Day 75-80: Savage Ride through the Midwest to Denver, Colorado for Friendsgiving

Wow, super excited to have some time to post updates! Let me start with some exciting things that happened on the road.

When we last left our hero… I was in State Center, Iowa. I made great friends with the bartender in that town of 3000 people, the Rose Capital of Iowa. She gave me a fresh cut of steak which was amazing. My little non-stick pan has finally started to lose its non-stickiness. That’s what happens when it gets used 3 times a day I suppose.

I don’t think I included this in my last update but on my way to State Center from Chicago, a young couple hit a deer in the road. I stopped and gave them first aide. I had a road kit and used some flares to keep cars away from us and stayed with them until the State Trooper arrived. I had ice in the car and gave it to the man who broke his hand. Their car was completely totaled. Always have to be safe and aware of these things.

I left State Center which had warmed up to 70 during my stay. When I got there it was 21! I headed to Nebraska. It was so boring there. I think I left my place once to get groceries and just stayed inside as it snowed. The first night I went to get acclimated with the town and the bartender at this really fancy brewery asked what I wanted. I said I would take a red ale. Amber/Red ales are known for their malt based beer with added hops giving it a more smooth taste than a standard bitter IPA. It’s one of my favorite types followed by stouts, then sours, and lagers after with IPAs falling in a dead last. Bell’s 2 hearted is obviously the exception to the rule. BUT I DIGRESS. This bearded millennial goes behind the bar, and pulls a glass, doesn’t pre-rinse it, and pours a yellow cloudy beer about 70% into a glass and then pours about half a can of tomato juice into it. As he sets the beer down on the counter I try to steel the emotions on my face and say, “So do you folks around here always pour tomato in your beers or is that just because I’m from out of town?” He said, “Well you said you wanted it red; so I made it red : )” I looked at him for a solid moment and took a sip. After all this trip is all about adventure right? Well that beer had jalapeño in it and my god was it terrible. Actually, if it was early morning and I needed a Bloody Marry but only wanted beer, (What would you call that then? A Bearded Lady? A Bloody Beer? I’ll keep workshopping a name), then maybe I would go for that gutter water but my god was I not expecting that. I chugged whatever one he gave me next then walked back determined to get the taste of both that beer and that experience out of my mouth. It was about 30 degrees and had 45 mile per hour sustained winds. Not fun to walk home in! That was that I thought and I spent the next week inside just working and editing videos. Then I drove to Denver.

If I had thought that walking in the wind was wild I should have expected driving in it to be equally ludicrous. 30 mile per hour sustained winds with 80 mph gusts. INSANE. I was basically leaning on the steering wheel for 5 hours. With the time change I made it in 4 and I got to see Daniel! We partied all night which for me means drinking and cooking. I’ve done more of that in Denver then almost all trip and it’s a fantastic way to spend time. Incredibly enjoyable with friends as well. I brought him meat from Nebraska and he couldn’t get over how thoughtful of a gift it was. Watched midsommar and fell asleep at his place. Had to park my car behind the 7-11. He made chicken and rice which was fantastic. The peanut butter whiskey was not a hit 🤣. It was very cold when we went outside.

Sunday 11-15-2020, we took his dog Anax (ancient Greek for King I think?) for a very long walk around the city. We started in RiNo (River North art district) and got to see all around town. We walked along the low low river (the Platte river? either north or south I can’t recall). This river was incredibly dirty but kind of pretty in a way. Then we got to see lots of construction, a few vestiges of the old neighborhood, people who refused to sell to whatever multibillion dollar corporation wanted to build a new apartment complex on their land. We saw several breweries and dispensaries. I always say that you can’t throw a rock in Denver without hitting two microbreweries, a dispensary, and a tent left up by the homeless encampment. It’s gotten really bad in the last 3 years. It was bad in 17 when I was last here but now the communities are rather engrained. Some of them have better tents than I do, either provided by the city or donated by the local REI chapter here in the city. It’s a terrible problem that has no universal solution as each person and their situation is different. Anax, who really should be named Xanax as that’s what I think he needs, was so hyper but after the long walk around, making a friend at the dog park, and the long walk back started to mellow out for an hour anyway haha.

