We left the KOA campground in Fort Collins, Colorado on the morning of August 21st and headed north up Highway 287 for Laramie, Wyoming to catch Interstate 80 west for Idaho. It’s an amazing drive through the high plains and valleys nestled on the eastside of the Rocky Mountains.
I didn’t really think about it much until I saw a few signs along the way that we were riding along The Overland Trail. From Fort Collins at an elevation of 5,003 feet we drove up to Livermore then further up the road a few miles climbing to 7,034 feet above sea level through Virginia Dale past the old community church in use since 1880 and by the old abandoned Virginia Dale Cafe and Post Office.
The history here is amazingly rich and I had no recollection of how famous this area was back in the late 1800’s... Virginia Dale is about 4 miles south of the Wyoming border and was established in 1862. It was a stopping point on the Overland Trail Stage route and the Pony Express. Samuel Clemens came through here and so did Wild Bill Hickok driving stagecoach. The famous Musgrove Gang stole horses and rustled cattle here in 1868 and got lynched for it by vigilantes from the Larimer Street bridge in Denver.
My greater concern (or fear) however would soon be faced. I’m not at my best facing extreme heights while seeing vast distances and depths while rocked about in a pickup truck with a 28 foot travel trailer by high cross winds being passed on blind corners with 6% grades by insane drivers doing about 80 miles an hour. ~ just sayin'
Thank goodness Keith was driving this stretch. I kept my eyes down and glued to the iPad on my lap running navigator :O) for many many miles as we went up and over the Continental Divide with a rapid and constant dialogue between me and my maker. Several promises came forth and many were about the things I'd accomplish if only I survived this day and made it home alive.
I think it was about Montpelier, Idaho just across the Wyoming border when I finally started breathing regular again and returned to taking in the sites around sunset.
In closing... Let me try to tie this little story to real estate. I’ll never ever think about it quite the same way ever again when I hear someone say (or me either for that matter), “I want to move to a place where I got plenty of open space away from people and the hustle and bustle and traffic!”
I'll have to qualify that statement from this day forward. Through parts of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Idaho, I can’t believe how many miles and miles there can actually be between homes. It’s all a matter of perspective, I guess.
And finally, it’s Friday and I’m home... I don’t take my promises lightly, especially those I've made to my maker, so I'll move along now and get busy on a few of them...
Have a wonderful Labor Day holiday weekend!
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