The story of a road; part one
I left my property yesterday morning and headed over the hill and down the pass to Colorado Springs, where I found the comfort of an overnight stay at the Bass Pro Shop parking lot. And now I've got a "road" story to tell.
I know this story will start out slow and boring, but rest assured, before it’s over. you will be wondering why you wasted five minutes of your life reading this.
Many moons ago, the main road to 11 Mile State Park was a dirt road, yes, that's right, a dirt road going to a major Colorado state Park. When you turn off the main paved highway, which is Highway 24, that goes from out east of Colorado Springs up into the mountains, at that point, the road was dirt. Then, it’s about 8 miles to 11 Mile State Park. And just past the State Park, I would turn off that big dirt road onto the Jeep trail that leads to my property.
The dirt road to the park was in decent shape, thanks to constant grading. However, the road became dusty during the summer, and muddy after a rain, so we were thrilled to see the County or someone paving the dirt road from where it turned off Highway 24, past 11-mile State Park, and the turnoff to my property.
It soon became apparent that instead of a normal asphalt road that lasts for a long time, they didn't have enough money for real pavement, so they were paving the road with a money-saving concept known as chip and seal.
To chip and seal a road, you lay down a layer of asphalt on the dirt, followed by a layer of gravel, and then roll it down. And it looked and drove pretty well when they were done. But apparently, chip and seal is a decent concept for rural roads that get very little traffic. And yes, the 11-mile reservoir is located in a rural area. However, a state Park receives more than rural traffic. The government's decision-makers apparently failed to examine the records on the number of visitors to 11 Mile Reservoir State Park. And they tried to blame everybody but themselves for why the road started quickly falling apart.
More on this tomorrow when I'll talk about how this "road story" has affected me.
Theboondork
Bass Pro Shop at dusk.
Some boondocking neighbors near me in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot. Obviously, 4 × 4 off-road kinda folks.
It clouded up in the afternoon at the Bass Pro Shop, and rained a little. Back in the lowlands, I’ll have to get used to the heat again.