Day Four
Breckenridge to Aspen and back 195 miles
Woke up early to be on the road to Aspen by 7:30. Got our coffee at the Depot and got in the car. We headed to Leadville and then over Independence Pass into Aspen. It is a spectacular drive and very little traffic/bikes.
The reason for the Aspen trip was to see Kurt, Dad’s dear, dear friend and mentor, and his wife, Anne. Kurt, at age 91 with his walker, came to SF to see Dad in December, just after Dad came home from the hospital. It was an incredible boost for Dad and all of us. Dad got out of bed and pushed Kurt in his walker (with seat) out to the living with Kurt yelling “Choo choo!”
We got to Aspen at 9:30 and were hoping to meet Kurt and Anne at 10a somewhere for breakfast. We had arranged the day and the time earlier in the week and I left a couple of confirming texts and vmails… nothing. We walked around, got a coffee at Main Street Bakery next door to the Explorer Book Store. Browsed the book store which is a favorite and bought books… killing time but no word from Kurt or Anne. About 11a we had breakfast in Victoria’s near the Hyatt and next door to Ink’s where I got coffee everyday when we stayed there. It was popular and good — Bob had a pork sausage roll and OJ and I had the best oatmeal: more like muesli with oats, shredded coconut, almonds, raspberries. We decided to go up the Gondola to the top and listen to the Sunday afternoon music on the deck. It was so cold — 44* — and mostly cloudy so they moved the music inside. We had a Bloody Mary and listened for an hour or so then decided to head back to Breckenridge.
We stopped in Leadville at High Mountain Pies for a quick bite. We have stopped here on other trips and it’s really good fresh food. Bob got a flatbread that was pizza dough with some mozz and tons of garlic baked til it was just pillowy and golden. Smelled like heaven. I got an arugula salad with roasted squash, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, balsamic onions, sprouts (sprouts!) and local chevre. And a crusty piece of Bob’s bread. We wrapped up most of it to take home.
We were just pulling into the City Market parking lot to buy stuff for dinner and Kurt and Anne called! Anne had lost her cell phone and got my number from Laura, Kurt’s daughter. So disappointing but we will try to see them some other time this week. And we know they are ok! We were concerned.
We made dinner in the room which has a flat surface stovetop with a large and a small burner and a microwave/convection oven combo. And a toaster. We decided to recreate the Charlie Palmer salad so I crisped up some bacon and then caramelized shallots in some of the bacon fat and a little olive oil. Bob blanched some slender, tender asparagus and grilled a small filet. We warmed up my linguine from last night and blended in cut up asparagus. Split the filet, warmed up Bob’s pizza dough bread and composed the salad with butter lettuce, grape tomatoes and the bacon and shallots. We toyed with making homemade ranch but found a local-ish (Boulder) brand that had no sugar or gross oils so we bought that and it was good.
Watched football and went to bed early.
Bob and Sharon's Travel Diary 