On The Road Again

This morning we packed up our gear, gathered the trash in the condo, ran the dishwasher and headed out for KC. The trip took eleven hours, thirty-seven minutes and 48 seconds according to the stopwatch on my watch. This included meals, construction delays and ARVs (Average Restroom Visits).

Most exciting was just as we came off highway 40 onto I-70 just off Berthoud Pass. As we were heading into Downieville we saw what looked to be a couple of female elk standing in the road. As we got closer, I realized they were longhorn sheep.

Dad pulled over and I grabbed the digital camera and the camcorder. As I was taking some video, I saw a couple of other longhorns off the side of the road. I watched them cross the road and start up the mountain then realized there were more on the mountain. By the time all was said and done, dad counted ten long horn sheep, including an alpha male of the herd with horns curling under almost to his ears.

The wildlife we saw in Colorado was now as complete as it was going to get. We saw chipmunks, a pika, male and female elk and longhorn sheep.

The rest of the ride home was chattier than the drive up but was mostly superficial. We talked about the trip, birds, music, movies dad has never seen but I think he needs to (the list includes Office Space, Real Genius, and Grosse Point Blank), and idiots who try to drive and read a book at the same time.

When we got to the house, mom already had a big pot of her family-favorite chili on the table. The four grandsons were down visiting their dad (my brother) so mom made something simple that dad and I could easily warm up in the microwave if we needed to.

I’m heading home tomorrow after helping dad get his computer back up and running. I’m looking forward to seeing Shelly, whom I miss very much at the moment.

And so ends the saga of the Great Father-Son Colorado Fishing Trip.