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April 22-24: The drive home

The drive East through the eastern section of Utah and western Colorado was quite scenic. The Rocky Mountains started in earnest in western Colorado and although we had magnificent views, a storm was coming on and we were already experiencing snow flurries. We certainly didn't want to be caught driving in the mountains in a blizzard! The Prius became increasingly insistent about getting inspected, finally blanking out the dashboard display entirely and putting up an emphatic "Maintenance Required".

Despite this somewhat ominous message, we chose to delay maintenance rather than be trapped in the Rockies in a snowstorm, so we pushed on across the final mountain ridges to Denver. There we learned that the storm was forecast to take exactly the track we had planned to drive back to Chicago, so we changed our route and continued due East, trying to outrun the approaching snowstorm.

But weather forecasting is still an inexact science, so despite our efforts the blizzard followed on our heels. We ended up being snowed on again in eastern Colorado and finally having the car’s 5000-mile inspection in Colby, Kansas, before winging our way back across the Midwest to visit our family in Chicago. From there it was the familiar route back along the toll roads to Washington, D.C. and our home in Virginia. Although we encountered unexpectedly wild weather in Texas and snow in Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, we had a great time seeing that part of the Southwest, and particularly the magnificent National Parks in Utah.