Board & Brew

I thought I'd mention a delicious sandwich I tried in Del Mar. The place, Board & Brew, is a cute little shop with cheap sandwiches. I decided to be bold and try the Double Decker, which was probably enough to feed 3 people. The pictures below only show half the sandwich which is jam-packed with turkey, cheese, avocado, bacon, tomato and lettuce. It was a mess to devour... which reminded me of a sandwich I had in Pittsburgh from Primanti Brothers, so I dropped a picture of that french-fry deliciousness on the right. Yum!

And links to both...
http://www.boardnbrewdelmar.com/ vs http://www.primantibrothers.com/

Road Trip: Day Six!

Arches National Park!!!
This was probably the highlight of my trip =) If you like cloud-watching, you could easily spend hours coming up with some pretty neat stories for the different formations. We drove around to some of the big arches before deciding to take on the hike to Delicate Arch. Not to be confused with being a delicate hike. To give you a better idea, imagine climbing 40+ stories in 1.5 miles with no shade and 80 degrees of sun. Here are some pix of the climb... consistently uphill, ranging from big flat rocks, to cut-out stairs. If you look closely at the middle pic, you can see a handful of people slowly making their way up.




But of course, it was all worth it to see the Arch of Utah. And I do mean the Arch as this is the iconic arch on all of Utah's license plates. It isn't until the last 50 feet before you make one turn and Ta-Dah!! the Arch suddenly comes into view - a pretty sweet reward considering the climb!



Yep! That itty bitty speck is me! Also including a shot of the view which is a lush green valley filled with desert flowers.

Road Trip: Day Five!

Grand Teton. Jackson Hole. Salt Lake City.

Sadly, with the overcast, I never got to see Grand Teton. Instead, I got to see the bottom half of the range, which was pretty, but probably not as breathtaking as seeing the whole mountain. Boo... We stopped by Jackson Hole for lunch which is a cute little town with lots of hunter-ish stuff like a series of giant antler arches before making the long drive down to Salt Lake City.

Road Trip: Day Four!

14 hours on the road today covering every inch of Yellowstone Nat'l Park! I successfully spotted a grizzly bear (and her two cubs,) a bison (and her two calves,) a family of elks, and plenty of deer. Yay! Animals aside, I've decided to focus on some scenic pix for this entry: Me on the entrance sign behind Roosevelt Arch, Artist's Point (totally stunning,) and the steps of Mammoth Hot Springs (which was located next to Hymen Terrace... really??)

Road Trip: Day Three!

Back through Wyoming to check out Devil's Tower and Sheridan, then up to Billings, Montana.

1. Devil's Tower: I had thought the Tower was formed by glaciers and all that
stuff you see at Yosemite, but as the first National Monument, Devil's Tower was formed by a volcano that erupted underground that never quite fully surfaced. I guess all the magma pushing upwards forced the earth upwards to create the Tower. Spiffy. >>
2. Sheridan: Boring town with two musing highlights below... A mailbox that only accepts flags and a restaurant that only serves prime rib on the 1st Saturday of each month from 5:30-6:30pm. Better plan in advance!
3. Billings, MO: Aside from hosting the only Del Taco in the state (Awesome!) the restaurants are super efficient. They light up a neon sign, similar to a motel "Vacancy" sign, when there isn't a wait and seating is available. So convenient!

Road Trip: Day Two!

Covered about 500 miles today starting in Denver and ending in Lead.
Today in a rhyme:
Wyoming's got a ridiculous amount of coal,
But we couldn't stop cuz we were on a roll,
Straight through to South Dakota's Rushmore,
and Crazy Horse when it started to pour,
Hail and rain it was kind of a mess,
So on to Deadwood, the Wild, Wild West.
It one-upped Pioneertown, just a bit,
Because our buffalo steak was surely a hit.
Now in Lead, we are finally chilling,
Because tomorrow we are headed to Billing(s)!

Road Trip: Day One!

Things I learned about Denver today...
1. Colorado's name came from the phrase "color o' red."
2. It took 3 tries and almost a 100 years to figure out which step in front of the capitol building was actually a mile high. (1908: 15th step, 1969: 18th step, 2003: 13th step)
3. There is a really big blue bear in front of the Denver Convention Center! It's trying to figure out politics.
4. You can donate to the homeless... via parking meter.

Mixeroo!

I thought a baked potato bar was pretty good, but then I found... ::drumroll:: a mashed potato bar!

Step 1: Select mashed taro, mashed sweet potato, or mashed potato
Step 2: Select your toppings. I picked chives, mushrooms, shrimp, garlic, bacon and pesto.
Step 3: Watch the bartender do his magic and.. ta-dah!

Pioneertown

Dear Pioneertown,
I would say you had me at hello, but really you had me at Kickapoo. (__ insert pause for snickering)
I may not be a HUGE Western fan, but couldn't resist a trip down cowboy-memory lane to visit all the classic scenes of the Wild Wild West. Officially 350 residents shy of being a ghost town, I was excited to learn that cowboys and gun-fights of the 40's still exist!

In your honor, I am featuring a few highlights of my visit today which vaguely reminded me of Frontierland...




I love puns. Sadly, the saloon is not open at 11am on Mondays,
but the general store was open and had ice cream for $1!



This Sound Stage was built by Roy Rogers in 1946. It is also the film-home of the legendary Gene Autry and the Cisco Kid



Just a note that I may be back for a gun-fight reenactment and to pan some gold.


Seems appropriate to mention that I love pigs, and to make this trip extra special, this little pig's name is Daisy! The sheet of paper lists the Cowboy Code. Feel free to click it for a more viewable version



Last but not least, I have to mention the beautiful drive out to Pioneertown. A little bit windy but with snow in the back mountains, this was a pretty scenic detour off 29 Palms.




Thanks Pioneertown,