On the way to Lake City

So the drive out to Colorado was crazy! I drove through so much rain and wind! The rain stalled me to 45 mph at one point for about an hour. If you know me at all and how I like to drive on the interstate, it drove me nuts! But I learned more patience! The wind also became a problem. I felt like I was in a tug of war all day being pushed back and forth as the wind would furiously blow against my box on wheels. But nothing was going to keep me from getting to Colorado...maybe delayed, but I would still make it.

I passed hundreds of windmills that spun so fast it seemed as if they would break apart and land in the middle of the interstate. None of my other pictures turned out well, but I basically followed the Rio Grande (go figure, from one end to the other) to the Continental Divide where I crossed over and down to Redcloud. I passed mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, and mule deer. The highest peaks were all covered with snow and I couldn't help but be amazed at how beautiful it was.

I got to Redcloud at about 830 and met a few people and then went to bed. The next morning I hung out with a bunch of kids while canoeing in the snow. It was cold but fun! The next day was sunny and beautiful and I used it to get things situated and relax.

This morning, I woke up to 2 inches of powder. So three of us went snowboarding! They skiied and I boarded. But I got some snowshoes and we hiked up the mountain and then rode down twice. It was so much fun! The two runs took all morning because it took so long to hike, but it was worth it. The views were awesome and the guys taught me some great things about avalanche safety. I used a tranciever (sp?) and got aquainted with it and then when we hiked to the top of a bowl, they gave me a lesson on how to detect weak layers and avalanche hazards. We dug into the snow and studied the layers and found some sketchy layers and decided to take another route.

Tomorrow will be sure to bring some other story, but for now I am going to go eat and relax. Sorry there aren't any pictures. The satelite feed is weak and it won't upload my pictures. :( I'll figure something out!