Earlier this year, I got a free week in between a job switch, and I made the most of it with a road trip. Getting to Denver, chronicled here, involved a lot of driving and only a little sleeping. It was less than stellar. I arrived in Denver and slept for three hours.
After my sanity inducing slumber, I walked to the Wynkoop Brewing Company and had a nice dinner and some beers with my wife. The restaurant is in an old building with wood finish all over. It was very big, with different areas and atmospheres. We sat in a comfortable wooden booth in a casual dining room setting. I had a very large burrito special. I ate everything on my plate and some of Jill’s macaroni & cheese. After my nap, I guess my stomach was the next thing on my mind. The beer selection was good, and if you go for that you’ll find some interesting flavors.
The next day, I walked around the the 16th Street area. 16th Street is closed to public cars. It has some free buses that run back and forth on it. It’s full of boutiques, restaurants and I found plentiful espresso drinking opportunities. I chose Ink for my morning coffee mainly because it wasn’t Starbucks and I had never been to one. I wandered up and down 16th and its cross streets for most of the morning. I had to go plug the parking meter for the car once or twice. I had found cheap street parking by Benedict Fountain Park.
Eventually, I found my way over to the convention center to see Jill. The building is impressive not only because of the enormous blue bear peeking in the window at conventioneers but also because of the coffee shop.
Denver in May is truly spectacular on sunny days. It was beautiful the entire time I was there. Downtown felt vibrant and comfortable. The temperature was in the mid 70’s with little wind. Did I mention there were a lot of coffee shops? When it was time to go that evening, I wished I could stay longer, but the road was calling.
I gave my wife a ride to the airport and turned north with a vague idea of visiting a cousin who lives near Denver. I couldn’t get in touch with him though. I was thinking of how to make the long drive home more pleasant, so I decided upon getting an audiobook. I found Barbed Wire Books in Longmont after searching my trusty Yelp. Barbed Wire had a small shelf of books on CD. I looked at the selection and decided on Black Widow
I grabbed a hamburger next door at Mike O’Shay’s Restaurant. Mike’s was a small pub that had a nice atmosphere. I felt rather blissful as I was so disconnected from my life at this point in my trip.
As a last minute couchsurfing request to a friend went unanswered, I found another rest area to hang my hat. It was somewhere before Fort Collins, and using my car sleeping expertise, I grabbed a few hours. In the morning, I again needed my espresso fix. I found my way into Fort Collins. At the time, I felt unkempt, hungry, and it was 6 AM on Wednesday. When your car is facing east, it is hard to sleep in late.
Fort Collins seems to have a lot of character from what I could tell through my sleep crusted eyes. I stopped at The Human Bean, which is a drive-through coffee kiosk and one of the few places open at six. It was not like the one I encountered in Sterling on my way to Denver. It appeared like a very small Taco Bell; whereas, the coffee shop in Sterling appeared like an old trailer house.
I ordered a cappuccino and asked the barista if they had any food there. If I had been thinking straight I wouldn’t have asked a drive-through coffee shop barista if he served food. He hooked me with talk of a locally made breakfast burrito. I, being on a grand adventure, thought that sounded perfect. The barista proceeded to putter around with something. He handed me something that could easily have been mistaken for a gas station burrito. The kind that say BREAKFAST BURRITO like it’s the most amazing thing you’ll ever find, and then you proceed to microwave it in the sketchy microwave on the condiment island next to the hotdog turner. What made my local barista burrito better than others? Well, it was the packet of salsa I got with it! The burrito itself was super hot, possibly from a microwave. So to avoid a car crash with an awkward accident report, I pulled off into a parking lot to squeeze my salsa packet. In that parking lot I ate the burrito and thought about my options. In hindsight, I should’ve taken a drive through town and found somewhere to pass the time in this probably delightful town. Instead, I headed toward the Interstate. By the way, the burrito wasn’t terrible by any means, but I could’ve done better.
Crossing the border on the interstate was under whelming as it almost always is, marked by a sign. I feel like I should’ve said, “I will return” like MacArthur leaving the Philippines when I crossed the into Wyoming. Saying it in a car by myself would’ve been awesome. I would like to return to Colorado and more thoroughly check it out someday. I drove to Cheyenne and stopped at a rest area. It had free wifi and this rabbit.
I was using my phone to figure out a route that would take me home without having to drive on the boredom of I-80 Nebraska. Besides, I had already been down that road (Neo); I knew where it led. I decided to take a route cutting diagonally through Nebraska to the northeast. I was going to avoid I-80 completely. I felt this was where my adventure might really get going. A gentleman pulled in next to me and started using his iPad.