My Road Trips - Rocky Mountain National Park #1
Rocky Mountain National Park #1
One crisp October morning of my second year of college, I awoke slightly hung over from the previous night's revelry. I had been experiencing difficulty with handling several tough issues in my life at that time, and I had coincidentally discovered the reality-relieving properties of alcohol. As I ventured across the dorm complex to check the lunch menu, I felt a strong urge to escape; I needed to get away.
After confirming that my hopes for good food were ill-founded, I threw some stuff in a bag, grabbed a map and a CD case, and headed for Colorado. It was just after 12:00 noon. Mapquest had told me that Denver was only 750 miles away, so I figured I could make it in 10 hours or so. Reality prevented me from making that goal, but I managed to pull into Denver sometime around midnight. Looking at the map, I determined the best route to Rocky Mountain National Park, and began heading there.
I remember stopping at some gas station along the interstate in north Denver, and calling the source of my passion and pain on a pay phone. She had just gotten home from a halloween party, and was hopelessly drunk. I'm not sure how long it took me to realize this, but I do know that the conversation was an odd one. I pushed on to the Park, arriving around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. There was no good place to go to sleep, so I parked the car on a gravel path by some cabins and huddled in the hatchback area of my car, trying to sleep.
I didn't get much sleep, all scrunched up in the back of the car, and I awoke to a freezing cold morning. I got out of the car to stretch and get my bearings, and was blown away by the sight of the mountain. When I had driven into the park, the previous night, I couldn't view the scenery because it was completely dark. But the magnificence of the sun shining on the Rocky Mountains took my breath away that chilly morning. I drove into the park and walked around. It was wonderful to breathe the cold clean pine air, and drink in the beauty of the land. I collected some pine cones, watched a stream, read some signs, then took off.
On the way home, I remember stopping at a Pizza Hut at some small town along the interstate in Colorado. I got some food, then slept for a few hours in my car while it was parked in the parking lot. I arrived home at about 4:00 am on Monday morning.
