Colorado!!

So, we got to our destination, safe and sound. And we proceeded to get busy.

Horses.

10 miles.

Ouch.



We rode up a spectacular valley, stunning vistas... and a few scary inclines...
Though this clearly isn't one...


Nor is this....



Wildlife seen so far...
Chipmunks ... everywhere constantly playing chicken with cars

Hummingbirds ... neighbour has species specific feeder ... cheating?

Deer (3, young, having a party, one was almost sliding down an incline to the road, so clearly the slightly larger of the 3 was the one who bought the booze for the rest.)

Snake ... small, brown, and yes Fran, right outside the bedroom door.

A Rodent ... uh, it was like a prairie dog only bigger, and like a groundhog only smaller ?????

...and a FOX!! ...and right at the patio!!!



Today, Robin and I were thinking of doing a trail hike that we've been meaning to do, but I also was thinking about where to take my dad fishing when my parents visit next week... so instead we decided to drive up Frying Pan Rd from Basalt, following the Frying Pan river upstream to Reudi Reservoir.

So we're driving up...


It's really awesome, river is amazing, lots of fly fishermen... looks like a ton of cool places to fish...


We get to the dam at the bottom of the reservoir...looking cool...


...and then HOLY CRAP! WOW!!


This thing is huge, and gorgeous.
Hmm, no wonder the Aspen Yacht Club is here...


Robin and I mused to ourselves about a certain father/father-in-law who, should he choose to retire up here, might also want to bring along his sailboat...

Steve's Turn

I know I haven't added anything since The Biltmore/Ashville, but I'm going to pick up with Ottawa visiting My bro and his family... but first check this out; this final bit of a very recognizable tune, and keep in mind this is the centre of government of a large country that genenraly is taken quite seriously...


Okay, so Robin and I were having so much fun visiting that we bailed on our schedule and stayed an extra day, this led to deciding that it was time to change from a trip focus of 'the journey' to one of 'the destination'. That destination being Snowmass, Colorado. Pedal to the metal.

Ottawa to Toledo, OH

Ya, we did it in one day. Sorry to all the Canadians we bailed on by taking the route below the Lakes. Next time y'all. Lunch was a Robin request, Quaker Steak and Lube, in the middle of seriously NOWHERE, it was looking like GoogleMaps was doing it's classic misdirection, but we turned a corner and there in an industrial wasteland outside a small town was the shining, glorious QS&L (Robin's perspective). The Crown Plaza in Toledo has a lobby decor that I should have got a pic of, very modern... for 1958-62... cool and creepy at the same time.


Toledo, OH to Omaha, NE

Ya, we did it in one day. Some really nice terrain. Lunch was a little 'drive-in' called The Port. We can't remember what small town this was in though. They make their own root beer, and it's really good, reminded me of A&W in the 70s. Robin had a chili dog she says is the best EVER. Adding, that each ingredient wasn't remarkable but it goes together perfectly. While eating, remembering that we are just barely south of Lake Michigan, a pick up drove by flying a full sized confederate flag... very weird.

Omaha, NE to Snowmass, CO

Ya, we did it in one day. Leaving Omaha, grabbing Starbucks, noticed a large number of homeless waiting for the town library to open, sad. Lunch was in a very Irish town of Kearney, serving a micro brew called Thunderhead. Now I may not be remembering this correctly, but isn't that slang for something toilet related? Anyway, we went there one recommendation from UrbanSpoon.com (we've also been using the RoadFood ipad app). Walking in it smelled like one of the many bars I've been in across Canada, a humid mix of old beer, sweat/puke/urine; lunch was okay, but interestingly, one of the beers was a Ginger Ale, I really wanted to try it, but it would have ruined my endurance to get to Snowmass.

Pretty flat, agriculture. Then just outside Denver, hit some incredible crosswinds. At one point everyone was breaking, turn a curve, and see that the wind had blown over an 18 wheeler, driver looked shaken but was fine. Crazy. Other side of Denver in the more extreme up and down driving in the mountains we ran into rain like I've never seen, temperature down to 41F, so much water on the road that streams were running down the steep grade; the spray off trucks was completely blinding, really bad...

