It was our farewell trip together before Sultan headed back home to Saudi Arabia to enroll in medical school…..to prepare to become my personal physician someday in the future.
Originally, we had planned a grand trip to the Oregon Coast….three weeks of fun and fellowship before his departure date. As a matter of fact, the trip was fully planned….everything was reserved….everything paid for….. And, this was not an easy task. We made the decision to take the trip much too late in the season. Take my word for it…..if you want to go to Yellowstone National Park….or if you want to stay in an Oregon State Park…..in the summertime….. you do not wait until a month before you leave to start planning and making the reservations.
ALL the yurts in EVERY state park along the Oregon Coast were already reserved. There was not a single one still available for the month of August. Actually, I wasn’t surprised…..just disappointed and a little angry at myself for such sloppy planning! There were rooms available in West Yellowstone…..but they were actually more expensive than the rooms Fayez and I had rented earlier in the year in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
After literally hours of effort, however, I was able to find adequate accommodations….mostly KOA cabins…..and some other assorted private motels and cabins….none of which were first class….and none of them on the ocean. But, at that late point, beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose! In light of the time restraints, I was actually pretty proud of myself for scraping together even such a motley collection of camping and sleeping places.
And, then….. Just as I finished the final arrangements…. It happened. The entire bottom fell out of the plans. All of the work proved to be for nothing. Sultan had learned that he had only two weeks after his last class to leave the country. His visa would expire.
I am not sure which was worse: the disappointment of having spent the time making all the reservations and seeing all of it go down the drain….or….having to take the time to go back and un-do everything….to cancel all the reservations. That is what I did, of course. The only reservation that I was unable to cancel was our hotel in Reno. Otherwise, all the campgrounds were cooperative and canceled the reservations and refunded the money. The hotel where I reserved a room in Reno had two prices…..One price….a lower price….was a non-refundable price. That, of course, is the price that I chose…..not remotely suspecting that we would be canceling the reservation. They refused to refund our money….which they had every right to do. But, on the other hand, they no doubt booked the room again…..and collected a double rent for the room.
At this point in the game, we seemed to have two choices: Completely scrap the trip. In this case, Sultan would simply come to my house and stay until it was time for him to leave. Or, we could plan a scaled-down trip that would fit into the time constraints we were now faced with. We chose to plan a new, shorter trip……this time to Colorado and southern Utah. We were able to keep the reservations we had made up through the night we would spend in Cedar City, Utah. This was helpful, because I would have to cancel only about half the reservations…..including the ill-fated stop in Reno….Sin City, Junior.
How does the old saying go? “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
It really doesn’t make much difference if we are traveling for three weeks….or one week…..or two weeks…. We need to take the same amount of stuff with us to survive. And, again, the entire task of organizing the “stuff” became my job….just like it usually is. Fayez would bring Sultan to my house on Saturday, August 13…..and we would leave on Sunday. The original plan was for them to arrive at my house around 6:00 in the afternoon. From the very beginning, I doubted if would actually happen. Sultan was scheduled to take a language placement test in the morning. The final part of the test is the oral examination….which is a one-on-one conversation with a real human being. These conversations are scheduled after the written part of the test is completed…..each conversation lasting somewhere around 20-30 minutes. If a person is lucky….he will be among the first scheduled. If he is not lucky…..it could mean a wait of a few hours before his appointment was scheduled. Well….of course….Sultan was not lucky! His oral examination was among the last of the afternoon….somewhere around 4:00 or so.
Sometime in the afternoon, Sultan called to give me the “bad news”….although, like I said, it was not entirely unexpected. Now his expected arrival time would be approximately 11:00 P.M. Really….I was disappointed, but this didn’t alter the fact that I still had to collect all the gear we were taking with us and assemble it in our front room.
I do not want to break my hand patting myself on the back…..but I am getting pretty good at this. Over the years of traveling, I have composed a list of things that we must take with us. And, I have refined it to the point where it is about 99% accurate and efficient. I even have them arranged in logical categories to minimize running back and forth. Around 1:00 or so, I began to collect all the articles. Working steadily….but at a fairly leisurely pace….I had the entire list collected, packed and sitting in the front room by 4:00. As usual the front room was a mess….crowded with suitcases, camping chairs, blankets and pillows, disposable eating utensils, the electric cooler…assorted other camping equipment…. Everything on the list.
In my original plan, I was going to wait until Sunday morning to go to Topeka to pick up the rental car. That way I could drive the rental car home….and Sultan could follow me in my car. But, after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and pick it up on Saturday morning…..and simply leave my car at my brother’s house in Topeka. This was probably a wise decision. It was just one less thing to bother with on Sunday morning.
Now…. All that was left to do was…. Wait!
Sunday morning dawned…. As usual, Fayez was in a major rush to return to Wichita to do whatever it is that he does there….. Sultan and I started the task of packing the rental car. When we look at all the stuff sitting in the front room….on the floor, on the couch, on the coffee table, on the wood stove…..it looks like there is no way it will all fit into an intermediate size car….a Kia Sportage, in our case. But, again through experience and experimentation, I have learned that by careful planning and management…..it will all fit rather comfortably.
