Day 5: Driving I-70E From Grand Junction to Denver

Normally, a four hour drive along an interstate would prove to be fairly uneventful. Not this time! I drove home since Nate had to work and the thought was that he could relax, maybe catch a nap, and at the very least not have to drive on the way home. When we left Grand Junction it was about 65F and sunny! I put on my comfy driving clothes of leggings, t-shirt, and Chacos. As we drove eastward, the sky slowly clouded up and there was snow in the distance. I had briefly joked to Nate, "Do you think I'll have to drive through that snow?" It was quite a while until we hit flurries, but they slowly came and it was kind of pretty. You could see the shape and design of each snowflake as it hit the window and immediately melted.

Quite a few more minutes passed and steadily my pretty snowflakes began to lose their enthusiasm. We were about to hit the big mountain ski towns of Vail and Breckenridge, thus rising in elevation. The homes are immaculate! We continued to drive and soon I could hardly see, still climbing up the spiraling mountain road. Needless to say, Nate was not as relaxed as planned due to my minor freakout of having to drive down the mountain in ice and snow! 

I did just fine and needed a beer with my lunch. The temperature dropped about 55F, the snow and ice covered the car, and my feet were freezing! Nate helped me determine when to downshift, coast, and keep up with traffic and was very encouraging. Hopefully, this has/will make me a better mountain driver.  

The next day, still snowing of course, we played in the snow!