Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Going West

I was a little later getting on the road than I wanted this morning. I was about 5:20 when I left the house.  Stopped to gas up the car and headed West on I-80.  Stopped in Kearney for breakfast.

Knew I had time to check out the new (about 5 years ago) Golden Spike Tower in North Platte.  Paid the admission and rode the elevator up to the open air observation deck.  Great views of the diesel shop and classification yard.  On up to the indoor viewing area.  Visited with the volunteer and one other.   Was going to take the back road to US 30 but crossing gates were down.  Cam back into town, gassed the car, and headed on West.

I was about 30 degrees and clear when I left home.  Once the sun came up, the temperature quickly rode.  It was about 60 in North Platte,  In the upper 60s most of the way from I-80 to Denver.  Thermometer in the car read 72 when driving through Denver.  It was still 50 about 4:30 when i got to Georgetown.  Great driving weather (though as the sun went over to the West, i was getting some "fog" inside the windshield.  I need to clean that!

I-76 from I-80 to Denver has to be the most boring section of highway.  I got to Denver before rush-hour.  Not too long after merging onto I-70, the were a big backup in the East-bound lanes.  This was still inside the Denver area.  Happy I was not heading that way.  Started climbing the mountain towards my hotel in Georgetown,  Another East-bound tie-up on I-70.  This one was for an accident. 

Checked into the Super 8 in Georgetown.  Made sure the room was acceptable and drove over to the Visitor's Center to pick up a Colorado map.  Needed to get off the road for a little and decide eating, so booted up the laptop,  Processed photos from Bailey Yard.  Google mapped a place to eat.

Was planning to eat at the Alpine Restaurant and bar in Georgetown.  No interest in driving down to Idaho Springs.  I found the place, but the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays!  There was a little bar, and a pizza/diner place.  Opted for the diner.

While I was temped ordering a small pizza, I felt it would be too much food for this evening,  Ordered the 1/4 # cheeseburger with kettle chips.  Was a good little burger and just enough for the evening.  If you get through Georgetown, stop by the Mountain Buzz Cafe & Pizzeria on Argentine St.  This small business would appreciate the business. 

1 comment:

dale said...

Been a while since I've been on i-76. Reminds me of high desert. Even when something looks boring, I imagine days of yore when Indians, mountain men, pioneers followed the South Platte. Geology of the area, animals, plants, etc. I really don't think there is a boring place if you just observe what is there for itself and not compare it against someplace else. It makes me happy just thinking about it.