Got though that, then got a call from Robin's mom, there'd been a mud slide between us and Snowmass... wow. By then, Robin and I had decided we NEEDED to get to Woody Creek Tavern for dinner. For those who haven't heard me go on and on and on about this place, here goes and see the pic below of the inside... Oh, wait, ya, mudslide was cleaned up, and we made it to the Tavern. Though the door was sticky and Robin for a brief second thought they had closed early, that would have been a bad scene. Okay, so this place has amazing food, veggie chorizo, fish tacos, hangout of eccentric locals including Hunter S. Thompson, great margaritas, mountainous nachos... It made the whole 3 days of driving completely worth it.

Omaha

We ended up sleeping last night at the styling Crowne Plaza in (HOly) Toledo. All we've done today is drive and listen to the Empire Strikes Back radio drama. In case anyone is wondering, we're not continuing on to Return of the Jedi. Mark Hamill wasn't available for it, so they got Jesse Bradford to voice Luke, and Jesse Bradford is my second least favorite part of the West Wing. Fun fact: the voice of Jabba the Hutt in the Jedi radio drama was Ed Asner. Now you know.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Port Drive In somewhere just east of Chicago. Well, southeast. East would have been in Lake Michigan. Anyway, they make their own root beer, they had phosphates on the drink menu, and the best chili dog I've ever had. It surprised me. It tasted fine while I was eating it, but then as soon as I was finished I became incredibly sad that there was no more. Poor Steve had a veggie burger.

While on the drive we wanted to see a nine foot tall guitar playing Elvis, and the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, but we missed the exits for both of them. We also had a bit of a scare during the afternoon. I was driving in the middle of nowhere, when we heard the cheerful ding ding ding of the fuel light. We found a gas station in the middle of a corn field about ten miles from Reagan's birthplace. Thanks, Gipper.

For dinner, we sampled some of Des Moines' famous Indian food. You know how proud those Iowans are of their Indian food. Actually, it was very good, and we both enjoyed having some vegetables and nice spices. Turns out Iowa is really into pork, so Indian was basically the only place with any vegetables on the menu at all. I think Steve was the only vegetarian in the entire state. This one restaurant we looked into had four kinds of fish, and they were all fried.

We were surprised by how hilly Iowa is, and how pretty the hills are. I expected it to be flatter and more corn-filled, like Illinois or Indiana. Speaking of three of the four I states, the speed limit in Iowa and Indiana is 70, which is great. The speed limit in Illinois was 55, which wa really not so great.

Now we're at the stylish Omaha Hilton. Our room has two double beds. They look comically small.

On the Road Again

We're back on the road after quite a few stationary days. After leaving New York we drove up to Ottawa to spend time with Stuart and Kate. After skirting the edge of the Catskills (which are beautiful, I totally get why people leave Pennsylvania to see them), we had lunch in the town of Roscoe. Roscoe has a diner in it, Roscoe's Diner, which the town is quite proud of. The entrance to the town had a big sign put-up by the Chamber of Commerce that said, "Welcome to Roscoe. ROSCOE'S DINER." I had a BLT that had three huge tomato slices, three slices of cheese, about an inch ofmlettuce, and a single layer of bacon. I guess I can't really fault them for trying to maximize profit.

Hotwire got us a room at the Ottawa Marriott. When we got to our room, we found they'd given us a corner room with a sort of Parliament view. So, that was awesome. We spent two great days hanging out with Stuart and Kate and the kids. Highlights include Kate and I convincing Steve and Stuart to go out around 9 PM to pick us up Tim Horton's and Dairy Queen when they didn't even want anything, reading a book to Lewis until he fell asleep, and last night's delicious Thai food.

