Headwinds

9 October, 2012

Arvada, Colorado

I saw my first tumbleweed, in thirty years, as we passed Hays, Kansas.  Shortly thereafter, the headwinds became shear and began blowing every vehicle around on the road.  I saw a tandem tractor-trailer, 100 feet ahead of us, go off the roadway and nearly jackknife.  The wind was so severe it knocked a headlamp module loose and I had to make a hasty road repair in 30 mile-per-hour winds.

The temperature continued to drop as the High Plains of Western Kansas rose continually, and my fears of being on forever flatlands were assuaged approaching Colorado. Crossing the border at Kanorado, the land grew open and wild. Desert qualities began to emerge as we entered Spaghetti Western-looking lands. A pervasive chill threatened to last until Spring, as the wind snatched off my hat at every opportunity.

Denver came as a surprise, cresting a rise after Watkins, the outskirts came into view advancing into the frame amid pastures and watering tanks. The mountains beyond provided a terrific backdrop for the sprawling urban intervention, once a gold-rush boom town.