I-70 West across Colorado

I-70 goes through Glenwood Canyon in an amazing series of breathtaking curves. No wonder they say this was the most expensive piece of roadway in the Interstate System.
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"It always snows here on Halloween," my friend Elizabeth had told me, the night before I was leaving Boulder to drive across Colorado.  "It can be 70 degrees the day before..."

Well, guess what?  It was 70 degrees the day before, when I was walking along the McClintock Trail in Boulder's Chautauqua Park.... and we did wake up to snow on Halloween!  Ain't it the darnedest thing... well, it wasn't "snow" snow, just a dusting.  It was only real white up in Boulder’s mountains -- oops, I mean in the foothills.  But, even so, I felt the weather justified the extra bucks we had spent to rent a 4-wheel-drive vehicle.

“Chains? -- they still have snow chains?

Gorge beside tunnel, along the 12 scenic miles of Interstate 70 passing through Glenwood Canyon.
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My friend Jayne and I had agreed to meet at the Interstate 70 Exit 256 Park-n-Ride to begin our journey, since I was staying near Boulder, and Jayne, in Highland Ranch, south Denver.  Little did we realize that Exit 256 was the exit for visitors to Buffalo Bill's grave.  (We didn't visit, but you might, if you have time at Exit 256: http://www.buffalobill.org/  We'll save Bill for next time.)

Jayne and I were driving across Colorado to Utah, where we planned to stay near the Colorado/Utah border, for several days of hiking.  Interstate 70 from Denver to Utah might just be the entire western U.S. in miniature; a sort-of "ship in a bottle" version of "Out West."  In fact, if you ever have international visitors who innocently tell you they want to see the American West, in two (!) days, then just drive them across I-70 from Denver to Utah and back.  They'll see, as we did, snow-capped mountain peaks, historic old towns, famous mountain passes, tunnels, a canyon to rival any other, a steep gorge, a river you might cross a dozen times, red sandstone cliffs, tumbleweed and sagebrush, and barren "moonscape."

Just a tiny sampling of the many offerings at The Outlets at Silverthorne.
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Yes, if you had to see the West in a single day, you could do worse than travel this stretch of I-70.

There was an itinerary of sorts. We would stop at Georgetown for breakfast, because it’s a “cute old mining town,” noted Elizabeth; Silverthorne, because there were outlets there, and who can resist an outlet, even if you don’t need to buy anything?  Finally, we’d lunch in Glenwood Springs, because it looked like a good point on the map for lunch.  After that, we would head straight for Utah.

The Eisenhower Tunnels boast they are the highest vehicle tunnels in the world: "Not just another bore!" proclaims their slogan. This construction info is also from their PR department -- fascinating stuff.
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Heading west, we could see that the snow “dusting” of Denver and Boulder was becoming more pronounced as we headed up and out.  Trucks were pulling off the highway to put on chains.  “Chains?” we thought, they still have snow chains?  I hadn't seen snow chains for years.  So, spying the exit for Georgetown was a relief -- we would eat breakfast, and then return to I-70 after all the snow had blown over.

Georgetown, it turned out, was at Exit 228. The exits are numbered for nearby mile markers, so this first stop would be only 28 miles from our meeting point.  But we stopped anyway, and had a great breakfast with great coffee, at Buzz’s.  Georgetown was once the third largest town in Colorado, back when it was a silver mining camp during the “Pikes Peak or Bust” days.  In fact, it was the "Silver Queen of the Rockies," though you’d never know it today.  But Buzz makes great coffee.  And parts of the old town, such as it was, survived, a rarity with old wooden buildings so prone to fire.

Our 4WD SUV, still clean, sitting outside Buzz's in Georgetown, Colorado. Note the snow on the vehicle roofs.
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We watched the snow and hoped it would stop. I did take a few photos of it, just to prove we had driven through the snow to go hiking the next day in shorts.

Hitting the road again, we realized that the snow had not, in fact, stopped. Instead, it had gotten sticky, and sleety, and mushy.  And somehow, it attracted mud!  It coated the windshield, and made our “new” car look like we had driven through miles of mud.  But not to worry – our outlet stop was coming up soon - exit 205, only 23 miles away, across the Continental Divide. We drove “through” the Divide, not over it -- through the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Buzz's in Georgetown, CO - breakfast was good, coffee was great! Thanks, Buzz!
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Now, you really have to admire a set of tunnels with a good PR staff: “We are not just another bore!” reads the Eisenhower Tunnel Complex slogan. Traffic counts show that we drove one of the 453,061 vehicles that transited the westbound tunnel in October 2007.  Had we realized that this Tunnel is the “highest vehicular tunnel in the world,” we might have stayed longer; or, maybe not.   "Next time!"  We were, after all, heading to the Silverthorne Outlets.

Outlets! Ralph Lauren, Timberland, Calvin Klein, Pendleton, Wilson’s, Nine West, Old Navy, Coach, Columbia, Ann Taylor – well, you can see, one could spend quite a bit of time here.  Since we didn’t actually need anything, we spent our money on cosmetics.  Everyone had told us how dry the climate is -- a clear sign that we should purchase moisturizer at every opportunity! We escaped at under $100. Whew! Had we but funds enough, and time…

Quick snap of the snow dusting the mountain during our stop in Georgetown, an old silver mining town
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This time, we drove nearly 90 miles, quadrupling our two previous stopping intervals. At this rate, we would make it to Utah in a week or so… we vowed to pick up the pace – AFTER lunch. Meanwhile, we were traveling through a steep gorge, with knock-your-socks-off views at every turn.

Our lunch stop was Glenwood Springs, where we also discovered Lily’s, the “Finer Consigner.”  We spent some of our outlet savings there; it only made sense.  Of course, Glenwood Springs is not known for Lily’s, The Finer Consigner, but rather as the location of the largest natural hot springs pool in the world, which sits right beside the highway. There are, apparently, both a therapy pool (104 degrees) and a huge 98-degree swimming pool, both with water full of wondrous salty minerals. Jayne and I opted not to swim, but there were plenty of visitors there as we drove by.  "Next time."

Interstate 70 West, from Exit 254 just west of Golden.
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The pools are only 45 minutes from Aspen, another place we vowed to see "next time."  We still had a highway to cruise...