Wednesday, June 30, 2010

day 8: utah, idaho & oregon

are we there yet?!

exhaustion is setting in....well that, and dirty clothes.  i feel like i'm fighting a cold.  could it be going from 108 degree weather to being in the 40's tonight?  or too much A/C in hotel rooms?  or just hotel rooms and random interstate stops?  who knows...  must...fight...it...

left cloudy salt lake city around 10am today and headed north through utah.  lots of traffic and construction work and it looked like any city USA.  drove through cities like brigham city and ogden.  nothing too exciting to speak of.  lots of green grassy mountains.  and sheep.

left utah and entered idaho.  the 12th state on this trip.  idaho was desolate.  miles and miles of mountains, bushes and trees.  no exits and not many cars.  stopped for lunch in jerome, idaho.  stopped at one of the few places to eat - mcdonald's.  and they thought i was crazy for ordering a cheeseburger without the meat.

idaho is full of farms - cows, horses and potatoes.  i have to say that it has been my least fave state.  b-o-r-i-n-g.  well at least to drive through.

decided to keep driving and pass boise so that the drive on the last day (tomorrow) wasn't so long.  drove 7 hours plus several stops = long day in the car.

finally hit OREGON!  and gained another hour.  so happy to be back on pacific time.  the drive through oregon was amazing.  beautiful mountains and curvy roads.

decided to stop in the small town of baker city, oregon.  small town in the middle of many snow-capped mountains.  everyone is nice and friendly and helpful.  they have completely restored the downtown area which i love.  got a room at the best western sunridge inn with a patio and a view of the mountains.  the weather is fantastic and cool.

walked over to the chamber of commerce office and asked about the town and got dinner recommendations.  drove around awhile and then headed to paizano's pizza.  locally owned by a vegetarian who hand makes everything.  it was delicious.  stopped by albertson's (oh how i've missed you) to get some snacks and cold preventions supplies and got gas...  for the millionth time.  i completely forgot that it's the law that you can't pump your own gas until i saw a pretty blonde girl come out to the car to do it for me.  nice.... i could get used to that.

now back to the room to try to make some order out of my suitcases.

like i said, are we there yet?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

day 7: wyoming & utah

rock springs, wyoming.

had continental breakfast at the hotel - cheesy farmer's casserole and croissants were on the menu.  checked out of the hotel and passed the gas station...


hit the post office to mail an etsy order.  forgot to put my shop on vacation mode but luckily i had the stuff with me.

great scenery driving through wyoming.




stopped for gas and cleaned the windshield for the millionth time.  stopped to look at the front of my car.



hit the utah border.  elevation was 6,860.  this made 11 states on the trip so far.  2 more to go.



stopped in park city, utah for lunch and a break.  the views were pretty amazing there and the entire route today.




arrived in salt lake city and drove around for a bit.  hit temple square.  yes that would be the temple square of the church of jesus christ and latter day saints.  apparently it's a place you have to visit while here.  




loved the knotted trees.



left temple square quickly because i felt the "sisters" were going to try to convert me...



checked into the hyatt place hotel in downtown.  took the trax train (which is free) to the public library which is architecturally amazing.















took the train back to the hotel and grabbed the car to go to dinner.  a girl at the hotel recommended an amazing place called cafe trio.  fantastic.


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day 6: monday...i'm getting behind

woke up in denver.  beautiful skies.  checked out of the hotel (another hampton inn) and headed to the denver botanic gardens.



 it was quite impressive being in the middle of the city and all.  they have a special exhibit going on with 20 of henry moore's sculptures on loan.  very neat to see but not to touch.  i accidentally leaned against one and i swear i have third degree burns.



it was extremely hot that day.  i mean...HOT.  i wear massive amounts of sunscreen on a daily basis and i still got burned.  especially my scalp.  that should be fantastic in about 3-5 days when it starts peeling.  it was worth it though...