At about 11:00, after the joy of packing the stuff into the car had been satisfactorily completed, we came to maybe the only part of the trip that was not meticulously planned…. What to do until it was time to leave. So….. We decided to do what is the answer to almost every problem…..We decided to take a nap. Around 2:30, we decided that we had waited long enough. We turned off the air-conditioners, made sure that all the electrical appliances were turned off, stood at the doorway and contemplated if were forgetting anything….locked the door…..and drove off into the West.
Our first stop was in Wakeeney, Kansas…..about four hours west on I-70. It was a fairly easy drive….and we arrived well before sunset. I sort of wish I had made Goodland our first stop. But, too late to worry about that now. I had reserved a room in a Super 8 Motel. No problems finding it. Every motel in Wakeeney is located along I-70….and the Super 8 Motel was the first one we saw. No problems…. They were expecting us. And, our room was on the ground floor. As are most motels in small towns…..I suspect this motel was owned by the guy who checked us in. He was there late in the afternoon when we checked in…..and he was there early the next morning when we checked out.
Our choices of place to eat was limited….. No Golden Corral, no Chinese buffet…. We settled on Subway. Subways are ubiquitous…. They are everywhere. Actually we were probably lucky that it was open. It was probably somewhere around 6:30 or 7:00 when we arrived. And, before we had finished eating our sandwich….the place was abandoned….and the waitresses were already sweeping the floors and putting stuff away. But, we didn’t go there for the atmosphere….only to eat. We took a quick drive around the town. In a town the size of Wakeeney all drives around town quick, I suppose. There really wasn’t much to see. But….I am from Valley Falls….and in comparison to what there is to see in Valley Falls, the trip was actually probably a “long” one.
Monday morning we were actually awake and ready to leave almost on time….at 8:00. I told Sultan he could drive until we got near the mountains. So, leaving Wakeeney behind, we set off for our first day in the Rocky Mountains.
Our first “official” act of the morning was to stop at the Colorado state sign to take pictures. Eastern Colorado really isn’t much different from Western Kansas…..except perhaps a bit more desolate. We stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center…several miles inside the state….mostly to pick up a Colorado state map….but also to stretch our legs and use the restroom. One of my Golden Rules of Traveling is: Always use the restroom when one is available! You never know how far it will be to the next one.
With Sultan still driving, we continued on toward the mountains. Somewhere along the way…..in the town of Lyons, Colorado, we stopped again to buy something for lunch. By chance….we chose to stop at a natural food store….which happened to sell a variety of sandwiches.
Finally we approached Estes Park…… We were getting very close to the mountains…..and this is when I got behind the steering wheel and took over the driving responsibilities…. It is not that I didn’t trust Sultan to drive…. Well….maybe just a little bit….. But, I have had much more experience driving the mountains over the years…..and I probably trusted myself just a little bit more! After stocking up on groceries for our evening meal…..we started our ascent into the Rocky Mountains.
The climb is slow and subtle at first, but suddenly…..we are climbing…..climbing high enough to see the majestic peaks and valleys….maneuvering the sharp curves….the switchbacks…..
I have driven through Rocky Mountain National Park many times……maybe 25 or 30 times…..but the breathtaking splendor never ceases to escape me. And, this year, it was double fun. I had Sultan to share it with. This was his first trip through the mountains of the U.S.A……and I suspect they were by far the tallest mountains he has ever seen. At any rate, he was fascinated by the surroundings…..the mountains, the forests, the lakes, the rivers flowing through the distant valleys.
Sultan said he had driven through mountains in Jordan…..but they do not compare to the Rocky Mountains. Trail Ridge Road….U. S. Highway 34….. winds for 77 miles through some of the highest elevations in the nation. Traveling from east to west, as Sultan and I were doing, the Trail Ridge Road starts in Estes Park, Colorado, and officially ends in Grand Lake, Colorado, on the western end. At around 11,500 feet the evergreen forests suddenly disappear and the landscape gives way to a vast tundra as the highway ascents to an elevation of more than 12,000 feet above sea level. Although the tundra is devoid of trees, there are colorful wild flowers blanketing the thin layer of unfrozen soil…a sight almost as spectacular as the evergreen forests.
By comparison, the highest mountain in Jordan is just a little more than 6,000 feet. No wonder Sultan was impressed and excited. The highway is closed for the winter months…sometimes from late September until early summer…..because of the deep snow which covers the road during these months. I know this as fact. At least two times, we have had to turn around and retrace our route because the highway was closed.
I pointed out the tall poles that line the highway for much of the 77 miles. These poles….probably 12 – 15 feet high have been placed there to mark the outlines of the highway when it covered with snow….a fact that impressed Sultan.
Unlike the trip I took with Fayez, Sultan and I stopped often to take pictures. And, picture taking opportunities exist around every curve. Unless you are completely oblivious to the surroundings….or rather callous toward them….the temptation to stop and take pictures is almost magnetic. And, the U. S. Park Service certainly recognizes this….and has provided an abundance of stopping places along the route to pull over, get out and take pictures. Not to mention their thoughtfulness in providing rest rooms stops along the way. Sultan and I took advantage of many….if not most….of such places as we journeyed along.
