Life Is A Highway

I wanna ride it
All night long…
If you're going my way, I wanna drive it
All night long…

Road trip! We’re packing for yet another quick trip of 2000 miles in five days! We’re going to Utah this time to see Ty. I haven’t seen him since October and we both miss him. I’ve never been to Utah so I’m looking forward to it.

We left the house at 3:30pm. We made a couple of stops then took off for Utah. Yes, it was a very long ride. We stopped as needed and did pull over and rest for about an hour. Alan did most of the driving but I didn’t sleep. He has this annoying habit of running over the Mallory strips and scaring me as soon as I doze. A Mallory strip is what we call that bumpy area that lets you know you are running off the edge of the road. Mallory’s dad had a big part in creating these bumpy patches, hence, Mallory strips. Some states have them on the edges of the road and in the middle so I got it from both sides. We drove into Vernal about 20 hours later, 10:30am the next day. Actually on our time it was 11:30. We unloaded, had lunch then rested. Alan snored as soon as his head hit the pillow. I went into Mom mode and started straightening up Ty’s room and doing laundry. I couldn’t sleep but did manage to relax some.

Ty and his roomie took us to eat lunch at a local restaurant. They are both petroleum engineers and just moved to a new apartment. I’m a people watcher. While we were waiting for our food to arrive I noticed that every girl who came in had puffed up hair. It was like there was a sale on Bumpits and everyone bought one! I finally mentioned it and Ty told me it’s actually called the “Vernal Poof”. It’s ‘the’ hairstyle to have. Isn’t that funny?

The advantage of driving all night is that you get there. The disadvantage is that you are exhausted when you do. We took it easy and looked around at some of the local sites. Vernal is located in the Unita Basin which is famous for its dinosaur fossils. Alan had an appointment to get some new seat covers put in the Dodge. We dropped the truck off as we looked around. The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum was right across the street from the seat cover place. I didn’t go in but I did walk over and get some pictures of the outside dinosaurs. I know the littles would love to see it!

Dinosaurs in Vernal

Camo Seatcovers

Lots of hiding places!

Utah is a very pretty place. At least where we were it was. But it sure didn’t seem very spring like! It was cold and the mountains still had snow. We drove around and saw some beautiful scenery. We went out to the mountains and saw an operational mine. They do a lot of reclamation to restore the land so it wasn’t a barren ugly mess like I expected. Their tailings pond boasted that it was crystal clear. There were streams and a lake. Everything was crisp and fresh looking. It was really a nice change from the dry, ugly dessert we come from.

Reflections on a lake

The view from the top...Utah

Looking down from the mountain in Utah

Up high with the aspins...Utah

Too soon it was time to head back. We decided to break up the trip home into two days. The countryside through Colorado was real eye candy. There were many snow topped mountains. We saw literally hundreds of elk. We saw deer and wild turkeys. We tried to stop in Silverton. It’s a quaint little village with lots of shops and restaurants but it seems everything is closed on Monday. Seriously, even the gas station/convenience store was closed. There were kids, bundled up, playing outside. I don’t know what they do if someone who actually lives there needs something! We also went through Durango, where we spent our honeymoon. It’s changed so much neither of us could even remember where we stayed. We wondered if the place was still standing! We drove on to Santa Fe and spent the night. After a good night’s sleep we headed home the next day.

Silverton, Colorado

An old mine office in Colorado

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

A tunnel in Colorado

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the depressing changing scenery. Soon it was no longer cool with temperatures in the 80s and higher. The mountains were replaced by wide open spaces. The green trees and snow turned into sand dunes and mesquites. We agreed that even though it’s home we sure live in an ugly place!

I started a crocheted shawlette called Summer Twilight Shawlette on the way. It was with the Madeline Tosh yarn I got in Dallas.

Madeline ToshYarn

Wound yarn.

It’s not big and I was sure I could finish it on the trip. Turned out I did. Twice! It was really pretty but it was the size of a doily! It was more like a collar than a shawlette. I made a few of the shells on the final row and decided to take it all out and make it again, with a bigger needle.

Started shawlette...the first time.

On a hook two sizes bigger than what the pattern recommends I started again. What a difference! Now it looks like a shawlette even before it’s blocked. I finished it, again, and this time I’m happy with the results. Now I just have to block it!

Finished product...unblocked

Even though the road trip was long, it was fun. We saw a lot of things and enjoyed our own company. Now it’s back to work for a couple of days. But we’ve already decided we’ll get back in the car and head off again, somewhere, soon, going through all these cities and all these towns. We’ll make the journey and we’ll go the distance. And we’ll enjoy the ride.

