I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Not in New Mexico. Sorry if I got your hopes up! I mean, I'm back to my blog. They're getting fewer and farer between, aren't they? (Btw, my spell check just informed me that "farer" isn't a word. Oh well.) But I've just been too busy. I have little to no time to sit down and type. I try to catch up, but I always end up staying up way too late or politely excusing myself from company to record all the happenings of the day. And it takes forever too! Who knew that writing about the last couple days would take so darn long. Maybe that's why I've never been too good at journaling. I always get lazy & then several days have passed and I can't remember what happened on them! Anyway, all excuses aside, let me begin.
We left Denver on Sunday, September 11. It was a bit odd being in the car for the 10 year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. It definitely isn't on the forefront of your mind when you're weaving through canyons and mountains rather than being surrounded by technology. But still. It's a somber day in our nation's history. I can't believe its been 10 years. I remember quite vividly waking up and my mom had the TV on. If you know my mom at all you know that she NEVER has the TV on. She told me to watch and we both watched the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. Crazy. And it's been 10 years. Crazier.
But the drive was the agenda for that day. The drive from Denver to Boulder, Utah, in fact. Betcha didn't even know that there WAS a Boulder, Utah, right? Well that's because it's miniscule! and in the middle of nowhere! in the mountains! And its nestled in the most beautiful mountains that I have ever seen. They're like supermodel mountains. But let me start at the beginning. First off, I've never really been much west of Denver. And the drive to Utah takes us straight through West Colorado through most of the major ski resorts. I loved driving on the highway being able to see Vail, and Copper, and Breckenridge in all their summer glory right there tucked in the hills. It's crazy to see these trails cut into the mountain with the ski lifts running up through them with no snow anywhere! And these are resorts I would LOVE to snowboard at but have never had a chance to. But hey, at least now I've seen them.
The drive itself was scenic at first, and then when we got into Utah, it all kinda flattened out. It got boring. It was very New Mexico. It started to look more like the southwest. Brown & weeds. But then we turned off the highway. See, Boulder, UT is located near Bryce Canyon in south central Utah. So its flat flat flat, and then we turn off the highway into the mountains and all of a sudden its like you're in a different world. It's hilly at first, then it turns into sheer faces and rock cliffs. And then you're climbing steadily up a very steep mountain. And now you're surrounded by aspens, and pines, and all kinds of other trees interspersed with meadows! And the view from the top left us both in awe. We each took about a million pictures of the same gorgeous scenery because we couldn't get enough of it. Brie commented saying that she had originally thought that Utah would be the most boring to drive through. Boy were we wrong!
So we climb the mountain, and we start to come down it, and we start to kind of see a little bit of civilization again. But certainly not much. And then my GPS craps out. Awesome. In the middle of nowhereville where I have no cellphone service and very little of this is on a proper map. So I turn it back on. It turns itself off. I turn it on again. It again turns itself off. This happens a 3rd time. I finally give up. I know basically where I am, and I'm positive of the only other turn I have to make, so I take a deep breath, send up a little prayer, and decide to let Matilda rest for a minute. I figure, once she's had a moment to think about what she's done, she'll come back around. And 20 miles later, guess who decided to play nice again!
So Brie and I make it to Boulder and we don't exactly know where the lodge & restaurant are. I'm fairly certain its directly off of the highway, but not sure where exactly so we just keep driving, and thank God I was right, because there it was on the side of the highway, all quaint. Hell's Backbone Grill and The Boulder Mountain Lodge. We park and check in to our room. It's a monster of a hotel room. Humongous, two queen size beds, a balcony, and all decorated to look like the mountain lodge that it is. So we get settled in, our dinner reservations at the restaurant aren't for another hour. We walked around a bit, took even more pictures, and then headed to the restaurant.
