The previous post just covered Independence Pass, one stop along today’s route. I figured I’d write another post with more general info. In Westcliffe this morning, I met up with another Colorado Atom fan who has a car on order, and I took him for a test ride.

I’m in Glenwood Springs now and will be heading to Mount Evans tomorrow. That’s the highest paved road in the continental US, at 14,260 feet (4 feet shy of the summit). After driving that, my Atom will have been on both the lowest (Badwater Basin, Death Valley, -282 feet) and highest roads in the US.

After Mount Evans, I’ll try to swing through Tiny Town, CO (just to get a picture of the sign) and stay the night somewhere near Denver. After that, it is a series of 300+ mile days to get to Illinois for the weekend.

Tonight I changed my trip plate (the first one actually expires tomorrow, but I swapped it a day early as the weather was good and I had lots of free time) and washed the car at one of those self-serve places with a pressure hose with various forms of goop. After filling the floorpan with water, I took it to the vacuum and emptied it with the vac.

For a change, the weather today was great, other than a few drizzles before Independence Pass. I finally made it over Independence Pass (the last 2 times I tried it was closed, once for snow season and once for a rockslide). The Atom was a big hit with folks at the scenic overlooks:

And in return, they took a picture of me:

Here’s what it looks like over the edge of the above picture:

There is still snow on the peaks, even in mid-August:

Though much of it melts and creates these ponds: