Road Trip!

Just pulled in to a Colby, Kansas Motel 6, off I-70. I am trekking across the country with Aidan to collect a big wooden trunk/coffee table that Agi and I had made in Hungary. Family friends of ours agreed to haul it home for us in their container, as it wouldn't fit on the pallets we shipped last May. It's in Missouri, and in looking at the calendar, I knew I'd have to get it now or wait at least two months for my work schedule to clear up.

So naturally everything went wrong today. We had planned to leave as soon as we woke up this morning, but actually woke to a cold house--our furnace went out. By the time we got a repairman lined up (the circuitboard was shot) we didn't leave the house until 11. Not too great when we had the first 729 mile leg of the trip in front of us...

And naturally I forgot to pack the camera--meaning no photos for this little travelogue. Which sucks, since we passed some breathtaking sites--Capitol Reef National Park, Vail, Aspen, etc....

Not too fond of Vail now. Got caught in the mother of all traffic jams, in the middle of a storm, and crept forward 12 miles in two hours at the top of the Rockies, through the Vail Pass. Means we didn't get through Denver until after 8 PM. Once clearing Denver though, all traffic magically disappeared. And I mean DISAPPEARED. We had the highway to ourself for the remaining 212 miles between Denver and Kansas. Apparently there is nothing worth visiting past Denver, despite the brochures we picked up proclaiming the stretch of I-70 between Colby & Topeka "America's Main Street". I wouldn't know. We drove there in the dark.

I've had a blast with Aidan--torturing him with the music of my youth. Specifically for this trip I loaded my ipod with tunes from that lost period of the eighties, with a few choice cuts from the seventies as well. I covered the gamut, from cheese like Eddie Money (Take Me Home tonight) and Rick Springfield (Jesse's Girl) to classics from Kansas and Springsteen. And all points inbetween (hello Nightranger, Bon Jovi, Asia, and Toto...) Most of these tunes (with the exception of Springsteen's finest) I hadn't even heard since Jr High in Payson, so that was fun... Aidan handled it pretty well--thumbs up to Eddie Money and Alphaville, not so much the Asia...)

Ah well. Leg two starts tomorrow, as we stop in Granby, Missouri to pack the van with our stuff and visit the Burdens. Then on Monday its a six hour detour south to the Denton TX area to drop in on Janene and Bill. Provided they ever decide to respond to the emails I sent informing them of our desire to crash their house... :-)... If you read this Janene, call me at 435-213-7198...

Signing out from ice-cold Kansas. Seriously. Its like below zero right now....