destination nowheresville, u.s.a.

The perfect American road trip isn't just about where; it's about why. Understanding this country more deeply, grappling with its flaws, but also seeing literally what makes it so beautiful. There are the expected expanses of natural wonder. Then there are the surprises: a ghost town in Utah, say, and the wild friends you meet there.

- BLYTHE ROBERSON

I CAN'T SAY I'M SOME SORT OF INTERSTATE SUPERFAN-I'M not planning on showing up at HighwayCon cosplaying as a median anytime soon-but it's just facts that the stretch of I-70 between Denver and Cisco, Utah, is one of the best roads in the country. I first drove this road west over the Rockies back in 2016 on a somewhat aimless trip around Colorado. The interstate climbs up mountains, then winds along the edge of the Colorado River at the bottom of steep valleys. I was driving alone at 80 miles per hour, and the fact that I had no one to share the beauty with made me feel particularly lonely.

My friend Emmy and I drove the same road in the opposite direction in 2018, and now here we were doing it again on our way to Cisco, our friend Eileen s ghost town.

"Isn't this road crazy?" I said.

"Dude," said Emmy. "I know."

Everyone was building when we arrived. There were J., Eileen's girlfriend at the time, and Z., a friend from Milwaukee, sawing wood and swinging hammers. There was M., an older man contributing manual labor in exchange for using Eileen's WiFi to write a novel about his years working at Yellowstone, getting drunk and peeing into Old Faithful. There was Bart, Emmy's partner, who was helping Eileen build a camper on the back of an abandoned Ford pickup. And looking like the coolest person in the universe in paint-scuffed pants, a tee with a Sharpie hanging from the collar, and a bold pair of glasses was the reason for the season: Eileen.