Every year for our Wedding Anniversary, Sam and I plan some kind of adventure together and this time we decided to check out Colorado. I've never been before and I've always had an picture in my mind of what it was like and the people who lived there, and I've always felt for some odd reason, that I belong there. So we packed up our "Little Lego-mobile" (a Chevy Spark) and hit the road last Tuesday morning with an itinerary that detailed every single activity and scenic hot-spot down to the half hour.
Within about 2 hours, we got lost. Really lost. I had programmed our destination into the Mapquest App on my phone and plugged it into the USB port in the car with Pandora blasting, so when it came time to switch roads, it would interrupt Pandora and notify us through the car's sound system. Unfortunately, we were out in the middle of nowhere, and didn't have a signal. It seemed that the evil woman residing in my phone had been considerably silent for too long. I'm not sure how Pandora was working, but the GPS was not, and had not been for quite some time. I remember having checked the screen and seeing a turnoff that needed to be made in 28.6 miles, and an hour and a half later, it dawned on me that we had to have come 28.6 miles by then. I looked down at the screen and saw it saying we still had 28.6 miles to go, and I realized what a horrible mistake had been made. We were almost to Zion's National Park when we pulled over at a gas station to ask for directions, but none of the attendants there, conveniently, had any idea where we were or where we were going. We actually had to reference a paper map, like an atlas, and I haven't use one of those in decades. We found our route and headed out in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the shortcut road through Page had been washed out in a landslide and closed, so we literally had to double back about 2 hours to take the next road that would lead us to Moab....and since it's the middle of August, there is road construction everywhere. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about "the journey, not the destination", but Sam's cousin and her husband had made special arrangements to meet us for dinner when we arrived at 6 in Fruita, Colorado, and we were traveling through tourist hell: nothing but station wagons and motor homes barreling along at a comfortable 48 mph. Talk. about. road. rage. Our 6 hour and 43 minute drive with a couple of hours set aside for scenic hikes in Moab's famous Arches National Park, had just turned into 12 hours without so much as a photo op or bathroom break (you'll probably notice a few photos shot through the windshield or out of the window of the car as we didn't have any time to actually pull over and take the shot correctly...this is why). We also still had no cell service so we couldn't even call or text Sam's cousin to tell them that we were going to be 2 hours late. It was horrible. Though our little rental car was averaging 36 mph, it had a 7 gallon gas tank, so we still had to stop every 250 miles to fill up. We had also failed to realize that there would be a time change once we entered Utah, so somewhere along the line, my phone switched forward an hour, therefore costing us more valuable time. Sam had the gas peddle on our little 4-cylinder gutless wonder pressed to the floor and we were averaging 95 mph...passing everyone in sight. There was an especially nerve-wracking moment when e happened upon a group of "Cruise America" RV's and a cement truck: The RV directly in front of us was literally, I kid you not, driving in the middle of the road. Every time Sam would veer out to see the oncoming traffic situation, the RV would swerve into the other lane and make it impossible to see or to pass him. The expletives coming out of my husbands mouth were second to none. Eventually however, they made their way to the RV park in which they were staying, and we plowed past them, middle fingers in the air.
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| Ahh...beautiful Utah (I'm being sarcastic) |
We continued on through Monument Valley (I enjoyed speculating exactly where some of our favorite westerns were filmed) and some of, what's got to be some of this country's ugliest landscape, and finally made it to Moab...but without any time to play tourist. Once we passed Moab we got on I-70 and hauled ass to Fruita. I've never been so happy to get on a 4-lane Interstate in my life! We made it there at 8 o'clock and all was well. The next morning, we hit up a local breakfast joint with our host and got back on the road.
