Wednesday, September 28, 2011

29 miles driven, 2+ miles walked

We woke up this morning at….7:26!!  A new record (by about an hour).  Another beautiful clear cold morning (38*, 35* wind chill).  I got my  coffee while Bob watched ESPN, weather channel etc.  Hit the breakfast room and lingered long with the papers and catching up on emails, work stuff.  At 10:45 (63*) we were in the car headed up to Castle Creek Road and the Ashcroft (9,521′) ghost town on the advice of Jane, the docent from the day before.

She was correct.  It was stunning.  The road ends not far from Ashcroft at a dirt road (4 wheel drive only and you have to be “ballsy” according to a ranger) that goes over Taylor Pass to Crested Butte.  Of course, Bob was dying to take it but certainly not in my car.

Ashcroft was interesting, sad, beautiful…. it is amazing how fast these old mining towns were born and how fast the bust occurred.  Ashcroft began in 1880 when prospectors from Leadville (booming at the time) set out to search for more silver.   Within two weeks they formed a Miner’s Protective Association, built a court house and laid out streets.  There were originally about 100 members who paid $5 — one day’s work — to draw for building lots.  By 1883 the camp had a population of about 2,000.  It was bigger than Aspen (though higher) and closed to railroads at Crested Butte and Buena Vista.

But the silver mines turned out to be very shallow, proposed rail links to Crested Butte never materialized and Aspen, the county seat, attracted investors and workers.  So by 1885 there were only 100 residents.  By 1900 only a handful of old men still lived there.  A historian called them “prospectors with dismal prospects, boosters with nothing to promote, and town fathers with no children.”  The last resident died of malnutrition in 1939.  Heartbreaking.

But beautiful too.

Since the mid-70s Ashcroft has been a preserved historical site and there are nice paths with lots of signage about the history of the town as well as the people and wildlife.  Learned that weasels are great mousers and very solitary creatures; they need huge acreage to get enough to eat so very territorial.  Who knew.

We got back to the Hyatt at about 1p, left the car and took off looking for lunch.  Landed at La Cantina which we had looked at last year but never went.  Sat at the bar and had a margarita (rocks, no salt; really refreshing).  Bob had chicken enchiladas, rice no beans; soft chicken tacos, rice no beans for me.  It was excellent; great salsas too.

We meandered back up to the hotel, looking at more menus, enjoying the sunshine — about 75*.  We have been so lucky with the weather!  There were afternoon thunderstorms forecasted but they never happened.  We went out to the pool with our books and stayed for a couple of hours.  Even got in the jacuzzi — alert the media!  It was nice.   Hardly any people in the hotel — most crowded is in the mornings in the breakfast room.

We hit the showers and played some dominoes on our patio — I finally won a big round — before heading to the Limelight Lounge. We had stopped in the night before on our way back to the hotel and nice young man named, Alex, had given us a couple of discount cards.  It is a large, open area with couches and a fireplace, flat screens.  We sat at the bar, right in front of the wood burning pizza oven (600*) and watched the baseball games.   We got a free glass of wine with a pizza so I ordered an Acacia Pinot Noir; Bob had a JW Black (no Chivas).   The bartender and chef were really fun.  We split a (house made) sausage and fennel pizza that, of course, I ate most of.  Really really good crackly crust, not too much cheese.   The we ordered an arugula salad which had a few glass-like thin pieces of baked prosciutto on top (we really need a wood burning pizza oven); caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, house-made pasta bolognese and bruschetta with artichoke hearts, tomato and basil.  Bob ordered a glass of Chianti and I had a glass of Dry Creek Meritage.  He ate all of the bruschetta and most of the bolognese and I ate most of the salads.  It was all quite good and very enjoyable.

We zig-zagged our way back to the room to read and Bob is watching The Town with Ben Affleck.   Door is open to the patio…..

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

o miles driven, 2.3 plus walked

Today was a really relaxing day!  Mixed it up a bit and went to get my coffee first — at 6:30; quite chilly and pretty dark and very very quiet.  Spent more time at breakfast than usual reading all the papers available: WSJ, NYT, Aspen Times, Aspen Daily News.  We went back to the room and checked email then moved to the pool; nice table in the sun — air cool but the sun quite warm.  Read and monitored email for an hour or so and then we played dominoes.  Bob kills me in thin air; here and at Mammoth he seems to win.  He only owes me $700 now…

Just before noon we headed to lunch and then decided to walk to the Holden/Marolt Mining and Ranching Museum.  Chose to try Junk which we have walked by countless times, always will a lot of people seated outside and in, lunch and dinner.  It is at the corner of the two ped-only streets, right near the funny water fountain that comes out of the street grate.  The fountain has no apparent rhyme nor reason to its sputtering so quite entertaining to watch dogs and little kids get sprayed as they try to figure it out.