Well, life's like a road that you travel on.

There's one day here and the next day gone.

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand.

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.

Life is a highway, I wanna ride it

All night long.

A Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva Engineer

I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three hundred pounds,
The college bell to mix it in and clapper to stir it round.
Like every honest fellow, I take my whiskey clear,
I'm a rambling wreck from Golden Tech, a helluva engineer.

That is the beginning of the Colorado School of Mines school song. The school was founded in 1874 and is located in Golden. It is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science. It’s a relatively small school with about 3600 undergrads and 1000 grad students. The professors know their students and the students know their professors.

The students who are accepted are used to achieving high grades and meeting goals. The average ACT score of an entering freshman is 28 and most rank in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. The competition is fierce and the standards are high. It has the highest admissions standards of any public state university in Colorado.


It’s Graduation Eve and celebration time. The festivities start with a reception for the Petroleum Engineer graduates. It’s finger foods, cookies and cake. My daughter and youngest son don’t always get along. They have different ideas about things. But she did a very nice thing for him. She made and decorated about 96 cookies for his reception. They were beautiful and well received. A humorous thing, to us anyway, was the blue icing on the cookies. When someone ate a blue cookie their teeth and lips turned blue. It was pretty funny!

We had an amazing dinner, a gift from a special friend. It was the most magnificent sushi ever. I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures. The restaurant has dim lighting. But the presentation was outstanding! It was a generous and wonderful gift, a gift from the heart. Thank you Thang!




Friday morning is the morning of graduation! It is a clear day and the ceremony is outside. At first it was thought it might have to be moved indoors but the weather cooperated. There was a cool breeze but the sun was enough to keep everyone warm. I was a bit apprehensive when I found out there had been a 7:00 am happy hour for the graduates. DS is very social and won’t miss a free happy hour! We happened to sit on the right side, the side on which he walked up to the stage. We saw him on the way up and all was well. I breathed a sigh of relief. We also got to congratulate him on the way back. We were towards the back and it was hard to see him but the boy walked across the stage! It was bittersweet for me. He’s my baby.



Graduation means many things. It’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It’s the reward for countless homework assignments and labs and many sleepless nights studying for the next test or celebrating the victory of a successful exam.


Graduation also brings many questions and uncertainties. What happens now? Where will I go? What will I do? The search for the perfect job leading to a fulfilling career is in full swing. The door is wide open but what is on the horizon? The prospects are as frightening as they are exciting.

Although the goal of graduation, the degree that is earned, is to get a perfect job, college isn’t only about gaining employment. The college experience, four years of hard work, is as much about growing up and maturing as it is about grades and passing. The experiences that are gained and the memories made will last a lifetime. College teaches you about life; how to figure out and solve new problems and confusing situations. The books you read and the experiments you perform give you the confidence and the skill to contribute to the world and make it a better place. The strangers you meet at the beginning of each year become some of your best friends.

While Mines ranks number one among Colorado state schools for starting salaries of graduates with a bachelor’s degree, there are no guarantees. The current economy makes the job market tough and competitive. Unemployment is on the rise. In April, the number of unemployed persons was 15.3 million, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent. The rate had been 9.7 percent for the first three months of this year. (US Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) That isn’t the kind of news that a new graduate wants to hear.

Regardless, a college graduate still has the upper hand. Census data shows that the difference in earnings between a bachelor’s degree and a high school diploma is significant. Of course it depends on the occupation and geographic area, but usually a college graduate will make twice as much in their career as a high school graduate.


Graduation night we headed to downtown Denver for a celebration dinner for DS and his friends. He chose Maggiano’s. It’s an excellent Italian restaurant. We had a true feast. He chose the appetizers, entrees and dessert. There was so much food he took several doggie bags back home to his fraternity house and the boys ate well for a couple of meals!



The experience of the last four years is priceless. The academic and social skills gained contribute to the knowledge that DS will make it in the real world. He may not find the perfect job right away but he’ll find something. He’ll have the satisfaction that he’s learned far more than what is written on the piece of paper he received when he walked across the stage. He will make it in the real world. He’ll be a success. He’ll be a helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva engineer!

