Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Starting mileage: 17990, Distance travelled: 230

We woke up in Carbondale and got ourselves on the road by 10am. We weren’t in a big hurry because we didn’t have to be in Fort Collins until the afternoon and only had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us. The drive was spectacular, first going along the Colorado River with many white water rafters, then through Vail, where we saw off-season ski resorts, and finally directly through the Rockies, including more than one long tunnel. We got as high as 11,000 feet and David remembered traveling through the mountain when he was in college and getting passed in his VW Bug on a downhill stretch by a cyclist.

We checked off another fast food chain by eating at Which Wich, a sandwich shop in Lakewood, CO. We arrived at Susan’s friends’ Jeff and Rachel’s house in Fort Collins just about 3pm. It was wonderful to catch up with them and for the family to meet their 15-year-old kids, Lev and Naomi. They were amazing hosts and prepared a delicious dinner for us. Their house is lovely and well situated on a beautiful street within walking distance of the vibrant downtown. We walked for ice cream at the Old Town Churn, which was actually shaped like an ice cream churn. The ice cream was delicious too.

On the walk back kids were playing in a water feature in one of the pedestrian walkways, and our kids joined right in to play chicken with the spurting water.