Today I had a CMU-themed food day. We stopped at Quaker Steak for lunch, especially great because Tuesdays are all-you-can-eat wing days. I only had 13, which isn't my personal best. Golden garlic, medium, Louisiana lickers, and another batch of golden garlic. We stopped at Max and Erma's for dinner. There's a box of cookies nestled safely in the back seat. I also drove across four lanes of traffic when I saw a White Castle. It was delicious. It's like a drug. Speaking of drugs, when the border guard found out we were driving around for a month, I'm pretty sure he thought we were running drugs. Now we're trying to get to the Chicago area, even though it might mean a late night. We're listening to the NPR Star Wars radio drama, which is keeping us pretty entertained.

Day Whatever: Wherever

We're in New York now, after spending about five days in western Massachusetts. Tomorrow we head for Ottawa.

A few days ago we went to the Eric Carle Museum of picture book illustrations, which I really enjoyed. They had an original Very Hungry Caterpillar and an original Brown Bear (of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" fame). They also had storyboards for the original version of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" called Willy the Worm. You may remember that the caterpillar forged himself and then turned into a butterfly. Willy the Worm just got fat. The museum also had an exhibit by some woman whose name I can't remember, whose illustrations were all pencil and watercolor. They were very intricate and really beautiful. The best part about the place was actually the gift shop, which was the largest collection of children's books I've ever seen. Tons of classics, all beautifully illustrated. They also had things that aren't exactly for children, like a whole table of Edward Gorey.

Two days ago we saw Betty Buckley accompanied by Seth Rudetsky. Her voice has obviously aged, but it's still really powerful. She sang Meadowlark and I really didn't like it, but she nailed Memory. William Finn was in the audience, which I was really excited about. I also met Seth Rudetsky after the show. He doesn't look quite what I imagined he would, having spent so much time listening to him on the broadway channel on the XM.

We got back to New York yesterday and haven't really done much since we got here. We had dinner last night with my family at Peter Luger's, and today we had lunch at the Shake Shack. We had a scare this morning where we thought Steve's wallet had been stolen, which would have ended our trip real quick. I had a headache after lunch, so I lay down in the hotel room until dinner.

We had dinner at Hill Country BBQ, which is owned by my mom's cousin. Either his dad is my grandmother's brother, or his grandfather is one of my great-grandfather's brothers. It's a really neat restaurant. They actually have Blue Bell shipped up for the dessert menu. After dinner we went to the top of Rockefeller Center, so I was actually right across the street from the BNL concert I was skipping. I'm afraid of heights and got a little dizzy, but the views were pretty spectacular as long as I stayed away from the edge.

Day Seven: Lenox

We've been at my grandparents' place in western Massachusetts since Saturday. The cell service isn't great here, so I've been having trouble posting. We're here until Thursday.

On our drive up from New York, we stopped at this place called Shady Glen in Manchester, MA. It has an inexplicably delicious cheeseburger with these crazy petals of grilled cheese on top. Poor Steve had a prefab slab of fried cod.

Sunday morning my grandmother (who is an amazing cook) made us all French toast stuffed with fresh fruit, and then we basically spent the day sitting on the porch reading. I read half of Little Women and then switched over to Catch-22. Sunday evening, we went to Tanglewood and saw the Silk Road ensemble, including Yo-Yo Ma. The ensemble was amazing and played some really interesting and exciting music, and of course it was unbelievable to see Yo-Yo Ma. He was fantastic.

Today we went out kayaking on the lake down the street. Kayaks > canoes. Later we drove out to a contemporary art museum called Mass MOCA. I wanted to go see the Degas exhibit at a museum nearby, but we ran out of time. I did buy an indie rock coloring book at the museum gift shop, including a maze to get Kevin Drew and Feist to the center so they can make a new Broken Social Scene record. So, uh, that's cool. My grandparents cooked for dinner (grilled salmon cooked by a committee consisting of my grandfather, Steve, and my dad, squash casserole, fresh corn, and salad) and then we went to see this political humor group called Capitol Steps. It was cute.

