Day 5 - September 27, 1998
Colorado - The
Loneliest Highway Revisited
The sky was cloudless when we
hit the road in Grand Junction and remained that way all day! The temperature varied
quite a bit, though, but that was because our altitude varied from 4500 feet in Grand
Junction to 11,000 feet at Monarch Pass to 2000 feet once we hit the plains! Indeed,
The Skies Were Not Cloudy All Day!
We (sort of) planned our route
the night before, choosing scenery over speed as usual, and only afterward realized that,
except for one brief detour, it took us across all of Colorado on our beloved US Rt. 50,
The Loneliest Highway.
Well, we're out of the
mountains now and headed across the vast plains and prairies that make up America's
Heartland!
This is where we went today
Black Canyon National
Park, CO
This is a stunning canyon that is very long with very high walls with very steep
sides. This shot, as appealing as it is, doesn't do it justice!
Along the side of US Rt.
50, CO
Always the curious, John just had to know how many wings were indeed deposited
here.
Monarch Pass, west of
Salida, CO
This was taken just past the summit of Monarch Pass, elevation 11,312 feet.
The GTV's idle speed has been varying a lot throughout the trip, and we finally figured
out why: altitude! At 11,000 feet, it wouldn't even stay running! Climbed the
mountain in fine spirits, though.
On the way down from
Monarch Pass
The aspens were in full foliage here - bright yellow. Of course, we New
Englanders expect more colors in our foliage than just yellow, so we thought we'd add some
red to this shot. Here's John wearing a beautiful hand-painted shirt from his
collection.
Arkansas River, outside
Canon City
There were people fishing everywhere along the length of the Arkansas. They
told us that the fishing was terrific and one of them let John borrow a rod. Here's
John reeling in a magnificent 18-pound rainbow!
Just east of Garden
City, KS
Boy, is it flat here! The shadows get very long before the sun sets and
create some beautiful - if a bit spooky - effects. Since we were in Kansas, Dave,
who doesn't eat much red meat any more, had a steak at the Lone Star Steakhouse (John had
a salad).
Beer(s) of the Day
|
It's Sunday |
By the time our thoughts turned
from keeping the Alfa running to finding beer, we were well into Kansas, where they don't
sell beer in stores in Kansas. Ah, just like home! We did have a couple of
Shiner Bock drafts at the Lone Star, however. Sorry - no logo. |
Culture Feature
Today's Culture Feature is truly brimming
with culture - yeast culture, that is. Here's a picture of the boys
sucking up some culture at the Rockslide Brewpub Saturday night in downtown
Grand Junction:
Alfa Spotting!
We've been keeping track of all the Alfas
that we've encountered on the trip (starting from when we left Alfa Parts Exchange back in Hayward, CA), and will be
posting the current total, with model names and years, every day! Here's the current
tally:
|
Day 1 |
0 |
|
Day 2 |
0 |
|
Day 3 |
0 |
|
Day 4 |
0 |
|
Day 5 |
0 |
|
__________ |
___ |
|
Total |
0 |
 
|
September |
October |
 |
 |
Back to the Great Alfa Romeo Foray title page
|