Today started out around 7am. We quickly gathered our stuff and we were on the road in about 1/2 an hour. Stopped by for some fuel for the car and some fuel for him ( espresso from non- other than Starbucks). We experienced a bit of the morning rush hour traffic which was really not that bad and we were on our way.

5 minutes from our Kansas City hotel (which is funny enough is in Missouri) we finally entered the state of Kansas. After an hour on the road, we were waiting for flat prairie to be all around us, but what we saw was more of a hilly. It took another hour or so before we saw the flat prairie we expected. We stopped by a service stop where we shortly stopped for breakfast and then we kept going.

Today’s ride was very beautiful, with ever changing scenery. It started a little hilly, then became very flat and when we got about 100 miles closer to Colorado, we started on a small incline helping us get to more than 5000 feet by the time we got to the Denver Metro area. It was funny, how when you cross Kansas to Colorado, the land somehow also changes. It becomes more rugged and less agricultural. More cowboy like in my opinion. I told Robert, I could picture some Marlboro man riding around on the wide expanse of land. Along the way we stopped by 2 travel center where they sell souvenirs – one in Kansas and one in Colorado. Those are always fun excursions. It breaks the monotony of being in the car, and you always find something interesting in there like cedar boxes or something native to the place we are travelling from.

As we got closer to Denver, we notice that the lay of the land also became a little more mountainous, and soon we saw the outline of the mountains in the horizon. The land also became more developed and later it became more populated and more urbanized. We were thrilled when we finally spotted Denver’s buildings.

During dinner, fatigue set in on both of us, and we couldn’t wait to veg out after the long drive. We did manage to walk to the local street mall area where we went to a local cafe for some quick dinner. Highlight of the dinner for me is the appetizer of garlic truffle fries. We walked back and after getting some of our pictures downloaded to the hard drive, Robert passed out. Tomorrow will be our time to really decompress from the previous days trip. We decided we willl stay local and just catch up on rest before another long drive on friday and saturday.

breakfast: McD R: egg mcmuffin; P: sausage mcmuffin
dinner: appetizer: truffle fries: R: smoked mac and cheese and grilled chicken + ongrape and ion soup; P: pan seared cornmeal crusted salmon served on top of rice and spinach + side salad.

-Paula