Pulled into a rest area on I-70 just 97 miles away from the Colorado border. Emma tells me that there are only 303 more miles to go before Longmont even though it doesn't seem possible that just yesterday I was all the way over in Lexington, Ky.

   Started seeing smoke from the fire in Colorado, west of Ft Collins, more than 100 miles ago. It doesn't bode well for that area or most of the west in general. Not even mid June and we already have fires burning several hundred square miles at a stretch. I wish they could get some of that torrential rain I drove through early this morning just west of St Louis. It was coming down so hard that I was going to start looking for an Ark if it didn't stop. Highway speeds, for most, went down to around 10 mph and even that was probably too fast. I just got in behind a couple semi's and let them pretty much plow the road for me.

   Close to 700 miles today so it's been a bit grueling. I'm lucky that I've gone through two time zones now, so it was still light right up until my normal 10:30 pm. Another 6 hours or so tomorrow and I can tuck Esmeralda into storage for at least a couple of weeks. Still need to do some packing this evening and get a little better organized. I'm hoping to get into town in time to drop the trailer, pick up mail and then drop the canoe off at my storage unit. Sure hope I can remember what number my unit is and what the gate password is. Since I'm flying out to San Diego on Thursday I need clothes for the next week packed as well as a few other things.

   It hasn't really sunk in yet that this trip is nearly over. It was September 12th last year when I took off from Colorado. There have been a lot of new people and sights along the way, and I am already missing some of them and the dancing we have done. But, I'm glad to be heading for Colorado again for a little while, there are friends there and family that I have really missed these past nine months also. There will be some fishing to do, and some sailing and canoeing, and a trip down the Grand Canyon in August. Also need to go to Washington Park some Thursday evening and go folk dancing again. And there is always the contra dance community in Denver, Boulder and Ft Collins to meet up with and see again. So it's going to be a very busy time for me.... that being said though; I'm already starting to plan for the next trip out.... September isn't that far away any more.