Couple of Coffees

Couple of states in a row

The road heat on our laps and arms, the change in sound of the highway beneath our tires, the landscape shifting from green to brown to pink. What we've seen most of lately is the sights outside our van window.

After Kansas, we found our way to Buffalo Bill Cody's Scout's Run Ranch, in North Platte, Nebraska. The self-guided tour was really interesting, with artifacts in the main house and then other buildings around the property to explore, including a huge barn filled with displays and old show posters. All this and more for one $3 parking tag. We ate at a cafe in town before getting back in the saddle for Colorado.

When we arrived in Boulder and fell in love with it, we decided to blow off Denver. Boulder is nestled against the mountains and whoever planned the city got it right. There's a large, pedestrian-friendly Pearl Street Mall downtown, full of restaurants, shops and apparently a nightlife scene that keeps the University of Colorado students happy. We had a wonderful dinner at the Walnut Brewery in downtown. They brew their own beer, and boy, was it good. Made me glad, after all these weeks of brewpub-free living, that we're returning to Oregon. The atmosphere in Boulder's original brewpub, or so it's called, reminded me of the Pelican Pub in Pacific City.

We spent the next luxurious day as a road-trip-free zone. We hung out in our hotel, the Boulder Broker Inn, which was lovely and a great deal, in between wandering around the Pearl Street Mall and the Hill, eating and exploring. In the morning, we visited Boulder's Chautauqua. It's one of four in the country still existing from the original Chautauqua movement. That movement began in Chautauqua, New York, where my family and I vacation. The Boulder Chautauqua had well-known musicians on its docket, but it didn't have the kinds of lectures and other programming of the larger, original one. It would be incredible to spend a summer week in Boulder, though, listening to music and sipping iced tea on a cottage porch. The Boulder Chautauqua has the added benefit of being the beginning of some gorgeous hiking trails. We sauntered up one a little ways, but we weren't prepared for a day hike, so we didn't go too far.

Oh, and we had lots of coffee in Boulder. I think you could spend a week there and still not hit all the coffee shops in town. Jonathan's favorite of the places he tried was the Laughing Goat. The Boulder Co-op was adorable, too, full of interesting food and nice people. We'd shop there a lot if we lived in town.

On our way out of town the next morning, we paused at Celestial Seasonings for a tour of the factory. I learned lots of things I didn't know before, like how strong smelling a room full of mint can be. And teas that are naturally caffeine free aren't actually tea, because they don't use the tea plant, camellia sinensis. That plant is naturally caffeinated. The naturally caffeine free ones (as opposed to decaf, where the caffeine is removed) are made from herbs alone, without the tea plant. The whole factory smelled like a brewing pot of tea. Mmm.

We ventured up to Fort Collins, Colorado, on our way out of town, where we had lunch in a cafe, Deja Vu near the college. Then it was onwards to Cheyenne, Wyoming, a cowboy town for sure. We had our coffee break in The Plains hotel in downtown, where there was a cafe. We also did some cowboy shopping at a historic business.

From Cheyenne, our trail took us further west to Laramie, where we got gas and checked out the town. On our way toward Rawlins for the evening, we detoured into the Vedauwoo recreation area, an area known for its oddly-shaped, beautiful rock formations, known by the Native Americans as a spiritual place. We saw lots of deer and cattle along the drive. As it was getting late, we opted to hit the road again. I've never seen anything like it. The rocks looked like they had been sculpted or balanced on top of each other on purpose.

A note to any travelers: The stretch of Route 80 along lower Wyoming isn't a great place to need a room for the night right now. We paid an exorbitant sum for not very much room, and apparently got the last place in Rawlins. Demand has pushed the prices way up there. According to our neighbors, who were on their way to the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, a pipeline project along the highway has kept demand high, due to the construction workers needing rooms. Everybody's full, and what rooms there are get jacked up in price. I'm glad we got a room, because the next town over was probably packed with people, too.

We pulled into Utah last night, first to Park City, where the Sundance festival is held. It was definitely a ski town in the summer, with lots of interesting shops downtown. We pushed on to Salt Lake City, where we found one of the few remaining downtown hotel rooms. Apparently the lodging issue here is some kind of monthlong conference, which has filled the hotels. Who knew we'd have the most trouble finding places in the last leg of our trip? We'll see how we do tonight.

Last night's dinner, at a noodle place called Mi La Cai, was delicious. We're off to explore Salt Lake today, then head ever westward into Nevada. Where hopefully we'll find a bed, or a campsite, for the evening.

posted by Laura the Writer @ 10:00 AM