We took him back and got Mimosas, at a place named Mimosas nearby in RiNo. It was pretty okay. It’s only outdoor dining with Rona at this point. My food was good but Jaz (Danny’s wife) and Daniel both the the Smoking! Chicken which was incredibly bland. We flew back home and grabbed Anax to take him out again at the local brewery. He started getting anxious again as soon as other dogs popped up. With the restrictions the dogs had to be kept on a leash and he couldn’t go and smell them. So he was a mess. We walked back home and picked up Christopher as he had just got into town. Christopher got in around 3 or 4 and we continued to celebrate being alive. We got beers and pizza at Ironton. We had to contend with a black out drunk New Yorker who kept telling us, in no uncertain terms that she was from New York, 7th and B, also f Billy DiBlasio. She only said those 3 facts 1000 times so Heather if you’re out there we love you and hope you and your friend walked… er stumbled home safely. Christopher holds umbrage with my statements about loving her. I will retract my last and edit it to say that I love that she existed as a person who I crossed paths with who was made me laugh later on despite how uncomfortable we all might have felt during the encounter. 

11-16-2020
Work day, took a while getting settled in. Got my oil changed and went out for breakfast. Played soccer in the park with Christopher for a bit then had what might be the last DND sessions in a while. Tony got a job in the city at nights and has stepped out. It’s going to be rough finding another replacement but honestly I need the time to go through my videos, rest, and get hyped up again for DND in the future.

11-17-2020

Went out to the middle of nowhere tonight with Christopher after a grueling work day. We had heard of the Leonid meteor storm which unfortunately had just past the night previous. We went east on I-70 for about an hour to Agate and then went about 35 minutes south into and past that village into some farm land. 
We drove until the paved road became dirt and then drove some more. At some point we stopped and pulled over to star gaze. It was incredible and breathtaking. Not a dark point or a perfect spot to look up but it was beautiful. 
We even saw a few lagging meteors! The faintest bits of the milky way and several familiar constellations like Orion. I was able to see Jupiter mars Venus and what I thought was Neptune but since I wasn’t sure I kept that part to myself.
The wind was high and made the power lines next to the road sing. We remarked on what people of the past might have done if they saw a massive meteor storm like the one in 1888. Probably that the world was ending or maybe they slept through it.
I couldn’t stop laughing and yelling about how cool it was. This was a cold memorable night and was one for the record books or at least this blog for sure. No photos unfortunately as I had left my phone camera stand at the BNB

11-18
Eh work

11-19
I actually was able to cook a traditional spaghetti and meatball meal from friggin scratch! ahha was so good. Super not colorful so no gross pictures. But my god was it delicious.

11-20
UGHHHH workkkkk. It was so difficult to do anything but power through the end of our contract. Can’t wait for the next one. Hopefully, it’ll be quoted better and more in our favor. We’ve been dying lately. Finally on Friday at 2pm MST (4pm EST). I WAS RELEASED A FREE MAN. I got my vacation approved for the whole week. Finally, I’ll be able to relax.

11-20 PM
Cooked at Daniel’s Place. Made mushroom risotto and asparagus salad for Christopher and chicken for me and Daniel and Jasmine.

11-21
Somehow ended up falling asleep after eating the food and was unable to be roused. I have been burning the candle at both ends so woke up this morning and went back to the BNB.
I made a delicious steak and eggs combo and then we went back to Daniels.
Checked out the look out in Golden which was cute. Went across to take some nice photos and got yelled at by some old man. He had his toddler with him and was cursing at us and everything because we weren’t on the path… wild what razzes people up…
We went to Lichen Peak and climbed up a mountain. Now officially, it was only half a mile but unofficially, it was 40 miles straight up into the sun and I was dying. I’m so sore right now and dehydrated. Got some great photos of everything. Something sharp stabbed my foot we thought it might have been a scorpion but I’m still kicking so probably not.
After we got pizza and by that point, honestly, we were dead tired and called it a night super early.

I’m thinking I’d like to take all the photos from these experiences and narrate a lil summary for tomorrow morning. Christopher is busy and Daniel is likely to sleep in on the weekend so I’ll have some time to post a new video!