Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 5 - Boulder and Nederland

We hung out at the hotel for a couple of hours this morning, ate left-over dinner stuff for breakfast, and then drove out to Boulder to Celestial Seasonings for a tour. Daphne said, "I hope the workers here don't look like slaves like they did at Hammond's Candies." Well, the candy people were VERY focused, as they only had a few moments to work before the molten candy hardened. But there were not a whole lot of people working on the floor at Celestial Seasonings, as it's not their busy season anymore.

While we waited for our 11 o'clock tour, we got to sample teas; they had about a dozen made and in dispensers, but you could ask for any of 80 varieties. I learned a lot on the tour, like that Sleepytime is their best-seller and that it's not actually a tea because it's made with herbs and not, you know, tea leaves. Also, that white, black, and green tea are all made with the same plant, just varying methods. White tea is made from the flowering buds of the tea plant and can only be harvested 1 week a year. Green tea is heated to make sure it won't ferment. Black tea is withered and left to ferment. Now you know.

After our tour, we drove up to Nederland, where James used to live. He took us to lunch at Backcountry Pizza, and it was excellent. Daphne had a meat pizza and chicken wings, I had cheese and garlic pizza, and James got two specialty slices: Nedeteranian and something with ham, pineapple, and jalapenos *shudder*.

Daphne was exhausted after lunch; I'm pretty sure she's full-out sick now (this girl's sinuses do NOT travel well). We walked through a nature center, then she laid down in the car while James and I visited an alpaca shop and hit the grocery store. Then we drove down the road to where James used to live. Memory Lane then took us to Boulder, to the Pearl Street Mall. We got Ben and Jerry's, walked around, and finished up at Dushanbe's Tea House. That was five hours ago, and I'm still stuffed.

When we got back to the hotel, James and I went to check out the hot tub and learned that: 1) It's outside on the second floor and 2) it's barely lukewarm. I'm too chilly, so we came back to the room and watched the awesome sunset instead.

Pictures have been uploaded here; hope you enjoy them!

Team Dave's Road Trip Mini-Update 4.5 - Miscellany

So, we've talked about the stuff we've done and enjoyed on our trip. Now for some real life that's maybe not so much fun or interesting, but is definitely a part of the vacation experience, anyway.

The Astro has cruise control, but it doesn't work. Driving from about 500 feet above sea level to over 6000 feet above sea level at 75 miles per hour is a lot of right leg work in a high-profile van. Also, because of the wind, most of the drive up was a battle. The passenger side door doesn't seem to seal all the way, which we don't notice in Austin because there are hills and wind breaks that aren't out in west Texas. At one point, north of Amarillo, it was getting so bad that it felt like it was grabbing the van and hurling it. I pulled over to see if I could shut the door more securely from the outside, but could barely OPEN my door because of the winds. It was intense. It didn't make much difference, so I just had to hang on with both hands and we all had to deal with the noise of air streaming in through wherever the crack is.

Obviously, the altitude takes a couple of days' acclimation. Last night, James and I ran a couple of blocks without too much trouble, but the first day, just walking up stairs would wind us.

James having lived here before and Daphne's and my having lived in Las Vegas, we've experienced dry air before, but now we're not used to it. We've all had dry sinuses and the ensuing busted nasal capillaries... you know what I'm saying. Daphne's had it the worst. Last night, she was awake a good deal of the time (or not awake, and blowing her nose in her sleep) trying to breathe. Her throat is sore, her tonsils are swollen, and this morning we spent more than $20 on nasal moisturizer/decongestant and Ricola cough drops from the hotel shop.

Also, originally, when I started looking a couple of weeks ago, the highs here were supposed to be in the mid-60s. That quickly changed to mid- to low-50s. We brought coats and were prepared, but I'm very uncomfortable in the cold right now, and I am basically running from door to door. We were blessed by sun and being in a wind-sheltered valley at most of Garden of the Gods, but otherwise, I've had to appreciate the gorgeous Colorado landscape from inside. My face is wind-chapped; I am actually putting lotion on it, and that's saying a lot since I tend toward oily skin and typically don't like to put any product, especially moisturizer, on.

