Evanston to Fort Collins - Nia in Evanston

It got down to 44 degrees last night and I woke up cold. It's not shivering cold, but it was the first time I'd really cared that I forgot to bring my hoodie. A quick hot shower and cup of coffee later and I was fine. It wasn't long before it was in the 80's and I was glad I was wearing shorts.

Before heading to Colorado, Nia @ Body Wisdom was the first order of business. It was my fifth time visiting this group and we had a great time together today. I love it here because they always do snacks in the next room after class. 

I was impressed at how this group was able to FreeDance with ease and also fallow along with my choreography. I enjoyed all the smiling faces and the looks of satisfaction as we were finishing up. 

After class and before snacks, we all sat on the floor in the dance studio and had a long discussion about Nia and recovering from trauma and being 'in your body'. I love talking about this stuff; so I was in a little bit of heaven. We discussed how old emotional energy can linger in the tissues of the body and Nia can very often jostle them loose. It's not uncommon to have emotional releases in class and in fact, two women today did. No one would have known this was happening had they not shared it in the circle after class, but it's very normal. It's part of what Nia does.

And then we hit the road for the long, straight, dull drive eastward through most of southern Wyoming. At Laramie, we veered south and ended up in Fort Collins, CO.

I needed gas just as I was getting into town so I was going to stop at the Shell station right near the motel before checking in. I pulled up and parked at a pump and walked to the store to pay, but the door was locked. I looked for a sign saying which way it was to the entrance; no such sign. I was walking around to the other side, when I noticed there was a guy inside and he yelled at me through the glass, "No Gas! We're Out!" and giving me a baseball "Safe!" gesture with his arms.

I flashed back to the 70's when my parents could only buy gas on even numbered days because our car's license plate ended with an even number. And even then we'd sometimes have to wait in line for an hour just to fill up. It's not actually that bad here. Or maybe it is. I haven't yet tried getting gas anywhere else yet. Now that I think of it, I did pull into one place before going to the Shell station. It was the first place I saw right as I got into town. It seemed very busy and chaotic, but as usual I didn't give it too much attention. But I pulled away without fueling up when I saw the price was $3.09 and I had just checked my Gas Buddy app and knew that the going rate in town was more like $2.79. It seems like oftentimes the first gas station traffic encounters heading into town has jacked up prices.

But I thought I could just go check into the room and then get gas later, maybe in the evening when it was more calm.

I've never seen a Motel 6 lobby so busy. It was a little hectic with all the checking in, and people were coming back saying "There's a guy in that room already." and "This key doesn't work for that door." The two clerks kept their heads down and got it done! And they still managed to be polite to me.

I guess a lot of people are in town for the eclipse? I hope the stores don't run out of food. I was planning to shop tomorrow, I'm running low on provisions and I've heard stories. I planned ahead though, and I have a stash of four days worth of food in Babe's secret below-the-boot storage. If need be, I can also survive on that until the trucks came back into town with more fuel or the National Guard air-drops provisions into Colorado.

Fort Collins is about 5000 feet above sea level. Evanston is over 6000. But I haven't felt any effect, except that I notice the car doesn't run quite as well in the higher elevations.

River was very quiet today. We went for a few walks, but nothing too strenuous. At one point, he was really hesitant to jump back up into his seat in the car. He ended up just putting his front paws up and then attempting to get his back leg up. I put my hands down with interlaced fingers to 'give him a boost' and he stepped up into my hands and kicked up into the car. He turned around and gave me a sheepish look.

Maybe I wore him out at Bear River State Park yesterday.