It was riding through Wyoming in which I picked up the habit of giving my protesting spine a rest by laying down on picnic tables at rest stops. Needless to say that throughout the entire journey, this garnered some very strange looks. However, it makes all day riding possible.
Upon arrival into Golden Colorado, I found myself staying in River and Wolf's guesthouse. As lavish as that sounds, I was staying in the folded down backseat of a very well loved Toyota 4 Runner. As I arrived particularly late, I was left with all the water I could desire and a greeting from River in the form of a hand written note informing me of all the quirks of the guesthouse, complete with drawings!
Now you might be asking why I was staying in a car, but my friends were in a van themselves. They are the craftiest kind of folk, and bought a van, gutted it, and turned it into a cozy rolling home for about 10 grand including the price of the van. Quite the feat, if you ask me.
Upon arrival into Golden Colorado, I found myself staying in River and Wolf's guesthouse. As lavish as that sounds, I was staying in the folded down backseat of a very well loved Toyota 4 Runner. As I arrived particularly late, I was left with all the water I could desire and a greeting from River in the form of a hand written note informing me of all the quirks of the guesthouse, complete with drawings!
Now you might be asking why I was staying in a car, but my friends were in a van themselves. They are the craftiest kind of folk, and bought a van, gutted it, and turned it into a cozy rolling home for about 10 grand including the price of the van. Quite the feat, if you ask me.
The rain only relented for one entire day while I was in Golden, and I took my baby on a ride through the Golden Gate Canyon. It was nice and twisty all the way up to Panorama Point, which is breathtaking. The visitors center has some great artifacts and history of the area, the mining that happened there, as well as a lot of info on the local plants and wildlife. You do have to pay a small fee to visit the canyon, but there are a lot of trails and cabins and fun to be had. It's worth it.
With the smell of vanilla and beer in the air from the Coors brewery, I made my friends and some of their parking lot neighbors my favorite dinner to prepare. It was grilled cheese and tomato soup, but done up with lots of garlic, veggies, fancy cheese, and seasoning. It was delightful to watch such a simple meal be so enjoyed, and it was one of my favorite experiences of cooking. It took a little craftiness, and some very helpful sous chefing from River to prepare a meal for 5 in a tiny kitchen, but I think it was one of my best renditions of the meal.
With the smell of vanilla and beer in the air from the Coors brewery, I made my friends and some of their parking lot neighbors my favorite dinner to prepare. It was grilled cheese and tomato soup, but done up with lots of garlic, veggies, fancy cheese, and seasoning. It was delightful to watch such a simple meal be so enjoyed, and it was one of my favorite experiences of cooking. It took a little craftiness, and some very helpful sous chefing from River to prepare a meal for 5 in a tiny kitchen, but I think it was one of my best renditions of the meal.
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The rest of the time I was in Golden, my wonderful friends had to do their duty of taking kids out into the wild for adventure, and I had to find a way to busy myself in the rain. I found a cozy coffee shop and designed and edited some of the early posts of the trip, and it was there I discovered just how much work I had cut out for me. While I was doing the piles of media processing and uploading, I had an older couple at the table across from me ask me about the GoPro I had sitting on the table. I explained what it was to them, and the gentleman became very interested. I proceeded to show him how to work it, and even pulled out the finished video from SCUBA diving in the V.I. He was so impressed that on his way out he shook my hand to pass me a ten and wished me the best of luck on my journey. This was the only donation I received the whole trip.
There was also an Ansel Adams exhibit in town that I had to go see. If you ever feel the need to be truly awestruck by nature, Adams is your guy. I'm still amazed at the amount of clarity he achieved throughout his photographs with the equipment that he had, AND had to carry in. Later in the trip, I had the chance to see his beloved Yosemite, and I was deeply grateful for his pre tourist trap perspective, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
There was also an Ansel Adams exhibit in town that I had to go see. If you ever feel the need to be truly awestruck by nature, Adams is your guy. I'm still amazed at the amount of clarity he achieved throughout his photographs with the equipment that he had, AND had to carry in. Later in the trip, I had the chance to see his beloved Yosemite, and I was deeply grateful for his pre tourist trap perspective, but I'm getting ahead of myself.