We were eager participants in the spectacular drama…..not merely passive observers. We had come to enjoy this experience….to be a part of it…..to assimilate it…..to form memories….. And, that is what we did. We stopped often, not only to take pictures, but sometimes just to stare at the breathtaking panorama that lay before us.
But….at some point, Sultan and I recognized that we also had a schedule to maintain. Somewhere near the summit, we agreed that we had taken enough pictures….that we had genuinely experienced Rocky Mountain National Park….and it became rather urgent that we reach our campground before the office had closed for the day.
At some point…..and I am not sure where that was…..I had even called ahead to the campground office to tell them that there was an outside possibility that we may be late….especially if their office closed at 5:00. But, we were relived to learn that the office would actually be open until 7:00. Just to be on the safe side, I asked them to deliver two bundles of wood to our campsite….just in case we didn’t make it on time.
It was also at this point that Sultan began asking if he could drive. I had some misgivings about letting Sultan drive in the mountains. He had no prior experience in this kind of driving, and I was more than a little concerned about him getting his first experience at 10,000 feet above sea level. One mis-turn….and 10,000 feet is a long ways to fall. That would probably not make the rental car company very happy. Nor would it be very beneficial to our health.
However, Sultan has a long history of being my driver. Long….if you consider 10 months to be a long time. If I recall correctly, he began driving my car on the very first night he stayed at my house. Fayez had bought him to my house at Thanksgiving. While Fayez found it necessary to stay at home and study for his final exams, Sultan and I took off for a tour of the area. That very first night….again with Fayez staying at home to study….we decided to go to Topeka. Well…..I decided we were going to Topeka, at least.
This was back in the days when Sultan spoke absolutely no English! Our simple communication was done through the translation programs on our cell phones. Sultan didn’t even understand such simple commands as “Turn right” or Turn left”….. And, some of the results were rather harrowing…. To me, at least. But, in the past ten months, I have driven hundreds of miles with Sultan…. I am still alive to talk about it.
Actually, he has proved to be a very competent and safe driver. And, I often simply rely on him to do the driving while he is around.
So…..I handed him the keys to the rental car and walked around to the passenger side of the car. Not only did he drive the remainder of that afternoon…..but he drove for the remainder of the trip….and did an admirable job, too.
By this time, it was getting late enough in the afternoon that our major goal became to make it to our campground before the office closed at 7:00 P.M. It would be a mistake to say we did not make any additional stop to take pictures…..because we did. But, basically we made steady progress toward the campground. Since we had not stopped at the entrance of the park at the east entrance near Estes Park to take pictures, it became important that we stop and take pictures of the “Rocky Mountain National Park” sign at the west entrance. We we got closer and closer to leaving the park, our full attention was not focused on the scenery…or the wildlife…. It was focused on finding the sign so we could take pictures, which both of us deemed to be very important.
I have driven this highway many times before, so I was absolutely sure there was a sign. I was only hoping that we had not driven past it….undetected. Conversation came to a halt as both of us constantly scored the landscape for a glimpse of the sign. It was a relief when we finally spotted other cars stopped for the same purpose as we had in mind. With the pictures taken….and our first day of sightseeing behind us….we were content to drive on to the campground.
We arrived at the campground about twenty minutes before the office was due to close…plenty of time to pick up the key….and also to buy a couple bundles of firewood…the firewood that I had ordered, but had not yet been delivered to our camping site.
On two or three previous occasions, I have stayed at the Elk Creek Campground. On all the prior stays, however, were in the off-season….the middle of May or in the late summer….or mid autumn. During all of these stays, we were among the only people at the campground….lonely indeed. We were always given one of three cabins at the front of the campground. In fact, I had no idea that any additional cabins even existed. To my dismay, was about to learn the truth: Behind trees and brush was a world I never knew existed….a rather expansive area for RV’s, tent campers…..and additional cabins.
The cabin we were assigned to was one of five or six cabins which were grouped rather tightly together. In contrast to many mountain campgrounds, there was little privacy…. No trees or shrubs separating the cabins….and providing at least a hint of privacy. But….here we were. Fortunately, it turned out that the occupants of the other cabins all seemed to be members of an extended family…..or at least a group of people who knew each other. And, they all seemed to congregate at a cabin across a road of sorts. We were rather spooked out by an old person who sat on the front porch of one of the cabins…..and never took his (or maybe it was a her) eyes off what we were doing. And, also by another couple….overweight and slovenly….who sat at their picnic table and smoked a constant chain of cigarettes. I told Sultan that maybe we should provide some entertainment for them….. Maybe a few songs….or some dancing…..of maybe tell some jokes….. They would have made a good….and apparently very interested…audience. But….as I told Sultan…..They probably considered us to the unwelcome intruders in their little community.
This night Sultan got his first opportunity to prepare a meal over our campfire. And, as I had anticipated….it was delicious and worthy enough to rank among the ultimate culinary masterpieces.
