My OperaSunny Colorado
Monday, July 10, 2006 3:21:54 AM
From: Moab
To: Denver
Miles: 403
MPG: 51.5
After a nice, albeit buggy, night camping just outside Moab on the banks of the Colorado River, we woke early-ish and broke down our camp. Lucky for us we got an early start. At about 7:45 the rain started and followed us through Utah all the way to Denver. Moab must have gotten its entire annual rainfall today. Oh, the joys of driving through downpours; visibility is overrated.
Leaving Moab we headed south for another one of Jon’s “Must See” sights – “Hole N’ The Rock.”
At first, Jessica refused to get out of the nice, dry car, but after some coaxing she came along and was very glad she did. Hole ‘n the Rock is a house blasted out of a sandstone mountain by a couple back in the 40’s and 50’s. 5000 square feet of the best 1950s furnishings preserved as a monument to something (although we are not sure what). Not only did Albert and Gladys occupy themselves creating the house, but they also liked to paint pictures of Jesus, carve busts of FDR, and taxidermy (badly) horses.
To top it off, there is now a petting zoo outside it with ostriches, wallabies and Vietnamese pot-belly pigs.
Yeah, it was about an 8.5 on the ol’ “weird-shit-ometer.”
Next stop – sunny Fruita, Colorado. In the rain.
Fun for both Jon and Jessica this time. For Jessica, the Colorado wine-tasting room. Far better than expected, but certainly not California.
For Jon, the Mike the Headless Chicken monument. Back in the 40’s this guy in Fruita cut the head off of a chicken, and it ran around like, well, like a chicken with its head cut off. But then it got weird. The chicken didn’t die. Dubbed “Mike”, the owner took it on tour for then next few years, periodically dropping bird food directly down its throat for nourishment. Keep in mind that this occurred well before the internet, and Mike even got a write-up in Life Magazine, so it may actually be true. (Though Jessica has serious doubts.)
Continuing through the Rockies, we decided to take another go at Colorado wine, so we stopped in Minturn, a small mountain town just outside Vail. The wine, was, well, not good. Not Nebraska bad, but not good. But the people – wow. We knew it was a good stop when an old, crusty local pulled into the shop on his bicycle (literally) and didn’t so much as bat an eye when we asked to take his photo with the flamingo.
Even the bartender caught the spirit of the flamingo and posed as well, balancing on one leg to “prove” that she wasn’t drunk. One might suggest that the very act of balancing on one leg while holding a flamingo to prove sobriety somewhat contradicts the argument, but who are we to point such things out.
Great people, great time. We wished we could have spent the night in town, but it was back on the road for the last push to Denver to see Kim, a friend of Jessica’s from the Peace Corps, her fiancé Bryan, and their beer-loving dog Georgia.
To: Denver
Miles: 403
MPG: 51.5
After a nice, albeit buggy, night camping just outside Moab on the banks of the Colorado River, we woke early-ish and broke down our camp. Lucky for us we got an early start. At about 7:45 the rain started and followed us through Utah all the way to Denver. Moab must have gotten its entire annual rainfall today. Oh, the joys of driving through downpours; visibility is overrated.
Leaving Moab we headed south for another one of Jon’s “Must See” sights – “Hole N’ The Rock.”
At first, Jessica refused to get out of the nice, dry car, but after some coaxing she came along and was very glad she did. Hole ‘n the Rock is a house blasted out of a sandstone mountain by a couple back in the 40’s and 50’s. 5000 square feet of the best 1950s furnishings preserved as a monument to something (although we are not sure what). Not only did Albert and Gladys occupy themselves creating the house, but they also liked to paint pictures of Jesus, carve busts of FDR, and taxidermy (badly) horses.
To top it off, there is now a petting zoo outside it with ostriches, wallabies and Vietnamese pot-belly pigs.
Yeah, it was about an 8.5 on the ol’ “weird-shit-ometer.”
Next stop – sunny Fruita, Colorado. In the rain.
Fun for both Jon and Jessica this time. For Jessica, the Colorado wine-tasting room. Far better than expected, but certainly not California.
For Jon, the Mike the Headless Chicken monument. Back in the 40’s this guy in Fruita cut the head off of a chicken, and it ran around like, well, like a chicken with its head cut off. But then it got weird. The chicken didn’t die. Dubbed “Mike”, the owner took it on tour for then next few years, periodically dropping bird food directly down its throat for nourishment. Keep in mind that this occurred well before the internet, and Mike even got a write-up in Life Magazine, so it may actually be true. (Though Jessica has serious doubts.)
Continuing through the Rockies, we decided to take another go at Colorado wine, so we stopped in Minturn, a small mountain town just outside Vail. The wine, was, well, not good. Not Nebraska bad, but not good. But the people – wow. We knew it was a good stop when an old, crusty local pulled into the shop on his bicycle (literally) and didn’t so much as bat an eye when we asked to take his photo with the flamingo.
Even the bartender caught the spirit of the flamingo and posed as well, balancing on one leg to “prove” that she wasn’t drunk. One might suggest that the very act of balancing on one leg while holding a flamingo to prove sobriety somewhat contradicts the argument, but who are we to point such things out.
Great people, great time. We wished we could have spent the night in town, but it was back on the road for the last push to Denver to see Kim, a friend of Jessica’s from the Peace Corps, her fiancé Bryan, and their beer-loving dog Georgia.
