We drove something like 9 hours today. Not much happened, but I’ll share a handful of highlights.
1. We woke up in Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco in Denver. That’s not just a highlight of the day, but really of a lifetime. We love these hotels so much. We aren’t exclusively loyal to much other than Trader Joe’s, but when it comes to Kimptons, we will ALWAYS pick it if possible. We all showered this morning, not because we really needed to get clean again, but just to use beautiful bathroom. We filled our coffee cups woth the best coffee I’ve had in days and were gifted bottles of water for the car ride.
2. We spent many, many hours listening to Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods” and related to so much of what was written. We only got through half of it today, but there were giggles, moans, sighs, and smirks as we recognized much of what he experienced when he hiked the Appalachian Trail. Certainly, he and his friend went through a lot more than us and in a completely different environment, but we could all relate. Especially with the fear of being eaten by a bear while camping.
3. We were in Kansas, drove clear across the whole state! Zak and the girls have never been, so it’s another state for them to cross of their lists. It’s a lot like Nebraska from what I can tell, flat and smelly.
4. We ate Kansas City BBQ at Joe’s. Anthony Bourdain named it one of the 13 places you must eat at before you die. It was absolutely insane. Zoe and I were a bit hesitant as it is in a gas station and I have a general rule not to eat in gas station restaurants. But we were way too quick to judge. The line was out the door and around the building. Probably the best BBQ I have ever have. We devoured a fullslab of ribs, pulled pork, smoked sausage, brisket, gumbo, and slaw. Ellie was in absolute meat heaven. In fact, at one point she said, “My fingers are wrinkly from eating so many juicy ribs.”
