Welcome to Denver

Monday, September 6, 2021

We started the morning by having breakfast in a place called Main Street Bagels. You may ask, “Why would you risk trying bagels in Grand Junction, CO?”. Well, this is supposed to be an adventure. Besides, the place was highly rated and we were quite curious.

When we walked into the door we were struck by the lack of smell. Bagel places always smell strongly of, well, bagels. We looked at the display case and they had the usual suspects and some creations that might be out of place in The Big Apple. They also had a variety of flavored creamed cheeses and even claimed to have lox. We weren’t that adventurous.

We settled for a sesame with plain creamed cheese and an everything with scallion creamed cheese topped with red onion. The bagels were quite good but didn’t quite have the right texture. They were lighter and fluffier than anything we’d eaten before. Two bagels, a small coffee and a medium hot chocolate set us back a little over $19.00. Maybe this was just like NYC!

The trip to Denver was supposed to take just under four hours. It was longer. It was a Monday on a holiday weekend and, even though we got an early start, there was a lot more traffic than we anticipated. Firstly, climbing through the Rockies slowed things down quite a bit and once we got to Arapaho Forests the road became thick with vacationers. Of course, there were the usual construction delays, too. It took more like five and a half hours and we were both quite tired from driving in traffic.

Itching to do something fun we drove directly to Larimar Square. It’s reputed to be a nice pedestrian shopping district that is closed to cars. We parked in a nearby lot and easily found the square. There wasn’t much to it. It was a short block with the usual stores. Many of the stores were closed for the holiday. Having been in Denver before I knew of another, similar pedestrian shopping district nearby so we headed that way. The 16th Street Mall was just a couple of blocks away and was much busier. In fact, it resembled a fairgrounds with open air food courts and food trucks lining the adjacent streets. We walked up and down the entire mall and enjoyed the sights and sounds. It too contained the usual set of national stores. I really miss the days when you could travel to another city, state or country and be immersed in things that were unique to the area. Those days are probably gone forever.

After settling into our hotel we found a local place for a late lunch. It was the Next Door American Eatery. The menu was small and eclectic but seemed rather fun. Deborah ordered a falafel sandwich and I had a grilled cheese with tomato soup. The falafel had the usual ingredients and a few you wouldn’t expect to find but it was freshly made and very tasty. The grilled cheese was made with Tillamook Cheddar and the soup was homemade. It was a good meal. As a matter of fact as soon as we started eating we felt a lot better. We had intended to try to eat only two meals a day but I don’t think that is going to work for us. We’re going to try to have a light lunch along the way. Cost: $28.20.

In the same shopping mall was a very highly rated ice cream place so we headed over there for dessert. It was actually just a takeout only booth that had tables and chairs in the courtyard. The sign said they had a special: Baked Alaska Pop. It was a chocolate ice cream bar, covered in dark chocolate with flamed meringue. I had to try that. Deborah got a small dish of their banana pudding ice cream.

The banana pudding had a strong banana flavor, had pieces of graham cracker mixed in and was smooth and creamy. The Baked Alaska was more like marshmallow than meringue but it was delicious. The two items cost us $10.79.

A weird note about Denver and COVID: very few people in the streets and stores downtown were wearing masks – including the shops that had signs that said wearing masks was mandatory – and this includes the people working in those shops. We found a sign at our hotel saying that wearing a mask was required but none of the staff were wearing them. We just don’t understand that kind of behavior. It’s a worldwide pandemic. People are getting sick and dying left and right. Wearing a mask doesn’t seem like a big deal to protect other members of society from a deadly disease. You’re required to wear a seat belt? Who are you hurting but yourself if you don’t? Where’s the outrage? But wearing a mask to protect other members of society is an infringement on your rights? Enough said.

• Mileage Today: 261.3
• Total Mileage: 790.3
• Total Miles Per Gallon: 36.0

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

We were surprised to learn that our hotel was still offering a buffet breakfast. Most hotels that I am aware of have stopped doing that because of COVID. We checked it out. The area was spotlessly clean, staff were watching and cleaning up after everyone and everyone seemed to be acting responsibly. We decided to have breakfast there.

Afterwards we headed to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. They have a free, eleven mile drive where you can see all sorts of wildlife.

It was a lovely, clear day and we started off on the drive, heads swiveling from side to side, looking for anything that moved. Before starting out I switched the camera from the standard lens to the long lens; I didn’t want to miss anything.

The landscape was mostly rolling prairie with scattered trees and a few, large water holes. We figured it shouldn’t be too hard to see what was out there. Initially we spotted a few deer and some ducks. About four miles in we saw a large, black lump up ahead along the road. As we approached a magnificent male Bison got to his feet and gave us the opportunity to shoot some nice photos. We were surprised that he was all by himself as there were supposed to be quite a few.

After the halfway point we spotted a huge field filled with prairie dog mounds. Dozens of the little critters were scampering all over the place. As we drove along we found more and more. They are such cute little things.

Up ahead we saw another car stopped by the side of the road. That usually indicates some sort of sighting. We looked and looked for a while and didn’t see anything until Deborah finally found a coyote laying among the ground cover. We watched for a while as he licked himself and occasionally looked at us giving us good opportunities for photos. Eventually he got up and slowly walked off.

Eventually we crossed a gate that told us we were in Bison territory. We had our eyes peeled. Bison are large creatures that usually travel in large packs. We expected they would be easy to spot. We didn’t see any. It was a little disappointing.

For lunch we went to a place called Four Friends Kitchen. It’s a restaurant that specializes in Southern style foods. Deborah ordered the chicken with waffles (who could have guessed that) and I ordered the chicken with grits. The chicken was deboned, fried white meat. The waffles were served with a syrup flavored with citrus that was surprisingly delicious and an amazing caramel/pepper butter. According to the menu their grits are imported from Georgia and are cooked overnight to insure they are very flavorful and creamy. Actually, they were nothing special at all. Overall the meal was first rate except for the house specialty. Go figure.

In the afternoon we went to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. Admission was $19.95 per person. The museum is housed in a very large hanger that used to be part an air force base. There was a large number of displays ringing the hanger with emphasis on local airman, astronauts and national guard.

The middle of the hanger contained a large number of airplanes representing all wars from WW1 until the present. Two of the most interesting were planes that we had never seen before. One was the B-18 Bolo Bomber, one of only six that still exist and a B1-A Lancer, one of only four prototypes ever produced. Another interesting plane was a Schweitzer SGS 2-33A Glider. It was the same glider that Cadet Sully Sullenberger had flown when at the Air Force Academy.

By far our favorite was the 3/4 scale model of a Star Wars X-Wing fighter, complete with an animated R2D2. It was produced by agreement with Lucas Films and was signed by most major characters from the original Star Wars series.

• Mileage Today: 31.8
• Total Mileage: 822.1
• Total Miles Per Gallon: 35.5