Then, of course, there's the reality of traveling with a pre-teen who really appreciates her online time to chat with friends and the like. And that's all I have to say about that.

None of this to complain, of course. It's just that since I'm posting the fun, I thought I'd show you the keepin' it real, too.

Finally, we've had three different showers on this trip. The KOA shower took a long time to heat up, but once it did, it was gloriously scalding. My skin was pink from enjoying it for quite a while. The pressure was even, pretty much perfect.

The shower at the lodge was ridiculous. It wasn't that it was low-pressure, per se. It had like six or seven very thin, very pointy-feeling streams of water jetting out from around the edges of the shower head and pointing randomly at places that were not where one typically stands in the shower, except that if I leaned over to adjust the water temperature, a couple of streams would poke me in the eye or try to shear my shoulder off. There was allegedly (according to James) a substantial enough stream right in the middle, but I never could get it to feel like much more than someone shooting a water gun (one of those little plastic ones; not a Super-Soaker) at my hair. this doesn't bode well for rinsing shampoo, especially as the water felt pretty soft.

The Westin shower is incredible. It is a rain-down shower head, but they also have an attachment in case you want to spray anything that's not easily accessible to straight-down water (like, say, your armpits; fortunately, mine do not require maintenance as they are self-cleaning and smell like roses). The water takes a bit to respond to changes in tap settings, but is plenty hot and the pressure is even. The soap is shaped like a leaf, and their shampoo and conditioner is super high quality. They also have a bathrobe available for use. Yes, I did.

The only drawback of staying somewhere vaguely hoity-toity like this (thanks, Hotwire!) is that EVERYTHING cost extra. This is the first more upscale place where I haven't had to pay for parking, but we are having to shell out $11 a day for internet. The 20 ounce soda I bought yesterday was $2.90; I bought one for $1.50 at the KOA. The breakfast burritos in their hotel restaurant are $12 ($19 if you order them through room service), and the fruit parfait I got Daphne at the hotel Starbucks this morning was $6.50.

Fortunately, we're on vacation so we have budgeted for "extras," but it's still crazy how you can get free continental breakfast and wi-fi at the Super 8. There is an indoor pool here; we haven't used it yet, but might tonight. The humidity would likely feel GREAT.

We took it slow this morning, and are just about ready to head out to see where James used to live. Tuesday's Focus on the Family was for Daphne; yesterday's Hammonds tour was for me; and this afternoon is for James. Tomorrow is for nobody, as we drive. And drive. Aaaand drive (after we pick up my phone). But, you know what? We're a pretty cool team; I bet we'll manage to have fun, anyway.

Oh, we listened to the audiobook to "Holes" (Daphne's and my pick) on the way up, and have started "Summer Knight" (James') so will probably be able to finish that up between today's route and tomorrow's straight shot southeast.

Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 4 - Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Hammonds Candy, and Denver Mint

This morning, we woke up to a dusting of snow on our van and the ground. We took advantage again of the center's breakfast, then headed north to Denver.

First stop was Hammond's Candies for their factory tour. We got to watch them make butterscotch candy canes from start to batch-rolling. They weren't making chocolate when we were there, but they did have their Easter candy on sale 75% off, so we got a solid chocolate bunny for $2.75. We did get a big old bag of Mitchells Sweets offs for $5. As you can see from that link, 4 of them are $7.50 but we got a bag of like 25 of them for $5. And they're super addictive. We got a couple of free candy canes that were broken, including a cream-filled cinnamon and a regular blueberry one. It's neat; the centers are made up of broken pieces that are melted back into a base and recycled. They also gave us a bubblegum-flavored Valentine's heart lollipop, then I bought two 2-ounce candy canes. One of them is cherry filled with chocolate, and the other is five spice. Looking forward to trying that one. Lastly, we bought a piece of bacon taffy. Yes. That's right. I wish we'd bought more. It's pretty fabulous.

Next, we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was huge and, initially, PACKED with kids. School kids, daycare kids, pre-school aged kids... Lots and lots of kids. My introvert husband was a bit overwhelmed. We probably should have called it a day after that, but I'd made reservations for one more thing just afterwards, and since the reservations had been in place for three months, I thought we should go ahead and do that.

