We stopped for breakfast in the gorgeous Raton, New Mexico, high on the plains with hills and mountains in the distance. But I will remember Raton for a different reason. We were having a 30 minute rest-stop at a McDonald's to have breakfast. The queue was pretty long so it took a while to get served. Rather than go straight back to the coach I thought I would go to the end of the car park and have a look at the scenery. After about 5 mins my heart stopped. The bus was setting off without me. I threw down my coffee and sprinted after it. Luckily for me, rather than pulling straight away, the coach had to make a turn so it could leave the same way it cut in. I ran to head the coach off at the exit, arriving just in time and desperately flagging it down. I got on much to the amusement of my fellow passengers. If the bus didn't have to turn around, or I had not been looking, my bag with all my belongings would have left without me at 6am in the morning, still with another 6 hours of journey to go. Whenever I think about it now, I still feel physically sick. I would have really been in deep deep shit.
The ride through Colorado was extraordinary, passing valleys, rivers and mountains (and the Denver Broncos Stadium!). We eventually made it to Denver after 21 hours on the bus, and I walked down to my hostel on 11th Avenue. The city itself is beautiful, combining a number of skyscrapers with lots of restaurants and bars and public parks. To the West you can see the beginning of the Rockies, and the city is already situated at exactly one-mile above sea-level. Part of the reason I wanted to go to Denver was that: one, its perfect location next to the mountains; two, the writings of Jack Kerouac and his love of the city; and three, South Park is in Colorado (kind of).
The hostel was very nice and spacious although this also counted against it in some ways. It was set up almost like a hotel, so many of the guests staying there were far older than I. It lacked the atmosphere of the other hostels I had been at where it was easy to meet people and make friends. As such, I have spent all the time in Denver on my lonesome. After a much needed shower I headed just 2 blocks up the street to the Colorado History Museum. Inside was a great exhibition on Jefferson's Bible, in which he cut and pasted what he thought were the important morals and lessons of Jesus. The rest of the museum focused on the establishment of the state, originally as a gold mining area, Coloradans relationships with the Native Americans (nearly always negative) and then it's development into what it is today (winter sports featuring prominently).
With most of the museums closed, I went to the cinema and watched the new Star-Trek film. It was quite interesting although the sci-fi/action films are not really my cup of tea. Visually it was impressive but the ending (one bit in particular) bordered on film heresy. And anyway, I wanted Benedict Cumberbatch to be victorious. I grabbed a Philly Cheesesteak, went back to the hostel and watched a little TV before heading to bed.
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