Day 5 ...
(Friday, July 13)
(442 miles; Denver, Colo. to Hugoton, Kan.)
HUGOTON, Kan. -- Yes, this is where I'm from. My parents have a corn farm outside Hugoton, the town of 3,000 where I proudly finished in the top two-thirds of the class of 1995. Go Eagles! And all that.
More importantly, Denver was as beautiful as ever. There's something about the mountains that just flings you out of bed in the morning, even if you've driven many miles and went to bed at, say, 3:15 a.m. I woke up and just started driving up the mountains on the southwest side of the city. Eventually, I stopped, got out and inhaled many, many times.
You don't realize exactly how awful Fresno air is -- OK, you do realize it; Fresno air is so nasty you can actually describe it using colors -- until you get to a place like the Rockies. It's a good thing no one has invented the teleporter yet, because someone would zip directly from the San Joaquin Valley to the top of the Rockies and their lungs would explode. I did not have this problem. My lungs became accustomed to oxygen during the drive.
After the nature drive, I went to the Western Athletic Conference headquarters, where you will be happy to note they have a framed picture of the David Carr Sports Illustrated cover on the wall. (As seen in photo here.) Talked to commissioner Karl Benson for a column about how well the WAC is doing despite school after school abandoning it. No matter who goes to the Mountain West Conference, the WAC will always have the advantage of name recognition. Heck, there are people who still think the Mountain West is just a division in the WAC.
I took some pictures of the view from Benson's office, but they didn't turn out like i'd hoped. Trust me. You would dig Alabama ditches in a parka if they let you sit at Benson's desk and take in the view for five minutes once a week.
And then I drove to my parents house, down in the southwest corner of Kansas, about five hours from Denver. As always, they were glad to see me, and as always, it was nice to be home. I played some golf with my brother, Tony, at a course where the memberships are $300 per year. (He's a member.) It's out in the middle of a pasture. Notice the oil rig in the background of the photo. Love that. He's a second-grade teacher. Much nicer than me.
Scariest Driving Moment of the Day: In eastern Colorado I drove through a patch of bugs so thick I needed a paint scraper and a free weekend to get them all off the windshield. It sounded like hail hitting the car.
Most Memorable Radio Songs of the Day: None. Spent a lot of time on the phone, some with my mom who was wondering why I wasn't home yet. That makes me smile.
