July 17, 2011 Can't Go Back

I left Dodge City this morning for the mountains. When I was a kid, my family vacationed in Green Mountain Falls every summer - during the first 2 weeks of August. Every year. Without exception. I never gave it much thought until now. Yesterday it was 110 degrees in Dodge. The forecast for the next week is the same. Everyday in double digits and no relief in sight. No rain in the forecast and I overheard a man say that they haven't had any measurable precipitation in 5 months. My dad wanted to get the hell out of the heat. That's why we vacationed in August!

However, the trip from Dodge to Colorado Springs is not an easy one. Especially alone. Fortunately, I discovered I could plug my iPod into my phone jack which meant that I did not have to listen to country western music or jesus nuts on the radio. Or static - which was more likely.

I want to share my trip with you, so here's what you need to do. Look at each picture for 2.75 hours. Do not get up and walk around. Do not stretch your legs. Do not have any contact with any other human being - except the weird man at the gas station in Eads. Do not go to the bathroom unless you are close to the gas station in Eads then you can take a break and go there.

Start now:

Keep watching:
Don't stop now:
(Those are NOT mountains in the distance and yes, I am the only car on this highway. For 70 miles.)

But then it happened. All my hard work paid off:
I can see the mountains. I CAN SEE THE MOUNTAINS! The first thought in my mind was that I couldn't believe that Kansas gave this up.

I couldn't check into my hotel room yet, so I drove to Green Mountain and Woodland Park.
It's true. You can't go back. Woodland is big with lots of traffic and a ginormous Walmart store (I HATE WALMART) and a Walgreens. Traffic was crazy; buses, vans, motorcycles, SUVs all driving like they owned the road. It is not the town I remember from my youth.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my youth was a long, long, long time ago. But, damn.

Green Mountain is nothing like it used to be. Grandma and Grandpa's cabin - where I went every summer since the year I was born doesn't even look like the same place.

I'm a crier from way back, but I must admit that I didn't even get a lump in my throat while driving around GMF. It is not the same place. I no longer have the desire to bring CB to Green Mountain to show him where I vacationed as a kid. It's nothing to write home about.

So, during the past several days I've returned to my hometown and to the place I vacationed until I graduated from high school. I was disappointed by both. I will choose to remember those towns as they used to be instead of as they are now.

Bright spot of the day? There were 2. First I watched a little girl play in the stream in GMF with her grandparents which made me smile and reflect on all the hours I spent in that stream. (although there is less water - it's only about half as wide)

Second, there is an outdoor pool and hot tub at my hotel which no one seems to know about except me!