Now, for day 2, I had planned on us leaving Fruita at about 9 am and driving to Vail, where we would grab some lunch and then take a 3-hour hike to Booth Falls. Didn't happen. Once again, construction was not in our favor and we ended up cruising right past the exit to our hike. We decided just to keep going (we were on a schedule because that night was our concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater and we couldn't be late) so we ended up stopping in the most adorable town called Frisco and wandered around and grabbed lunch at a great little bakery called The Butterhorn. It was delightful. It was there in Frisco that I began to fall in love with Colorado. The wildflowers, the lakes, the mountains, the people...I just couldn't get enough. Once we hit Vail, we started climbing and the higher we got, the more beautiful it became.
After Frisco, my itinerary had us at just over an hour's drive until we reached the resort we were going to be staying at in Winter Park. We turned off on US 40 which was supposed to be a short distance to the Village. Well, it was a short distance, at the steepest grades and on the sharpest switchbacks you've ever seen. It ended up taking us about 40 minutes to get up there. As we twisted and swerved around each corner, we saw a ton of waterfalls and amazing trails that I was determined to check out more closely later on. We even saw a mamma moose and her baby literally about 3 minutes from our hotel!
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| Walking around town after lunch in Frisco |
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| I couldn't identify whether this little creature was some kind of massive moth-like insect or a hummingbird, but it was pretty dang cute |
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| Mamma moose and her baby! I haven't seen a moose in years! |
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| One of the delightful little random waterfalls we passed along the highway |
The resort was awesome and we got a corner suite with a fireplace and floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows....windows that were just perfect to viewing the torrential downpour that was happening outside. We hurried and changed and headed back down the mountain to Morrison, where the concert was being held. The Red Rocks Amphitheater was pretty amazing, I have to say. It's been on my bucket list to see a good concert there for a few years, so I was super excited to actually be there and see everything with my own eyes. All I have to say is that it did not disappoint. I should mention, however, that there were 50 mph winds blowing every which way and rain was pouring down in sheets. I hadn't planned on freezing while there, so I only had a denim jacket and one pair of jeans in case it got a little nippy in the mornings or something. Well, this may come as news to some of you, but nothing wicks away moisture better than heavy denim! Actually, pretty much anything wicks away moisture better than heavy denim.
Midway through the show and just before one of the bigger bands started playing, I decided that it would be a good time to use the facilities. We were quite close to the stage and the venue was packed, so I thought I would be so clever and count the steps up to the main level so I could count them on my way back down and find our exact row. I counted 113 steps on my way up, so at 113 steps on my way down, I started shimmying past everybody towards the center and soon realized that Sam was nowhere to be found. The band started to play and everybody freaked out and I was stuck there for a little while until I managed to shimmy back out to the isle and decided to go back up the stairs and come back down 113 steps again, just in case I messed up somewhere along the line the first time. Well, long story short, I repeated this 3 more times...all the while being body slammed by crazed, stoned hippies and drunk college students, and slipping down the wet stone steps. Plus, as if climbing all of those steps wasn't bad enough, I was doing so weighed down with layers of sopping wet denim at a much higher elevation that I'm used to. I eventually just accepted defeat and made myself comfortable in my new seat when I looked up and saw Sam rocking out a few levels above me. I don't know how I am to 113 steps, but apparently, it was closer to 108 steps. My bad.
The Dirty Heads were amazing...they just get better and better every time I see them. By the time they started, the weather cleared up and it was really beautiful out. It was amazing too, because they were filming their first live DVD, so they had cameos by Tech N9ne and Rome from Sublime with Rome and they really brought their A-game. I couldn't have asked for a more fun show. The pot smoke was pretty thick which I found odd considering the storm and the fact that the venue was outdoors, but it definitely made the drive back to the hotel seem a little bit longer and slower...I may have been second hand high a little bit.
I figured I'd break this blog into 2 or 3 parts because I have so many pictures and my readers may need a bit of a breather before the next set...or maybe after this post they'll just realize they just couldn't care less about the rest of the trip...to each his own :) So stay tuned for the second half of the trip...I'll get it up as soon as I can!