Sometime that first night of camping…..high in the Rocky Mountains…..sitting in front campfire talking and laughing….there seemed to be a subtle change in Sultan’s attitude toward mountains. Mountains seemed to have less of an attraction….or less magnetism….than they previously did. Looking back at the trip…..and after talking about it a few times…..I think that in his mind he envisioned Rocky Mountain National Park at the pinnacle of any experience we could possibly have in the mountains. I think he was misled by the grand name of “National Park”….. Surely nothing can surpass a “National Park”….. He was apprehensive that perhaps the drive to the top of Mt. Evans would be a let down…..a disappointment.
At any rate, as we were discussing the next day’s schedule, he showed less enthusiasm for driving through the mountains. Our premier event for the following day was a trip to the top of Mt. Evans…..the highest highway in North America. Mt. Evans is truly one of the most spectacular drives that I have ever experienced. It is breathtaking….. If I had to choose between Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt. Evans…..Rocky Mountain National Park would be left languishing in the rear view mirror
However, as we talked, Sultan began to show concern about getting to our next campground in time to spend a leisurely evening….whether we would have adequate time to prepare supper…. He would have willingly done anything I decided to do. But….I, too, wanted to arrive at our next campsite in plenty of time to unpack the car….to take a nap….to move through the evening at a comfortable pace…. So, rather reluctantly, we made the decision to forgo the drive to the top of Mt. Evans and proceed directly to our next destination….Buena Vista, Colorado.
Sultan’s premonition of never seeming to have sufficient time in the evening proved to be true during the entire trip. I don’t know what it was. When Fayez and I travel together, supper is prepared….dishes are done (thrown into a trash bag)…..meal equipment store back in the car…..and we are relaxing in front of the campfire by 8:00 or 8:30. Man…..to describe the evenings that Sultan and I spent in this manner would simply not be telling the truth! We were in the midst of preparing our meals when all the other campers had apparently given up and gone to bed. We were only starting to eat our supper as they lay in their beds snoring. A lot of the problem….if we can indeed call it a problem….was the fact that Fayez and I have developed a rhythm….a routine….for preparing our evening meal. This is something that will develop naturally as Sultan and I travel more together in the future.
Tuesday morning was sunny and crisp as we departed the campground and drove south along the shores of Grand Lake toward Granby. Even though we had taken our rice maker….and our coffee maker….with us, we never once used either of them. Again, in a sharp contrast to the habits of Fayez and me. Maybe we simply found it easier and more convenient to stop and buy coffee….and drink it as we drove along. In Granby, we stopped at the Java Lava Coffee Shop to order a cup of coffee. The coffee shop had outdoor tables, so having already cut roughly three hours from our schedule by canceling our trip to the top of Mt. Evans, we ordered our coffee and a pastry and sat outside in the morning sunshine to enjoy a second breakfast.
Even though Granby is basically a tourist town, situated at the southern tip of one of the favorite fishing vacation spots in the USA…..Sultan and I seemed to be the only tourists to buy coffee. Everybody else seemed to know each other….and be in a hurry to go somewhere. Probably to work. We sat, drank our coffee, ate our pastry….watched the people and they came and went. And, soon we were back in the car again…..with Sultan still the driver and me still at the ever watchful co-pilot….and heading south toward I-70.
We drove through some more beautiful, rugged mountain terrain…..over Bethold Pass….through Fraser, once called the coldest city in the USA….past the Winter Park ski area…..and finally arrived at the junction of I-70. And….. How much fun could we have without a slight mix up in our directions? We….actually, I will blame it on Sultan, just for convenience’s sake….took the wrong exit onto I-70, and we drove a couple miles before we (I will take the credit here.) realized that we were heading east….back toward Kansas….and not toward the west, where we wanted to go.
That problem was corrected easily enough, and soon we were heading toward the west in search of our next exit. I had planned that we take the exit to the south immediately before we reached the Eisenhower Tunnel….but (and this was probably my fault) we missed it. But, no real damage was done. I had sort of wanted to avoid the Eisenhower Tunnel….the highest point on the entire route of I-70….because the tunnel is about 1.7 miles long…..and even though it is 4 lanes for the entire length, I was apprehensive about letting Sultan drive it.
The Eisenhower Tunnel is well lighted and the lanes are relatively wide….and there is a speed limit….so I need not have worried. Sultan handled it like a pro. What I am trying to say is…. Here I am. We made it through with no ill-effects…..no dents in the car…. Having made it safely through the tunnel, we proceeded on to Dillon, at which point we got onto Colorado 9. We drove through the ski resort town of Breckenridge without stopping and proceeded to our next destination of Buena Vista, Colorado.
The drive down Highway 9, later to become US 285 and US 24, toward Buena Vista and Salida is beautiful…..but it does not have the excitement or drama of Trail Ridge Road….or even the highway from Granby to I-70. The highway is flatter…straighter…easier to drive. There are fewer “photo ops”….at least, for the kind of pictures that I wanted to take. Sultan really didn’t care one way or the other. He just drove until I said, “Stop.” And, even then: Sometimes he did….and sometimes he didn’t.
The only major stop we made along the way was in Leadville…..located slightly off the highway. Our first mission was to buy food for supper. So…. We stopped at the only supermarket I know in Leadville…..and it may be the only supermarket in town, for all I know.
