This past weekend, I spent 12 hours
driving from northern Colorado to Fort Worth, Texas to finish out the last
semester of my college career. While not the typical nature experience, I did
find myself interacting with nature quite a bit on this journey. When you’re
alone in the car for 12 hours, you can’t help but notice your surroundings. It
also helps that for a good portion of this drive there is no cell phone service
available. Free from most distractions, I was able to absorb the natural
scenery on my multi-state tour.
I have completed this drive, in
both directions, a multitude of times. I have driven these roads in the dead of
winter, when the temperature changed about 20 degrees in between rest stops and
states. I have driven these roads in the
peak of summer, when the pavement radiated heat and the earth begged for moisture.
Arguably, the best part of this drive is the constantly-changing scenery, as
even the most mundane of landmarks change with the years and seasons.
My route
There are several routes from
Colorado to Texas, each offering different views and cultures. I have driven
through the hills of New Mexico, sticking to backgrounds and witnessing colorful
canyons and perplexing rock structures. I have driven through the fields of
Kansas, viewing miles of plains and highway with little of humanity’s touch.
This journey I decide to weave my way through southern Colorado, skirt through
Oklahoma, and finish the bulk of the drive in Texas.
This route weaves through the
tiniest of towns, some scarcely populated, some mere reduced to mere remnants
of the past. The majority of the route offers a view of wide open farm land,
with little disturbance by civilization. The most striking thing about this
view is the sky. It seems to go on forever, in a giant stretch of brilliant blue.
On this day, with temperate weather and plenty of sunshine, the sky was at its
finest. It was the most perfect of blues, emulating the exact notion of “sky
blue”. Save for few wispy clouds dotting the horizon, the sky was
uninterrupted. Its vastness both humbled and relaxed me. When the sun set, the
sky erupted in beautiful pinks and oranges, bidding farewell to my day on the
road.
Road trips are one of my favorite
activities. They allow us to break free of normal comforts, to experience life
in a smaller space with mostly our own thoughts. This trip allowed me to
appreciate the beauty of nature, even in places that are often seen as wholly mundane.
I was able to see the sky in all its brilliance, from sunrise to sunset. I was
also able to appreciate the vastness of the farm fields, filled with a variety
of plants, from pumpkins to cotton. This experience provided me a glimpse into
a life I so often forget, right in the middle of America.
A piece of Highway 287 in southern Colorado
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