Writing last night's blog I fell asleep twice; hardly surprising. I dozed off writing this one too!
Well we were awake quite early and sorted out the luggage arrangements. It was a matter of adjusting what went where and what was needed and when. That didn't take too long.
We both had very refreshing showers and a change of clothes. The room was good, clean and with two beds but we only used one. Why waste a change of sheets unnecessarily? They seem very keen on the two bed business here. I wonder if it's from watching too many films and tv progs where husband and wife were often shown as having two beds for the censors sake?
Having sorted out the luggage we wandered down to a cooked breakfast. I'm pleased to report that it wasn't huge. It was enough to satisfy with out overwhelming. Eggs, bacon, toast potato things and toast with as much coffee as one could drink(!) came to the equivalent of five pounds each. Good prompt, pleasant service deserved a tip.
Getting the luggage down to car was interesting as we used a carrier but it had a mind of it's own and the lift, sorry elevator, kept closing too early. We packed the car and headed off. However, the first thing I did was to find out what all the knobs and levers did on the car. Eventually we had to resort to the manual, which was still in it's wrapper. We found that the seat positions were all powered and controlled through rather anonymous knobs on the door. The car is fitted with satellite radio - a big thing here - instead of DAB. That was fun! By the simple press of a button I could switch the speedo from mph to kph! I still haven't figured out how to use the trip mileage.
We got on the road and the satnav directed us accurately back to I70(W) and headed towards Glenwood Springs as a stop before Grand Junction.
Now, if you know anything about your wild west the name Doc Holliday is redolent with imagery. He is often associated with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. Well, he's buried at Glenwood Springs Pioneer Cemetery and that was one of the reasons we wanted to visit there.
The drive on the interstate was really good. the scenery was very alpine. Lots of steep sided and wooded valleys with houses that one could easily mistake for the Alps. The sun was out and the temperature started to rise and it became really warm and pleasant. We pulled in at a rest area and went down to the river, the Colorado River that was heading off to the Grand Canyon! There were some white river rafters there too. As we we were about to leave a car pulled up and the lady asked me if there were any rest rooms. I told her that I didn't know her husband said that i was way out of it here too - meaning that on hearing my accent (not that I've got one!) he realised that I wasn't from around those parts either. As we we headed back up to the interstate we saw the proper rest area and stayed there for a while. Had a little walk around and generally admired the beautiful scenery; the tall mountains, the gushing river, the trees, the warmth. After making use of the rather splendid rest rooms, toilets to you and me, we headed off again.
The satnav worked well this time and got us into Glenwood Springs but we ignored it for the parking. We found a two hour public parking area and wandered into the main part of the town. I say the main part; the main drag was quite pleasant; lots of cars but not nastily so. There were people scurrying about doing their day-to-day things. We went to the Frontier Museum where a young lady volunteer told us about the house and its contents. They had a proper Edison Phonograph, a rather sweet exhibition upstairs about the Native Americans in the area, a mineral collection and various kitchen and household items. Like most local museums we've seen it's generally not an extensive collection but they are greatly cared for and treasured. Those involved are very proud of the collections and take a great pride in them. After there we wandered a little more in the town and then headed up to the grave.
It's more of a monument really as they don't his grave's exact location. The walk up to the cemetery was steep and the trail dusty but the views it offered of the town were amazing. The cemetery was not the neat orderly arrangement of headstones but they were scattered around in no particular order. Some were grouped by family, others in ones or twos; some had railings around and there railings around empty plots. The newest one we saw was 1986. Trees had self-set and there was an air of caring but not taken in hand and smartened up. It was fascinating. We found the memorial; it was quite simple and the information board told his life story. After that we wandered back down to the car.
After a few miles we thought it would be good to find a coffee shop. A sign for Starbucks was spotted and we pulled off and tried to find it! Well, that was a farce. We found a shopping m all and investigated that. There was a Radio Shack, a sort of Dixons, and I went to look for the figure of 8 power cord. After a search I saw one hanging up behind the counter. At last I wouldn't have to use clumsy adaptors at all. There was a 'Payless shoes' store and at last I found a replacement pair of boots for a whole seventeen pounds. There were not cheapo boots but good solid ones and the reason for the cheapness was the excellent pound: dollar ratio which is very much in our favour. Could we find the Starbucks? No. Not having luck there we headed off again.
We were directed off into Glenwood Springs. This time the satnav directed us correctly until we drove past the motel claiming that there was still a distance to go. We promptly ignored it; found a place to turn and headed back. We booked in and sorted out the luggage again! We decided to eat in and went off to a Safeway I had spotted earlier. Some microwaveable foods and a bottle local red Merlot wine later we headed back and I cooked up our meal. I was quite the little chef!
We listened to BBC7 -thank goodness for the internet and wifi - and settled down for the night. Tomorrow or rather today we head for Dinosaur National Monument. Apparently it'll take us through some rather industrial areas - oil wells and the like!
