Rocky Mountains to Glenwood Springs

After a proper breakfast of eggs over easy, bacon and potatoes, we set off towards Glenwood Springs. Driving out of the Rocky Mountains, where the average speed limit seemed to be 45mph, we joined the I-70 West where I saw my first 75mph sign and breathed a sigh of relief – at long last I could see what the Rogue could do.

We made a pit stop to fill up with petrol – anyone watching would have probably had a good laugh. I didn’t check which side the petrol cap was so had to do a complicated manoeuvre to right-side the car. Then I had no idea what sort of “gas” the car needed. Playing the stupid foreigner, I asked the guy on the adjacent pump what sort of petrol I needed – he was super helpful and explained I needed the black pump as the green pump was diesel (thank goodness I asked). Then he showed me how to pay first, lift the pump, press the 85 button and then start filling up. While thanking him profusely, he showed me how I could just set the pump and let it stop automatically. His daughter was in London visiting friends. All in, the tank was filled for $33. Bargain!

There was a Granby supermarket just next to the petrol station so I had to go in. Wow. I could have been in there all day. But we were on a mission so I did a quick trawl and took loads of photos.

After the pitstop, we stopped about an hour later in a place called Empire for a coffee. Everywhere was shut except for a clockmaker’s shop. I walked in and three cuckoo clocks suddenly cuckooed (is that right?)

Next stop was Vail. I had heard of Vail and it was a very touristy town with some good shops and loads of restaurants. The scenery had changed and we started seeing ski lifts and ski runs – which always look a bit weird when there is no snow. We had yummy tacos for lunch.

The last part of the day’s drive was spectacular. We drove into Glenwood Canyon and the cliffs were beautiful – bright red in places. I nagged Bert to take some photos – it was hard to capture the enormity and we drove along the Colorado river all the way. We even saw a train that seemed to be a mile long.

We arrived at our hotel and went straight to the Iron Mountain hot springs. These are the largest hot springs in the world. They had about 15 springs which had been recreated in the style of hot springs around the world. So there was a dead sea pool, a Vichy pool, a Blue Lagoon pool – you get the idea. Felt a bit like seeing the Eiffel tower in Las Vegas. We spent two hours travelling around the world in hot springs. There were another 30 springs in another section but we had both sprung enough.

So our final meal was a diner so a full American food fest day was complete. I went for the double cheeseburger but declined the fries/coleslaw/salad/potato sides much to the confusion of the waitress. It was actually quite delicious. Bert went for a pot roast sandwich with fries. His wasn’t very photographic so it’s just my burger below.

Definitely getting into the crap food, and looking forward to eating some fresh vegetables when we hit California. Tomorrow is 4th July.

Bert is super excited about the election and we have got a book of bets which I think will make me $30 richer. Luckily we will be 7 hours behind you guys, so will know the result at 8pm rather than 3am. I think there is also some fireworks due this side of the Atlantic too.

Here’s hoping! Don’t forget to vote!