We walk in and it's just as awesome as it was the first (and only other) time I've been there. Its a rather small, but not cramped, dining room fitting with beautiful little tables, wooden chairs, high ceilings with big wooden rafters, and enormous windows to enjoy the view. Its like being in mountain heaven. So we go up to the host and tell them that we have a reservation and she starts looking through the book for my name, and it's not there. Then all of a sudden she says, "Oh! You're Jen's cousin! You're table's right there!" and she points to a table set for 7 with 4 people already sitting at it. I sort of blankly stare at these people (none of whom I recognize) and they start to smile and enthusiastically wave at me! So now I'm really really really confused. I knew we were going to eat with Jen, but who are these people?! Then one of them says, "You're Jen's cousins!" And they motion for us to come over. So I figure, I'm in good company, so we walk over. They immediately shake my hand and let us know that they're Jen's friends (ooooooooh!) and that they were going to eat with us and hopefully that's ok. Brie and I both smile and I say, "of course!" and immediately they're pouring us wine and asking us how we're related and this that and the other. They're all super super friendly, and five minutes later, Jen walks in! Now our party is complete. Hooray!
And dinner was amazing. We started off with a beet salad that was to die for. I got to taste the vegetarian posole which had real honest-to-God Hatch green chile (fabulous!), and then I got meatloaf. That was by FAR the best meatloaf I've ever had and will ever had. And it was served with delicious mashed potatoes and some grilled vegetables which were grown on the restaurant's farm. Absolutely perfect. Then it was time for dessert. There was a chocolate pot (think chocolate mousse, but way better) which was one of the best things I've ever had, and a peach crisp thing that was to die for. And some decadent desert wine too. Oh man, I was stuffed. And I was perfectly happy. That meal couldn't have been better. Food & company were fabulous! Jen's friends were hilarious. They were all trying to convince me to come work out there the following season (which I'm strongly considering)! Who knows?
But it was time for bed. 3 hours later, Brie and I were snuggled into our beds, ready to sleep the night away before the next big drive. The following day we were up somewhat early to go get breakfast, I had delicious blue corn meal pancakes and Brie had some sort of poached egg dish (mine was awesome, she said the same about hers), and after breakfast we headed to my cousin's house where she then took us to see the restaurant's farm. It's where they grow all of their own organic vegetables. Potatoes, tomatoes, squash, cilantro, parsley, carrots, and enormous pumpkins. And two goats!
But then it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes, thanked Jen so so very much, and hit the road. The drive out of the mountains was a little more of the same. But this time, we were driving through bright red canyons. Enormous bright red, sheer face canyons, with windy little roads snaking through them. And in the middle of it all, perched on the side of the mountain is a little coffee shop! In the middle of nowhere (again!) So we stop for a cup of coffee, enjoy the view one last time, and before we know it, we're out of the mountains and on to more flat nothingness. All other scenery pales in comparison to the mountains we drove though in Utah.
And we were hurtling towards Cedar City. One of my friends from college works as an electrician at the world renown Utah Shakespeare Festival and so we stopped in Cedar City to have lunch with her, at the Pizza Factory! But after lunch, Mary was able to show us around town a bit. She took us into the theatres that the festival uses and even introduced us to the festival directors. It was awesome. Cedar City is a pretty neat little city. Only about 35,000 people (that's less than the amount of people who attended the Rockies game), but beautiful. Mary said it's cause the Mormons keep it pretty. She might be right.
After lunch, we were back on the road for the last 2.5 hours of the trip to VEGAS. Brie had never been and I quite like Vegas, so it was excitement for both of us. We made pretty good time and got there just as our friend was getting off of work. We stopped at the Smith's to pick up some taco fixins and then headed to her house. She lives in North Las Vegas, so the strip would have to wait for the next day.
It was very very nice to see Katie. It had been a while since I saw her last and it was fun to make dinner, have a chat and watch a movie before bed. Quite enjoyable. The next day, Brie and I would be exploring what Vegas had to offer. But that, I'm afraid will be on the next blog. I'm currently being anti social and really should get back.
BUT, the next blog promises VEGAS and NEWPORT BEACH. Tantalizing!!!
TALLY
miles driven: 6,800
time spent in my car: 110 hours
cities visited: 32
cities slept in: 16
states driven through/in: 26
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