Also on the schedule for this week is a trip to the discount mall, the wholesale CD store, the Eric Carle museum (I'm really excited about this), and Wednesday night we're going to see Seth Rudetsky and Betty Buckley!

Day Six: New York

We completed our whirlwind tour of DC by getting up early and walking the entire National Mall, from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Capital. The Boy Scout Jamboree is going on, so we shared the Mall with about a thousand Boy Scouts and a few of their sisters. The part of the Capital facing the Mall is actually the back (which has a more 20s feel than I expected), so we continued around to the front, and then across another small park to the Supreme Court building. That one is open to the public, so we went inside and walked around. You couldn't go into the courtroom, but the door was open so that you could stick your head in and look around. It has windows. I've never seen a courtroom with windows before. There's also a Supreme Court gift shop selling such choice gifts as a Supreme Court coloring and activity book (now with Justice Sotomayor!) and "Litigation! The Board Game." Yes, we bought Supreme Court souvenirs.

I wanted to go to the National Archives next to see the Constitution, but we were already an hour behind schedule (the Mall is a lot bigger than we thought it was). We spent about six hours on the 230 mile drive to New York. We had a quick lunch at a fast food noodle place. My Mac and cheese was literally a bowl of elbow Mac with a white sauce poured on top and shredded cheese sprinkled on top of the sauce. Gross. In New York we caught the last half of a final screening of one of Alan's movies, which was very cool. One of Alan's friends is in town visiting, so we went out with them last night. Steve and I slept on a twin air mattress on Alan's floor and now we're waiting for the day to start.

Day Five: Washington DC

We left Biltmore Thursday and spent ten hours on a seven hour drive to DC, mostly because of rain. We did stop for a while at the thriving metropolis of Abingdon, VA. We had lunch at a little place called Pop Ellis's Soda Shoppe and Ice Cream Parlour, which was full of old pharmacy memorabilia like a nasal syphon. Works by suction! There was an article on the wall by the bathroom informing bathroom-goers that Obama had come to the restaurant in 2008. He drank a vanilla milkshake and ordered a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries to go.

Across the street from the restaurant was a juried arts and crafts fair, so we walked around a little before we left. Steve bought me a necklace made out of an antique button (1880 - 1910), and I bought some kettle corn. Next to the fair was a book and antique store. Steve bought an Ontario arithmetic book that's about 100 years old, and one called "The Folklore of Capitalism" from 1937. I bought a Reader's Digest guide from 1971 called "You and the Law," which includes such useful facts as where you can and can't enter into an interracial marriage, the difference between when you can and when you should call a lawyer, and (curiously) how to escape from a burning building. I also bought " Pittsburgh: A Picture Book To Remember Her By" (1986), "Heidi" (1939), and "The Goebbels Diaries: 1942 - 1943" (1948). The last one is a little weird, I know, but I flipped through it and thought it was fascinating (and terrible, obviously) the way he talked about public perception outside German-occupied countries of their treatment of the Jews as if it were basically a political or PR problem.

We finally got into Washington Thursday evening. We grabbed a quick dinner at our cushy hotel and then went for a walk to see the White House at night. Very cool. The main building that you can see from the street is just the residence. The west wing is totally obscured by trees and the Eisenhower Executive Offices Building. I guess they don't want the public staring through the Oval Office windows while the President is trying to work.

Bilt-More

Great day today. Took a tour of the Biltmore House this morning, complete with rooftop access. Then we drove into downtown Asheville to see the old art deco buildings. I spent the afternoon at the spa, where the lady said I was her second post-bar-exam client this week. Apparently we carry a lot of tension in our shoulders. We had a lovely dinner at the winery, and now we're going to bed early to rest up for our long drive to DC tomorrow.

Biltmore Estate Pt.2

Okay, so Robin needs to explain that billboard reference, but is going to let you all stew on it for a day. And that record player was from the 50's, gotta cut it some slack.

Atlanta Drivers
- Ya I've heard people say Cdn drivers are wild/fast and the same about Texas, but wow, Atlanta takes the prize, REALLY aggressive, and either driving 10 over or 10 under the limit; the lanes are also skinny (now I'm just being picky).