And, then we drove downtown. Leadville is an old gold and silver mining town, settled in the late 1800’s. It is the home of the Unsinkable Molly Brown who married an extremely wealthy miner….and a lucky one, too….and then went on to become a prominent socialite and social activist. Her fame came when she was one of the survivors of the ill-fated Titanic…..and after her death in the 1930’s a very popular Broadway play was written about her life….and subsequently was made into a movie.
The town is the highest incorporated town in the U. S. A……with an altitude of about 10,200 feet above sea level. After we parked the car, got out and started walking….we didn’t need any reminder of this fact. The air is indeed “thin”….it is more difficult to breathe. It is a place where it is wise to simply take your time and not get in a hurry. While we were there, the thought crossed my mind that I wonder what it is like for the members of the high school track team….especially those kids who participate in the various running events…. I suppose they become acclimated to lack of oxygen. And, I can imagine they must have a definite advantage over kids from other schools at lower elevations who come there to participate in track meets.
Sultan and I didn’t bother check out the theory. We walked through most of the downtown area…..which doesn’t really cover a lot of territory. The current population of Leadville is around 2600 permanent residents….a remarkable decline from its population in earlier days when it was a leading mining center….and cultural center. By design, the architecture style is in keeping with its history. It is a quaint, picturesque little town, with an ample supply of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, souvenirs stores….everything one would expect of a little tourist town.
We walked up one side of the street, peering into windows out of curiosity….and then down the other side….doing basically the same thing. In quaint little town like this, I always feel like buying sometjomg….or sitting in one of the little bars…. Something, just so I can experience being there. Of course, Sultan was too young for the bars….and it was only mid-afternoon. But, on the other hand, as the lyrics of the song say, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” We didn’t stop in a bar.
Sultan was getting hungry, so we began looking for a suitable place to eat. After considering a few possibilities….they were either closed or too expensive….we settled on a place called “Cookies with Altitude”…..whatever that means. The “cafe” or coffee shop….or whatever it was called…..is merely a hole-in the wall little place. There was seating for maybe 10 or 12 people….if they sat close together. But….it was a popular place…. Customers….take-out customers….came and went at a steady pace. However, Sultan and I found a vacant table. After some consideration, I ordered a Reuben sandwich. I am not sure what Sultan ordered….. Although he still tells me how delicious it was! My Reuben was OK…. But, in general, to me….food is food. Sultan fell in love with the place….and its food….calling it one of the best places he has ever eaten. So….if we ever happen to make a return visit to Leadville, which I am sure we will do one of these days…..”Cookies with Altitude” will at the top of our “must go” list.
After a semi-leisurely lunch at the “Cookies with Altitude” place, we took a couple more pictures and agreed to move on. I had wanted to take a picture of a couple historic displays. But….both times Sultan drove right past them….I am never sure if he does not hear me….does not understand me….or is simply ignoring me…. Fayez had told me the first day I met Sultan to be careful. Sultan is very likely to smile and shake his head “YES” even though he has no idea what I am saying to him. Well…we passed that stage a long time ago, I think. Oh well. No big deal. I have already taken pictures of them several times before.
We drove on down to our campground in Buena Vista….found our cabin….and set up camp for the night. Although the drive from I-70 to Buena Vista is a pleasant….even beautiful….drive, it is not as dramatic as driving high in the mountains. We may have stopped to take a couple pictures…..but mostly, we were eager to reach the KOA campground.
The following day, we drove on to the west….and south…..at least that was our intention. Our campground was located in Richland, Utah. I knew from the minute we typed our destination into the GPS that it did not look right! And….I made a mistake that I have always suspected….always declared….have always accused…. We decided to follow the route the GPS had mapped out for us. I mean after all…. Isn’t the GPS the all-knowing, accurate, final authority on driving directions? Well…. Let me tell you very emphatically! No, it is not! I knew from the very beginning that we were being led far astray! And, I should have simply ignored the GPS….and did the common sense thing: Follow the map. But, I didn’t. And…. It cost us. It cost us probably around 200 miles….and perhaps 4 hours! Once we had definitely realized that the GPS was wrong….it was far too late to do anything except to follow the route it dictated. Even Sultan….a firm believer and worshiper of the GPS….finally realized that we were being unnecessarily led far off the quickest and most common sense route.
Even after we reached our destination….after dark….the GPS was not able to locate our campground….. Another hour wasted. We had planned…and expected…to reach the campground around 5:00….plenty of time to relax, take a nap, set up the laptop….prepare and eat supper. It was after 9:00 when we finally got there. We were both tired and worn out. And….I? I was not very happy….and my faith in putting my trust in a GPS had sunk to rock bottom. It was too late to even consider starting a fire….getting supper…. Almost all the other campers are already gone to bed. We stopped at a Chinese buffet….ordered a generous supply of food…. That became our supper that discouraging night.
