To: OnTheRoad

From: Richard Dean <richdean@clark.net>

Subject: it was a dusty day....

...today in utah. I made it just past Salt Lake City (hazy) yesterday and spent the night in a place called Heber City, then drove on to Dinosaur National Monument. As a former archaeologist (well, that's more than bit overstated -- i was on digs in Ely, NV and Washington, DC...), it was fascinating to see an actual working dinosaur site. If you're not into archaeology or palentology or scientific discoveries, then this isn't one of the more amazing national parks, but you get to touch actual dinosaur fossils still embedded in the rock. pretty cool stuff.

i've dropped down onto old US 40 which takes you through Colorado instead of Wyoming. The interstates had become numbing -- i'm not sure how to describe it... there is a lack of connection both with the land and also the people around you. There's never a chance to slow down to 25 as you pass through town, or to take that chance and pass a three trailer truck on a curve, solid line on the right. It seems that the folks building the highways managed to keep them just far enough away from the good stuff -- abandoned motels, real diners, and random historical markers.

as you might imagine, there is no FM radio here -- well, there is almost always one station. Today's best: KJOY, which claimed to hold 83% of the northwestern colorado audience (check your maps). Their weapon -- these tunes: "Candida," "Top of the World (or whatever that Carpenters song is...)," and "You are the sun, I am the moon, you are the song I am the tune. Play me." Argh! Play Me??? What kind of man (or woman...) would say that? Neil Diamond? Am I right in thinking that there are *2* Neil tunes in that one set? Yikes. This from the same station which has only one advertising guy to voice commercials:

Commercial One:

<knockknockknock>

Bill! Wake up! There's a sale on satellite dishes...

<knockknockknock>

Bill! Comeon! Installation free!

Commercial Two

Honey, there are some great movies to rent down at Ye Olde Video Store (monologue continues...)

And you know what, honey? I can spend the money we save on more pizza!

Sorry. Too much searching on the dial drives a man nuts. :-)

Anyway, today's amazing site was just east of Strawberry Resevoir near Heber City. You're pretty high up here -- 8000 feet, and as you hit the pass and look over, there is a bank of fog/clouds resting on the valley (it was 8 am). The road heads down into them and as you hit the fog bank, the mist bounces off the cars in front. Aside from having to slow down, this seems normal, until you drop another few hundred feet and suddenly the sun disppears and darkness surrounds you. The only other time I've seen anything like this was descending into Boston on a rainy day from a sunny 30-thousand feet. Finally, at around 4000 feet, the sun breaks thru, but only to the north, so the right side of the road is still dark -- the left is sunny and clear. West Virginia likes to say its God's country, but I never saw anything like this there.

Tonight I'm in Steamboat Springs and despite the frigid temps, there's only snow at the summit. Had a few beers in the local brew pub and watched the pathetic world series. Here, though, was why I'm on the side roads -- met this really cool couple on their way from Phoenix to Salem, Oregon (please consult map if it seems like Steamboat Springs is on the way...). Although he had retired, they were moving so he could take a new job up north. They'd lived in Baltimore, Montana, Boise, and lots of other places. The ease of conversation is something random travellers share on the road in this country. It wasn't the same abroad for some reason. We exchanged email addresses (!?) and lamented a life where your laptop is your only permanant address.

As a result of all of this meandering in Utah and Colorado (if you call 400 miles/day meandering...), I have to make pretty darn good time across the midwest. Unfortuantely that means bypasssing friends to the south of my route :-(

Boston is 2000 long miles away and Sunday is coming up fast...

hope everyone is well.... i miss you all...

rich