Cortez CO.

I am in Cortez Colorado, near Mesa Verde National Park. I am not going to be able to go to Mesa Verde. I had to pick between National Arches Park and Mesa, so I opted for the Arches park. I will get there around noon tomorrow, most likely I will spend the entire day there and then head north towards Salt Lake City.

It was a good day of driving. After leaving Tucumcari this morning I headed west on I-40 towards Albuquerque, from there catching 550 north towards Cortez. This road is a four lane hi-way, the good thing about being on this road was not too many large eighteen wheelers. I was able to overtake everyone cruising at about a hundred miles per hour. The top was down in the car today, since it was a high of only 88 degrees. It felt good to have the wind blowing through my hair.  The road wove through mesas dotted with pine and pinion trees. Sage brush growing abundantly. The clouds hung low over the plateaus looking almost like snow topped mountains.

I do wish I had kept on driving and got a little closer to Arches, but I think I was ready for a break. I had not stopped for lunch, and I think that dictated my decision to stop. I will get an early start tomorrow, so that I can spend more time in the national park.

I had dinner tonight at Nero's here in Cortez. It's an Italian restaurant, the food was fresh and well prepared. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I am always amused when the host or hostess is about to seat me, they ask, if I am to be joined by someone. Traveling alone, I often eat alone. I am used to eating alone. I have been single for a long time now and have traveled by myself often. I never think it's odd to eat alone. But, people do look at you in a strange manner. I always take that time in a restaurant to be one with my thoughts and observe people and wonder what their story is? I am dismayed when I see a married couple sitting across from one another hardly saying a word to each other over dinner. Maybe because I consider communication to be one of the greatest gifts one can give to another, I look upon silence as a lost opportunity. Or, perhaps losing two brothers and my father, I look at life in finite terms. I do look at time with a loved one as precious. I do see moments gone by as lost time forever. Time that can never be recaptured. I live my life by the rule: make every moment count, let the ones I love, know how I feel about them. And, whenever I do have someone sitting across the table from me, I always converse with my dinner companion-- no matter what.