Anyway, the museum was too big to take in in one day, much less the brief three hours we had. I learned that my arm-span-to-height ratio is a little low. James and I are the same height, and his total reach is two inches more than mine. I'm going to blame all of my upper-body-lack-of-strength on this from now on.

Unfortunately, I left my phone in one of the 4 or 5 bathrooms I visited while we were there. Fortunately, by the time I called the museum at about 7:30 this evening, someone had turned the phone in. I even got the security guy to turn the phone off for me to save its charge. Of course, I'll have to reactivate the phone service once I have it again, but I didn't want anyone calling my friends.

After the museum, we went to the Denver Mint (no pictures allowed) and watched a million or so pennies be made. It costs over 2 cents to make a penny, over 10 cents to make a nickel, but closer to a nickel to make a dime. Figure out the economics on that one.

We checked into our hotel (thanks, Priceline!), and Daphne wanted to stay in for the evening, so James and I walked next door to Bender's where we started our meal with poutine... it was divine! It was also VERY cold, so when we came back to the hotel, we jogged across the promenade.

We all spent the night recovering a bit from the pretty busy tourist day, and we don't have to make it to a breakfast or anything in the morning, so we're going to take it a lot slower tomorrow.

Pictures from today start here.

Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 3 - Adventures in Odyssey and Pike's Peak

This morning, we got up and were able to take advantage of the better-than-continental breakfast that our lodge provides. Full of grits and juice and chocolate soymilk and bacon and other goodies, we drove over to the Focus on the Family Welcome Center.

James was very indulgent to spend two full hours there with Daphne and me, given that he has almost zero context for any of it. He was able to go down the three-story twisty slide, which I could not since I'm pregnant. Daphne went down it twice. We were there when Whit's End opened and they both got a Wodfamchocsod; I opted for a Diet Pepsi as I had not had my caffeine fix yet, and this is an important part of my day.

We all sat in the lobby for a while as Daphne posted several pictures to an Adventures in Odyssey club online, and then we drove to Manitou Springs to the Cog Railway station for a trip up Pike's Peak. Upon our arrival, we learned that due to snow and high winds, the train wasn't cleared to go to the summit, 14,500 feet. Instead, we'd be stopping at 12,500 feet but they were also refunding a portion of our ticket prices.

We went to the store to grab snacks, having packed plenty of water, and had a great couple of hours taking in the sites with neither James nor I having to drive. The conductor offered plenty of information, varying levels of veracity, about Pike's Peak on the way up. On the way down, we chatted and were grateful that every moment brought increasing oxygen. Although we didn't reach the peak, we did get just above the timberline. Pretty impressive, especially considering that 90% of the railway's line is original from the 1890s.

The shortened train ride gave us some time to explore Manitou Springs, which is a charming town at the foot of Pike's Peak. Daphne was pretty tired, so actually asked to sleep in the van while we checked out some stores. Although it was cold, it was sunny, so the interior of the van was warm. She rested and we went to a comic book and gaming store, then went to the Manitou Brewing Company where James tried a very dark stout and I enjoyed my second caffeine fix of the day.

After that, we were able to get into our dinner reservation half an hour early as they weren't busy. We had fondue at Mona Lisa, but having snacked on the train, elected to get only the cheese and chocolate courses. For our first course, we went with a creamy Fontina mixture, and then for dessert, dark chocolate salted caramel.

We got back "home" early enough for Daphne to chat with some friends and draw while James and I played a cutthroat game of hangman, then watched Agents of SHIELD. Once again, he's asleep and it's my turn!

Pictures from today start here.

Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 2 - Amarillo to Colorado Springs

This morning, after everyone got up and around, we drove to Love's for gas and then to Cadillac Ranch to do some "damage." It was windy, but we managed to spray paint a few nice touches and the people who got there as we were leaving did not have paint cans, so what we wrote stayed at least for a while.

After that, we headed north through the northeast corner of New Mexico and into Colorado. The scenery was beautiful, it was not as windy as yesterday (though it was extremely windy), and there were no dust storms at all.