Bob had a Chicago hot dog, fries and an Arnold Palmer; fish taco and an IPA draught for me.  There was some sort of kerfluffle in the kitchen so service was very slow.  And they didn’t seem to really care.  Food was good but probably a one-off.

We took off walking to the museum on city streets and bike/hiking paths.  It was about a mile with lots of signage about the old MIdland railroad, the mining industry, etc.   The museum itself is fantastic.  It is housed in one of the original buildings of the mining (then ranching) site.  the volunteer/docent, Jane, was really good.  She gave us a 20-minute overview of the museum and some history before we explored it on our own.  There is an incredible amount of period photographs, artifacts, old equipment.   Aspen’s mining district was the largest silver producer in the US when this site was constructed in 1891.

Jane also gave us information for our day on Wednesday:  directions to old mining sites and ghost towns.   We plan to drive/hike to them tomorrow with a picnic.

Walked back to the hotel and meandered through town.  Then we hit the pool area again with our books and a (plastic) glass of Chardonnay.  Took showers and walked to dinner — Rustique Bistro.

We sat at the bar with a nice bartender.  The wine list had great bottles but the prices are so ridiculous.  They charge for glasses what we pay for the bottle…. the bartender was sympathetic.  We ended up ordering a Penfold’s Shiraz for $36 — about the cheapest thing on the menu.  But it was very good.  Bob started with the onion soup (very good, he loved it) and I the asparagus salad with a perfect mustardy vinaigrette.  Then Bob had the steak frites and grilled trout on grilled mushrooms and fingerling potatoes for me.  Yum!  Bob’s steak was beautifully pink and peppery.  We both loved it.  Might go back tomorrow, although we passed a couple of more places that look promising.  There are something like 45 restaurants within a 5 minute walk from our hotel so you can see the difficulty….

We walked in on the maid doing the turn-down service and I scared the poor woman to death when I screamed.  That bear still has my nerves on edge!!

We are in bed pretty early — LOL on our least “energetic’ day yet!!  It seems the more relaxed and sleep we get, the more sleep we need.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Aspen to Maroon Bells

20 +/1 miles driven, 3.6 hiked

Waking up on a Monday morning with no plan, no ‘obligations’, no place you have to be….ahhhhhhhh.  We dallied a bit watching news, ESPN before hitting the breakfast room for our usuals.  Walked down to get my coffee and it was much cooler than yesterday (39*) and, once again, clear, sunny, beautiful.  Decided to do the Maroon Bells hike today since it is supposed to be warm again.  Last year when we did the hike, in August, we had rain, hail, snow showers… the Bells were always partially or completely hidden in clouds so we are excited to really see them.  Plus the aspens are almost at their peak (according to the locals).  We spent some time in the room doing work emails, phone calls, etc and were in the car at 9a.  It is a short drive on 82 to the Maroon Bells parking lot — 10 miles or so.  We stopped at Aspen Highlands which was pretty dead but a lovely development at the base of the lift, the restaurant we thought about for lunch is already closed for the season.

The drive from there to Maroon Bells along Maroon Creek has some amazing homes right on the creek.  And, of course, the scenery was breathtaking.  You literally run out of adjectives so it’s “Gosh” “Wow” “Look over there”.

We were surprised at the number of cars already in the parking lot.  But soon realized that most of them were just standing at the lake from where –today! — you could see the Bells in all their splendor.

We took off for the Crater Lake hike, 1.8 miles away and soon lost 99% of the people.  It is wonderful hike.  Even with crummy weather last year, we enjoyed it and today it was beyond lovely.  Oh yes, it was 42* when we started but soon we are shedding layers so within 1/2 hour I am in a sleeveless shirt.

And then.  I am leading, Bob is some paces behind me, there is another couple several feet behind him.  All of a sudden, to my right, about 6 feet away, there is a bear, just at the side of the trail standing up against an Aspen.  He growls and I see his open mouth.  I scream and do the no-no of bear etiquette, turn and run screaming “Bear!”   He is just staying in the middle of the trail, looking down.  I go down the trail beyond the others and try not to have a stroke, heart racing.  Bob, bless him for the evidence, takes a bunch of pictures.

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The rest of the hike was blissfully uneventful though I was a bundle of nerves.  Bob took some great photos and he was a bit of a celebrity as news of the Bear Sighting took off up and down the trail.  “Are you the guy with the pictures of the bear?”