World of Coke, Atlanta
- There was a room showing commercials over the decades, one was a listing of the types of people that Coke is apparently "for", like for artists, for dreamers... and then concluding it's for everybody. I noticed they left one out. "For diabetics", oh wait, right.
- In the tasting area, where you could taste some of the sodas they own in other countries, I was amazed at how many tasted of one thing and then changed into something else, and generally it was from sweet to bitter. It didn't always work out so pleasantly; once or twice though it was really interesting. But how is it we here in Can/USA can only handle our sodas having one constant flavour??


Dillard House
- lots of good Southern food, not 5-star type, but just good Southern food. Have to say though, Mary Mac's in Atlanta surpassed this place, and Clayburne Cafeteria in Houston wishes it was either of these places, just sayin'. Robin said the squash souffle tasted like Thanksgiving (Cdn= Christmas).


Foxfire
- So just as we're paying for lunch at Dillard House, I had been telling Robin about this old book from the 60s/70s I picked up somewhere called Foxfire 4. It's a thick book, part of a series started by some thoughtful young people who wanted to preserve the knowledge base of past generations in the Appalachians. They interviewed some older folks, and locally held classes for kids to help pass on the info. The interviews were printed in the magazine. Issue 4 contains instructions on how to fabricate a knife from a piece of metal (incl. wooden handle), and building a violin... sorry, fiddle. When I picked up that book, there were quite a number of other issues, and I couldn't get them, always regretted that.... so paying for the meal, Robin taps me and says, "Are these the books?", a whole rack of reprints, wow. I mention this briefly to the cashier, and she says, oh ya, they have a center/museum just a couple miles from here. WOW, it's still going! We immediately headed there, toured some of their buildings. The wagon pictured was built by students using only the tools available in that time, really impressive. http://www.foxfire.org/
This really made my day




At the Biltmore Estate now, relaxing after a really great meal... pondering 8,000 acres.... Where's my brandy?!

Day Three: Biltmore

Farewell, Georgia. We will miss your aggressive drivers and your all-you-can-eat home cooking.

We started our day with a few hours of corporate brainwashing at World of Coke. We rode a ride in which we learned that the secret ingredient in Coke is you, I was sexually harassed by a seven foot tall polar bear, and we left with the impression that buying Coke will make you happier. We also left with free glass bottles of Coke. There was actually Coke to drink at the end of the tour, but I didn't think it was mixed well. It was kind of flat.

We stopped next at Tallulah Gorge, which I was told is the coolest place in Georgia. Poor Georgia. It was pretty, but it was no Royal Gorge, that's for sure. On our way up there we stopped at a souvenir shop with all the Confederacy stuff you could ever want, as well as a record player without a needle, a Little Orphan Annie doll, and a figurine of a naked girl on a motorcycle.

We stopped for lunch at Dillard House, run by the Dillard family in the fiefdom of Dillard. It was like a food theme park. We sat down and within seconds someone had set down a plate of tomatoes, a plate of cantaloupe, a bowl of Cole slaw, a bowl of peach jam, and a bowl of pepper relish. We ordered iced tea, which came in mason jars, and then our table was taken over by food, none of which we had ordered. This place doesn't even have menus. We had yeast rolls, biscuits, cornbread, ham, fried chicken, barbecued chicken, baked pork chops, acorn squash soufflé, cabbage casserole, whipped potatoes, gravy, collard greens, green beans, stuffed peppers, peas, and creamed corn. And then they only brought one dessert!

Next up we discovered that there was a museum nearby dedicated to a book series about Appalachian culture that Steve likes, so we checked that out, and saw the Eastern Continental Divide.

We finally made it to the Biltmore Estate and immediately fell in love with it. We extended our reservation for a day. We'll make up the time by spending less time on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I think.

