Good morning and welcome to Summit Up, the world’s only daily column that’s finally realized just how terrifying it is to drive on Interstate 70.

It was Election Night that we learned our superintendent of schools, Millie Hamner, was not only nervously anticipating the outcome of ballot measure 3B (which passed, in case you weren’t tuned into our live and dead-tree coverage). She was also on the phone

with her husband who’d expressed cat-like reflexes to protect himself from a 20-pound flying object as he drove toward Denver.

Yikes!

Apparently, this object flew off a truck charging down the steep grades – likely at speeds approaching the speed of sound. Apparently, this object came through the windshield. And apparently, Mr. Hamner “swatted” it from smashing his face – as best one can with an object flying at 70 mph or faster – and instead it smashed some very critical parts of his vehicle. If we remember correctly, Mrs. Hamner mentioned something about a steering column, the dash and more.

It was that story that we recalled on our way to the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Expo Saturday when we followed a very rickety-looking piece of equipment strapped onto a flatbed.

Boy, we really wanted to pass that truck.

But wouldn’t you know, it was cruising at about 85 mph – and we’d be willing to bet that speedometer needle crept toward 90 mph at times.

Guess we’ll just sit back here, press the “recycle air” button and try not to gag on your burning brakes while praying we don’t end up in the same situation as Mr. Hamner.

Can we just make one recommendation: Container trucks?

And what about the trust we put in that guy we’re passing in the next lane – a mere four to five feet away!

Take a moment, Summit Up readers, to try and experience a trippy thought.

As you drive, remove yourself from your vehicle and move your mind upwards until you get a birds-eye view of the interstate.

Look at all those cars, trucks and motorcycles, traveling at high speeds – all just feet from each other.

Just the slightest mishap can cause … well, we don’t really want to think about it.

But, the more we think about it, it’s the foundation for a very intricate horror, detective suspense movie…

Now, we’re always amused at the way Colorado drivers deal with rain and snow completely differently.

When it rains, we act as if we’re all the Wicked Witch of the West and we’re melting. Oh no! The roads could be slick!

But then, when it snows, we act as if we all have tank treads on our vehicles that we think are several tons heavier than they actually are. We’re sorry, but it’s pretty terrifying to drop into Silverthorne from Eisenhower Tunnel and to have SUVs fly by at 60 mph while we’re trying not to slide into the ditch – even with the snow tires we bought the other week when the storm hit and scared our pants off.

We could go on and on about the horrors of interstate driving (Bighorn sheep? Falling rocks?

Glare on Floyd Hill? Chains flying into running paths? That cardboard box with unknown contents?) but we’re all out of room – and Halloween has come and gone. But we wish you a good night’s sleep tonight! Happy Monday.