Month: June 2021

Left Cedar City around 8.30 after breakfasting in the hotel.  Baymont was comfortable and spacious.  Again, I-15 was a route we’d driven many times before.  Lunch at Whiskey Pete’s in the parking lot was cold pizza (the line for food was too long anyway).  We all had a flutter.  Waze took us along Pearblossom highway, and we were home by 4.45pm.  After unloading, Jeri and I returned the Santa Fe to Burbank airport.

How did the cars do?  The Fiat was almost trouble free; the windshield washer stopped working and the trunk latch locked, but apart from that the car gave great service; average mileage over 2,984 miles was 39 mpg.  The surprising thing is that for a subcompact, all three of us found it comfortable despite our varying sizes.  Not too bad for a nine-year-old car with almost 100K on the clock.

The Sante Fe was very good indeed.  Spacious, wide cabin with loads of rear room for all of Beth’s stuff.  Good tech; adaptive cruise, Apple Carplay etc.  8 speed transmission with a 2.5L four cylinder gave 30 mpg.  Effortless and smooth with a good ride.  Thank goodness we managed to swap out the Mitsubishi Outlander for the Sante Fe.

How did we do?  Well, doubtless we could have got Beth’s stuff back a cheaper way, but given we had to move the Fiat back to LA and that it can only seat two people with very little luggage, the only option would have been to ship goods via UPS and only have one of us accompany Beth.  Not so much fun as taking time and having the three of us share a travelling holiday.  The stops in Chicago and the Rocky Mountains were spectacular and a lot of fun. Seven days to do the trip makes sense; you could do it in four, but that is a tough drive with consecutive 750-mile days and no stops. Our way was better.

Rose, not too early, to see a mule deer browsing in front of the cabin, Then a largely familiar drive today at least from I-70 onwards.  Left Grand Lake at 7.40am and headed down 34 and 40 to the interstate via Berthoud pass (11,307 ft).  Then another big climb up to the Eisenhower Tunnel (11,158) which the Fiat seemed to struggle with.  The altitude certainly was impacting performance, but also perhaps we should have used higher octane gas. Modern cars should adjust to this, but the confusing thing is that altitude allows lower octane to be used, so I guess more research is needed?

We found a small patch of grass in Grand Junction to have lunch, then it was back on I-70 to tackle the beautiful San Raphael Swell.  Stopped at the Salt Wash rest area to retake the iconic tree-in-the-wind picture.

We arrived at Cedar City at 6.35pm, checked into the Baymont and walked over to Centro Pizza for our long awaited, and much repeated, best pizza in the world.

https://www.centropizzeria.com/

A day in Grand Lake, CO

Our plan for this cross country trip was to avoid driving every day, so that we could enjoy a slightly less frenetic pace and get to see more, thus the two night stops in both Chicago and Grand Lake.

Woke early whilst Jeri and Beth slept and made a pot of coffee.  No sign of moose or elk around the cabin, to my disappointment. For breakfast, Jeri cooked French toast for herself and Beth and scrambled eggs for me.  Lovely.

After a lazy morning reading, we headed out to the East Inlet trailhead and did a short 2 ¼ mile out and back hike to Adams Falls and beyond.  The falls were spectacular – a deep chasm of rushing water.  We stopped upstream under a shady tree by the water and had our snacks.  Later in the afternoon in town we had ice cream and wandered along the boardwalk again.

Dinner was penne alla bolognese, served on the table outside our cabin.  A game of Jenga tired us out and we went to bed early.

Into Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park

Woke at a reasonable time today because we didn’t have to drive over 750 miles!  Breakfast in the La Quinta was taken downstairs on the patio outside.  Left around 9.45am, gassed up and hit I-80 west.  Stopped at Greeley for lunch in a small park.  Got to Estes Park at 2.30pm and immediately gassed up and shopped for a few things in the Safeway.  Because we had no permit, we couldn’t enter the park anyway until 3.00pm, so the timing was perfect.

At the Rocky Mountain National Park entrance we showed our annual pass, but because we had two cars we assumed we would have to pay for the extra one, but no!  The ranger let Jeri and the Fiat in for free.

Highway 34 was fantastic; awesome views, with a lot of areas to pullout. Snow, in abundance above the treeline. We climbed to 12,183 feet, the highest continuous paved road in the contiguous US.

Our cabin in Grand Lake was basic but comfy.  550 sq ft in total!  We went to dinner at the Sagebrush BBQ place in town and afterwards strolled along the boardwalk looking at the shops. 

Wednesday

Left Chicago at 6.10am, headed to I-80 and stayed on it all day until we got to North Platte Nebraska at around 7.30pm. There isn’t much to say. The rest areas in Iowa were very clean.

Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

Spent longer in the aquarium than we planned; 6 hours altogether. Very, very good displays with crystal clear tanks and a fantastic variety of animals.  Managed to time it so that we got to see the sea otters and dolphins being fed. Had lunch in café overlooking Lake Michigan with great views of the city.

Later, walked along the shoes of the lake next to Grant Park, through the wonderful Millennium gardens, including the Lurie wildflower garden.  Visited the ‘Bean’.  Then after drinks with some friends, had dinner at Volare, a classic Chicago Italian restaurant.