The night before we left a friend of mine in band asked, “what Disney attraction is in Denver?”
To which I replied
@jedijill!
Jill is an attraction?
Fran was adamant about attending the concert, so we canceled our flights and hotel in Houston.
whoa. She was
really adamant!
It turned out to be a good move because the whole event ended up being canceled due to Hurricane damage.
Good thing Fran was so adamant!
The night before we had decided that we should try and leave the house at 6:30AM. We know we run late and this would build in plenty of time.
Our flight left at 11:15PM and while it is suggested that folks arrive 2 hours in advance, we tend to like to aim for 3 hours in advance
So you were aiming for 8:15PM. So... leaving at 6:30AM gives you... just under 14 hours to get there.
Wow. You said LA traffic was bad... I didn't know it was
that bad!!!
Fran said a few expletives as she jumped out of bed, and yes, she did jump! One of the few times recently I saw her move that quickly!
Now you know what to do when you want her to move.
Clothes picked out, in haste, I was on to feeding the cats.
Hmmm.... two thoughts.
hasty clothes. wonder if that will getcha.
feeding the cats.
I retract my comment about the 14 hours. It'll take you at least 10 hours just to feed all the cats.
We were out the door by 7:15, a little later than we planned for, even if running ½ an hour late. Luckily we made good time and I was dropping Fran off at around 8:15AM.
So an hour door to door. That's not bad at all!
The people at SW were really nice, they let us unload the suitcases and check in at the wheelchair check in while my car was parked in the loading/unloading zone.
Hmmm... not quite my experience there...
They gave us a whole bunch of stuff about how we didn't need to buy the third seat and she cancelled it but all we had to do was tell them that we needed an extra seat and they would give it to us. Not sure how much I believe that!
Uh, huh. Yeah, I wouldn't believe that either.
"You don't need to buy the third seat!"
Followed by:
"The flight is fully booked. If you needed a third seat you should have booked it."
When we got to the gate, they hadn't even boarded the flight before ours,
Well, of course. It took you an hour to get there, so you still had 15 hours to go!
(I'm just gonna keep milking this. Don't mind me.)
The family seated next to us had a rather rambunctious toddler and I hoped all the running around she was doing would tire her out and she'd sleep the whole trip. Nope.
Uh, oh...
The family settled in right across from us. From the moment the door of the plane closed the kid proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs.
Oh, dear Lord.
You didn't bring your noise canceling headphones? Sounds like the ultimate product test.
I had decided to order a drink, but when the kid shut up as the stewardess came by to take my order, Fran shamed me out of ordering the drink. As soon as the stewardess left, the kid started again and never stopped howling the rest of the trip.
You should have. Maybe even a triple. That would quiet her down.
In the end, we were all too hungry to think clearly so we went to a place Jill suggested, the Castle Rock Cafe where they are known for their fried chicken.
Mmmmm...
Since they cook the chicken to order, it takes 30 minutes.
Oh? Come up here for a visit and I'll take you to a place that's a bit of a secret, but has the best fried chicken in town, is cooked to order, but doesn't take 30 minutes.
We ordered a Spinach and Cheese dip with bruleed parmesan on top to tide us over. It was fantastic!
Looks good!
It was a Gimlet not a Gibson
You can pass that over to me, then.
Dinner also came with soup. I think it was a potato cheese.
No. It wasn't.
Or maybe it was.
Jill went to Starbucks and got me a coffee on her way to our hotel.
Nice of her!
Our destination was around 45 minutes away. The Clive Cussler Car Collection.
No. Freaking. Way.
If you've read his books, you know Dirk Pitt has a collection of cars outside his headquarters and often chooses a classic car to drive on his adventures.
The cars featured in the books had a copy of the book in which they were mentioned in front of said car.
Cool!
After a couple hours of wandering, ooohing and aaaahing
No kidding! I would love to see this!
Fran got the Bison ribs, they came with fry bread.
Interesting! I've had bison... usually in a burger... but never ribs.
Fran shared her ribs with all of us and we determined them to be delicious!
Good info to know.
After we gave up on our lunches, Jill brought two kinds of fry bread to the table, one coated in cinnamon and sugar and another with Berry jam on top. They were both delicious, but there was no way we could finish and finally we surrendered.