We sat for a few minutes at Crater and had a snack.  It was lovely and warm.  The hike back to the parking lot was much quicker — less than an hour and tons of people coming up.  We were both having structural issues:  Bob’s mouth, heel; my knee — it’s always harder going down hill.  Got back to the car at 1p (64*) and back at the Hyatt by 1:30.  Starving!!  We went to the 529 Grill which we looked at yesterday morning when we were scoping out the town and reading menus.  Bob has been talking about hot dogs for a few days and finally got one.  With fries.  I had a kale and quinoa salad (with roasted red peppers, sunflower seeds, grilled chicken and a roasted garlic and balsamic dressing).   It was sort of slow (a crush of people came in just after us) and Bob, typically, said “They must have had to kill a quinoa.”   All was delicious.  I am going to make that salad when I get home.  Serindipitously, next  door was a computer guy (Bob is having computer issues).  We went back to the hotel, Bob took his laptop back to the guy and I took my computer, book, magazines to the pool.  Got a great chaise with a table and an umbrella.  Checked email and discovered a conference call was beginning in 5 minutes at 3p so went back to the room.  Bob came back and sat on the balcony with his laptop (semi-fixed).  When the conference call ended at 5:00 our time, we poured some Chardonnay (Edna Valley, brought from home) and thought about dinner.  Took showers, toasted our lovely day (that we lived to toast! LOL) and decided to go to BB’s Kitchen, a restaurant that when we were investigating menus, noticed had Monday Night Football specials.  It was great! It is set up as a lounge with comfortable couches and chairs and low cocktail tables.  Flat screens, fire place.  They do a special host city cocktail and a visitor regional special each Monday (tonight for the Redskins it was crab cakes.. remember the snob discussion about fish…we didn’t have them).  The cocktail was ‘All-American Lone Star Lemonade featuring Wild Turkey American Honey’.  Well, of course we had to have it.  The bartender/waiter was adorable and turns out he came up with the cocktail on Sunday night.  Aside from the title ingredients, he put in some Jim Beam because “it was too sweet.”  Seriously delicious.  And could be quite dangerous. I don’t think I have ever had Wild Turkey or Jim Beam. $6.  Bargain.  We split a sausage and herb pizza (fantastic) and a tomato salad with freshly-made burrata.  Delicious!!  I ate most of the pizza, brought most of the burrata home and Bob bought me a snickerdoodle on the walk home — he has a piece of cheesecake he bought yesterday.

We are  now in our room having a glass of Cline Zin, watching MNF and we have absolutely NO IDEA what we are going to do tomorrow.  That is bliss.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Aspen CO

0 miles

Super comfortable bed!  The little newsletter included with the check-in info said that this year all the mattresses were replaced as well as the linens and the combination gets our vote.  Amazing how big a king size bed feels without Sierra the extend-o dog.  Oh, just got a little tear… every dog we see we are all over it.  Lots and lots of ‘doodles here: labradoodles, goldendoodles…. all cute.

Ok so the day…  up and doing laundry by 6:15 (you know that’s me right?)  Continental breakfast served 7-9:30 in a really nice bar/lounge area.  NYT delivered to the door which is nice.  We had our usual: some sort of muffin/croissant (maybe both?) and OJ for Bob and peanut butter with a delicious Red Delicious (really. small. very red. crunchy.)  We both (Bob too!) had a cup of coffee which wasn’t bad (I am worried though that it might be Starbucks.. if so, that *slip* will have to be noted on future posts… will check).

Then we walked down to get me a cup of real coffee.  My favorite place last year, Ink, happens to be the closest so we went there.  I said, Hi, may I have a cappuccino with soy please.  Or do you happen to have almond milk?  And she said yes.  YES!!!  YES!!  I looked at Bob with huge eyes and he said something like Whoopeee.  He actually did say Whoopeee but with an eye-roll. Of course what he doesn’t know (and he never will unless he happens to read this blog; which by the way I am taking bets about!! Oh, hi, honey!) is that it was the second most expensive latte (small, 12 oz) I have ever had — $4.85 not including the dollar tip I left because I want them to like me a whole bunch and keep the almond milk stocked this week.  This is including airport lattes….   So by the time we leave on Saturday that will be …$30 just in lattes.  Suze Orman and my husband can have a collective heart attack.

From there (oh yes, there was a Lab outside who I loved up and her people were inside with a lovely baby and all I asked them about was the dog…. Sierra, by the way is quite happy and spoiled at home)  anyway, from Ink we walked around town for about an hour looking at menus and getting our bearings.  It was a crystal clear gorgeous morning and almost no one on the streets. It was very peaceful and pretty.

