Who knew I would hate Colorado?

"I fucking hate your state!"

Bet you never expected me to say that. If you know me already, I love Colorado; it's my favorite state for those who don't know me. I have been going to Colorado since 2015. I fell in love with this state because of its alpine, mountains, the people, the views, the beer, camping, I think you get the idea. I have been waiting to move to Colorado since my second trip out. It's one of the very few places I can lose my Type A personality and just fully relax.

Let me explain why I hated Colorado……..

Well, I hit a prominent wall on my trip. In my post “How I Hit the Proverbial Wall on My Birthday at Capitol Reef,” I talked about hitting two walls on my 16-day trip. This was the first wall I hit on that trip. And I didn’t just hit it; it’s more like I slammed into it. That morning I left Grand Tetons and headed to Grand Junction for the night before moving onto Moab.

As I was driving away from Jackson Hole, WY, the weather was temperamental and rainy, a perfect send-off since that was the same weather I drove in when I got to Jackson Hole 5 days prior. Though this time, I could see the mountains surrounding the city. The drive to Colorado started great, the weather improved, and I could enjoy the views of the mountains. I stopped at this one gas station to use the bathroom, and in Wyoming fashion, the guy greeted me with a big smile, cowboy hat, and chaps.

I got back on the road, still in great spirits, watching the Wyoming mountains slowly getting smaller behind me until I couldn't see them anymore. I was a little sad since I had an awesome time in WY, but I knew I would be in Colorado in a few hours.

Finally, when I hit the Colorado border, I saw the sign "Welcome to Colorful Colorado." I pulled over and got a tourist picture of me in front of the sign. Two minutes later, my time in Colorado went from colorful to ugly.

I was stopped 5 minutes down the road because of construction; I thought I would be stopped for 5 mins since it was a single lane. Boy, was I wrong! I was stuck on CO-13 S for almost an hour, and most of that time, it made no sense why I was stuck there. I was getting cranky just sitting there because I knew I still had another 4 -plus hour drive that day. And adding to this, I didn't have cell service, so I had no way of killing time as I sat there. I was getting hungry as well. Finally, they allowed my lane to go, and I got service. I made my way to Craig, CO, the closest nearby town. I stopped here to get a break since I had been in the SUV for at least 6 hours at this point. I found a brewery, but sadly they were not open. Greaaatttt. I gave up and went to City Market, a grocery store. I thought getting food and coffee would make me feel better before heading to the Grand Junction area, which is 2.5-3 hours from Craig. But it didn’t.

Once I got to Grand Junction, I couldn't find the place my friend told me to camp near Mount Garfield in Grand Junction. I tried to follow the map he sent and even asked the local gas station, but I was still not processing the information they gave me, and, honestly, I was simply over the day by now.

I left that area to go to Colorado National Monument, where I was in 2020. This time I went to a different park entrance, which confused me, and I had no idea where I was going. I tried to enjoy the ride and do headstands once I got to the monument, but man, I was just beyond fed up and mentally exhausted.  It was at least 5 pm, and I had been up and driving (with breaks) since 5 am. I hoped hanging at Colorado National Monument could salvage a long ass day, but that wasn’t the case. 

That is when I called my friend in Telluride. She picked up, and I said, "I fucking hate your state!" She responds, "Well, I see you had a great travel day. I never thought you would say those words to me." She recommended this place called Rabbit Valley, a Brough of Land Management (BLM) campground, but they only have like 8 sites or something. My response when she told me that was, "There is no way I will get a space, like come on!" I was one real cheerful person at this point. You know the Snickers commercial when someone is hangry? I was that person times 1000. I drove to Rabbit Valley, cursing this state to hell and high waters. As I went down the dirt road, lo and behold, there was a spot for me. It even looked towards the La Sal Mountains, a mountain range in Utah. Finally, something had gone right!

I set up camp and decided to drive back to Fruita, which was like 15-20 mins to find food and beer, as I had no desire to eat my dehydrated food. I found a Wendy's and went to the gas station next door to get beer, an ice cream cone, and firewood. I drove back to my campsite, made a fire, ate my Wendy's, and had my beer. About 20 minutes later, I called my friend again and said, "So, I like your state." She laughed, "I see someone is in a better mood."

Who knew that after 10 hours or so in my car, I would come to hate my favorite state. But thanks to a fire, Wendy's, beer, an ice cream cone, and a view of the mountains while I was camping in the desert, I would fall back in love with it all over again hours later.

That day was the most extended time I’ve spent in a car by myself. I am one of those people who hate to stop and would push through just to get to my destination. I am more of a enjoy the destination vs. journey girl. This day and my birthday have taught me that It’s okay to push pause and take some time. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the experience, and don’t just focus on the bad or the destination. This concept is still very fucking hard for me to grasp, but slowly, VERY slowly, I am applying this on my trips. I still get in my head when things go wrong, and I still get cranky for being in the car for a long time, but I now realize how much those memories will shape my life beyond just my travel experiences.

The sun woke me up, and I opened my tent and saw the La Sal Mountains standing tall n the distance. I was excited to head to Moab that morning. Before packing up camp, I wanted to do my headstand, since the day before wasn’t the greatest. I got the money shot for my headstand, see below! While I was backing up camp I found a friend that wanted to go with me to Moab; obliviously, I left him behind. Besides the free camping and awesome views that this campground had, it was also 8 minutes to the UT state line, where my story continued.