Our destination for Saturday was Capitol Reef National Park, located in the southeast part of Utah…..maybe 50 miles from our campground. Of course, by this time, the landscape had undergone a remarkable transformation. The terrain slowly morphed from mountains and lush forests to dry, semi-arid desert. I say “semi-arid” because Sultan informed me that this really was not a desert….at least, not the kind he is accustomed to in Saudi Arabia. I don’t know…. It looked pretty much like a desert to me. But, I suppose it is all a matter of perspective.
Capitol Reef National Park is an area of unusual and imposing rock formations. Most of the landscape ranges from desert tan to a reddish color….with various shapes of barren mountains…..small mountains….to huge, randomly place boulders. Huge jagged rock formations thrust upward from the earth into the sky, adding to the drama and beauty of the area.
From the many observation points, we were able to look out over vast canyons, stretching for miles between the mountains and rock formations. It is difficult to imagine that land like this could sustain life. But, there is ample evidence that tribes of Indians once occupied this area. But, today, the area is largely devoid of people. The area receives somewhere around an average of 7 inches of rain a year. Scattered throughout the panorama are scrubby vegetation….mostly in the form of stunted bushes and trees. One can only imagine that the roots of these plants must dig far down into the rock for any sustaining moisture.
Sultan and I stopped often to take pictures. Just like Colorado….but for entirely different reasons….the scenery is alluring and mesmerizing. It can be argued….at at least Sultan can argue….that in Colorado, a mountain is a mountain. Especially after driving through them for a day. They are beautiful; they are magnificent….but, in the end, most of them look pretty much alike. The rock formations and scenery in Capitol Reef National Park is constantly changing…. Yeah, maybe they are all just rock formations. But….they are all different. If each scene was a pictures….each of them would have been painted by a different artist.
Irrigate the desert….and it will bloom. That is true at the park headquarters. This brief interlude was like time spent in the Garden of Eden. Suddenly….with no transition….we were treated to the sight of a thriving orchard….in the middle of the desert. There are also lush green lawns for the picnic area and the campground. For Sultan, I am sure it brought back some nostalgic memories…..an oasis in the middle of the desert. Except this one had no camels.
We retraced our route and headed out of the park….destined for out next campground in Cedar City, Utah. We stopped along the way to eat lunch….and then continued more or less uninterrupted to the campground. The KOA in Cedar City is located in a more or less urban area….not that Cedar City is by any means a large city. It has a population of approximately 30,000 people. And, like almost all the small towns we saw in Utah, the home and lawns were remarkable well kept and clean. Even the poorest areas (that we saw) were kept neat and the lawns were mowed and the yards were trash-free. I don’t know for sure….but I suspect this in some way reflects the philosophy and work ethic of the Mormon people who make up the majority of the population.
The next day was a travel day. We left the desert rock formations and made our way back eventually back toward the mountains and forests of Colorado…..where we would spend the next two night in Gunnison. The day was unremarkable…. The trip consisted mainly of getting on I-70, heading east until we reached Grand Junction, then traveling south-southeast on US 50 until we reached Gunnison. Most of the day was spent answering questions from the “Book of Questions” we had taken along with us. The most interesting discovery of the day was that we were now traveling the highway we SHOULD have taken when we first entered Utah…. But…. That was in the past….and we tried to forget it.
Our two nights at the Gunnison KOA was unremarkable. I could have been the worst KOA we stayed at during this trip. The cabins were sandwiched close together….with no vegetation or barrier delineating the space between them. At first, it appeared that our cabin had no fire ring. But, Sultan, discovered what was probably our fire ring behind our cabin. That in itself is not such a bad thing. But, there was an RV parked very close to our cabin. It was occupied by a woman and her dog. Apparently she was at least a semi-permanent resident of the campground. She had her own table…chair….cooking equipment…. And, it was all uncomfortably close to what Sultan claimed was our fire ring.
Personally, I did not feel comfortable using it…. It was almost like we were intruding on her space. But, it became apparent that she….and her dog….were only there in the day time….and they were gone at night. Apparently, she had a night job somewhere nearby. Sultan had no such misgivings….and he proceeded to prepare the food….and then bring it to me as I sat in my camping chair in front of the cabin. The second night, when it was apparent she was not at home…..I relented and took my chair around back, too. I would have been very ill at ease if the woman had been sitting six feet from us, however.
We spent the entire day of Saturday in Gunnison doing….well, not much of anything. In fact, right now, I would be hard pressed to say what we did in the morning. That is how exciting it must have been. I had planned a circular trip through some high mountains that eventually led to Telluride…another historic former mining town….now a ski retreat for the rich and famous….and then back to Gunnison. But, I had already figured out that Sultan was getting tired of mountains…and was not as enthusiastic about the trip as I was.
In the afternoon, not wanting to waste the entire day, we got into the car and drove back to the west of Gunnison to look at the Blue Mesa Reservoir. It wasn’t much….but at least, we were doing something. The reservoir stretches for several miles along US 50. I had driven past in a few times in prior years, but it never seemed worthy of a prolonged inspection. I did, however, find an old picture of the bridge, which I took on a trip in 1986. The bridge hasn’t changed much…..but I still can’t determine from which side of the reservoir the picture was taken.
