Catch Up Time! Reporting from Scottsdale, AZ

Goodbye Denver!

We left Denver last Monday, January 12. We had hoped to leave sooner, but Nate took the car thru the carwash with the cartop carrier on and it was ripped off. Thankfully, his brother had some spare parts so we could still depart as planned. The cartop carrier was covered with that nasty green soap from carwashes, so I had to do some laundry before we could leave. Finally about 3:00pm we were able to head west on I-70. It was a bit foggy and we thought we might be driving in some inclement weather, but we were wrong. There was some dense fog but all the trees, bushes, etc. were covered in a beautiful rhime or hoarfrost.  Once we got past Idaho Springs it was smooth sailing and very clear. We passed through the long tunnels and ski hills, bidding farewell to the majestic Rockies. I even saw a coyote trudging through the deep snow on a mountainside. It quickly grew dark and we posted up in Grand Junction for the night.

Keep in mind, these photos were taken in a moving vehicle at highway speed!

Happy New Year and Fort Collins!

Happy New Year! This year we chose to ring in 2015 by joining many others on the 16th St Mall in Downtown Denver. We ate at range, which was quite good. It is located inside the the Colorado National Bank building and has since been converted to a hotel with restaurant. We enjoyed a tasty appetizer of kale and artichoke flatbread which also had little fingerling potatoes! This was followed by entrees of jumbo shrimp and squash tortelloni! Not like you need to know everything we ate, but I thought I would mention anyways. 

Fireworks made two appearances, once at 9pm for families with youngerish children and again at midnight. The fireworks were shot off from two different locations! We stood in the middle of the pedestrian mall between both sites and watched them go off at midnight! It was cold, but nothing like what Wisconsin is experiencing now! 

Between dinner we visited several establishments; Katie Mullens (terrible music, especially for an Irish pub), a lovely bar with many beers on tap that I forgot the name of, and Toms Urban where I drank my first mocha of the year with a shot of Bailey's for good measure!

Today, we finally made it to Fort Collins. I have been waiting to check out this college town for a long time. I have always wanted to visit New Belgium Brewing...and the only day they are closed is Monday...today. So, we proceeded on to Odell Brewing. What a fantastic place. I was extremely impressed! Their beer has been a favorite of mine since I tried it so I knew this was going to be a great time! As we walked up to the brewery, the bright red and yellow building greeted us warmly. I immediately noticed the recycled decking and native plantings. Inside, as I looked around I noticed reclaimed wood tables, recycled glass counters, and a very clear display for trash divided into landfill, recycle, and compost. There were also informational signs describing more ways Odell participates in water conservation like porous pavers, incentives for employees, helping the community, and supporting local farmers. All around...impressive.

In fact, the whole Fort Collins community is quite progressive and sustainable. We stopped in to get a warm beverage after our dinner at Lucky Joe's (very good Irish pubfare). As I entered Mugs, I was greeted by a friendly gentleman waiting to brew us up some good coffee. Mugs too had their garbage receptacles separated into landfill, compost, and recycling. In talking with Nate, it really isn't that difficult. If everyone made a small effort the amount of waste in landfills could greatly be reduced! Especially if all one had to do, is simply decide which bin your trash goes in. I'll get off my soapbox...

We also took a drive to see Horsetooth Reservoir. It was stunning! Snow stuck on the north facing slopes, bare rock on the south. The water was half frozen and reflecting the sun beautifully as we drove past. I wish it would've been safer to pull off and take a picture, so I will have to do with my smudgy one from the window. We weren't able to go too far up because the road was closed due to winter conditions. 

I enjoyed Fort Collins very much and would go back in a heartbeat. I would love to explore more...hiking, mountains, breweries, food, etc.  

My apologies for the lack of pictures this time. I don't have many fantastic ones...I will work on a few and post later. We have about a week until the next great adventure...and I'm not referring to the Packer game... 

First AirBnB Experience

We decided to give AirBnB a shot after hearing so many great things from friends. Airbnb is a website where you can either list your place, or a room for other people to stay in. If you haven't heard of it, check it out. We thought about doing this in Europe however we just stuck to the hostel scene. Anyways, you can search for the type of place or room you seek. You can filter for amenities you are looking for, prices you are willing to pay, areas you would like to stay, etc. 

We found this great little place on the North side of Denver in the Berkeley area. The hosts were a young couple. They were welcoming, friendly, smart, and well-traveled. We had great conversations and they had a lot to share with us about the area. They also have a dog (retriever, border collie mix) and a cat. We didn't see the cat much, but the dogs got along very well! 

Nate had to work quite a few of the days we were staying there, but we made the most of the time off he had. We made a visit to REI. The REI in Denver is huge! There is even a climbing wall inside. There are three staggered floors of clothing, camping gear, snow equipment, shoes, and a Starbucks. The building is old and used to be an industrial building on the river. I can't remember exactly what it's purpose was, but it had something to do with coal. We found a few good deals for their pre-holiday sale. 