went to einstein bagels to get a sandwich for the road.  i might possibly have been more impressed with the bagel shop than the gardens.  yum.  but maybe that is after having had hotel bagels this week?

left denver with a bit of sadness.  fantastic town with an interesting mix of people.

headed to cheyenne, wyoming.  the gps decided to try to take me on some crazy route so i had to re-route it back to the main road.



arrived in cheyenne and headed to their downtown train depot.  two sweet old men said i could park illegally and they would watch my car.


they have these enormous 8 foot tall boots around town that artists design.


left cheyenne and headed west in wyoming.  lots of farm land....


beautiful snowy mountains...


passed the continental divide twice.  



lots of rocks...


arrived in rock springs, wyoming.  not as interesting as all of the websites made it seem but that was to be expected.  drove around town looking for a particular restaurant but the area was desolate and only a couple of people were in there so headed back to the hotel area.  




the only "real" restaurants in town were, um, applebees and golden corral.  choose applebees and there was a wait.  interesting mix of people.  about half of the people had snooki's (from jersey shore) hair and most were in pajamas.  suddenly i felt overdressed.  decided to make the best of it....or at least try.  they ran out of ice so the drinks were hot.  brought my salad and had no silverware for 20 minutes.  food was less than mediocre.  oh well...not the last meal..

the sunset was amazing...






Sunday, June 27, 2010

day 5: more kansas and finally colorado

not nearly as hot this morning in hays, kansas.  yesterday was brutal.  it was like sticking your head in an oven but worse.

drove for quite awhile and then hit mountain time.  2nd time zone change of the trip.  stopped in a small kansas town called goodland.  they are known for having an enormous easel with a giant reproduction of a van gogh painting.

drove around awhile to take other photos.  loved it there.  they had a place called "bubba's meat block".  they process wile game and make jerky.  i think i threw up a little.

then stopped in a town called flagler, colorado...



then hit genoa, colorado.  







then it was finally on to denver.  great place...























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Saturday, June 26, 2010

day 4: kansas

started out with continental breakfast again....this time having to listen to 70 year old men discuss viagra.  appetizing...  maybe that's why i didn't feel so great after breakfast?  i think the lack of sleep and road food was catching up to me.

left columbia, missouri this morning around 11am after debating all night about changing the direction the trip was going.  decided to go through denver, salt lake city and idaho falls instead of mt rushmore and yellowstone.  those places are so out of the way that i feel i would never had enough time at either to do them justice.

drove through kansas city, mo.





so that meant trucking through kansas today.  all day.









talk about cornfields and cows.  it reminded me of texas and how it seems to go on forever.  decided to drive on through kansas city and just drive straight to hays, kansas.



hays, kansas.  what can i say.... the first thing i noticed was how damn hot it was.  108 degrees.  and so windy it almost knocked you over.  you open the car door and it felt like your face was in an oven.  most of the hotels were sold out but finally found a room.  i had deja vu to being in holbrook, arizona a few years ago.  it's a small town not far off of I-70.  the streets of brick paved and it feels like another era.  i walked around and shot a lot of photos. the skies were amazing - partly dark and stormy, partly cloudy and sunny.


first took a drive around to find the buffalo herd.  they are apparently pretty extinct so they have them semi-contained.  it was hard to see them up close as they were towards the back of the field in a barn-like structure.  drove through fort hays and some park that was nearby.


drove around some more...









then went to eat dinner at a place called gella's diner/lb brewing co.  it was in an industrial type space with incredible lighting and design.  who would have thought that this place would be in the middle of nowhere in the midwest?!  it was fantastic.  and i must say i had the best sandwich i've ever had in my life.  it was a smoked turkey panini with a side of sweet potato friesTender, sliced smoked turkey breast, roasted red peppers, fresh avocado spread and provolone cheese served on grilled multi-grain bread buttered with Lb. Brewing Co.'s Pale Ale cheese spread.  









walked and drove around some more...





























tomorrow, it's off to denver....
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