A Few Souvenirs

We're back from our road trip to the Cherry Creek Art Festival in Denver. We had a great time. Instead of a boring blow-by-blow, here are some of my "bests" from the trip.
BEST OF NATURE:
1. Hoards of fat, brown grasshoppers in Nevada, covering the highway and the landscape for miles in all directions with a thick brown carpet. It was very sad to drive over them.

2. A badger ran across the road in front of us, then paused to stare at our car. It was only the second time I've ever seen a badger in the wild.
3. Quaking aspens, wow what stunning trees!
4. The Rocky Mountains - we crossed them twice, once on the way down to Denver, and once outside Salt Lake City. Magnificent - the air, the views, the trees, the huge skies!
5. Moab, Utah. We spent the second night there, and visited the Arches National Park, a red-rock wonderland. My first time in Utah. I'm hooked.
6. The smell of the sagebrush on the prairies in Wyoming. I wanted to get down on the ground and roll around in it, it was so fragrant and evocative.
7. Kildeers eating worms outside our motel in Rock Springs, WY. They are such handsome and shapely birds - I haven't seen them in years.8. Driving along the banks of the Colorado River - awesome!
9. The weather - extreme heat, punctuated by sudden thunder and lightening storms, little flash floods, sultry and dramatic cloud formations, gusty winds, and then hot sun again, all within a few minutes.
BEST PEOPLE:
1. Our dear pal, Christopher, who came to Denver from LA to help Daniella with her show, and to hang out with us.
2. Our sweet friends Missy and Mark, in Grand Junction, who entertained us so generously in their home. Their business, the Main Street Bagel Bakery in GJ, was an oasis for great food, great atmosphere, and great company.
3. The town of Grand Junction was a happy surprise, lively, fun, street sculpture gracing every block of the downtown, a very "happening" community.
4. A visit, at the Grand Junction hospital, with my high school friend, Jamie, whose wife has been there in a coma for a month after being hit by a train. We had hoped to visit them in Paonia, but it was not to be on this trip. We hope she makes it. She has a rock of a man supporting her.
5. Artist friend, Michel Tsouris, with whom we caravaned part of the way home, across Wyoming. She was traveling with her adorable dog, Zoe, whom we almost kidnapped!
6. My son, Tommy, who did a great job taking care of our house and our dog while we were away.
BEST EATS:
1. Breakfasts in Grand Junction at the Bagel Bakery - divine!
2. Noshing on the road from our own cooler, eating delicacies we picked out along the road.
3. Eating green chile for breakfast at the Buckaroo Cafe in Green River, Wyoming.
4. Lunch in Nevada City, CA, at the New Moon Cafe, on the last leg of the homeward journey.
5. The Lectrolux Cafe in Baker, Nevada.
BEST MISCELLANEOUS:
1. I read a great book while traveling: The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. Beautifully written, well worth reading.
2. While it was great to travel, best of all was to come home to our little dog, get kissed to pieces by her excited welcome, and sleep in our own bed! (photo below is somebody else's little home in Nevada.)