The blue line shows my route west into Colorado, on US 36.  That part of the road is really forlorn road.  Absolutely flat.  Towns out there like Cope and Last Chance are all but abandoned.  I was into the Longhorn Motel in Byers on Friday afternoon with plenty of time to do my laundry and wait for Mary Ann's plane to arrive the next morning.  

After she arrived, we headed across the Rockies to Grand Junction.  We got to Laurie's house in time for supper on Saturday.  We stayed there until Tuesday, when we retraced our path back to the Denver airport.  It had snowed in the mountains over the weekend, but the road was clear.  This was I-70, my first travel on an Interstate since Monteagle, TN.   But our need to get over to Grand Junction and back quickly made it necessary.  Also, the back roads might have been closed at that time of year, especially on our return trip.