Miracles still happen, even in November. Perhaps especially in November.

While I wouldn’t say November is an especially good time to visit Denver (it isn’t), it was a necessary stop on my way back to the Midwest; and just as in Las Vegas, I had no idea who I was going to carpool with for the next leg of my journey to Chicago.

Yet I had faith that things would work out in the end, as they always had. And so, I did my tried and true methods: I posted on craigslist’s rideshare, as well as voiced my desires to my friend who was hosting me. He didn’t know anyone heading that far, but I was still confident something would work out. After all, I’d already gone over 5,000 miles via carpooling; so with just a thousand miles to go, I didn’t think it would stop working now.

While I waited for an opportunity to manifest, I visited the Colorado Capitol Dome once more (the one with the awesome tour); and soon realized that the intervening five months had sucked most of the green out of the view.

A Match Made in Heaven

Don’t get me wrong. Exploring Denver is always fun, especially if you’re a member of Couchsurfing.org. And I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces at the weekly Couchsurfing meetup. (I also seized the moment to enjoy one last hummus wrap from the City O’ City cafe.)

And then, after a few days, I was contacted by a woman (a middle-aged professional) who was moving to Chicago, of all places. Best of all, since she didn’t feel comfortable driving on freeways, she not only offered to pay for all of the fuel to reach Chicago, but also offered pay me a bit extra for being her driver until we reached the city.

Say what? Get paid to get where I’m going?
I could practically kiss my driver’s license at that point.

Quite simply, it was a match made in heaven, and I’ve written about that experience in greater detail in my article about how to get paid to travel 1,000 miles. Because that’s exactly what happened. I was determined to complete the trip in one day… and I did. But you don’t have to read that article to understand the next (and final) article in this series, because when I finally arrived in Chicago over 16 hours later, a few surprises were still in store before my grand adventure came to a close.

Photos

— Bonus —

Marco appears in all 5 photos in the accompanying photo gallery. If you’re new to the “Where’s Marco” game, it’s similar to “Where’s Waldo” or “I Spy”. But this time, he’s cloaked in every single photo, so be sure to look for him in the dark shadows.

Learn how to play →
Then find him in the photos! →

Coming up Next:

The final part in the West Coast Adventure series, in which I bring it all together, featuring the discovery of a hidden Chicago alley, a bizarre vertical house, and the power of an intention journal.

Don’t miss this.

See what happened in the end →

All accompanying photos are in the Denver in Late Autumn photo gallery. With so much free, high-quality content, why not tell a friend and share this article?

Without some form of proof, you might not believe this part of my story.

Before dawn, my carpool partner picked me up from the north side of Vegas for a journey that ended up spanning over 1,200 km (750 mi). And despite this 12+ hour trip through the deserts and forests, I arrived in Denver in time to be invited to a hilarious Halloween party. That’s right. We did the entire trek in one day. The surprising part? The entire ride didn’t cost me a dime.

So yes, I can understand if you have any trouble believing it. And I fully acknowledge that, although the photos below present the striking Utah deserts and Colorado mountains, it only proves that what I saw on our journey was bizarrely beautiful. The photos are not, however, proof that my ride was free. For that, you’ll just have to take my word for it. (But I swear on my mother’s life that it’s true.) And when we arrived in Denver, I was stunned by what happened.

Craigslist is Power

But once again I’m getting ahead of myself. You’re probably wondering how I found a ride all the way from Las Vegas though the desert and over the mountains to Denver. And if you’re a longtime reader, I’m sure you can already guess: Craigslist, of course! I’ve already written a guide about how I leverage craigslist, so I won’t repeat myself here. The short version is, through using craigslist, I got in touch with a man who was in the middle of moving to Denver. This would be his first trek to prepare the new place for his family who would come during the following trip. And he had one extra seat.

Divine fortune, indeed.

We swung by his place on the way out of Vegas; and I waved to his family from the car, wondering what they must be thinking of me, a cheerful blonde guy heading to Denver with nothing more than a Kestrel pack.

Everything went smoothly, and as we passed a Greyhound bus headed in the same direction, I couldn’t help but feel a bit smug (for the first time in months, actually) that I didn’t have to bother with the slowness (or the germs) of such a bus.

Soon we were in Utah, and I was stunned by the otherworldly formations around us. Rocks that seemed impossible were all around me, and for much of the trip we both sat in silence, admiring the view. The rocks were such that I almost felt as though I were on the surface of Mars. The hauntingly beautiful and bizarre red formations were unlike anything I’d seen on Earth before. (See the photos below.) Yet the moment we entered Colorado, the landscape became forest. In fact, I almost laughed at how closely Colorado’s border corresponds to the change of the land into a much greener complexion. Clearly this wasn’t by chance.

One Giant Leap Home

As it became evening, the snowcapped Rockies grew closer and closer. And when he dropped me off in Denver a few hours later, something amazing happened. When I went to pay him for my portion of the gas, he refused. He held up his hand and declined. He said it was fine. I was stunned. I looked at him and told him I could pay him, but he said no. He was being genuinely generous, and it really stunned me. I had just been given a huge leap home, for free.

Soon my friend picked me up and proceeded to tell me about a Halloween party that he’d been invited to.

I had done it. I had begun Halloween in Vegas and still made it to Denver in time for a Halloween party. (I had been hoping to be able to celebrate in some way even though I didn’t have a costume.) Yet upon arriving, I even found out that there were extra costume parts I could use.

And that’s how Zorro-Batman was born.

Photos

— Bonus —

Marco appears in all 15 photos in the accompanying photo gallery. If you’re new to the “Where’s Marco” game, it’s similar to “Where’s Waldo” or “I Spy”.

Learn how to play →
Then find him in the photos! →

Coming up Next:

The story of the West Coast Adventure is now nearly complete! In the next article, a final look at Denver and rideshare match made in heaven:

See what happened next →

All accompanying photos are in the Crossing the Rockies photo gallery. With so much free, high-quality content, why not tell a friend and share this article?