I got up at 7:39. For some reason, I'd set the alarm wrong. My husband K was finishing getting ready for the day. He made sure all of his stuff was packed up for me and in a pile.
After I ate breakfast and got washed up, I put together a couple of things that I could put in the car right away. Then, I headed out at 8:42 (24921 on the odometer) for Mass.
I arrived at 8:54 (24925) at St. Mark's Catholic Church, which was along a main road in a residential community in Westminster.
Even though the building was built like an ark with high windows like a church in my area, the seating was set up like a fan, which is the way Catholic churches were often built in the later part of the second half of the last century.
Mass was pleasant enough and I took some time inside for photos, as I often do.
I grabbed a bulletin, as usual, on my way out. I find them interesting. Outside, I took photos of the grotto to Mary and rhododendron nearby. I noticed they had security guards.
I googled to find the nearest gas station, when I got in the car at 10:11. There was one farther up the road and I headed there.
It was a Safeway Gas and I got there at 10:17 (24926). There were a lot of commercial enterprises around it. Gas was $3.499 per gallon and I only needed 4.45 gallons. The odometer showed we'd only driven 126.09 miles so far. Not sure that that was right, but I reset the trip odometer.
It was 10:36 (24929), when I parked in the back row across the street from the hotel. I'd never had to park that far back before. On the way in, I appreciated the xerscaping they'd done. It's so practical in these often drought-stricken times.
There, I took my time filling water bottles, getting ice, etc. I double-checked everywhere to make sure we'd forgotten nothing. Then, I took the opportunity to get one more nice look out at the front range and the Rockies beyond.
I took the rest of the things that could stand heating up in the car-including a program book that was free for the taking- out to the car. K later said he had one, too. So, I'll tear mine up for use in the album.
I checked out at 11:53, which was good, because checkout time was noon. Then, I sat down in the lobby with the cold stuff and a magazine to wait.
K arrived about 12:15 and, after a pit stop, we headed out to the car. Our leaving was delayed by noticing that there were prairie dogs out in the grassy area in front of the car. Being fans of prairie dogs, we just had to watch for a couple of minutes.
At 12:56 (24945), I parked down the street from the one he'd found. As usual for In-N-Out, it was really busy. I got in line, while he grabbed a table. I ordered two #3's (mine with onion) for $7.75 each. Tax brought the bill to $16.23. We were really glad he'd grabbed the table, because the line outside had gotten huge. We did enjoy the food, when it finally arrived at 1:12.
We were back on the road again at 1:50 with me behind the wheel. I left my phone handy for K to take photos for me. Around 2:53, he got these photos for me as we drove down US Rte. 285 through Pike and San Isabel National Forests near Grant.
Just after 3, near Jefferson, the view really opened up.
At 3:21 (25024), we found ourselves in the small town of Fairplay and really needed a pit stop. The elevation here was 9954', by the way. We found a convenience store of some ilk that had restrooms. On the way back to the car, we got a Coke Zero for $2.49 and a Milky Way for $1.89. The total was $4.62 with tax.
When we left at 3:37, K took over driving. Our daughter J made her usual Sunday call to us at about that time. South of town at 3:41, this was the view. The mountains just never seem to get closer.
Just 6 minutes later, there was suddenly a lot of traffic headed north for no discernible reason.
Just after 4, we were now on US Rte. 285 and US Rte. 24, when we saw this cool formation to the south.
The other side of the road showed interesting signs of uplift.
About 4:13(25057), K pulled off for us to look at the Collegiate Peaks scenic overlook. At this windy spot, signs told us, that we were looking out at the Sawatch Range and the Arkansas River Valley. The Arkansas means something to us, because we lived near Lake Dardanelle, which the river forms behind a dam, in Arkansas for 7 years.
I have tried to match the mountains to the sign, but it is rather hard. The long photo was taken away from the sign a bit, because vegetation has grown up. In any event, it's an impressive range.
There was also signage about people along the Arkansas River.
At 4:24, we headed out again. And in just 20 minutes, we were riding along the Arkansas. It was far choppier than we'd ever seen it in Arkansas.
Soon, 285 was climbing.
At 5:10, we were in Monarch Pass on US 50 (which goes to Ocean City, MD) with elevation of 11,312. I started having a real chest issue, which is unusual for me. This was the Continental Divide, by the way.
At 6 (25140), having seen no rest areas, we pulled into the Love's in Gunnison for a pit stop. When we got back on the road 5 minutes later, I was driving. The temperature was now 87°.
The road ran parallel to the Gunnison River including the part where it is more or less a lake. There was a fair amount of S-road here. It eventually went on the south side of the river. We passed through Cimarron, which seemed to have nothing to do with the Cimarron Strip, which is commemorated on a stamp.
We were getting a bit worried about finding dinner, when we got to Montrose, because what we were driving through was so rural. I will admit that hitting a traffic light in Montrose itself was reassuring.
We came into town on the east side, which was not very commercial. But, our hotel turned out to be near the regional airport on the west side of town, which had a lot more commerce.
It was 7:24 (25205), when we parked in the lot of the building next to the Hampton Inn on N. Townsend Avenue. The room was simple, but we needed nothing fancy for the one night we'd be here.
After we'd unloaded the car into the room, we went looking for a dinner recommendation at the desk. At 7:47, we wee on the road again. And, at 7:54, we were parked by the Horsefly Brewing Company.
We waited just inside the door to be seated. We chose indoor, because it was just too warm for us. We were given a table in the corner. My view was basically of the corner. If I turned right a bit, a saw a long center table. A bit farther and I saw a mug collection and the bar.
Although I am not a big fan of a Philly Cheesesteak, I decided to order the Cheesesteak Horsefly Style (thinly sliced top round with sauted red ale onions, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese on toasted French bread). I came with Horsefly Potato Chips and was $12.99. To drink, I had Peach Ice Tea for $3.25. K ordered the beer sampler for $5.50. For his meal, he ordered the Pilgrim Sandwich (sliced turkey, avocado, cream cheese, and cranberry chipotle sauce) on toasted sourdough with cole slaw for $12.99. We both enjoyed the sandwiches, and K, as always, enjoyed the beer sampler.
Even though it wasn't made in house, we had to try the Peanut Butter Cheescake, which was $5.99 and gluten free. Delicious!
We were out at 9:07 and I had us back to the hotel at 9:15 (25209). When I parked, there was a lovely sunset.
We had a lousy tv, that just wouldn't work right. Not helpful for vegging out after a long drive.
The phone says I managed to walk 4,825 steps for 1.7 miles.
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