Day 37 Colorado Rockies on the busiest travel day in America.

I woke up, fell out of bed, and blared the Dead into my head. Musical inspiration helped me on-line as I answered questions from random people who had visited the Vital Light Website. It's pretty cool when strangers are interested in this project. I was on the road by 11am. As I drove south into Denver the snow-capped rockies were in the distance. There was snow as far as the eye could see. Apparently I had just missed the first snow storm of the season. When I got to Denver, I went west on I-70 through the heart of the Rockies. It was cold and crisp outside, a very bright and beautiful day. Traffic was intense. And the Phalcon was pushed to her limits as she ascended higher and higher into the Summit of Colorado. The descent was challenging as well due to the heavy traffic. I had to be very defensive against all the Yahoos on the road headed somewhere for Thanksgiving. By the time I got to Utah, the sun was fading. I descended into Moab on this scenic by-way along the Colorado River. It was the open range, so I had to be careful of wandering cattle and sheep herds. As I was winding around a sharp tricky turn, my headlights beamed into the eyes of a great big cow. From that point I obeyed the speed limit. While driving through Mexican Hat, a man hit a horse. It was a bloody mess. I am not certain of the outcome? The rez is a dangerous place to drive at night. At last, I was back on the Navajo Nation. It had been nearly 4 years since my high school teaching assignment there. I taught at a place called Rough Rock. I was to meet up with Erick Van-Pelt, a mid-forties teacher that I came to know very well during my time in the high desert of Arizona. Since our last visit, Erick and his lovely wife Lila, had spent two years in the Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea. Erick said he nearly died there several times, and was not sure that he was ever going to see me again. He said this to me as he greeted me at a gas station in Kayenta.