Colorado Bound

“… boys, I’m Colorado bound”

Stillhouse Junkies

Day 2 of RTXXII! Alright, the excalation point is probably overkill. The vast majority of today was spent driving from Omaha to Denver. The morning did begin with a couple cups of Kimpton coffee (delicious) and will end later tonight with a Kimpton whiskey (or two). Right now I’m at my first wine hour in a very long time. I feel like we must have been at one together at some point in the pandemic, but I can’t for the life of me think of when. I guess it’s possible the only time in the past two years that I’ve been was here at the Born in Denver, on my own, during one of my solo trips to check on progress at the house. Just one more reason that I’m ready for the world to get back to non-pandemic mode.

The drive today was as uneventful as a drive across Nebraska and Eastern Colorado tends to be. It was flat and boring, kind of like Illinois actually. I spent the majority of it listening to “The Lincoln Highway: A Novel” by Amor Towles. Despite Molly’s nudging, I don’t read many novels. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them, I just don’t really enjoy thinking about them. It’s unvoidable for me to feel the characters and to see parallels to my own life and experiences. I don’t like watching drama for the same reasons. I much prefer my entertainment to be comedy or non-fiction. I don’t want to have to feel my entertainment, I just want to enjoy it and move on.

The last book Molly recommended was Fredrik Backman’s “Anxous People”. She found it a “light, fun read”. After witnessing me read it she swore she’d never recommend a book again. I’m not sure what posessed her to do so, but a couple months later she mentioned Lincoln Highway so I requested the audio version at the library. It just happened to become available with perfect timing for this trip, so here I am.

The good news is that I’m not finding it anywhere near as deep or depressing as Anxious People. It was kind of fun to be listening as I drove along I-80 from Omaha to Ogallala, one of the many interstates that made early American highways obsolete. I know that you’re here for a travel blog and not my thoughts on literature, but I will note two mirrors in the story that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about lately. Besides, the characters haven’t really got to travelling yet so I can’t compare their journey to mine.

First is the running theme of breaking out of the constraints of modern life. There are several points in the story where the characters discuss how modern society (even in the 1950’s) is designed to prepare people for a life of monotony, to be a good worker on the assembly line. Wake up in the morning, have coffee, have breakfast, work 8 hours, go home, watch TV, go to bed, then wake up and do it all again. Schools, jails, jobs, are all designed for a predicable pattern each day. This has bothered me for a long time. I strive for days that are not the same and that’s a big part of the reason we spend our summers as we do.  I’m envious of people who are able to spend all their days pursuing whatever whim catches their attention that day.

The second mirror, connected to the first, came right as I stopped the book for the day. One of the characters has a book filled with tales of adventurers. The last few pages are left blank for the reader to write their own adventure story. It made me glad that I’ve been able to write some of mine here. I’ll be sure to update you when something interesting happens.

My apologies for not including more pictures. Usually Molly takes a ton each day and I steal some of them to use in my post. I’ll have to try to make more of a concious effort to take some the next few weeks. After wine hour I’m going to head to Citizen Rail for what are possibly the best mussels I’ve ever eaten. Fingers crossed they live up to the last time I was here. Then tomorrow, Mancos!