ROAD TRIP 09: Amarillo TX to FRUITA COLORADO!

On the road again...day three, Sunday, May 09. Well rested after my comfy bed in Amarillo. Once out of Amarillo, I got on the "Texas Plains Trail" aka Hwy 354. Talk about a miserable road. Although it did have a certain charm about it- it was almost the stereotypical Texas roadway- windmills and cows, dirt roads leading seemingly off into nowhere.

I stopped in the dead middle of this road- it was chilly out. I was driving for about 50 miles and did not see ONE OTHER CAR. Not a soul. I saw only one ranch house.

After rolling through Texas, I ended up cutting through a portion of New Mexico. The scenery now became a little more "western", with some mountains in the distance and some snow-covered peaks that I was headed toward. This was quite a sight for me. It had been quite some time since I had been near large mountains-especially ones tall enough to have snow on them in May. I finally entered Colorado, and was it incredible. Green, beautiful mountains in the background, hilly terrain- definitely a lot more entertaining to drive through. I had to make several stops along the way to capture some of these views.

As I neared Grand Junction, I had a smile on my face and felt the stress leave my body. This ended abruptly. After gassing up at some po-dunk little town, I pulled out on the main road. A guy with a large F250 displaying Colorado plates and a bed full of hay bales pulled out in front of me and slowed to a crawl. I stayed behind him, as I was so relaxed. Under normal circumstances, I would have zipped around him, cut him off, and flipped him the bird. We stopped at a light, where this douchebag clearly could have turned several times. I then noted him glancing in his rear view mirror at me. I was still oblivious. We pulled out on the road, which was two lanes, and I passed the guy without so much as a glance. I reached 70mph, and noted asshole was flooring it to catch up to me before the lane merged into a single lane. Not wanting to be stuck behind the prick, I sped up to 80 to keep ahead of him. He sped up too. I gave up, and figured if he wanted to go that fast, then let him...fuck it. Dickweed pulls up next to me and rolls his window down. Some goofy fuck with glasses that looked like he worked in some cubicle before he took up being a farmer feeding horses. He yells, "GO HOME!" What? Are you fucking kidding me? I laugh, and give him the ol' "thanks pal, keep driving" smirk and wave. He thinks by my reaction I didn't understand him, so he repeats his all intellegent comment. By now, I am just laughing at how much of a fag this guy is. Little does he know I have a loaded Glock .40 sitting next to me, and if he want to be confrontational and escalate this situation, I'd gladly dump a clip into him without remorse.

I tuck in behind him, and fag lips then slows to 55...10 mph under the posted limit. I shake my head in disgust at this douche. I guess he sees I am not going to play his ridiculous game (this guy looked like he was in his late 40's...grow the fuck up), and he pulls away slowly. I watch as he plays his game with a white Chrysler with Ohio plates. What a miserable asshole. Come to find out after talking with some people, this is typical of Colorado "natives". Especially ones that live near Grand Junction and blame the fall of their economy on "transplants" coming to their town and doing better at shit than they could do. Tough. I find this mentality runs rampant throughout Colorado. And since I'm on the subject and still writing this as I am in the midst of my journey, I have not come across ONE pleasant person from Colorado. They are all assholes. The nicest people are from Canada, Florida (hi Lynne!) and pretty much anywhere except Colorado. So, although Colorado is nice scenery wise, they can have their state and piss up a rope.

I arrived in Fruita shortly thereafter. Fruita is almost like a desert town, dusty and hot, with high mountains and some red rock adorning them. My campsite was right next to the Colorado River, and was MUCH nicer than the KOA I stayed at. No shower facility though. I set up camp, lit a fire, and grabbed a couple beers. I though about my rides tomorrow and was simply rejoicing in the fact that I was ready to start doing what I drove almost 2000 miles to do.