July 15 - Lincoln, Nebraska to Golden (Denver), Colorado
We are now in beautiful Colorado in a suburb outside of Denver. Colorado is one of our favorite states. Nebraska is just above Texas as one of our least favorite states. None of the food we ate there was particularly good and many places didn’t look as clean as we would have liked. And it is a rather boring state - except for the Pony Express Station that we visited today.
I awoke a little later today and we didn’t leave until 8:50 AM. We decided to see if there were any signs of interest along the way and then we would stop. Our goal was to reach Denver which would mean that we would go through the gorgeous Rockies tomorrow. The weather was pretty nice - humid but not hot with temperatures in the low 80s when we left. At breakfast, I was talking to a man and woman, probably around my children’s age, who live in Chicago. They were on their way home. He told me that he loved Wisconsin. One year they drove to Canada and came back through Wisconsin. He told his family that there was no need to go to Canada. Wisconsin was even more beautiful. Then he said he especially loved ---------- I was expecting him to say the northern woods --------- southern Wisconsin and driving through the miles of farmland. Each to his own, I thought, as he told me his kids thought he was nuts. But as I was driving through this part of Nebraska, I thought it did look nice.
We stopped for gas and I took a picture of a sign at the gas station which I am sure was put there just for me. “Patience - Wait For It.” As everyone knows, I am known for my patience. Many years ago a student gave me a tile with a picture of a monk who was praying. He said - “God, give me patience and I want it right now.” Both the student and I were not the most patient people.
As we were driving along, we saw a sign saying that an original pony express station was right there in Gothenburg, Nebraska so off the Interstate we went. Sure enough, there was the station and a really cool museum. They gave us free cookies and I bought Bonnie a magnetic bookmark. I have one that I love and I have been looking for one for her because they are terrific. In all the places we have been this trip, the pony express station was the only place where I found one. I took a number of pictures - one of a buffalo coat - one of an old typewriter - and many of old fishing lures especially for Bonnie’s sister. The museum has items all which were donated by people who lived in Gothenburg. We actually found this really interesting.
And that was last interesting thing we saw in Nebraska. We ate at a truck stop which blows the notion that all truck stops have good food and clean bathrooms. We hit a few scattered showers but nothing that slowed us down. The flat farm land was getting boring and, worse of all, I was developing an earache or gland ache and I felt very tired. So, I stopped at a beautiful rest stop - now we were in Colorado where everything looks beautiful - and Bonnie took over driving. I promptly dozed and when I awoke, we were about 25 miles outside of Denver. It was time to find a place to spend the night.
We didn’t have a reservation because I couldn’t find a hotel listed on our highway. We ended up at the Hampton Inn and it almost feels like home because we have stayed in many of them. And there were cookies out for us. I have felt like Chinese food for many days so I asked at the desk for the best Chinese restaurant. We were directed to Pei Wei Asian Diner which is a very casual P.F. Chang. I didn’t know that P.F. Chang had this type of restaurant but Bonnie looked it up and there is one in Pasadena. We enjoyed our meal although Bonnie’s was very hot. I found that I like Chai Tea.
It is beautiful out. The humidity here is 47% and I love it. We do have our plans for the rest of the trip. Tomorrow we are going to Richfield, Utah which is in the mountains and we are staying at a Best Western. We are paying for tonight’s stay and we will pay for tomorrow night as well. However, at the Best Western, because I have now had two stays within this period of time, I will get a voucher for a free room some other time. When looking at the map, we realized that our next stay should be Vegas. Bonnie emailed her concierge and we have a free night at the Aria with a $100 food credit. It will be a free stay for me since I don’t gamble. We have spent 11 days on the road this trip and we have paid for 6 nights, one of which we had a $50 credit. It pays to belong to the hotel clubs. We will be home sometime Sunday.
I awoke a little later today and we didn’t leave until 8:50 AM. We decided to see if there were any signs of interest along the way and then we would stop. Our goal was to reach Denver which would mean that we would go through the gorgeous Rockies tomorrow. The weather was pretty nice - humid but not hot with temperatures in the low 80s when we left. At breakfast, I was talking to a man and woman, probably around my children’s age, who live in Chicago. They were on their way home. He told me that he loved Wisconsin. One year they drove to Canada and came back through Wisconsin. He told his family that there was no need to go to Canada. Wisconsin was even more beautiful. Then he said he especially loved ---------- I was expecting him to say the northern woods --------- southern Wisconsin and driving through the miles of farmland. Each to his own, I thought, as he told me his kids thought he was nuts. But as I was driving through this part of Nebraska, I thought it did look nice.
We stopped for gas and I took a picture of a sign at the gas station which I am sure was put there just for me. “Patience - Wait For It.” As everyone knows, I am known for my patience. Many years ago a student gave me a tile with a picture of a monk who was praying. He said - “God, give me patience and I want it right now.” Both the student and I were not the most patient people.
As we were driving along, we saw a sign saying that an original pony express station was right there in Gothenburg, Nebraska so off the Interstate we went. Sure enough, there was the station and a really cool museum. They gave us free cookies and I bought Bonnie a magnetic bookmark. I have one that I love and I have been looking for one for her because they are terrific. In all the places we have been this trip, the pony express station was the only place where I found one. I took a number of pictures - one of a buffalo coat - one of an old typewriter - and many of old fishing lures especially for Bonnie’s sister. The museum has items all which were donated by people who lived in Gothenburg. We actually found this really interesting.
And that was last interesting thing we saw in Nebraska. We ate at a truck stop which blows the notion that all truck stops have good food and clean bathrooms. We hit a few scattered showers but nothing that slowed us down. The flat farm land was getting boring and, worse of all, I was developing an earache or gland ache and I felt very tired. So, I stopped at a beautiful rest stop - now we were in Colorado where everything looks beautiful - and Bonnie took over driving. I promptly dozed and when I awoke, we were about 25 miles outside of Denver. It was time to find a place to spend the night.
We didn’t have a reservation because I couldn’t find a hotel listed on our highway. We ended up at the Hampton Inn and it almost feels like home because we have stayed in many of them. And there were cookies out for us. I have felt like Chinese food for many days so I asked at the desk for the best Chinese restaurant. We were directed to Pei Wei Asian Diner which is a very casual P.F. Chang. I didn’t know that P.F. Chang had this type of restaurant but Bonnie looked it up and there is one in Pasadena. We enjoyed our meal although Bonnie’s was very hot. I found that I like Chai Tea.
It is beautiful out. The humidity here is 47% and I love it. We do have our plans for the rest of the trip. Tomorrow we are going to Richfield, Utah which is in the mountains and we are staying at a Best Western. We are paying for tonight’s stay and we will pay for tomorrow night as well. However, at the Best Western, because I have now had two stays within this period of time, I will get a voucher for a free room some other time. When looking at the map, we realized that our next stay should be Vegas. Bonnie emailed her concierge and we have a free night at the Aria with a $100 food credit. It will be a free stay for me since I don’t gamble. We have spent 11 days on the road this trip and we have paid for 6 nights, one of which we had a $50 credit. It pays to belong to the hotel clubs. We will be home sometime Sunday.