I am working on knitayear while in Colorado. I didn’t have a color I needed. If that happens I keep track of my mood and find a color later. I had to add this yarn when I got back. I felt proud of my son and what he’s accomplished. I chose a sort of magenta color for Thursday, day 43. It’s a rich color, and I know he’ll be successful in what he chooses. Maybe he’ll even be rich! Friday, graduation day, I chose a navy yarn. Mines colors are navy and silver. There are tiny specks of color in the navy yarn. These remind me of fireworks, because the colors are sprinkled throughout. It’s a very happy day for all of us. It seemed a fitting yarn. I know that DS will carry the college experience with him forever. He’ll never forget the M climbs or E-days. He’s an Oredigger, a graduate.


The Miner’s “M”, a symbol of a brand of mining men,
Whose courage knocks the mountains down and builds them up again,
No matter in this paydirt world orediggers choose to roam,
Mines is always with them, The “M” still stands for home.

It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain High...

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
on the road and hanging by a song…

It’s Tuesday night and we’ve just come from a banquet. It’s time to pack and try to leave early for the drive to Colorado. It will most likely be one of the last times we travel this road, for a visit to the boys anyway.

We’ve been coming this way for seven years now. It just occurred to me that we didn’t come as often the last three years as we seemed to the first four. If we didn’t, it’s our loss. We should have.

The plan is to get up early in the morning, like around 2:00 am, and leave. I’m still gathering things at midnight. We are all tired, apparently, because it is 6:30 when we finally get on the road.


I have dibs on the backseat. I can nest back there. I can spread my stuff where I need it and have plenty of room. And I can cover up with a blanket. Or two. And a jacket. And a pillow. They keep the air conditioner on high at the coldest temperature. They have short sleeves. My nose is running I’m so cold. I settle in, get comfortable and promptly go back to sleep.


From Crane to Golden is about 750 miles. It will take us at least 12 hours to get there. We go up 385 to Dalhart then across to Raton. There we’ll hit an interstate and go on to Colorado. It’s a scenic trip with plains and mountains and long stretches of highway where there is nothing but open space. We see cows and antelope. And we can see for miles.


Colorado is the 38th state. Because it was declared a state in 1876, which was a centennial year, it is nicknamed the Centennial State. The landscape in Colorado is outstanding. There are snow covered mountains in the distance. The nearby mountains have pine and fir trees. Some mountains have green grass going up to them. The air is clear. The sky is gray today because of the snow. Yes, it’s snowing on us as we drive. May and it’s snowing.

Colorado School of Mines is in Golden. The Coors Brewery is also in Golden. It’s a strange feeling to leave your young son(s) at college down the street from a brewery! Golden is a growing city that has kept its small town atmosphere. It has an old fashioned look. The houses close to the school are old style, brick usually, with grass and flowerbeds. It seems to be a healthy place with bicyclists and walkers everywhere. We really haven’t explored much more than where the boys lived or the school or the brewery. We go downtown on the Main street but that’s about it. I'm thinking now we should have been more adventurous.


Golden has been youngest DS’s home for the past four years. But a new chapter is opening for him with his graduation. Do you remember your graduation? How you felt with mixed emotions; excitement, fear, apprehension and even sadness? It’s scary and a great adventure all at the same time. It’s a bit different when you graduate from college. This is it. It’s real world from here on out.


Our hotel is in Littleton, about ten miles from Golden. The little towns run together to me. I think I’m in one place but I’m actually somewhere else. It's still snowing. We settle in and find somewhere to eat, visit with youngest DS (YDS) and call it a night. We have a lot to do in the next few days.


Knitayear is coming along. It’s tough to do while traveling. I try to gather some yarn to take but I don’t know if my mood is going to be in those colors or not! If it's not I make a note of how I was feeling and catch up later. Today I was lucky and had something that fit. I added a thick white and multi-colored yarn for Wednesday. I wasn’t sure I had everything. I was trying to do too many things. This yarn reminded me of confusion for some reason and I thought it fit my frazzled mood. Thursday deserved a unique yarn. It was a happy day, with the whole family together, and snow on the mountains and in the air. I found some homespun that I had made in high school. It's antique yarn! It’s lumpy and bumpy and not very good and I don’t remember if it was from the wheel or from a spindle, but I wanted to add it in. The color and texture fit all I was feeling on this day; happiness for YDS and awe at the falling snow in May! It will be hard for him to leave here. It’s a very nice place to be.


But the strings already broken and he doesn't really care,
it keeps changin' fast, and it don't last for long.

Now his life is full of wonder, but his heart still knows some fear,
of the simple things he cannot comprehend.

It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
Rocky Mountain High...in Colorado....