How Was Your Weekend?

I was getting ready to watch Saturday Night Live when I got a call from Brother In-law. He needed a co-pilot for a last second hotshot run to Rock Springs, Wyoming. It's been a while since I've made a run West, like 23 years! I jumped at the opportunity to see the Rockies again.

BIL had never been west of Vernon, Tx much less the Continental Divide. I was happy to be his swamper/human GPS/scout.

We loaded up the parts and pulled out of Decatur at 11pm. We stopped in Iowa Park to fuel up and I took the nightshift so he could grab some sleep. I took the route thru Raton, NM and took advantage of the deserted highway to make some time. We reached Colorado City, CO just before dawn, refueled and swapped drivers.

Up I-25 to Fort Collins then 287 to Laramie, WY where we stopped for fuel and a quick kickass breakfast buffet at the Petro Iron Skillet. Then back on the road fighting the wind across I-80 to Rock Springs. We got there about 3pm, dropped off the parts, got our paperwork signed and were homeward bound.

We stopped for the night in Fort Collins. Both of us were ready for dinner and a decent night's sleep.

One note about Fort Collins, Colorado. They DO NOT know how to cook a steak. Both of us ordered medium rare ribeyes at Charcobroiler 1716 East Mulberry Street and were served charred bloody rare steaks.The meat was tender, but grotesquely undercooked. We were tired and hungry enough that we ate them and didn't complain. Besides, I'm leery of sending back food in an unfamiliar restaurant. But I will be happy to recommend you DO NOT EAT at Charcoalbroiler 1716 East Mulberry Street.

#GordonRamsey

I should have known it was going to go badly when we were seated in "The North Forty" dining room.

Back on the road at 6:30am this morning, just in time for Monday morning rush hour in Denver. Yaaay!! A couple notes about Denver, Colorado. First, they have added a few traffic twists since my last visit. Mainly a new toll road (E-470) that we should have taken to bypass all the construction on I-25. If we had taken that to I-70 then followed 287 we would have saved a couple hours on the way back. But, there were higher powers at work as we shall soon discover.

Second, they hate the Dallas Cowboys. The morning sports radio was quick to defend Tim Tebow's execution by the Lions (biblical pun intended) keeping it short and sweet. Then they went into an extended, excruciatingly detailed, blow by blow massacre of Tony Romo and the Cowboys at the hands of the Eagles. Both games were amazingly similar and both QB's made carbon copy postgame comments. But they devoted 3 times the coverage to a Romo/Cowboys bloodletting.

Stay classy, Denver! 

#Tebowing

We stopped for lunch at a little gas station/cafe that I wish for the life of me I could remember the name of about a half hour north of Clayton, NM, a/k/a BFE. The place isn't even on the map, but it's been the community gathering spot since the early 1900's and they had the old photos to prove it. It wasn't the same building, but the name was the same. Close enough. It was actually kind of surreal watching people slowly wander in from who knows where slowly filling this cafe in the middle of the desert, nothing else in sight but a view that would take your breath away. I was waiting for someone to yell "CUT!".

There, I found the greatest cheeseburger on the planet... The Green Chile Cheeseburger.

#AnthonyBourdain

They top a ground sirloin patty with pepper jack, grilled onions and green chiles. If Heaven was a cheeseburger, this was indeed paradise. Come to find out, the Green Chile Cheeseburger is huge in New Mexico. I found other burger joints in New Mexico advertising a green chile cheeseburger.  People we are missing out on a New Mexico culinary juggernaut. It's the reason the state is called "The Land of Enchantment". It's world peace and the meaning of life all wrapped up on a bun.

Trust me on this, you need to try a Green Chile Cheeseburger! 

We rolled back onto The South 40 at 9pm. 2172 miles in just under 46 hours.