Day 11: Rocky Mountain Way

Yellowstone '24 Trip

June 25, 2024

It was an early day for me, I woke up at 7 and couldn’t go back to sleep. We got breakfast and coffee at Wendy’s, and then headed out. We went east and crossed the desert steppe of southern Wyoming. Then we reached the border with Colorado.

The Rockies are very pretty. I am starting to lose the glow of Yellowstone. I suppose you can spoil yourself on amazing sights and become accustomed to the experience. Nevertheless, although I feel Colorado is less beautiful than Wyoming, I must say that between the two, I’d rather live in Boulder, near Denver. Wyoming is too rural for my tastes. I may one day end up moving west, so this experience has been enlightening.

Colorado, specifically Denver is less alpine than I anticipated. It’s still kind of the shrub brush flats that southern Wyoming is.

It certainly is rocky at times. I enjoy that part of northern Colorado, it’s like a crag or something. So, there is beauty to be had here, perhaps my growing fatigue is to blame for my reduced appreciation. It’s a part of my life. I have mental illness, and when things are moving fast and my routine changes, it affects me. I manage it the best I can, and I push through. One of the reasons for planning this trip was to prove to myself that I could overcome a challenge. I wanted to try to maintain my mental health while potentially stressed. Venture out of my comfort zone. It’s working. I feel emboldened. I am going places. I’m not just idle, like I always am. It makes me pine for more adventure back in Ocala.

We finally made it to the campground, and we unpacked. We’re in Denver for two nights, so more will come tomorrow. I played chess with my dad, and we ate at Wrigley’s Bar & Grill, a Chicago style eatery. I worked on a complete overhaul of the site when I got back to the camper. It took a while, and I bought a paid theme that made it easier. But the result is a sleeker website. I’m proud of how it looks, it’s still got that multicolor charm but in a more minimalistic way. And I then spent a few hours working on this post. My internet connection is poor – it has been for the past couple of stops. I think we learned our lesson, and that’s if we go on such a long trip: get Starlink.