Billboard of the Day: Stripping!
Karmic retributions seen: 2
Hotels stayed at: 3
Hotel rooms on the 6th floor: 3
Chocolate pate: chocolate mousse
Blueberry leather: blueberry fruit rollup

Day Two: Atlanta

Farewell, Louisiana. We will miss your tore up roads and your combination casino-gas stations.

This trip should be subtitled "Robin and Steve Eat Their Way Across America." We started our day at Cafe du Monde for beignets. I accompanied mine with cafe au lait, Steve with orange juice. After an uneventful drive through Mississippi, we stopped for lunch at a place in Mobile called Dew Drop Inn. This place is allegedly where Jimmy Buffett became so enamored with the cheeseburger, and it's pretty clear why. The whole was far better than the sum of its several somewhat suspect parts (two of the thinnest patties you've ever seen, a single pickle slice, yellow mustard, ketchup, and this strange, sweetish, thick chili). Pictures forthcoming when we get someplace where we feel like paying for Internet. Steve didn't have a cheeseburger, obviously, but he did have a catfish po boy that puts BiBi's to shame, accompanied by onion rings so good they actually made me like onion rings.

We spent the rest of our time in Alabama slogging our way through very heavy rain, so we didn't make it to the hometown of Harper Lee. Too bad. We got to Atlanta later than expected, partially because of the rain and partially because of the stealth time zone change. We had dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room, a strange establishment where every room looked like an old lady's formal dining room, except the walls were covered in pictures of all the celebrities who had eaten there. The highlights were Leonard Nimoy, the Dalai Lama, and Norm from Cheers. Looking at the pictures did make me think of the lady at Ginza wanting to take Berkman's picture that one time. Sad. The food was incredible, though. I had a perfect piece of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese (casserole style, the way I like it), and dumplings. Steve had sweet potato soufflé, fried green tomatoes, potato cakes, and vegetable soup. They also brought us free cups of pot likkers, which is the cooking juices from the collard greens. You break up a piece of cornbread into it and eat it with a spoon. It was better than it sounds.

We're at the Grand Hyatt right now. Hotwire got us a room here for about 75% off the rack rate. Tomorrow we're going to the Coke Experience, then off ton the Biltmore Estate.

Billboard of the Day: I Like Big Boards and I Cannot Lie
Swamps driven over: 2
Castles seen: 1
Number of small town BBQ places stopped at that may have been serving people instead of pork: 1
Ingredients other than milk in sweet milk: Nothing. The name is a lie.

NOLA

It's pretty cool here in New Orleans. Neither Robin or I have been to the French Quarter, and it's amazing.

Being here early on a Monday morn makes for easy walking around, it's pretty light on tourists right now; though Robin did narrowly escape stepping in some puke.
Tried halfheartedly to walk past Preservation Hall, but missed it by a couple streets (Sorry Dad, wanted to get a pic for you). We'll have to go back when we can actually check out some music. We got in too late last night to get out there.

So, the beignet. We're wondering if it's a french sopapillas, or churro? I found the batter slightly eggy, like egg bread. Any ideas??

Our hotel was built in 1907, and the bell hop was trying to scare us with ghost stories about the room at the end of the hall (see pic). He said all the objects in the room moved to one wall.... Our night was incident free.

Currently stuck in a traffic jam outside of Baton Rouge. I'm updating with my 3G iPad. Ah, modern technology. We had some fast food for dinner (Burger King for Steve and Whataburger for me), but we're hoping not to get into the habit of doing that.

Billboard of the Day: Slots of Fun! - Isle of Capri
Swamps driven over: 1
Castles seen: 0 (they all sank into the swamp, except the last one, which burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp)
Best names created from highway exits: Elton Jennings, Evangeline Jennings, Eunice Crowley, Cafton Scott

Day One: New Orleans

Today is the day! Steve has his last performance of Rent this afternoon, then he'll come home, we'll load the car, and hopefully be on the road by 6 PM. I'm hoping to be in New Orleans by midnight. Not a big day, but a baby step on our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway! Our New Orleans plans include beignets and maybe a quick stop at Oak Alley Plantation.