Driving to Colorado

I’ve made the drive many times. This one was pretty hairy! We encountered snow and ice and poorly plowed roads. It was a long exhausting drive.

We had followed weather computer models and attempted to navigate around the storms that were blasting the Midwest. We drove I-90 into South Dakota and we were attempting to predict where we dropped down to I-80. We decided we would stay in Mitchell, and head down Highway 83 that would take us into Nebraska.

After driving for 5 hours we pulled up to a Motel 6 and I checked in. The guy behind the counter looked like Bozo the clown, whose hair had not been combed since waking up. He had a cigarette case in his pocket and his teeth and fingers had that serious amber hue to them of a smoker that had practiced his art for a long time.

The next morning I attempted to get on the Internet at the motel, not an easy task at a Motel 6. I was in the front lobby and Bozo’s wife didn’t have a clue as to why it wasn’t connecting. I gave up and was going to make a call. Someone at the gas station said that there was a DOT building just before the freeway.

We slipped our way to the building and I entered it, walking the linoleum floors, my shoes squeaking from snow melt and slush. I couldn’t tell if I had entered the right door,, all the offices were empty except for one. A middle-aged man was writing at his desk. I asked him if he knew the conditions of the roads ahead. He turned to his computer and showed me all the roads in South Dakota, which were cleared and which were not. It helped greatly with navigation.

I was also receiving phone calls from a friend in Denver updating me on conditions of the road ahead.

We made it to our destination in a much longer time than we had hoped for. Cell phones and computers made the road more manageable. I don’t care what electronics are involved, navigation through bad parts still meant you had to put in the work to make something happen. I don’t want to have to drive something like that anytime soon.