The Great American Roadtrip 2019, Day Six

Day Six: Vernal, Utah >> Fort Collins, Colorado (325 miles)

The most stunning of photos from our hotel breakfast and our last moments of relaxation in Utah.

Ermm, the only one I took, and only because I felt it needed to be recorded. Sorry it doesn’t really give you any idea of what glorious breakfast buffet we were dealing with, but at least you now know how much Peter loves his breakfast-time meat loading. And for the record, that was his second plate of food.

This was the day we left Utah, and I was undeniably sad about it. Utah, I could have spent another week with you and it still would not have been enough. But it was what it was, and I accepted it, and away we went to Colorado. Please appreciate this photo of a random weed dispensary along the route.

WESTERN COLORADO IS LIKE. NOTHING LIKE THE MOUNTAINS, SORRY NOT SORRY, PLEASE TURN AROUND AND TAKE ME BACK TO UTAH.

However there is a lot of kitschy weird looking stuff so for that bit, I still whole-heartedly approve.

Okay well, this view is more like it. We are getting there, people.

Oh my goodness, Colorado. Once I hit the mountain range I felt that I needed to apologize to Colorado for being a moody brat before we got there.

Colorado, I am truly sorry. I’m okay giving up Utah for this.

Got stuck in the wee-ist, smallest of traffic jams on the way and I was for sure not even mad! Look at this darling little lodge sign!

We made it and we were too early to hit our mountain airbnb so we went ahead on into Ft. Collins and did the proper thing. Which clearly was getting a beer and playing a rousing game of Battleship.

And inhaling an entire package of rainbow belts.

After a good beer and board game, we drove along some isolated roads to find our airbnb, deep in the mountains and far away from people (just how we like it).

They left us a nice note and THE BEST BIGGEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!

The view out the back window, it was okay I guess.

I GUESS.

The kids found the sandbox and play area in no time.

This airbnb location was beautiful, with lots of personal touches. It was rustic but also a modern. I was so glad we booked this spot for the next few days.

The master bedroom…

Look at our fancy raised bed in the master bedroom!

More pictures of that OBVIOUSLY HORRIBLE view out back…

The owners had a chicken coop, so Pete and I went to visit and just explore the grounds before retiring for the night.

The boys’ room was the coolest. Two levels with a nice loft and mural. Moose took the lower level, and Pete took the loft.

It took awhile to get the kids to bed. I should mention now: it was hot here too. Like WAY hotter than normal, according to our airbnb hosts and as the newscasters were reporting later. There was no A/C, which normally wouldn’t be an issue in the mountains, but: welcome to Climate Change, everybody.

Somehow the kids went to sleep in the dead heat, bless those babies. We opened all the windows wide and worked the fans but even given the ample wind flow (legit wind tunnel from the front to back of the house), it was way too hot for way too long that first night. Our satellite TV connection, it was out all night due to the temps. So we basically had no local news, no TV, no nothin’ for a good day. Kind of a bummer.

Womp, womp.

After awhile I retired to bed on that raised bed, and had nightmares about animals in the wild attacking. And then randomly, around 2am some artwork blew off the wall thanks to the wind, and I woke up and thought there were ghosts, but went back to sleep AND THEN ABOUT 4 AM I COULD HEAR RATTLESNAKES OUTSIDE OUR AIRBNB I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, either that or I internalized that rattlesnake warning in the airbnb’s house manual, and I never really slept well here after all that, to be honest, which is a major bummer.

Anyway. There’s Day Six. We’re halfway through now and a warning: I’m catching up on a lot of stuff both at home and work, so it might be a little bit until I jump back into this thing. Fingers crossed not TOO long though…

Day Six Stats:Museum Count: none Roadside Attractions Count: none! Peter’s Penny Count: none again Moose’s Dab Count: none! see a pattern yet? Dwellings: | Rocky Mountain airbnb. Beautiful! Private! Full everything, I cannot complain about a bit. What a lovely spot. Dinner Madness: Before checking into the airbnb we made a grocery store stop for provisions. For dinner we had a rotisserie chicken + bagged salad again. Also: found more hatch chile cheese dip, HOLLA. Oh! And please note: I forgot to grab eggs at the store, and I was pretty bummed about it (no breakfast burritos, wahhh), until we got to the spot, and as it turns out: there waiting for us in the fridge were several fresh farm eggs. SCORE.