On this afternoon, though, we gave the reservoir and the surrounding area a closer look…and even took a few excursions off the highway to check out the scenery. To Sultan, it was merely one of my picture-taking urges. But, when I travel….I want to see as much as I can….and take pictures so I can remember it later on. Like now, for example!
We returned to our cabin….and after making sure the lady and her dog were nowhere around…..we moved our camping chairs to the back of the cabin and prepared supper.
Our trip was coming to an end. Sunday would be our final full day in Colorado…..and we would spend it in Cripple Creek. That would be a fateful day….more accurately, a fateful night….for me. If I had know then what I know now….the “Cripple Creek Incident” would have never taken place.
But, Sunday morning we innocently packed our camping gear back into the car, bid farewell to Gunnison…..and enthusiastically set out for our final day in the mountains. We arrived at our campground near Cripple Creek fairly early in the afternoon. The campground was located high in the Rocky Mountains….close to 10,000 feet above sea level….and was situated on a rather barren, wind-swept plain. There really wasn’t much there….in the way of vegetation, that is. No trees, no shrubs, no bushes…. We were the only people occupying cabins that night.
It was still early in the afternoon when we finished unpacking our stuff. We climbed back into the car and drive toward the little town of Cripple Creek….only a few miles away. Among our goals was to find a place to eat lunch. We had taken sliced meat, sliced cheese, peanut butter and jelly with us. On all our trips Fayez and I took together, that was the staple of our lunch… We faithfully stopped in mid-day and prepared our sandwiches before journeying onward. It became a way of life….or traveling….for us. But, for Sultan and me, these products remained in our cooler….untouched….for the duration of the trip. It was just another of the differences between traveling with Fayez…and traveling with Sultan.
As we approached downtown Cripple Creek, we discovered that there was a motorcycle rally taking place….and the entire downtown area had been blocked off to accommodate the motorcyclists…and their biker chicks, I suppose. We briefly considered “crashing the party”…..and walking a block or two downtown. We even found a parking lot and parked the car. But, with second thoughts….and with the air already difficult to breathe…we changed our minds….got back into the Kia….and went in search of a grocery store to buy food for our evening meal.
I learned after I returned home, that this was just not like any normal motorcycle rally….where men and women of all walks of life and all professions come together to share their love of motorcycles…..and probably an equal love of smoking a little marijuana….which, incidentally….is legal in Colorado. The rally that had closed off downtown Cripple Creek….and caused us more than a little inconvenience….was a convention of Hell’s Angels! For those of you who have not heard…..Hell’s Angels is not an “organization” or a “club”…..it is a motorcycle gang! And, it often lives up to its reputation of being a violent gang. So….maybe it was best that we didn’t venture into their midst. Neither Sultan nor I radiate the appearance of the prototype of a member of a motorcycle gang…. I don’t think we would fit into any sort of gang, now that I think of it.
The problem of where to eat lunch still remained, however. We set off again through the mountains and drove perhaps 30 miles to Green Mountain in search of a restaurant. After pacifying ourselves with lunch, we turned back to the campground. It was a cool night…..but with no wind, the air was crisp and clean….and the smoke from the fire curled upward…..then seemed to follow us no matter where we placed our chairs.
This, of course, was the final meal that Sultan would prepare for us during this trip….and he spared no time or effort. As I had become accustomed, his final feast won accolades….at least, with my taste buds.
It would also be the final time Sultan and I could sit in front of the fire and relax and talk…. until he returns from Saudi Arabia next year to spend the summer. It was a cool, still night…. Nobody else seemed to be awake…. Nobody had rented the cabins near us…. Shortly after our arrival, a man riding a motorcycle drove past….stopped at one of the tent sites nearby….and proceeded to set up his tent….a rather elaborate tent, at that. A few minutes later, he walked past carrying two bundle of wood….. Ahh…he is going to sit in front of his fire….maybe fix his supper there. But….the man with the motorcycle and the tent was nowhere to be seen…. The two bundles of firewood sat unused on the ground….while our fire burned brightly in the dark. But…we had a long day of driving in front of us…. We needed some sleep.
What transpired next was perhaps one of the most miserable nights of my entire life. I have been to Colorado many times….too many times to even try to count. I have camped in Colorado….again, too many times to count. Never before did I have any problems breathing…. Well, of course, the air is “thinner” and running around aimlessly is never a good idea. Yeah….I know. I am getting older now. But so is everybody.
During the daylight hours when I was standing up or moving around, the problem was minimal. But….I think it was probably in Gunnison….suddenly I began to have problems breathing….at night….while I was trying to sleep. The first night, it was bad…but no so bad that I didn’t get some sleep…..maybe three hours, at the most. The second night in Gunnison was much worse. I found myself gasping for breath….literally gasping for breath….as I tried to sleep. No matter which side I lay on….or whether I lay flat on my back…. I simply could not breathe for any extended period of time. There was no point my waking Sultan…. There was nothing he could do about it…. So, I got up….pulled on some clothes….groped around for my jacked….picked up the car keys….and climbed into the front passenger seat of the car.
Actually, this wasn’t much of an improvement. I would fall asleep briefly…..but awaken suddenly….unable to breathe….gasping for breath.
