Day 2 - The Search for More Oxygen

After getting roughly 4 hours of sleep, thanks to both the weather and my horribly uncomfortable sleeping pad, I set off in the wee-hours of a calm, Utah morning to complete the second leg of my journey. It was a long day, both physically and mentally exhausting, and I'm glad to finally be in my tent, writing this post before passing out.

The rest of Utah was just as beautiful as the first part, if not more so. The section of I-70 going from I-15 to Grand Junction is breath-taking. Huge, flat mesas, hundreds of feet above the wide swath of plains the interstate lain on, red stone contrasting with the light green brush. For the first part of my morning, I found myself stopping at every other scenic view rest stop just so I could take a few pictures that didn't have my windshield in the way. I haven't gotten the pics of my camera yet, so I'll update this after my drive tomorrow.

Edit: Here are the promised pictures

Colorado also has great looking country, though with less red stone, and MUCH higher peaks. The Rocky's are so much bigger than anything I'd driven by, and there were times the roads were so close to the base I couldn't see the sky out of my windshield. Just mountain. Speaking of mountains, how come nobody warned me about elevation fatigue?? I figured I'd be OK, since I wasn't exactly exerting myself driving, and the climb was relatively shallow. Then, I got above 8000 ft. Then 9000. It was about then I figured out the weird light-headedness I'd been feeling was the altitude. It was also the same time my car was also having breathing issues, barely making it up the hills, and having to constantly downshift to keep up the speed, even in relatively flat areas. When I saw the 10,800 ft peak sign, I knew my blurry vision wasn't my contacts.

After that wonderful ordeal, I had the pleasure of driving through Denver. By far, the cleanest city I've ever driven through. Even the run down areas looked clean, it was weird.

Now, I'm holed up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A quaint, little city, with some rather, ah, interesting people... I went to the pub downtown to grab a my first meal in two days that wasn't out of my cooler, and had an awesome 1/2 lb Cajun burger with roasted garlic and melted bleu cheese. Oh, and a beer. Served in a mason jar...

So classy

Day 1 - The Long Desert Road...

Today, I began my long journey back to New York. At 4am. On a Monday. Not one of my best ideas, but I survived so I must've done something right. My 9 hour drive consisted almost entirely of desert landscapes, an almost-overheating car, and snapping random pictures out my windows when traffic wasn't too bad. 

Have you ever taken the same interstate for 500 miles? It's not exactly a riveting experience. But it was the easiest and fastest way for me to get out of the desert and into territory where grass is actually the default environment. That being said, there were some interesting moments and views.

Watching the sunrise over the mountains was an awesome experience

These solar power plants look so sweet!

The only part of Vegas that actually caught my eye. Yes, that's Trump Tower. Yes, it's completely clad in Gold. Subtle, Trump. Very subtle.

Got passed by a Ferrari 458....

And then an Aston DB9 30 seconds later

The pass through the mountains was awesome! There were mountain walls 100s of feet high on either side of the road

Then I got into Utah. Man, what beautiful country

Big, fluffy clouds! It was just perfect weather

Oh, I'd like to give a special shout-out to Jen at HME. I was rocking out to her driving mix CD's all morning. And Steve, I'm sorry, but I will never like Lady Ga-Ga.