After waking up refreshed yesterday, I knew I had an epic drive ahead if I actually wanted to make it to Denver last night. (Spoiler alert — I made it!) I did my usual wake up routine: browse the Internet, make some coffee, take a shower and then head down for breakfast. Actually that isn’t my normal morning routine, just the one during road trips.
By the way, I have not once used my GPS or my cell phone to navigate. To this point it has all been referring to the atlas and staying on the main interstates. Before I left I had already decided on the route I would take to Denver. Everything beyond this point is up in the air, so there’s a chance I may need to consult the GPS at some point.
After checking out, I stopped at the gas station next to my hotel and filled up, cleaned my windows and checked my oil. I bought some snacks and beverages. Within minutes I was back on I-64W. The first major point of interest was St. Louis which was a little over an hour from where I called it a night.
I wasn’t really planning to stop in St. Louis, but I knew they have the Arch so when I saw it on the skyline, and I saw a nice convenient exit off the interstate right to downtown, I took it. It was around 10am on a Sunday morning and there wasn’t much people out. I found street parking and got my DSLR out and took a short walk around the Arch area and grabbed some photos. The weather was great! I might have to come back to St. Louis and check it out some more.
Anyway, after that I got on I-70W which is the route across Missouri and Kansas and leads straight to Denver. I was hoping for some nice barren freeways that I could make some good time on, however I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City (at the other end of the state) was quite busy. It wasn’t like DC traffic stop and go or anything, but speeds were around 50-60 mostly and there was decent traffic. At one point I passed a rather gnarly looking accident that was going eastbound and resulted in backups for the other side of many miles.
I got to Kansas City, and saw their stadium which is literally right beside I-70 before you cross the river into Kansas. I saw a game was being played and wished I was prepared to snap a quick picture while driving. (PSA: don’t take pictures and drive folks. Do as I say not as a I do.) Anyway, I continued on for awhile until I had to use the bathroom and made it to a rest stop. I gassed up, got a red bull, and while filling up the car the guy next to me started talking to me about KC Royals and the Baltimore Orioles. I was a little confused but realized I had an Orioles t-shirt on and apparently the Orioles were in town playing the Royals at right that moment. So he thought I was around because of that. We chatted for a few minutes and he gave me a few suggestions to check out in western Colorado when I get there.
Once into Kansas I-70 is part of the Kansas Turnpike for a bit. Having been used to EZPass for many years, it had been awhile since I stopped at a toll booth. Anyway, eventually I passed Topeka and roads began to clear. Eastern Kansas is actually fairly interesting from a terrain standpoint. There are long rolling hills and decently interesting landscapes to see. By the west side of Kansas things had flattened out a lot more, but there were still long (many miles) of slight uphill grades. You definitely could sense the fact that over the course of several hundreds of miles you were gaining elevation. At one point I passed a sign saying I was at 5100ft elevation, which I believe is higher than anything around where I live, even the top of the tallest “mountain”.
Anyway, Kansas had some interesting moments. Due to the topography, you can see many miles ahead especially when what you’re looking at is in the sky. For about 75 miles or so, I could tell I was getting closer to what looked to be an ominous storm. As I got closer, I could see lighting and skies darkened considerably. At one hill crest, I saw a group of SUVs pulled over to the side of the road, as I passed them I saw “storm chaser” on the side of a couple of the vehicles. That’s when my heart really started beating because I knew they wouldn’t be out there if there wasn’t a good chance of a tornado.
Within a few minutes, the rain started and then my phone blew up with Emergency Broadcast Alert about a tornado warning in the area. At this point, the rain went from just getting started to full on deluge. Visibility went to zero. Fortunately I saw I was close to a rest area and immediately pulled in when I got there. Just before I pulled off, it started hailing like crazy. I got to the rest area and my car was assaulted by hail for over 10 minutes. It was pretty terrifying not knowing if a tornado was about to come and whisk me off or if my windows would get shattered and I would be completely screwed for my trip. Fortunately none of those happened and within about 15 minutes the skies began to brighten and so I continued on.
In general, Kansas appears to be a very windy place. At one point on a long stretch of flat straight highway, a series of tumbleweeds blew across the road in front of my car. Yes, tumbleweeds. Even on my last road trip which went through New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas I don’t recall seeing tumbleweeds. But Kansas has them.
The last bit of excitement Kansas had in store for me was almost getting pulled over. I had cruise control set to 85-90 depending on my passing circumstances. The speed limit was 75. I always try to maintain 360 degree awareness when driving and I noticed a car coming up on me at a high speed from a distance. I immediately dropped my cruise to 75 since it seemed suspicious. In fact it was a state trooper. He slowed down and drove alongside me for about 45 seconds and I was starting to feel bummed out for a potential ticket, but he sped off and within a couple minutes I passed him and the person he ultimately pulled over. Whew! After this I just kept the cruise at 75. I felt like I got a warning this time, so best to heed it.
Finally, at long last, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I crossed into Colorado as the sun was getting low. The road signs proclaimed Denver to be increasingly closer. I knew I could make it, so I soldiered on. I was treated to a spectacular sunset. At last, just before the final light dissipated, I turned a bend and there was the silhouette of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Just the faint sight of that in the distance invigorated me and suddenly I had more energy to continue on.
As I got closer, I decided I would just pick a hotel. I didn’t need to be downtown since I was beat and didn’t plan on going out. I just wanted to sleep and stretch out. I found a very nice Holiday Inn Express, that is nicer than the hotel I stayed at last night. This place is almost brand new.
The weather is looking beautiful here today, so I plan to try to see some nice sights during the day to take advantage. The weather is looking to change in the next couple of days.
That’s all for now. If I am not too tired or otherwise busy with whatever plans I concoct, I may make another post tonight.
Already in Denver!! Awesome! Sounds like a good drive so far too. Except for some random stuff. Nice to know that people everywhere don’t know how to pass, not just Maryland. Glad you didn’t hit real tornadoes.
Later