November 20: A Very Long Day of Driving

Our November 20th-21st adventure started early in Vail as we headed towards Denver. One goal was on Rob's mind...Make it up Loveland Pass to the Eisenhower Tunnel in a 97 Mazda hauling a 2000 pound UHaul Trailer. She made it just fine even though we barely drove over 30 MPH the whole way - doubling our time to get to the Mile High City.

Once out of the tunnel, we spotted signs for a scenic overlook and the grave of the late, great Buffalo Bill. Taking the bait, we drove up up up up and arrived at William Cody's grave and museum right west of Denver.






In Denver, we ventured down the 16th Street Mall in Lower Downtown (LoDo) and ate salad. Yes, lovely lovely salad. As much as I love fried food and burgers, my body was craving fruits and veggies. One cool thing about downtown Denver is the free public bus transit up 16th street, so we took advantage and rode it all the way to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. You can't leave the Rockies without stopping there! Chocolate covered coffee beans anyone?





By this time it was 2:30 p.m. and our next goal was Omaha - 8 hours away. On the road again!

We waved goodbye to the mountains and said hello to FLAT. Flat flat and more flat. There's nothing much to see in north eastern Colorado or Nebraska, so we drove and drove some more, got gas, played road games, ate Arby's and drove some more. I fell asleep. Rob drove some more.


We got to Omaha around 1 a.m. and I woke up to take part in the city tour Rob was hosting...then we kept driving. To make up for the piddle paddling we did west of Denver, we decided to skip a hotel and take advantage of the REAL purpose of rest stops...getting some rest - Trucker style. So, we pulled up next to the line of big rigs and counted our sheep.


About an hour before sunrise, Rob woke up and drove us to Des Moines just in time for city tour #2 and breakfast.


Davenport, Iowa was our next stop, so we could touch the mighty Mississippi before driving over to Illinois. I think Rob wanted to be just like Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer.


What trip would be complete without at least one muffler man? Or one muffler woman for that matter....



We found her outside a tire shop in Peoria, Illinois. And glad we did, because otherwise we wouldn't have found a corner New Orleans -style cafe called Beignet's for lunch! For the second time on our trip, we were the only people being served in the restaurant. We had the special - a turkey bacon avocado sandwich on pretzel bread and the New Orleans brewed beer called Dixie. Man, was it to die for! I bet Subway was packed a half mile away...



Currently we are driving and hoping to arrive in Indy later tonight. Home sweet Home. Sigh. Smile. Happiness.