth and I were still festive! He barbecued some amazing steaks, and we had salad, and cookies for dessert.

Then we sat outside 'til it got dark, talking and watching the storms roll by in the distance.

My niece took this one - 

It was kind of cute, Beth had a little crush on my niece's boyfriend. Here she is teasing him, then getting embarrassed and hiding behind her phone. He was sweet, and they teased each other the entire time we were there. It was fun to watch them!

I know these posts are long, but there's so much I want to remember about this trip. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! Just a couple more post I think. Well, maybe three. 😊

The Loneliest Road

No that's not a metaphor of my life or anything, there really is a stretch of highway called The Loneliest Road!

This was one of the first trips we took without Sharaya. She was married and pregnant so just 4 of us climbed into the van that morning. We left Seattle and headed East to Wyoming, then headed South to Colorado.

Chuck's mom and sister were having a few health issues and needed some help around the house. One of the big things we did was to clean out their garage so Rose could park her car inside for a change. Those Colorado winters can be brutal!

Chuck's sister Rose, his mom Mary Ann and... Chuck

After leaving Colorado, we headed East and that's when we found ourselves on the loneliest road! There's no sign of civilization for miles. I remember driving through one small town and as we came to the end of it kids were jumping off their toys and running to the street to yell goodbye to us, there was one man who was washing his car and he stopped and waved as we drove by. They knew they were the last people we would see for a while!

The Loneliest Road

This is another section but it didn't take long for it all to look exactly the same.

We came across Arches National Park and decided to stop for a while. We'd heard a lot about it but had never been there. Beth wasn't too happy about getting out because she just wanted to wait in the car and continue to eat her red licorice. (Can you tell?)

We only stayed a couple of hours and so saw just a small part of the park but the landscape was phenomenal!

 

Can you see Beth in this one?

 

I gave Beth the camera hoping it would improve her mood. It did a little, but these are some of the pictures she took. Sigh.

Arches was beautiful and I'd love to go back one day and see more of that spectacular park!

 

We ended up spending the night in Reno, Nevada and it sure was interesting. A miniature Las Vegas but not as nice. I mean, the streets seemed dirty, I didn't feel completely safe walking around, I don't know, it was just different. Now this was back in 2010 so maybe things have changed since we were there.

We had lunch at Big Ed's Alley Inn and I remember Diana and I were afraid to go inside. The area was run down and this little hole-in-the-wall was a bar / restaurant. No thank you. But Chuck insisted that these kind of places have the best food.

Well, he was right! The food was amazing! And we didn't get shot or mugged or anything!

We stopped at the hotel to drop off our stuff before heading out to The Strip. We came across Circus Circus and since none of us gamble, decided to go into the arcade. It was pretty big and the girls had a good time.

 

The next morning we headed for home. This was a different road trip for us because we took a lot of back roads and small highways that we normally don't travel. It really was a lot of fun!

Did you ever take a vacation that turned out different than you expected?