Hills are black, mountains are rocky and junctions are grand

Today was a wonderfully full day of driving. I mean that too, great scenery, and I don't mind driving at all. Woke up at about 6:15 mountain time. Got a shower, checked out of the Ramada, and was on the road out of Rapid City by 7:30. Feel free to go get a map so you can follow along with today's route. It's ok, I'll wait.

Took highway 16 south out of Rapid City to where it joined up with 385 in Hill City and took that south. No, I didn't go by Mount Rushmore, cause I've actually see that a number of times, and I haven't seen the Crazy Horse monument since Mom, Dad, Drew and I came here back in '94. So drove by that, then took 385 south to 89, where it joined up with highway 18. Gorgeous drive, by the way, which is to be expected from the Black Hills. It was supposed to be 99 there today, so I'm glad I got out of there early. I took highway 18 west until it joined with highway 85 in Wyoming and took it south to Lusk. Lusk is a very undescript, 3,000 person town, but I've been there 3 times before, cause every time I've gone to Denver, we've always gone through the Black Hills and then through Lusk. Kinda weird.

Anyway, took highway 18/20 west toward I-25, then headed to Cheyenne. In Cheyenne, stopped and got lunch and some gas, and tried to figure out what I was gonna do once I hit Denver. My goal today was to make it to at least Denver, but I was in Cheyenne by 11:00, so there was no way that I was going to stop for the day in Denver, cause that would be a waste of a driving day! My dilemma was wether or not to head west on I-70 from Denver, or head down to Colorado Springs, then head west on highway 50. I eventually decided on I-70, cause highway 50 would have taken too long, though I do plan on doing it sometime.

I-70 is beautiful, for those who haven't been on it. Once I got into the mountains, I turned off the AC and rolled down the windows. Even though it was sweltering on the plains, in the mountains it was nice and cool. It also helped the car's engine to not have to run the AC as well. Drove past Vail, which was a REALLY nice place. I can see why people live there and why it costs so much. Just prior to getting to Vail I went through the Vail Pass, which was the highest point on the Interstate at 10,662 feet. Pretty cool!

Also drove through Glenwood Canyon, which is again, a very cool place. I suggest you look it up on the internet. The way they had to lay the freeway to get it through there is quite an engineering marvel. I think there was a show on the History Channel about it. Finally made it to Grand Junction at about 6:00 pm and here I stay at the Best Western. Tomorrow, I'm driving past a whole crid load of National Parks, including Arches, Capital Reef and Zion on my way through St. George and Las Vegas. I may have to stop to stretch my legs on a number of occasions! Another thing too: about 5 minutes before leaving home yesterday, I checked my email and found that my transfer to Salt Lake City had been approved for September, so I'm only gonna be in Fresno for a month! Then I get to move again to Salt Lake! Good times. This was unexpected as Salt Lake hadn't had many people moving into it lately. Nice surprise!