We ended up lunching in Walsenburg at the Coyote Cafe. Neat little place, and the food was excellent... it's just that my pizza took so long to cook ("The oven isn't usually this slow!") that James and Daphne had already finished their mushroom Swiss melt and bacon mushroom Swiss burger, respectively, before it was finished. The waitress brought me a free side salad, and when the pizza was ready to go, I had it boxed up and ate some of it on the road.

It was with gratefulness that we pulled into Colorado Springs earlier than anticipated, and the van running like a champ. This trip is putting it through its paces with the wind and elevation changes and dust.

The first thing we did was go to Garden of the Gods. It's indescribably beautiful. You can look at my pictures, but even they don't adequately capture how amazing the place is. We walked on the paved trail for an hour or so, enjoying blue skies and a break from the relentless wind. When we were on our way back to the car to drive to another area of the park, the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped what felt like a good ten degrees. The wind whipped back up, and we rushed to the car, breathing hard from the elevation to which we are not accustomed.

We drove around and looked at more formations, then as we stopped at Pull-Out 8 to see some red rocks plus Pikes Peak, it started to snow!

Fortunately, we are staying less than two miles from Garden of the Gods at the Glen Eyrie Conference Center. Because Daphne is under 16, we couldn't stay in the castle, but we got a room in a small lodge and it's perfect for us.

When we first arrived, there was a conference group checking in at the carriage house, so we walked up to the castle and explored it for a bit before going back down to check in. On the way to the lodge, we happened to catch a huge (I think; it was easily a dozen, maybe more) herd of bighorn sheep grazing in front of the adjacent lodge.

We got settled in, meaning that Daphne got on the internet and I unpacked for our two nights, then James and I set out to find somewhere to go for dinner. He happened across Edelweiss German Restaurant, and, man, was that a winner. Daphne had jagerschnitzel (pork medallions), James had a stuffed pasta, and I had an amazing Waldorf salad. We had so much food that we all brought back left-overs. And we also ordered dessert to go: a slice of Dobosh Torte and a Mocha Mousse Torte. Breakfast, I guess?

Now we're back at Glen Eyrie, and I think it's time for bed! James has already been asleep for an hour. I'm ready to join in.

Road Trip Mini-Update 1.5 - KOA quirks and how I'm kind of Macguyver

Yesterday, except for some probably fake tea (read: reconstituted, not brewed), I had almost no caffeine. Between that and the weird dust storm stuff plus my allergies, I got a couple of visual migraines which, if you have to have a migraine, they're the best ones because you can't feel them at all; they're just freaky. Anyway, here at the KOA, I had bought a 20-ounce Diet Coke in the store, and barely had time to take a swig before we went to dinner - where I didn't buy soda because I knew we had cheaper soda at "home."

However, once we got back, I realized that I probably needed not to drink anything else the rest of the night if I didn't want to have to get up and go to the restroom. It's not too far from our cabin; it's probably 100 yards, maybe a little more. But, as I mentioned, the wind got *worse* once we got back. The porch swing hit the cabin several times. I did *not* want to have to run over there.

Fortunately, my strategery worked and I made it until 5:36 this morning. Since it was practically morning morning, I decided to go ahead and get my shower, then I'd fix my hair while Daphne was over getting cleaned up this morning... later.

If you've ever stayed at a KOA "kamping kabin" (I hope that's not a racist thing), you know that you have to bring your own linens. Except here we had the option to rent them for $20 for the night, and since we already had to bring jackets and coats and shorts and clothing options that ranged from the high-70s to the mid-30s, I didn't want to haul any more than we needed to, especially for just one night.

Consequently, we had bed coverings... just not towels. I didn't think of those. Oh well, we can make do, right?

So this morning, in the cabin in the dark (little man by the window stood-- oh, wait, wrong story), I grabbed my clothes for today (which I'd put on the handy peg last night; three pegs, three people's clothes) as well as the "bathroom bag" I'd packed for D and me to tote over there. I threw my ugly plaid overshirt on over my nightgown, pulled on a pair of leggings, and came outside to find it in the high-40s, yes, but not windy. It was actually not cold at all. It felt lovely, and the air was cleared out of all of the grit we were chewing on yesterday.