We decided to take the Gondola to the top of the mountain and bring lunch.  We had sandwiches made at City Market and also got some fruit to take up the mountain.  The Gondola tickets are $25 a person which was somewhat shocking but….. once we got up there we staked out two Adirondack chairs and

we were quite happy for a few hours.  We had our sandwiches, I had a beer, we walked around and took some photos. people watched  (terrific people watching!! some seriously self-involved, high maintenance people around here — more later on that)

We descended around 2pm in time to watch the post-game for the 49ers (yay!!) and hung out in the room with our nice open french doors reading and watching football.  Probably the most extended time that we have been relaxed together in … years.  We had no idea what to do for dinner so we got take out from Mezzaluna.  Chicken parmigiana for Bob, spaghettini with basil, tomatoes and lots of garlic and green salad for me.  Cline Zin from home.  Our unit has very nice china, silverware and glassware.  We moved the table in front of the fireplace/tv and watched the football game while we supped.  We are lucky people.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Durango CO to Aspen CO

343 miles

Very comfortable night with the balcony door open.  Up and listening to news, weather by 6a and loaded up the car before hitting the continental breakfast.  More to offer than yesterday’s (fresh biscuits, gravy, some sort of Jimmy Dean’s pre-made sandwich.. bleck) but we had pretty much the same thing.  Bob had a muffin, fresh fruit and OJ; I had hardboiled egg whites, apple and peanut butter.  No need to pretend with crappy coffee because we are in Durango and we go to the Brickhouse Cafe for an excellent soy latte. Every time we have stayed in Durango we stop here on our way out of town.  They open early, nice people, good coffee.

We are on the road by 7:05 and it’s another crystal clear morning as we head to Pagosa Springs and ultimately Aspen (Rte 160 to 149 to 50 to 82).  Yet another spectacular drive.  Temp drops to 37* at one point and three deer scamper up a hill.  We are driving along the San Juan River for part of the morning and it is gorgeous.  We go over Wolf Creek Summit and looking back at the valley we just traversed is stunning.   Ahead of us, the mountainsides with the pockets of yellow aspen and green firs looks like some very obvious paint-by-numbers kit.

From South Fork to Lake City we criss cross the Rio Grande River a half dozen times and drool at the lovely homes right on the river.  Crede at 9L30 (elevation 8832) has the motto:  When deeds speak, words are nothing.  There is a long-horn cow sign (or maybe it’s a Big Horn Sheep?)  but see no long-horns (cows or sheep).  Note about cow signs: UT CO WY and CA all have serious silhouettes of cows just standing on profile, only NV has a silhouette of a cheerful cow dancing on tiptoes.  Why?  CA is the one with the happy cows.

We pull over at Slumgullion Pass (sounds like a Harry Potter creature, slumgullion) for a look-see and photo op.

11,530 elevation.   Aspens are brilliant.  Just as we were leaving a truck pulled up with a lab and a golden… sniff sniff.  Had to love them up though they were much more intent on peeing than getting a stranger’s (who no longer even has dog smells… ) attention.  We put the top down and continued.

Followed the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River and more beautiful scenery.  All of a sudden we are in high desert-like country.  The song “i get lost in my mind” comes on XM and it’s appropriate out here where everything is So. Big.

Just before Gunnison, in a pasture, sitting down, surrounded by normal size cows, we see a HUGE Texas Long Horn.  And there was no *warning* sign.

We had lunch in Gunnison at the Gunnisack on Main Street.  We got there about 11:45 and by the time we left at  12;30, it was packed.  Bob had a delicious burger — fresh ground Angus every day and fresh made sesame buns every day…  I had a grilled salmon salad (big filet on greens with avocado, jicama, bleu cheese crumbled and  a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette that i could eat on anything.  I had half a local amber cause it was my turn to drive.  There was a farmer’s market going on and they had some good looking peaches and tons of tempting tomatoes but since we will be in a hotel for the next week, seemed silly to buy stuff.  Very cute town.

Drove from Gunnison on 50 to 285 and then 82, over Independence Pass to Aspen.  Stopped at a few Points of Historical Interest to read about Mr. Pike, the creation of the railroad for the gold and silver mining operations… it really is fascinating history and not so very long ago.  Colorado became a state in 1876.

GORGEOUS drive up to Independence Pass — the aspens are just brilliant especially contrasted against the deep greens of the firs.  Didn’t stop at the summit as anxious to get to Aspen — and tons of cars (slowwwww).   Drove into the Hyatt drive at about 4p and checked in.  Not as big of a room as last year but so nice.  Relaxed a bit, unpacking (we realized we have never never been in one place on vacation for an entire week….), catching up on ESPN, showers, etc.

