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Rite of spring: mini road trips

Andrew Harley

With the offseason looming and financial instability on the horizon, I packed my anxious girlfriend and shedding dog into the car last Monday with two sleeping bags, a tent, a backpack full of clothes and toiletries, a basketball, two sets of golf clubs, discs for disc golf, a crockpot, a couple gallons of water and a sack of unsalted cashews. We picked up a tank of gas at the Edwards Texaco and headed straight into the west.

We made it as far as Rifle before we couldn’t take it any more. We had to get out while the sun was still stimulating chlorophyll and tanning hides. Though fertilizer – animal feces – lurked, transforming the back nine of Rifle Creek Golf Course into a mushy minefield, the luster of the sun, the rocks spiring the minor canyons and the timid cameos of chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and a red-breasted robin made it easy to ignore our footsteps.

Afterward, we picked up some chinese food and a six pack. When the bill for the day came to $60, we weren’t discouraged. And it was good.



Andrew Harley can be reached at (970) 949-0555, ext.610, or at aharley@vaildaily.com.


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