[] 32 hours of midnight []

If you have ever drove across country you know the feeling of getting tired and trying different things to keep alert. However, since I had a sleeping traveling companion, my options were limited. Cranking up the music paired with the same intensity of air conditioning/windows rolled down combo are my usual tactics. This time I was trying math tricks as I flew down the highway. For example, if I saw any number (mile markers, exits, license plates) I would add each digit together,. Then take that total and try to remember it then add it to the next set of numbers and so on. That worked for about half an hour until the dreadful eye crossing thing started. There is really no getting around that for me. So I nudged anna to let her know that I couldn’t drive any further,. We switched but then ended up stopping to sleep at a rest area. Thank goodness for these places, a bunch of people were there just trying to catch some sleep or stretch out. The neat thing about this stop was this: my mom and her friend had been road tripping as well and had ended up in Colorado springs for the day. They planned on going to Pikes Peak to ride the cog train up the mountain around noon. When we woke up from our pit stop I called my mom to see how her trip was going and where they had made it to so far. She mentioned the pikes peak deal and how they were in Colorado springs, which happened to be the next exit on the highway. Anna and I had to make a quick decision between keeping on our driving schedule and staying on I-70, or turning off and breaking the sound barrier to try to make it on time to check in and get tickets for the train. We turned off the main highway and headed toward the Pikes peak mountain. I remember riding that mountain train as a kid, so to go back as an adult was very exciting. Plus the obstacles we had to get around (sold out tickets, travel time, being stuck behind slower than slow logging trucks, and then the mountain marathon that had the city blocked off and rearranged) added to the anticipation of getting there. My mom in all her mom-ness somehow got us tickets on the sold out train- she has ALWAYS been good at that kind of stuff.
The ride up and back was great, as we hit 8,000 feet, the temperature started to drop. I seriously wanted to snuggle between the Indian man and his wife next to me, but i reasoned that was probably inappropriate. At the very top, it was a mere 27 degrees. I don't really remember much of anything up there other than being really drunk with altitude sickness. The lack of oxygen made me giddy, sleepy, dizzy, and sick. I do remember sticking my head through a cardboard doughnut hole for a photo...not sure why, i don't even like those types of photos.
Sorry for this post to go on and on and on, but thats how a roadtrip is. It felt like we had been up for 32 hours or so. So let me wrap up and highlight for monday. We took a 4 hour backroad to get back on the main road where we stopped in aspen for the night. I was hit on twice. The first was more of a cat call from a pair of old bum friends passing the car window as I looked at a map. I know, sexy, right? The second was in the lodge elevator. Riding back down to go park the car and grab all of our things, two guys and a girl got on. The dynamics changed when the girl got off the elevator at the next floor, leaving the two drunk boys to their own demise. “heeeyyyy, whhhaaat are you doing, you wanna come to zune with us?” “sorry, thanks though, kinda busy”…I’m pretty sure my blood alcohol level was positive after breathing the same elevator air he just exhaled. And it doesn’t matter, drunk or sober, if you turn a mans hit down, they always retaliate. This one mutter some crap that I pretended not to hear before bounding out of the elevator to the car. “What a douche” is all I kept thinking. However, every other person we met was extremely nice, and I mean like really nice. I’m convinced it’s the cold, thin, air. Or maybe it’s the scenery they are beautifully snuggled into. They wake up everyday to a mountain sunrise and go to sleep under a gazillion stars, believer or not, I think that would make anyone happy.