Went to Brunelleschi’s for dinner.  We were there last year and enjoyed it.  We sat at the bar (Just realized:  Every meal except breakfasts we have sat At. The. Bar.) and had a nice bartender (always).  Chivas with an olive for Bob, dirty martini with Absolut Pepper (see?? my new go-to) for me.  Talked the bartender into letting us bring wine tomorrow — turns out it might be illegal to bring your own wine to restaurants in CO; stupid f***ed up liquor laws in some of these states.  A obvious local came in,  Frank!, sat at the end of the bar with his own bottle of wine and the manager (in a Missoni for Target dress — more about that in a sec) greeted him with “HI Frank! Can I open that for you?” so clearly it happens.  Anyway, the bartender has friends with friends in Dry Creek Valley so we schmoozed and told him when we bring wine, we always give a glass to the servers…  We told him we have pinots, zins.. he loves Zins and so we said we would bring o Bradford Mtn Zin tomorrow.  Bob ordered the veal parmigiana and garlic bread; i the beet salad and steamed mussels.  Wonderful!! and Bob ordered an Innocent Bystander pinot from Australia that was very good.

Found a bakery with fresh baked cookies (oatmeal and chocolate chip) and came home to watch football and fade…..

Looking forward to a real down day tomorrow.  Will take the gondola up and hike then laundry and football!  No. Driving.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Grand Junction CO to Durango CO

246 miles

At 5:51 Bob announced “Continental breakfast in 9 minutes.”  I didn’t even know he was awake.  We listened to news, weather, packed up and went down to a very nice breakfast.  It was pretty full at 6:30 — it’s a very busy hotel.  I think it’s the proximity to Hereford’s.  Seriously, that was one of the best meals at a restaurant I have had in a long time.  Including Boca which is terrific.

The breakfast was simple and just right.  Bob had his choice of about five different danish — he tried two or three and orange juice. Whatever.  He was happy.  I was thrilled.  Hardboiled eggs, little jam-like things of peanut butter, whole apples, yogurt.  Had some coffee, which wasn’t terrible, just in case we couldn’t find any on the road — again.  We were on the road by 7:10 under clear blue skies and 55*.

We headed east on I-70 for a few miles to the exit for I-50 and then Rte 141 — chosen by Bob because of the scenic byway markings.  It was spectacular!  The sun shining on the mesas around Grand Junction was brilliant.  Once we turned onto 141, no one was behind us.  The temperature dropped to 37* and it was so quiet and peaceful.  A couple of small foxes ran across the road in front of us.  We were driving through a canyon with only the very occasional ranch or ranchette.   All of a sudden the canyon opened up and we saw this:

Then we hit the little town of Gateway which was pretty and then… just at the end of town

The Gateway Canyons resort and A CAPPUCCINO!!  I wanted to hug the woman making coffee.  This is a resort that could be in Scottsdale or Palm Springs.  Stunning green lawns, all adobe buildings, lovely bright flowers, a spa, different types of accommodations (suites, rooms) all with fireplaces etc.  Evidently they have had a hard couple of years so the outlook is unknown but it was beautiful.  They have horse back riding on over 500 hundred acres, fishing, hiking.  It was an oasis.  And good coffee!!!

Bob took this photo from the parking lot:

Speaking of coffee, it took several years for soy milk to become ubiquitous in coffee houses and coffee chains.  About 10 months ago I moved on to almond milk.  When is the rest of the world going to catch up?  Usually I travel with it but not this trip. Oh and I pass up Starbucks; since January 1 2005 except for an early-morning emergency in the Jet Blue terminal at Oakland Airport last year (Me: “What happened to the Peet’s that used to be here?”  Starbuck’s employee: “What’s Peet’s?”  Touche.)

Our next stop was about 9:15 at a historic overlook of the Hanging Flume, a remarkable engineering feat from the 1890s.  It was a wooden structure hanging from the side of the cliff that was used by miners to sift gold using tons of water sluicing through smaller and smaller chutes.  It went on for several miles but now there is just this one section:

A few more miles down the road, we stopped at another site, Uravan, that marked what was once a thriving mining town for uranium, radium and valadium. They stopped mining there completely in the mid-1980s. We were lucky in that two older guys – who turned out to be brothers — were just meeting up for the day in the parking lot.  They both had worked in the mines.  Now they look for dinosaur bones and have found several – one of them is in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  Dick, the older brother (two hearing aids, a big walking stick) gave us each a little dinosaur bone.  Too bad this blog isn’t interactive…. The brothers each were driving SUVs pulling ATVs.  They parked one car and both ATVs and then took off up a dirt road to the old mining sites above us.  If we had been in Bob’s truck instead of my car, he would have followed them.

