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.
Yeah, Woody Creek. The name says it all.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing about what you're doing. It's fun to read. Almost like being there.