Harvest Moon of Leave
Sep. 28th, 2023 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoI haven't posted for awhile, mainly because of not sleeping well and thus being in a stupor by evening. Also trying to prep for a trip. I always say to myself that this time I will surely pack ahead of time and not be anxious. It never works. I'm always rushing around trying to make up my mind, doing extra bits of laundry, obsessively checking weather reports, etc. I decided to jam everything into my smaller weekend bag, instead of the big one. I managed this by dint of putting a lot of stuff into my backpack, which is my under the seat bag for airplanes. We were flying United, because they were the only ones with a convenient schedule, even though I had sworn never to fly United again. I hate United because of an incident where they made our whole flight stay at O'Hare all freaking night with NO accommodations whatsoever, and then they tried to give away the flight that was supposed to take us home the next day. And the whole time they were as rude to us as possible. So I don't trust them and never will. This is why, when flying on their aircraft, I packed my toiletries, a change of clothes, a sweater and a sarong for wrapping myself in case I had to sleep on an airport chair again. Naturally, my medications, jewelry, and laptop also came with me, in case they lost my bag again. We decided not to check a bag, at 35 dollars for the privilege, but we got lucky and they were forced to plead with people to accept a free bag check. Which we did.
But enough grumping about United. Even though I still hate them with the fury of a thousand suns, we had an uneventful trip to Denver, where we landed yesterday afternoon. It took forever to pick up a rental car, but we did it and drove to a hotel that is described as "nondescript" in online reviews. It was, very. We walked across the street to a similarly nondescript restaurant and got some basic food items, then walked back and crashed. This morning, we found a pretty good Starbucks, got coffee and snacks, and headed off through Denver to the mountains. The trip through the mountains on I-70 was both thrilling and terrifying. I was in a somewhat altered state of consciousness. My mind was boggled. A writer should never say this, but it was indescribable.
When we got off onto a smaller highway, the astonishment continued. We kept exclaiming "Oh my God, oh my God," around every new bend. At one point, we were driving along the Blue River, whose blueness, again, is indescribable. It's so deep and pure, just melted sky fallen to earth, and the sky whose reflection makes it blue is an expanse of glory. You just forget how big and bright the sky is out here. The mountainsides are streaked with gold as the trees turn. We crossed the Continental Divide at Rabbit Ears Pass, where it was 92000 feet above sea level, and then careened down the slope on the other side into Steamboat Springs.
We were met by Baby Doc, father of the groom whose wedding is the occasion for this trip, and had dinner with most of his family, other than the groom himself, who is with his fiancee's family. We're staying in a very comfortable condo lent by a friend of the Baby Doc family. The Sparrowhawk is trying to stay up until 10, on the grounds that we must get used to the new time zone. I don't think I'm going to make it . . . .
But enough grumping about United. Even though I still hate them with the fury of a thousand suns, we had an uneventful trip to Denver, where we landed yesterday afternoon. It took forever to pick up a rental car, but we did it and drove to a hotel that is described as "nondescript" in online reviews. It was, very. We walked across the street to a similarly nondescript restaurant and got some basic food items, then walked back and crashed. This morning, we found a pretty good Starbucks, got coffee and snacks, and headed off through Denver to the mountains. The trip through the mountains on I-70 was both thrilling and terrifying. I was in a somewhat altered state of consciousness. My mind was boggled. A writer should never say this, but it was indescribable.
When we got off onto a smaller highway, the astonishment continued. We kept exclaiming "Oh my God, oh my God," around every new bend. At one point, we were driving along the Blue River, whose blueness, again, is indescribable. It's so deep and pure, just melted sky fallen to earth, and the sky whose reflection makes it blue is an expanse of glory. You just forget how big and bright the sky is out here. The mountainsides are streaked with gold as the trees turn. We crossed the Continental Divide at Rabbit Ears Pass, where it was 92000 feet above sea level, and then careened down the slope on the other side into Steamboat Springs.
We were met by Baby Doc, father of the groom whose wedding is the occasion for this trip, and had dinner with most of his family, other than the groom himself, who is with his fiancee's family. We're staying in a very comfortable condo lent by a friend of the Baby Doc family. The Sparrowhawk is trying to stay up until 10, on the grounds that we must get used to the new time zone. I don't think I'm going to make it . . . .
mountains are something, aren't they?
Date: 2023-09-29 04:52 am (UTC)also: probably 9,200 ft above sea level. denali is only ~20k.
Re: mountains are something, aren't they?
Date: 2023-09-30 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-29 01:41 pm (UTC)I was once stuck in O'Hare for 9 hours because they told me the wrong gate for my connection. But I got home just after midnight, at least.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-30 04:15 am (UTC)