G & B: A slight snafu in Denver

On Thursday morning we drove to Denver. I-70 from Rt 9 to Denver is mountainous, as to be expected, but it is a freeway so you have to keep your speed up to keep up with traffic. White Lightning is the "Little Eurovan that could." Those grades were so steep going up that I couldn't really push the van faster so we were in the truck lane... going 40 mph (with the speed limit being 65) without a chance that the van could go faster. The Rocky Mountains are serious, serious business as seen from someone who only really has experienced the Appalachians. When you are driving you feel like a little tiny bug on the road as these huge mountains and rock formations tower thousands of feet on each side of you. You realize that the universe is big and you are not. It does put things in perspective.

We made it to the Magnolia hotel in downtown Denver where we had reservations. We soon realized that downtown Denver, although they have some park space, have absolutely no place for Riley to go to the bathroom. All the plants and flowers are either in 3 foot raised beds or in huge planter pots. The trees have metal grates around them without grass or even gravel. Everything else is concrete. Since Riley isn't a city dog he doesn't know how to go to the bathroom anywhere but on grass really so we couldn't expect him to figure this bathroom situation out. So we tried staying there for one night and it was so much work to walk all the way from our room, down to the lobby, out the door, fight with tons of people on the street, cross 3 city streets and 3 blocks just to take him to pee that we decided to find another place to say. This wasn't going to work. This was no camping vacation anymore!

The Magnolia refused to refund our money paid for the two nights we didn't stay there. They were in fact real jerks about it. They didn't even ask us why we needed to leave. So I asked if I could then donate our paid for room to a family displaced by the fire or even just the next guest. It turns out the city hotels are inundated with families fleeing from the fires. The manager was reluctant, but said that they currently had a program giving 10% of their profits to the fire victims and I said, "Sold! I want to do that." How can you say no to that? Although the look on the manager's face indicated he did not like this idea one bit he agreed to it. Now if he doesn't actually give my money to the cause I'm going to assume that is bad karma on his end. I did my best to be fair in this matter since they were so inflexible and rude. In other words, don't stay at the Magnolia hotel in downtown Denver. We ended up leaving the Magnolia for a hotel outside of the city with grass. It was perfect plus it was closer to my brother and Sarah.

We were stressed and had an invitation to eat dinner at Jay and Sarah's. She made an awesome "vieja ropa" dinner with homemade bread and Jay made some killer mojitos. All of our stress levels slowly went back to normal. Sarah's sister, Jenna's boyfriend, Niles also joined us as he was in town for business. It was just what we needed- a home cooked meal and time with family/friends.

The next day we spent the day at the park letting Riley run, and run, and run. It's hot here but not as hot as home. He loved it and let him get some energy out. That evening Jay had made reservations for all of us to go to a local Speakeasy. We walked into a little room that looked much like an old English library lined with bookshelves filled with old books. A hostess met us at the entrance and had us follow her. She then walked up to a bookshelf, pushed it in and we walked through the hidden door into a dark room lit by candlelight. There was a bar and booths throughout the space. Everything was dark wood and leather- very man cave like. I felt so "Sherlock Holmes." We all crammed into a tiny booth and read over the menu. It had some food but was known for the drinks. The waiter was nice and he learned all of our names and would ask for our order by name throughout the night. I went with the gin drink menu. He would come back and say, "Brooke can I get you another drink? Would you like to try something sweeter with floral tones or something more tart?" I haven't even had a waiter call me by name- nice touch! After we all were quite tipsy, Niles said goodbye to the group and the rest of us went to a upscale mexican restaurant down the street called Lola that was also very, very good. I had a lobster and goat cheese quesadilla with shrimp albondigas (sort of like shrimp cakes) and wilted spinach. Although spicier than I normally get it was the best meal I've had on this trip yet. Oh, and they made guac at our table so you could make it to order.

This morning I went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the drive home. Coming back the "check engine" light came on. NOOOOOOO!!! We are supposed to go home tomorrow.... I need to see Sergio in real life!!!!! For safety's sake we decided to get it checked at the local VW dealership here in Denver. The area of town seemed a little bit shady but still ok. While we waited for the car's inspection, the mechanic suggested we get some lunch across the street at a little bar and grill. Sounded good to us. As we walk up to the place it was full of bikers- and not the kind that ride Cannondales or Treks. Men with tattoos, leather jackets, ponytails, and biker boots filled up this bar. Fine with me because I just want a sandwich. But wait there's more! There is a woman in a bikini and stripper platform 6 inch heels standing by the door.
"Is this a strip club?" I ask Greg.
"I don't know. I can't see," says Greg.
Good point.

Upon further investigation it wasn't a strip club but a bikini car wash. It was "free" and there were 5 girls in bikinis washing the line of cars waiting for them. They also gave out free hugs to male car washees as well it seemed and were very, very popular. I was too intimidated to get photos of of these ladies and biker dudes- sorry folks!

We decided to sit outside on the deck and I could see all of this craziness in front of me. Basically these girls were putting on quite the show. Did you see Zoolander where the male models are frolicking at the gasoline pump? This was what these ladies were doing to attract business but using a hose, a sprayer attachment, and soap instead of a gas pump. All of them were in sky high heels and tiny swimsuits. We saw two cars almost wreck and a guy on a bike almost run into the side of the restaurant because they were starring at this show. I just kept laughing and describing the scene to Greg. He really wanted to go through that car wash so I told him that if there wasn't anything wrong with the Eurovan and we could take it home today he could let the show girls wash the Eurovan. Unfortunately for him the deal didn't go through....

The service department found out that there is a transmission sensor issue in the van. Basically the sensor in the transmission is not working correctly and doesn't actually know what gear the car is in when it is in it. As it was explained to us, we could be driving home in the middle of Kansas and be in 4th or 5th gear only to have the sensor misfire and think the car is in first gear, therefore wrecking the transmission completely. That doesn't sound like something I want to happen. The piece to fix it is only $150 but they can't get it until Monday. We are so ready to come home and this was disappointing news. I'm just glad that we caught it and it is fixable and we can then be on the road Monday mid-day. These things happen. We will be fine. We have the Avett Brothers concert tonight afterall! Stayed tuned.