We decided that the drive this morning beats Zion.  Canyons, red rocks, yellow aspens.  It was gorgeous.
Stopped at Naturita for gas and then the road opened up a bit so it was less canyon-like.  We managed to pass a group of about a dozen motorcycles, one by one – it took about 10 minutes – and then all of a sudden, on our right, giant snow-capped mountain peaks appeared and we had to pull over for a photo op.   So we waved at all the motorcycles as they drove by us.  This is why.

We continued on through beautiful countryside to Ridgeway and Placerville (going through Norwood: Splish Splash Buggy Bath Car Wash) and turned right towards Ouray and Silverton.  This road is not for nambie pambies.  Two lanes, zero shoulder and no guard rails.  Bob said that for my birthday he would give me a two-mile stretch to clean.  LOL.   We hit 10,000+ on the stretch to Ouray and then 11,000+ on the stretch to Silverton. Up Up Up and the Dowwwwwnnnnnn.   AND we saw bikers on both, some on their way up and some on their way down.  IMHO:  NFW.  In either direction.

One huge benefit of delaying this trip is that we are going to hit almost the peak of color.  On the trip from Silverton to Durango there was a rock formation right  up against my side of the road and there were aspens spilling over; it looked like a gigantic stone vase filled with yellow flowers.

We landed in Durango about 1:15 for lunch at Season’s, right on Main Avenue, picked out of the AAA guide book.  Never have those AAA recs steered us wrong (not true:  the second worst motel we have ever stayed in was in Missoula MT last year and I chose it from the AAA book).  We sat at the marble bar and had a fabulous lunch.  And we decided to stay in Durango for the night rather than going on to Pagosa Springs or beyond.  We really like Durango – this was our fourth visit – but we have always just blown in just in time for dinner and left the next morning at daybreak to continue on to wherever.  Bob had driven all morning and it was going to be my turn to drive after lunch so once we decided to stay, Cheers!  I had a glass of chardonnay from Santa Barbara Vineyards (nice) and Bob had a margarita.  Bob had a chicken salad with avocado, bacon, tomatoes and a buttermilk dressing (best chicken salad he has ever had he told the staff) and I had a *local greens* salad with grilled chicken, raspberries, walnuts and shaved hard goat’s milk cheese with an aged balsamic vinaigrette. Fantastic.  And since no more driving, I traded my almost-empty chardonnay for Bob’s almost-full Oregon Pinot Noir…win win win!

We checked in to the Best Western about three blocks away (the most expensive one yet but the nicest.  Racking up those points!!).  Spent a couple of hours catching up on email and news.   The bartenders at Season’s had advised us to catch Happy Hour at The Strater Hotel so we headed down there and had martinis at the bar.  We then walked around a bit, shopping and checking out menus for dinner and headed back.  When we got back to the motel it was (Free) happy hour so we picked up a dirty martini and a whiskey sour (you’ll have to guess) to go up to the room.  How civilized even though in plastic cups…  Showers, more news, more email catch up.  Headed off the The Ore House…… yes, it’s true.  Our fourth (we think) dinner in Durango over the past 5-6 years and we went to the same place.  And we are NEVER disappointed!! We sat at the bar with a great bartender and couldn’t have been happier.  Ribeye with fried onion rings (unbelievably delicious and light!) and baked potato for Bob, petite filet with mushrooms and salad for me.  Like butter.. the bartender was so busy he forgot to bring steak knives and they were not necessary.  We brought a bottle of Bradford Mtn but were told we couldn’t drink it so got glasses of Four Vines Zin (good) and I had a Trilogy Cab (very good).

Toddled up the hill home and crashed with our balcony door open to the cool mountain air.  Another fabulous day of driving through breathtaking views and some relaxing down time in a town where we might end up (might end up in?). Good night.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Ogden UT to Grand Junction CO

368 miles

When we were walking up to our room last night — to dump our stuff before rushing to get dinner before the restaurant closed — we heard a train with whistles etc.  “Cool, trains!”, we said.  At midnight, with the window wide open, it felt like a train was going by on the porch.  Around 2:39 am (who’s counting?), three whizzed by within a matter of minutes.  Bob started making up conversations:  “Oh look!  A motel!  (blowwww the whistleeeeeeeeeeeee)” “The back of the motel, yeah, that will be quieter…”   The next train at 4:56 woke us up for good so we turned on the news and started the up and out process.  Went over to Jeremiah’s for breakfast :  Bob’s usual egg, hash browns, bacon, OJ; I got to have a buffalo burger patty (I KNOW!!) and tomatoes with loads of green Tabasco.  It was delicious.  The only downside was the coffee which was thin and sad.  I had a few sips to be polite because the waiter accommodated my weird breakfast order.

