Drive from Denver to Salt Lake City: Utah

Once we got into Utah, the scenery changed dramatically.  There only impressive mountain ranges were in the distance.  We felt pretty let down. Luckily, Moab and Arches National Park were on our way to Salt Lake City. 

Pony friends!

The biggest disadvantage of vacationing during the winter is the lack of sunlight.  Sure, the weather isn’t ideal, but it’s tough seeing all the sites when the sun sets by 5.  By the time we got to Arches National Park, the sunlight was waning.

Entering Moab

Frozen Colorado River in foreground

At this point in the drive, I was so overcome by the park's beauty I felt like shedding a tear à la Double Rainbow Guy.

Then I realized I wasn't high or nutsy cuckoo, so I just took pictures instead.

With the little daylight remaining, it was crunch time for sightseeing.  This is where Ayk and I differ when it comes to traveling.  He wanted to stop at the Visitor Center to get advice on which sites to see.  I told him there wasn’t enough time, and hopefully my memory of my visit 10 years ago will help us navigate.  I guess a decade is a long time, because looking at the map didn’t really stir up any memories.

 

Inside Arches Park

 

See, I got my spontaneous and rushed method of traveling from my dad.   A stop at the Visitor’s Center was a foreign concept in my family vacations.  Anytime I wanted to take a picture of an overlook, he would slow down to 15 MPH and say, “Did you get your picture?”  “No, wait!” I pleaded. “Whoops, too late,” as he sped off chuckling.  Time was always against him and there was never enough of it to see everything if we dilly-dallied.

Windows: The Poor Man's Arches

It’s tough abandoning this hurried and almost frantic mentality, but I put this crazed family tradition aside and we made a plan to see at least one arch before the daylight faded.

 Exhausted from running to the viewpoint to see Delicate Arch before the sun set.

 Yeah, I guess it's worth being featured on Utah's license plate.

Four hours later we arrived in Salt Lake City at my sister Nicole’s house around midnight.  She stayed up to welcome us.  We all chit-chatted with my stepsister Kayla a bit before we hit the hay.

Drive from Denver to Salt Lake City: Colorado

After our day in Denver, we wished Rachel the best of luck on her interview and headed to Salt Lake City on Monday.  We were really nervous about this part of the trip. Apparently the path from Denver to Salt Lake City is dangerous if it’s snowing.  It was either take this possibly treacherous route via 70 through the mountains to Salt Lake City, or go through the equally troublesome Wyoming path via 80.

In case you missed our diatribe about our seething contempt for that worthless state, we decided it was better for our safety – and sanity – if we went through the mountains.  We couldn’t have made a better decision.  The weather was great and this is one of the most idyllic drives either of us has taken.

 Each bend around the turn looked like a post card.  

Before reaching Utah, we made a quick detour to Colorado National Monument.

 

 And people wonder why we like taking road trips.

 

Day 7: Denver

Denver: Home to millions of microbrews and more medicinal marijuana offices than Starbucks.

We arrived in the Mile High city on Saturday night after our miserable drive through Wyoming.  I almost shed a tear of joy, because we were finally in civilization.  Our friend Rachel, who moved from Baltimore to Denver only a month ago, and her boyfriend Drew had pizza and local microbrews awaiting us.

Hooray agave friends!

Behemoth Breakfast Burrito
On Sunday morning, we got breakfast at Jack-N-Grill -– infamous for its massive 7 lb. Breakfast burrito, made with 5 lbs of red potatoes, 12 eggs, onions, chiles, spices, tortillas and choice of red or green (or both!) salsa.

Ayk and I dig in

Rachel and Drew with the burrito

Between the four of us, we still had a few pounds left over.

Red Rock Amphitheater

 Turning the stage into an ice skating rink

This picturesque concert venue also doubles as a free work out center.  Just try running up those steps and tell me you wouldn’t be exhausted.

Before you say it ain't no thing, don’t get so cocky, because the 6200 ft elevation makes it hard even to breathe while walking.  Then try that after eating that massive Jack-N-Grill’s Burrito.

Brutal

Coors Brewery Tour
Just west of Denver at the foothills of the Rockies, the small historic town of Golden hosts one of America's largest breweries.

We all agreed that our tour guide had the personality and charm of expired beer.  At least the free samples brightened our spirits.

Boulder
We left Golden and headed to Boulder, which is crawling with eccentric hippies with oodles of money to burn.  We wanted to do a mircrobrewery tour, but by the time we left Coors, most of the breweries were closed.  After a little shopping along Pearl Street, we got dinner at Mountain Sun, which is also a microbrewery.

Denver’s actually a pretty awesome place.  If you think the weather’s going to be chilly and miserable, think again: it’s warmer there (40F) than it is in Baltimore in the winter.  It is also about 60 degrees warmer than Minnesota.