But…..the night in Cripple Creek: Sultan took the mattress off the unused bunk….and put it on my bed….making sure the front of the mattress was raised above the level of the headboard….. The theory was that perhaps I could sleep in an “almost sitting up” position…almost like sleeping in my recliner….so more air could get into my lungs.
Certainly Sultan’s sentiment was thoughtful….even the reasoning seemed solid…. But, the reality simply was not there. I lay down….hopeful that would be able to sleep… But, sleep did not come….. Now, we were at an even higher elevation…. There was less oxygen to breathe….. Sleep did not come….. For the duration of the night, I found myself gasping for air…. It was a long, lonely night…..a miserable night….a rather frightening night….. I got up three or four times, walked outside….but the night was cold…too cold to sit in a camping chair…. I had considered sitting in the front seat of the car again…. But….Why would that work this time, if it didn’t work last time? When there was even less oxygen to breathe?
So….the night dragged slowly by. I would close my eye momentarily….perhaps drift into a few seconds of sleep…..and then awaken suddenly, unable to breathe.
It was a real joy when 6:30 arrived…. A reasonable time to get up….get dressed….and turn on the lights….and awaken Sultan…. Sultan, of course, had been completely unaware of what had happened during the night. There was no point awakening him….making the night miserable to both of us. Besides, he had a day of driving ahead of him. He couldn’t afford to be worn out and sleepy.
It was a memorable way to spend our final night of camping….but not memorable in a way I had hoped for….. Overall, it did not diminish the fun and the good time we had. At the most…. It was a lesson learned. I will never camp at such high altitudes again.
Another lesson I learned: Take my breathing device with me when I travel. I don’t know if it would have helped in this situation or not…. The breathing device forces air into my lungs…..but it is the same air that it gets from the atmosphere. So….maybe that would not have been of any value. But…at least, there would be been a constant flow of air into my lungs…. Oh well… Like Kris Kristofferson said, “It’s over….and nobody wins.”
The next morning…..or at least, it was the next morning for Sultan….we wasted no time packing our belongings….and headed down the mountain…..and more oxygen.
I had sort of planned to visit the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring before we started back home. But, then I stopped to consider the implications and ramifications of such a visit….somehow it just didn’t seem like a very good idea any longer. First of all…Just imagine: A rental car pulling up to the front gate….packed completely full of “stuff”, a young Arab man, with only a learner’s permit, driving the car.
Well….No….I am not that naive.. I would have been driving the car! But, on a day after a completely sleepless night, I just was not looking forward to any possible complications….or delays…..or hassles…. I could pictures us….standing beside the car with our hands on the roof…..with all the junk stacked along side….while guards went through each and every item. (Not finding anything, of course.) So, I decided to simply continue eastward on our journey back home.
We drove north east on US 24 toward Limon, Colorado, where we picked up good old I-70…..and headed back toward Kansas. We were back on the wide dusty plains again….with good old oxygen-laden air….wide-open, tree-less landscape…. We knew we were almost back home again.
Our final night was spent in Goodland, Kansas, where we had reservations in a Super 8 Motel. We arrive in the middle of the afternoon, with plenty of time to spare before darkness fell upon us. The sight of a bed was too tempting to resist…. Forty-eight hours with no sleep is a long time….. I had no problem falling asleep….blessed with an abundant supply of oxygen. When I woke up, Sultan was still in a state of half-sleep…but soon both of us were awake and somewhat alert…..trying to decide what to do and where to go next.
Shortly after we arrived at the motel, the skies began to darken as thick, threatening clouds rolled in. Tornado warning and severe thunderstorm warnings began to appear on my cell phone. Luckily….for us, at least, the tornado warnings were for points east. This is fortunate, because storms, particularly, tornadoes, rarely move from east to west. I was fairly confident that the storms….the tornadoes, at any rate….posed no problem for us. But….that didn’t prevent a torrential rain from pelting us.
As we stood looking at the stood in front of our motel room looking upward at the clouds, a woman and her son were also nervously gazing toward the sky, too. She indicated that she was not from Kansas….but they had heard that Kansas was the “tornado state”….and she was visibly worried about her immediate safety. I hope we were somewhat successful in reassuring her that she had nothing to be concerned about. That any tornado threat was already to the east of us…..and that is where it would stay. That is how watching the “Wizard of Oz” too many times will affect you, I suppose. And… we felt….at least, I felt….like a wise old Kansan…wise to the ways of the weather.
We rolled into home about 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon….a sort of bittersweet moment. Happy to be off the road…..but sad that Sultan’s visit was quickly approaching an end. We drove directly to my neighbor’s house, picked up the mail…..and then home and started unpacking the car. Unpacking the car went very quickly….much faster than all the work it took to assemble everything. Not having anything in the house to eat, we drove to Meriden and ate supper at Subway.
Wednesday, we picked up my old Suzuki, returned the rental car…..and proceeded directly to Hutchinson, where we would meet up with Fayez in the parking lot of our usual motel.
Sultan packed his luggage into the trunk of Fayez’s car…..and they drove off into the proverbial sunset. But….the sun will rise again next summer when Sultan comes to spend his three months summer vacation…..