We were on the road by 7:30, clear bright blue skies and 57*.  We picked our way through Ogden to the I-84 East towards Cheyenne – the start of our day’s route — and we didn’t see ONE coffee/espresso place in 20 minutes.  Not. One.  So the takeaway: Ogden could use a well-stocked bar and a java house.

The rest of the day was perfection.  For those who care about the route (Michael: it would be a fantastic motorcycle trip): I-84 to I-80 to Evanston/Ft. Bridger WY; 414 to UT 43 then 44 to Flaming Gorge then 191 to Vernal UT to 40/64 to Rangely CO to 139 to I-70 to Grand Junction.  Even the interstates were gorgeous.  The details and side trips….

From Ogden east on I-84 was spectacular.  It was only about 38-40* and we drove through this gorge of green and rocky hillsides for about ½ hour and then it opened up to meticulous farms and ranches in beautiful flat lands with the hills rising up behind them.  Then it opened up again into semi-flatlands.   Then we went up again into WY.   We stopped at the Ft Bridger Truck Stop for gas etc.  OMG.  The best gas station+ ever!  Immaculately clean bathrooms, laundry facilities, showers, chapel on Sundays “for Christian Truckers”, every single accessory for iPods, Blackberries, every sort of snack food, basic clothing, basic dishes, book, DVDs…  it was like a major department store that only stocked the absolute emergency necessities and they knew exactly what those were.  Amazing.
We went another few miles to Ft. Bridger, a historic site/outdoor museum that was originally (1843) a re-provisioning post for the emigrants on their way West, then a Mormon outpost, then an Army post…. It is fascinating to see some original buildings and some recreations of structures that had burned down or been destroyed in the progression of the site.  There is a marker where the California, Oregon, Mormon and the Pony Express Trails all met and crossed that gave us goose bumps.  There are original wagons (HOW did they make that journey??? So feeble looking) and still remnants of the original trails.  We spent about an hour there and could have spent far longer.

Headed off on the most beautiful road; luscious green and wide open spaces; some trees up high in the hills just starting to turn yellow/gold.  Flaming Gorge was amazing!  All pastel pinks and orange towering cliffs.  We put the top down around noon and it was all even better.

We stopped at a restaurant in Vernal – actually did a U-turn to return to it when Bob noticed the parking lot packed with cars – 2 miles before the adorable town of Vernal.  Don Pedro’s.  It was terrific.  Bob: the only thing I have ever seen him order in a Mexican restaurant – 2 chicken enchiladas w/ red sauce, rice no beans; Me: two chicken tacos al carbon w/ rice and guacamole.  Delicious!  I normally never order guacamole (because I am a snob about it; I like my own) but Bob said why not? And he was right.  It was fresh and very very good.

I took over the driving from there and had a beautiful stretch all the way to Grand Junction.  We stopped once at a rest stop (Canyon Pintado) along Rte 139 that turned out to be a trailhead for a 4-mi hike up into the hillside where they have found Petroglyphs, dinosaur remains and all manner of historic stuff.  We will be back to take that hike.  Speaking of dinosaurs:  loads of dinosaur sites and monuments and museums.  Vernal has a lovely little downtown Main Street with flower baskets at the base of every street light and vibrant looking businesses and several large (LARGE) dinosaurs outside motels and shops.  It works somehow!

The drive from Vernal to Grand Junction was beautiful.  There were lots of up and down in elevation, changing scenery and foliage.  Once again there were hardly any other cars on the road.

We arrived in Grand Junction at 4:55 and another very nice Best Western room.  We had dinner at Hereford’s, recommended by the hotel.  The full name is Hereford’s, A Steak and Sushi Restaurant.   YES!!!  My dream restaurant!!  We went over after catching up on email and showers.  I had a REAL dirty martini with Absolut Pepper because they were having a special with Absolut.  It was actually a superb martini and I might order them with Absolut pepper from now on.  Bob got his Chivas and all memories of Utah’s crappy drinks were gone.  We ended up splitting only a California roll even though the menu had some delicious sounding specialty rolls (because I am a snob about fresh fish also and we are in Grand Junction…..).  Bob had a rib eye, baked potato and salad and I had a sirloin, sautéed mushrooms and salad.  We each had a glass of a Zin we never heard of called Zen o Zin (I think?) that was very good and surprise! It is a brand new bottling by Ravenswood.  ?? What??   I will be looking for it when we get home.

The restaurant was wonderful.  I regretted not having more sushi once I observed the (all Japanese) sushi chefs doing their thing.  It all looked very fresh and beautiful.  Hereford’s.  A great idea in dining!

Crashed when we got to the room.  How is driving so exhausting??

