Days 15-17: NV, UT, CO, KS

We made it out of Eureka alive. We hit the road with Boulder as our eventual destination. The route from Nevada through Utah is very scenic. Utah actually seems very proud of its natural beauty and has frequent scenic view points where you can pull off the highway and stand on a precipice and behold . . . THE MAJESTY OF UTAH! We stopped in Green River for the night.

From Green River we went to Colorado. The ride through the Rockies was accompanied by a John Denver soundtrack. I had a certain preconception of the Rockies and was surprised that it wasn't all snowy peaks and pine trees. We saw red layered hills like the ones in Utah, fog covered crags, and the actual "purple mountains' majesty" I've heard so much about. And since it was August we didn't see very much snow on the peaks. We stayed in Boulder, which was really cool. It is a total college town. Eateries seemed to outnumber any other kind of establishment in the area we were in, so I could see becoming very happily fat if I lived there. We checked into our hotel and spent the afternoon wandering the town and checking out shops. The difference between Boulder and Saratoga Springs is that Boulder seems to embrace its college kid community whole heartedly while Saratoga tends to cater more to its summertime horse racing cliental. So basically we saw more than a few stores that catered solely to the sale of pipes and paraphernalia and things that are sure to look rad under a black light.

After an evening of wandering around and checking out stores and street performers (not to mention an awesome candy store that had an entire section dedicated to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) we went back to the hotel and used the pool. In the morning we took another stroll around town and then hit the road. A lot of driving later we're in Kansas. Denver smelled really bad as we drove by it. We made stops for gas, stretches, and food and now we are in a really weird Ramada in Hays, Kansas. You know how a standard design for a hotel is to be two stories in a U shape with parking in the middle of the U? This has the same setup but it is all indoors and it isn't well lit. I think they are currently in the middle of building a bigger hotel around a previously existing one. It really feels like we are in an underground bomb shelter, though. It's kind of creepy.

So if any of you never see us again, assume that we got killed by the zombies or C.H.U.D.s or whatever else dwells in this missile silo of a hotel in Kansas. Know that all of you, friends and family, are much loved and be sure to avenge us!

Anyway . . . here are some pictures from Utah and Colorado!