Friday was also free day at the Denver Botanical Gardens and the Denver Zoo. Yes, it was a chilly day of about 20F, but we both we geared up with hats and mittens and there were plenty of buildings to duck into for a little relief and to warm up our toes. Now, free days tend to be quite busy in my experience but neither place was bad at all. The gardens had a special exhibit of Dale Chihuly. My pictures weren't very good, I only had my phone and the sun was in a goofy place. I recommend you click on some of these links to see his beautiful glass sculptures. They were having a small market as well for people who wanted to get an early jump on Christmas shopping!

The zoo was a fun time as well. The animals were much more active than in the summer. We saw the otters, sea lions, Siberian tiger, cheetahs, all moving around. Many warmer climate animals were in their respective houses for the winter but were still pretty active. I had a good time watching the elephant. He was playing with some toys, throwing sand, and rubbing his body on the walls! Nate had an even better time with the gorilla. When we arrived inside, he looked mad. He was swiftly spinning across the floor and making very abrupt movements. The exhibit was neat because you could step right up to the glass and be closer than ever. At one point the gorilla wound up his arm and send a blow to the glass immediately in front of Nate's teeth. The glass made an echoing sound and everyone stepped back...and then, the gorilla did it again! Could've been a bad day, who knows, but it sure scared me! We stopped for a hot beverage on the way back to the Airbnb to chill out for awhile.

For dinner, we found this Native American place that was unique and very good, Tocabe. It reminded me a bit of a Qdoba where you decide what goes in/on your food but instead of tortillas you meal was made on fry bread! It was very good and I would go back in a heartbeat!

We checked out some local bars and tried to find the opener of the Badgers Basketball, instead we found the UW-Milwaukee game on in the corner. All in all it was a good night and a great time. I would recommend airbnb again! 

Day 5: Driving I-70E From Grand Junction to Denver

Normally, a four hour drive along an interstate would prove to be fairly uneventful. Not this time! I drove home since Nate had to work and the thought was that he could relax, maybe catch a nap, and at the very least not have to drive on the way home. When we left Grand Junction it was about 65F and sunny! I put on my comfy driving clothes of leggings, t-shirt, and Chacos. As we drove eastward, the sky slowly clouded up and there was snow in the distance. I had briefly joked to Nate, "Do you think I'll have to drive through that snow?" It was quite a while until we hit flurries, but they slowly came and it was kind of pretty. You could see the shape and design of each snowflake as it hit the window and immediately melted.

Quite a few more minutes passed and steadily my pretty snowflakes began to lose their enthusiasm. We were about to hit the big mountain ski towns of Vail and Breckenridge, thus rising in elevation. The homes are immaculate! We continued to drive and soon I could hardly see, still climbing up the spiraling mountain road. Needless to say, Nate was not as relaxed as planned due to my minor freakout of having to drive down the mountain in ice and snow! 

I did just fine and needed a beer with my lunch. The temperature dropped about 55F, the snow and ice covered the car, and my feet were freezing! Nate helped me determine when to downshift, coast, and keep up with traffic and was very encouraging. Hopefully, this has/will make me a better mountain driver.  

The next day, still snowing of course, we played in the snow!

Beer, food, and more drinks!

I'll keep this one short and sweet, however I write about our dinner and drinks last night! We weren't completely set on a place to eat, so we drove downtown Denver and looked for something appealing. We still have the Rocketbox on top of the car and honestly forgot about it until we heard the scrape on in the parking garage. We found a spot right away so it only hit once on the way up and once on the way down. 

We walked around where the 16th St. Mall begins and settled on the Wynkoop Brewery. We later learned that this used to be owned by the current governor of Colorado (he's up for reelection so this may not be accurate by the time you read it). Nate and I studied the brews carefully and decided to split a flight called, The Koop. The flight consisted of their Railyard (amber), B3k (black lager), seasonal wheat beer, Patty's Chili Beer, and Uber (light lager). Nate also ordered London Calling IPA which was a cask conditioned beer. My fav was the Railyard. The chili beer is nothing like I have ever had before. It is made with Anaheim and ancho chilies and you could definitely smell them! It tasted good and I did like it, however I don't know if I could consume copious amount. My nose was left smelling of peppers and it was just weird that you couldn't taste them. 

The food was very good too! I had Turlu turlu and Nate had a reuben brat. 

After, we planned on walking around and found a little jazz trio at another restaurant. We had a few drinks, listened to the trio, watched some college ball, and called it a night. 

One of the lessons we have learned since moving out of Wisconsin is that drinks are made WAY differently. There were some issues with an old fashioned sour and I had the worst drink ever a few weeks ago when we all ordered bloody marys. The glass was rimmed in salt, the drink was garnished with a single stalk of celery, and the drink tasted like vodka and ketchup. I tried to spice it up with Tabasco and pepper, but it just didn't cut it. 

Enjoy your bloodies Wisco! I'd love one from Centraal right about now!