Here is a photo of one of the original buildings at Fr Bridger when it was an Army post and a view of Flaming Gorge.

Wednesday September 21, 2011

Novato to Ogden UT

767 miles

As we drove out of the driveway at 7:15am, I was texting Danielle, the dog walker/house sitter from heaven, that we were on the road and poor, sad Sierra was in the house.  Poor thing didn’t understand why we were putting stuff — stuff with zippers! — in the car and she  wasn’t coming with us.  She tried to climb in the car a few times.  Sniff.   She will be happier at home.

Bob started out driving, first stop Nation’s at the old Nut Tree for breakfast — his favorite, quick, made-to-order place.  Great burgers.  We were the only people there except for Tracy the trainee/cook/cashier.  I like it because it’s clean and I can sub tomatoes for hash browns.  We had our usual (Bob: egg, potatoes, bacon, OJ; Me: egg, tomatoes, ham), read about the Full Tilt Poker scandal in the WSJ and were out of there in 1/2 hour.  Next stop Lovelock (“Don’t let love pass you by”) NV.

Just outside Sacramento we came upon a Nissan with a LADIB4U license plate.  As Bob passed her and took a look he said: “Not 4 me”.

Hit Lovelock and the Cowpoke Cafe at 12:15.  We have been to the Cowpoke 6? 7? times on our various journeys and it is always great.  Their motto is “Handmade is happiness”.  Today, being Wednesday, it was packed with locals.  Everyone knew everyone.  Usually we drive through on a weekend and it is about half locals and half people like us.  Bob had a hamburger with fries (freshly cut and fried to order. really.) and a Pepsi; I had buffalo burger patty (*griddled* so it had a nice char and perfectly medium rare YUM), green salad and iced tea.  Bob passed on the awesome looking baked goods.  We gassed up at Stiff’s ($3.89 for premium…. 26 cents cheaper than at home) and I took over the driving as we left Lovelock at 1pm.

Going through Nevada on 80 is great.  Posted speed limit of 75 mph (cruise control set for 80), mostly courteous truck drivers who stick to the right lane, listening to XM (the Bridge, Ch 32 — check it out.  Is Mr. Bojangles the saddest song ever?), doing my isometric butt and ab exercises… all good!   Stopped at the Beowawe Rest stop at 3ish (girl’s bathroom graffiti: “I am a receiver Not a pitcher”) which had some signage about the California Trail, always popular in our car.  We continued going 80 mph (except for the several miles of frustrating 55pmh cone zone, single lane road work stretches) til Wendover when we stopped for gas etc.  Bob took over driving for the last 150 miles plus to Ogden UT.

We lost an hour at the Utah state line so all of a sudden it was 6:30 instead of 5:30.  Utah is also 75mph (yay) so made good time.  Made a quick stop at a rest area that had an historical marker for the Hastings Cutoff of the California Trail which is where the Donner-Reed party got messed up going West and got caught in the snow.  I-80 pretty much follows the California Trail of the westward emigrants so Bob is always happy to be on it.

We made it to the Best Western in Ogden at 8:30pm, checked in and headed to the adjacent restaurant, Jeremiah’s.  Always forget the weird liquor laws in Utah.  My choice of vodkas for a dirty martini:  Smirnoff.  What?? I discovered another benefit of a dirty martini:  olives and olive juice can overpower the vodka 🙂  Bob’s choice for his scotch:  J&B.  Seriously.   We drove 767 miles and he has a bad tooth/gum… so we said ok and when they arrived, toasted a safe and uneventful driving day.  The guy next to us was here on business from WI and has been here since Monday.  He had an MGD and when he ordered another, they were out.  He ordered a Miller Lite and was told that was the last one “we had a big weekend”.  haha.  I had a great spinach salad with grilled chicken albeit the raspberry vinaigrette on the side was scary-neon pink but not bad.  Poor Bob… at another time I will share the awful open face turkey sandwich episode in Monument Valley but needless to say, he asked the waitress what was better, pot roast or open face turkey sandwich.  She didn’t hesitate and said the turkey.  He ordered it.  It wasn’t as bad as the Monument Valley one but as were leaving he said  morosely, “I have bad luck with turkey sandwiches.”  He got a piece of cheesecake to go.

We each drove 300 miles and then he drove the last 167.  Tomorrow should be a gorgeous drive and only 400ish miles.  Piece of cake.  Cheesecake.

We are going to use this site as our travel log, posting our itineraries, food discoveries and other tidbits.  We won’t be spamming you with updates but check back once in awhile if you are curious.  This year’s trip will take us to Aspen CO for a week, the route to and from is still unknown…. stay tuned.