Hike #1

We did an EPIC 8.5 mile loop hike in Rocky Mountain National Park today (hereinafter RMNP). That's a long first hike! Good job, us!

Strike that - good job ME. Lily basically runs 87 miles a day, whereas I get winded walking from my couch to my front door when the pizza delivery guy knocks (ripped off HIMYM there). I'm just happy I kept up with her/didn't have a heart attack. Here's Lily looking not tired:


Here's me looking mostly dead:


Anyway, the rangers warned us that a section of the trail was mostly impassable due to excessive snow. Didn't stop us! We conquered those snow fields like we were...uh...Lewis and Clark? I don't know what analogy is appropriate there.

We did get lost for about half-mile but we recovered nicely. All told, we hiked around 6 alpine lakes with fun names (Bear Lake, Glacier Lake, Emerald Lake, Lake Haiyana, etc.). Here's Lily at Emerald Lake:



I know, it's not emerald at all. What a ripoff.

Oh and here's an avalanche that wiped away part of the trail. You can see Lily blazing her own trail. What a natural!


And here are just some standard pretty scenery shots:






And here's one of me standing on my head:



(I have no idea how that happened).

If your curious about our route, here's the map. Oh and for the record, yes, we hiked to an elevation of about 10,400 feet.



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Location:County Rd,Grand Lake,United States

Rocky Mountain National Park

Hi GART-mates!

We have officially entered phase 2 of the trip: camping. For the next 5 days, instead of hurtling st top speed across the USA, we'll be taking a more leisurely pace, stopping in national parks and scenic spots, hiking, camping, and exploring.

We just arrived here but things are already looking good:


Miles: 1,900
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Pumpkin pancakes

I had a pumpkin pancake today in Boulder. Did you know that was a thing? I sure didn't.



Miles: 1,800
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Jazz

Denver is great. We went to some live jazz in the park schtick. We picnicked and drank wine as we listened.



It rocked, and then there was a double rainbow.


Guess how I reacted?
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Location:Mesa Dr,Estes Park,United States

Denver

Lilster (note: iPhone autocorrects lilster to oilseed) and I spent the day with her old college friends in Denver, the mile high city. We rode bikes:



We saw the capital:


We went to a brewery:


Long story short, I'm probably moving to Denver.

Miles: 1850


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Location:Arapahoe St,Denver,United States

Colorado

After a slow start to the trip on Thursday due to excessive NYC traffic, we have rebounded to being almost completely on schedule. We drove about 1,000 miles in the past day, from Chicago to Denver, through the heartland of America.



This part of the country is mostly untouched by modernity - but the signs of humanity are still everywhere. Although we saw very few people (Nebraska and Iowa COMBINED have less than half the people of NYC), literally all of the highway is flanked by farms and crops. Iowa did have some nice wind turbines though - probably the main addition to the landscape in the past 100 years.



Being out here makes the whole small-town, anti-Washington/government Sarah Palin schtick makes a lot of sense. These towns are largely autonomous an self-sufficient. Getting government "off their backs" is compelling.

Anyway, it's great to be out here. It's hard to know a country as large and diverse as the U.S., but I don't think you can even begin to understand it until you do a trip like this. God bless America and all that jazz.


Miles: 1,820

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Location:Leetsdale Dr,Denver,United States

Gothenberg

I have a lot to say about our latest stop - Gothenberg, Nebraska. Gothenberg was possibly named after me, David Gartenberg, but I suppose it's more likely it was named after some Swiss guy named Gothenberg. That's what Wikipedia says at least.

Anyway, it has a population of 3,600 and at least one restaurant. Here's what main street looks like:



Bustling Gothenberg, aye?

We had dinner there at a big ole steakhouse. I had "filet mignon," according to the waitress, but I would characterize it more as a slab of fatty beef. What say you, loyal readers?



Despite my snark, we really did enjoy it there.


We learned a few things too:
1) in Nebraska, instead of asking "do you want a bag for that?" in stores, they say "would you like a sack?"
2) salad bars involve lots of foods smothered in mayonnaise.
3) everyone waves to you, even coppers.
4) some folks in a bar referred to lily as a "pretty little lady" but then when I looked at them crossly told me I was a "handsome man." this entire interaction was quite awkward.
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Location:Ave D,Gothenburg,United States