Traffic, as you can see, can happen just about anywhere. In this case, it happens about 90 miles away from anything remotely resembling gridlock, and is a wonderful reminder that while highway maintenance is necessary, it is very poorly timed, and places far too much emphasis on driving competence that most people do not just have. I'm looking at you, person who likes to merge after the sign told you to!
Such a lovely scene utterly disgraced by the supposed miracle of the internal combustion engine. For those wondering, this is along interstate 70 in Colorado, westbound, about 90 miles away from Grand Junction. The canyon, called Glenwood Canyon, is among the many vistas one can pass by in the boring, sheltered world of a car along the interstate. The Colorado River has cut and flows through the canyon, at this stage taking on its familiar brown, wild appearance.
Granted, it still has to drop over 5,000 feet and course through two major deserts before it can find its way to the sea. Hopefully. For much of the last 20 years, it has made it within miles of the Gulf of California only to sink into the hot sand, the sad little trickle unable to cope with being drained so excessively for desert farms. If you are not upset that the south western states want to divert the Great Lakes to them, drive on interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix, and then kindly write the USDA to take a lesson from Israel in the importance of drip irrigation. Grow those oranges in California and Florida, grow those apples in Michigan, and trust me, wheat grows just fine in the Dakotas without an extended growing season.
Anyway, enough about my water raving, Glenwood canyon is a lovely little stretch of land, whether you drive or take the train.
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