The Angle

Seeing and “Resting”

THE TRIP – Day 3

Denver, Colorado – Grand Junction, Colorado

251 miles

I'm a very visual person. I love photographs. Google Images is my go-to site if I'm curious as to what something may look like. I've seen movies that had been filmed in the western part of this country and I've watched Ken Burn's excellent series on the National Parks. I've looked at professional photographs of mountains and landscapes from various parts of this country, but driving west from Denver through the Rockies on Interstate 70, heading toward Grand Junction, I was first struck by how photos and movies and visual images are unable to fully capture the vastness and beauty found in much of this country. The western landscape – the mountains, sky, lakes, rocks - are expansive in height, in texture, in depth, in color. I had expected to be amazed at what I would see along the road during this trip, but I don't think I was prepared for the just how much my senses would be engaged in the seeing. Though we did take many pictures wherever we went, we also spent time just looking – visually soaking in the amazing scenic beauty. I didn't close my eyes once the entire time I spent in the car for fear of missing something beautiful.

Dillon Reservoir, near Breckenridge, CO

Many rest areas on the interstates turned out to be “surprise adventures”. Such paved pull-offs are common throughout the country, but in the east, they are mainly places for long-distance drivers and truckers to take a nap or stretch their legs. In the west, they are often scenic viewing areas as well and great places to take photos (which will not begin to capture the view...). They are also places to just look and absorb the natural beauty. We spent some time at a pull-off outside of Breckenridge, overlooking Dillon Reservoir. After we took some photos, while we were looking at the blue of the sky reflected in the water dotted with pine-covered islands surrounded by the evergreen tree-lined snow-tipped mountains, a trucker pulled up in his rig and jumped out of the cab with a professional-looking camera and started taking photos of the view. He seemed happy and excited for this break, alternating between taking pictures and just looking. I wondered if this was a regular route for the trucker, and if he had pictures from pull-offs such as this from all over the country. Judging from his enthusiasm in the moment, I assumed that this perk of his job never got old.

View from rest stop near Dillon Reservoir

Farther down I 70, the interstate cut through Glenwood Canyon. The views along the road where impressive. We pulled off at a nearby rest area, this one indicating it had rest rooms, and found this stop to have hiking trails and a launching area for white water rafting on the Colorado River as well as the promised rest rooms, all set within a picturesque canyon. We watched the rafters take off on the river, then took a short hike down a canyon trail along a creek that flowed back into the Colorado. It was becoming apparent rest stops on this trip were more likely to be “surprise adventures” than quick

breaks...