Back on the road, sailing east in the 'Cuda, having a blast, time for a couple of updates.

First, I stopped on Sunday night in Cedar City, Utah. Sort of a blip on the map kind of place, not a lot there, but for some reason, in that tiny place, there were five, count 'em five Subway sandwich shops! 

This area of Utah is strikingly beautiful, with it's deep tan and dark red rocks. You're near the Zion/Bryce Canyon area, and the mountains and the sky look like very vivid oil paintings. Plus, it looks like the backdrop for about 100 old western movies!

Monday took me through Utah and into Colorado, through the Rocky Mountains, past the legendary ski areas of Vail, Breckenridge, and Steamboat Springs. These mountains are different from those you see in California and Utah, they're taller, steeper, and have a deep green covering from the ground up to the tree line. Winding roads, tunnels through the mountains, and fluffy white clouds were the scenery for the afternoon as I rolled into Denver. 

I went north and east of Denver to Brighton, and visited Karen's Brother and Sister in Law, Artie and Lorraine, and their daughter Lauren. Had a nice visit, Artie is, like me, a car guy (he drives a Mustang Bullit), so I got him in the Cuda and ran him around a while. I got the nickel tour of their new house, had a great home cooked meal, which was a great change from all the restaurant food, and swapped some tall tales. Back to the hotel for some rest before a good long days' drive on Tuesday.

Tuesday brought a long ride through eastern Colorado, all of Kansas, and into Missouri. The transition from mountains to the flat wheat and corn fields was nice, as you can make more miles on that flat, straight path.

Lunch on Tuesday:

 Freddy's, a mid western chain bills itself as "Steakburgers" (sound familiar Steak &Shake?), and is famous for their frozen custard. As this was a quick stop only, it was a light meal 'to go', with no frozen custard.

Yeah, there ya go, a nice 'light' chili dog! Smothered in the typical meat sauce chile, melted cheddar, and chopped onions. Amazingly, between all those toppings, a squirt of mustard, and the dog itself, the darn thing was pretty flavorless! Additionally, like most places, they seem to think anything with cheese on it needs to be microwaved, which does melt the cheese, but also ruins the bun, and turns the entire thing into a gloppy, squishy mess. If I went to a Freddy's again, I'd skip the dog and try a burger.

 Another similarity to Steak & Shake are the extremely skinny fries. Like the ones at S&S, they're served properly hot, salted, and are pretty tasty. Didn't even put any ketchup on 'em, and they were just fine that way.

Back on the road, and into Missouri, past Kansas City, and on to Blue Springs. Nice little dot on the map with a few hotel choices, and plenty of food options. As noted before on this blog, you generally get good ideas from the locals. The clerk at the hotel noted that they have a 'terrific' Mexican place a few minutes away, Las Playas. So off I went.

You can pretty much tell what you're going to get on the inside from that subtle sign, eh?

Not a bad way to start a meal, Dos Equis Amber on draft (with a lime), made on site chips, and good, garlicky salsa. The chips were extremely crispy and light, good flavor, and complemented the salsa nicely.

Everything looked pretty good, but since it's been mostly 'burgers and chicken so far on the trip, I decided on the Camarones el Diablo. Excellent choice! The shrimp were properly cooked, and the red sauce and onions were spicy but not mouth burning, and had a nice tomato flavor. The rice was typical Mexican restaurant rice, but the refried beans were not - they were great! Unlike most refrieds, these had a nice little smoky flavor, cumin, I suspect, and the texture was not all mush, there were actual pieces of bean in the beans! Overall, a great meal to end a good long day on the road.

Tomorrow, on to Columbus, where I hope to see my Niece Mara and her family. 

As they used to say, stay tuned for more!