We raced a thnderstorm today. And won. But sort of lost because we rushed. One of the expected highlights of this trip was the drive over the Rocky Mountains. Interstate 70 through Colorado was the last section of the interstate system to be completed. Between the very high altitudes in the middle of the state to the deep canyons of the Colorado River, engineers faced their biggest challenges in completing the system.

Something we didn’t understand is the impact of rain in some of the canyons. In particular the road through Glenwood Canyon has been damaged by flash flooding and is frequently closed when it rains. And rain was in the forecast this AM. We left Grand Junction just before the rain started there and stayed ahead of it all the way to Boulder. We did stop for lunch in Vail and the lead edge of the storm passed overhead. But we outran it.

It’s an amazing drive! In the west you drive through huge rock formations that eventually narrow into tight canyons as you drive along the Colorado River. The canyon is so tight that they tiered the highway with the west bound lanes stacked over the east bound lanes. All in all it’s spectacular but we didn’t have time to stop for photos lest we get behind the storm and get caught behind the road closure. The detour adds many hours to the ride.

After Vail, if you are heading east, you hit the Eisenhower Tunnel. It’s the highest elevation along the route at just over 11,000 feet. It’s all downhill from there…

We’re in Boulder for two nights at the Hotel Boulderado. It’s conveniently located, historic, generally comfortable but technologically inconvenient (few outlets, small desk, slow wi-fi.) We ate at Hapa Sushi, an old favorite that happily survived the pandemic. The restaurants have taken over most of the pedestrian plaza along Pearl Street so we were able to eat out side. Boulder is quite walkable, we both hit 10K steps!