I kind of knew the first day of driving to Alaska would be a long barren drive.  It was.  Knowing it ahead of time doesn’t make it not mind numbing.  The first couple hours weren’t too barren as I was heading north through Colorado, through Grand County and Jackson County.  It is a very uninhabited part of Colorado, so there was not much traffic to deal with. 

Slowly, the mountain terrain turned more to hilly grassy terrain with little to no trees.  Only 3 hours in, and it felt like a whole day of no trees.  No trees, no towns, nothing.  More nothing.  Hey!  Look at that – nothing!  Thank god for the invention of audio books. 

Windmills, more windmills, and windmills as far as the eye can see.  The windmills at least add some interest to the treeless hills.  I’ve driven by wind farms before.  Every time I do, I am amazed again by the shear size of them.  They are so tall and each blade so long and sleek, spinning very slowly as if there isn’t a care in the world. 

Four hours in and not a tree or town in sight.  Rolling endless hills of brown grass.  I started wondering if I would see a gas station or restaurant before Montana.   Four hours into the day – only 4.5 more hours of barren brown.  Finally, I saw a restaurant next to a gas station.  It was just in time for lunch.  It’s a diner that serves breakfast all day – score.  I ordered a breakfast sandwich that comes with a side of peaches.  I love peaches, and it’s peach season, so I was excited.  My breakfast was delivered and I almost cried.  It was canned peaches.  I forgot that canned peaches exist and didn’t think for a second that would be what I got.  People eat these….on purpose?  I haven’t had canned fruit since I was a kid.  Maybe I remembered them wrong.  Maybe they were good.  NO.  They taste nothing like a peach to me.   The sandwich was good and redeemed the meal. 

Back to driving.  Back to listening to Dune Messiah.  Finally, I got to the Welcome to Montana sign.  I should have taken a picture.  Somehow, I thought the terrain would change.  It didn’t.   Still no trees all the way to Billings.  Nine hours after starting, I arrived at my hotel.  Overall it was a good day, a good book, a good truck, a good sandwich, good driving time, no wind, and no rain!

The truck I’m driving is all decked out in camouflage seat covers.  After an exciting dinner at Applebee’s, I decided to girl up the truck a little. I found a furry steering wheel cover with bear ears.  The bear and I will head out tomorrow morning – Calgary bound.