My time in Denver was pretty short, but I ended up sharing my dinner table with a large black family at the hotel buffet who needed extra seating. They were from Colorado and just doing a “staycation” in Denver to get away from home. After resupplying and eating breakfast, I headed toward Ft. Collins, CO, and stopped at a natural park behind a planned community to take pictures of the mountain range I was going to cross.

After crossing the mountain range, the highway turned to dirt for about 20 miles and we got stuck behind an 18-wheeler that was kicking up dust and rocks.