First thing about the bathroom is that the lights are on a 30-minute timer. During the day, there is enough ambient light from the windows that you don't really need them. That's one interesting way to keep people from standing in the hot showers all morning. Oh, and, yes, the water (after three minutes of my being concerned) gets wonderfully scalding.

The facilities at every KOA I have visited have been consistently clean and nice. However, in a bathroom for women, I can't believe there is nowhere to prop a foot in case you want to, you know, shave. Well, we made that work.

Drying off sans towel would be no big deal; my plan was to use my yesterday clothes for that. But then it hit me that Saturday afternoon, after I'd showered and towel-dried my hair, when it drip-dried, I ended up with orange spots down the back of a yellow t-shirt. I know, I should rinse my color out better. But that was the THIRD wash since I'd colored, and I can't stay in the shower for two hours!

Anyway, I didn't want to mess up my pretties; I'm kind of in love with my maternity clothes. Then it hit me: Leggings! I turned them inside out, flipped my head over, put the waist part around my hairline, and then pulled each "leg" around my head in an opposite direction so that I ended up with a Jemima-esque bow in the middle of my forehead. Ridiculous? Maybe. But problem solved.

Also, I forgot my shoes, so had to slip sandals back on over my socks. Oh well.

Back at the cabin now, waiting for the others to wake up. We have some more driving to do today, then will arrive at our destination. Grateful for the milder weather so I can sit out here on the porch updating and watching the sun rise without bothering James and Daphne too much. I can sleep, but on vacations, I guess my body doesn't want to miss a minute of anything.

Here are the pictures from yesterday!

Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 1 - Austin to Amarillo

This morning, I woke up and went to Ken's doughnuts to get kolache and pastries to lure James and D out of bed earlier (and happier) than usual for a Sunday. My goal was to head out by 8, and we were in the Astro and on our way by 7:40.

Daphne slept for the first three hours of the trip, while James and I just took in the scenery. It started getting very windy at, well, the wind farms just southeast of Sweetwater. We pulled into town in time to get gas and stretch our legs a bit before Allen's Family Style Meals opened for lunch.

Another family was already seated at "our" table when we were told where to park ourselves, so the fried chicken was already down. There were also bowls of carrots, yams, cold creamed potatoes, hot potato chunks, creamy pea salad, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, a pepper salad, rolls, beef with gravy, green beans, corn, white gravy, squash, and probably a lot of other things I can't remember. Oh, and peach cobbler. My goodness.

When we walked in, we were directed to the table and asked if we wanted iced tea. That's it. Then the food comes on like crazy. For all of that, it was $10 per person.

Well-fed, we were ready to hit the road again. Wind was worse, and we had to blast "Holes" so we could hear it over the ambient noise. There were at least two, and maybe three times when the visibility was less than 50 feet, so I'd slow way down, turn on the lights and the hazards, and proceed with caution.

When we finally reached Palo Duro Canyon, there was a clear demarcation in the sky exactly where the dust storm was and where it wasn't... yet. We were able to see the first set or two of formations, but could not see into the distance. Heck, I couldn't enjoy the scenery without binding my skirt in my fist or else flashing other visitors to this state park.

We stayed for about an hour, taking in the view and then getting to see even more from the shelter of the visitor's center before it closed.

Then we drove the rest of the way into town and checked in at the Amarillo KOA. We have a nice cabin that even has a television, which we unplugged so we could charge all of our devices.

We had planned to have dinner at the Big Texan Steakhouse, but none of us was hungry enough after lunch. We found a place online, Bangkok Restaurant, that was basically billed as good food on the grungy Amarillo Boulevard. Since it seemed like a local must-visit, we went and had dinner there. It was excellent.

Now we're in the cabin listening to the outrageous winds. I'll be glad to leave Texas tomorrow and get away from the crazy storm cell! Daphne is chatting online with friends, James is already asleep, and I'm ready to be asleep. I'm uploading a few pictures, but the wi-fi here is spotty, so will pause it and finish tomorrow.

We make the rest of the road trip tomorrow, then get to hang out for the majority of the week without much Astro booty time. Looking forward to that, too! :)