I can see you waving a little white flag.
We went back to the hotel cause Fran was in desperate need of a nap.
As am I.
Midnight shift as I write this. Only 7 more hours to go!
I had realized that I made a serious error in packing. I trusted the phone app which said rain and thunderstorms throughout the duration of our trip. I had packed mostly clothes for colder weather. So Jill and I went to the outlet mall nearby and I found an outfit on clearance to supplement my wardrobe for the rest of the trip.
So.... you hadn't packed for rain? Or you had but it was nice out?
Dinner tonight was going to be at Del Frisco's. If you've read my previous reports, you'll know how much Fran and I love this place!
Those things are huge!
<drool>
Sorry about that. Lemme just wipe up.
whoops! Obviously an error of some sort.
When our lemon cake and butter cake arrived I was in so much of a food coma that I couldn't even take a bite.
We even took what was left of our wine togo. Leftover wine? I've never heard of such a thing before!
You don't know me at all.
Back at the room I barely got my clothes off before crawling into bed and I fell asleep immediately.
Awwww... poor sleepy Alison.
We were going to be taking Jill's favorite jaunt for out of towners
She's really going all out for you guys!
Jill met us just before 8:30AM again bearing Starbucks.
She's a keeper.
And to this Southern California gal, snow in August was a shocker!
To this Northerner too. Living in the prairies, we don't see mountains.
We see horizon.
“On October 30, 1974, horror writer Stephen King and his wife Tabitha spent one night at the Stanley Hotel during their one year of residency in Boulder, Colorado. They were driving through Estes Park as night approached when they happened upon the Stanley Hotel. They decided to book a room and, upon checking in, discovered that they were the only overnight guests. "They were just getting ready to close for the season, and we found ourselves the only guests in the place — with all those long, empty corridors." He and his wife were served dinner in an empty dining room accompanied by canned orchestral music. "Except for our table all the chairs were up on the tables. So the music is echoing down the hall, and, I mean, it was like God had put me there to hear that and see those things." That night, according to King, "I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in a chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of The Shining firmly set in my mind."”
Thanks for that! Never knew that. Did know he'd stayed there, but not those details.
Then we headed into the main part of town, and we saw these critters.
Wow! There's tons!
I had found a place in Estes Park that sounded good, in theory.
Uh, oh..... "in theory"...
I should have paid more attention to the reviews where people said service was slow, because it was like the sloths at the DMV in Zootopia were cooking and serving the food. It wasn’t very busy when we got there, but it was pretty packed by the time we left.
Ugh.
No surprise it's packed if no one ever gets their food.
Props on the ceiling, though.
Neither Jill nor Fran liked their Beer Cheese soup. It was way too thin and had a funny taste to it.
You're not exactly selling this place, Alison.
Fran and I enjoyed the burger.
Looks pretty good.
I got creative with my pictures being in the same spot for a while.
Might as well and...
... that one's especially nice.
After we passed the construction I counted the cars that were lined up to go through the one lane section and lost count at around 124.
Holy crap!
The elusive High Altitude Siren.
I could totally feel the lack of oxygen by the time that we stopped at the Visitor's center and gift shop.
Jill told us that the posts along the road are to help the snow plows know where the road is when it’s time to clear it in the spring.
Interesting! And look how high they are!
We had markers up in Churchill, (and not that high... maybe 3 feet) but they were so that in case of whiteout conditions, you could pick your way back to town by crawling from one marker to the next. Just had to remember to keep the white ones on the right.
As we started to make our way down the hill, I started to feel very queasy and wasn't sure how up to our next day's excursion I could be.
Sorry to hear that.
Huh. I wonder why that one was banded.
Pretty shot.
We stopped again at another clump of cars where some people claimed that they saw a moose. The Ranger wasn't buying it though.
Massive moose conspiracy.
Alison. That photo is postcard worthy.
Once we got back on the road, I realized that what would make me feel better was some ginger ale. Too bad we just left civilization!
Whoops... and... crap.
We were all tired from the long drive and just zombied out on our phones while we waited.
Look! Teenagers!
We all loved our dishes and ate just about half so we'd have something left for tomorrow.
That looked like a ton of food!
I got the Peach Crostada which was the seasonal dish.
That looks (and sounds!) delicious!