Some Dreams Really Do Come True, Part 1

 

For half a lifetime, I have dreamed of seeing the Rocky Mountains. Most of my early fantasies have centered around northwestern Montana, which is very much still on my bucket list. But a few years ago, Colorado started to come onto my radar.

I've never been further west than the eastern edge of Missouri. I never had the time, money, or means for the Rockies to be a practical trip.

But as I grew older, as I tried different jobs and found high dissatisfaction with all of them, my mind started wandering.

What is a job that will always be needed, no matter what happens to the economy? A job that is hard, honest work? A job that will never ever go away?

Growing food. Dairy farmers, ranchers, crop farmers... They are irreplaceable.

And what really caught my attention was the idea that some big farms/ranches, especially out west, sometimes offered housing options to employees. It would be the perfect way to relocate to a different state without worrying about renting an apartment and trying to pay for it out of savings till I manage to find work.

Spring 2024, I was set. I was going to apply for work out in Colorado and make my move. But Abba Father had other plans. For at least this year, he led me to remain in Maryland.

But I wasn't ready to give up hope. I made a deal with my employer that I would stay in maryland at least on year, IF we could negotiate me a time window to take a road trip to visit Colorado and experience the Rockies. The terms were agreed upon.

Better yet, I had friends to go visit, so I wouldn't be roaming Colorado all by myself. Friends that I had only made about ten months prior, and only by divine fate. A few different choices and we never would've met.

So the stage was set. I would drive out to Colorado and celebrate my 27th birthday with some friends, under the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.

A week before departure, the unthinkable happened. I wrecked my truck.

How could I go to Colorado without something to drive? Last minute plane tickets would be expensive, and I would need to be able to drive myself around Colorado once I got there.

But the Lord pulled through once again. My insurance company got me in a rental vehicle, and I started out for the banks of the Mississippi River. It was finally happening!

Driving west on Interstate 70 allowed me to experience many terrains first hand. For starters, I could easily note how gorgeous western Maryland truly is.

 

 It is a shame it is under the rule of the communists in Annapolis. If it were as free a state as Montana or Texas, I would proudly call it home.

West Virginia was equally beautiful. Ohio... meh. Columbus? Ugh. Worst part of the whole trip, hands down. But finally, I arrived at Lieber State Park just south of Indianapolis, Indiana. And just on time to see a gorgeous sunset.

 

The next day, I set out from Indiana and crossed into Illinois. Both states were relatively flat, with a few small hills, covered mostly in either trees or farmland. 

Then I hit the mighty Mississippi.

I had fantasized about taking my paddleboard on my trip, and going out on the river under the Gateway Arch. But my rental car had less space than my truck, so the paddleboard stayed home. And not a bad thing. Several days with heavy rain had left the river high and fast. Plus I didn't feel like dealing with the traffic of actually going into the middle of St. Louis to see the Arch. But I still got river pictures.

 

 

I did not take any photos of Missouri. But it was honestly beautiful. I can absolutely imagine myself being happy if I ended up living there. But then the real shocker came. Kansas looked just like Missouri...

All my life, I had been led to believe that you cross the Kansas border and right away its flat cornfields for as far as the eye can see. But no. Eastern Kansas is actually not that different from Missouri or Indiana. Rolling green hills, lots of trees... My camera does not do justice to terrain (which is really gonna make the Rockies look small and unimpressive... But there was a lot of beautiful terrain variation.

 

And also dirt roads. Before Maryland, I grew up in rural Ohio. But I think Topeka, Kansas was the first time in my life I ever experienced having a dirt road inside city limits as a residential street. Oh, you should have seen my grin! Turns out, there really are still places that appreciate the old ways.

 

My day two campsite was Lake Shawnee, just outside of Topeka. Again, gorgeous. Except for the horsefly that bit my wrist and left it swollen for the next two days...

Sunrise over Shawnee lake...

 

Day three of my adventure, I was finally ready. Today was the day I would step foot on Colorado soil! But first, I had to cross the rest of Kansas.

At first, it was still great.

 

I took a break at Wilson Lake State Park, where I was thrilled to find a shoreline absolutely loaded with flat shale bits, perfect for rock skipping.

 

But west of Wilson Lake, that is where Kansas started getting dicey. The rumors did have some truth to them. Hours and hours of flatness. A road that vanished into a mirage.

Finally, I crossed into Colorado! I made it! I was on Colorado soil, mere hours from the Rockies! But I hit a new problem. My cell phone lost signal the instant I crossed the border. How would I connect with my friends and coordinate where and when to meet?

There was nothing to do but move forward. Eventually, I saw a dark shadow on the horizon. Could those be mountains? Surely not. I was still two hours from Pueblo, and the nearest mountains were over an hour west of that. There's no way I could be seeing mountains from three hours away. But they could be...

Sure enough, the longer I drove, the more clear it became. I was indeed seeing my first glimpse of the Rockies!!!

Thankfully, my GPS retained directions to actually get me into the city of Pueblo. I wandered around till I found a Walmart where I could get wifi signal. My friends suggested I restart my phone. So I did. Suddenly, I had cell service again. Praise the Lord!

I met my friends near my campsite, on the shore of the Pueblo Reservoir. The landscape was so new to me! A bit like high desert. It absolutely felt like I could step into a John Wayne movie.

After an evening with my friends, I set up camp and settled in under SO MANY STARS!!! I fell asleep thanking Yahweh for my safe journey and for everything He did in bringing my dreams to pass.

My first full day in Colorado would be busy! So stay tuned for Part 2!