Kansas City

  Kansas City, Missouri, is a really nice city! Who knew? After the snow and the high plains it was nice to drive down through rolling hills into a metropolis. Kansas City has various museums, a convention centre, many sporting events and a really cool party area called the Power and Light District. It also boasts many other diverse neighbourhoods. Some are centered around artists others Jazz and BBQ and others still are simply cute little neighbourhoods with cafes and shops. There is even a steamboat Mueseum.

   People were very friendly and helpful. One lady even offered to drive us to a museum because she thought it was too far to walk. The city is also peppered with 1920s modern architecture and art deco buildings. So pretty. We toured around downtown, saw the city from the top of City Hall where we learned that Kansas City is known for its fountains. Only Rome boasts having more fountains than Kansas city. Again, who knew?
After city Hall and Downtown we went to tour a brewery. They brew really good beer in Kansas City at the Boulevard Brewery! Yum. I found myself wishing I had studied micro-biology in University so that I could become a brew master. Now there's a reason to take science! ;-)
   We ended our day at a cool pub in the Power and Light District called the Flying Saucer. The place is covered in plates on the wall that belong to its "UFO Club Members". To get a plate with your name on it you have to sigh up and sample the different beer at the pub. The pub keeps a list of all the beers you've tried (they have over 2000...that's not a typo, Two THOUSAND) Once a person has tasted 200 beers they get their name on a plate on the wall. CRAZY. Great selection of beer. (I know, again with the beer...but it's yummy!)

   In all it was a nice way to end our visit of the midwest. 

City Hall

A view of the city

Boulevard Brewery!

World War 1 Mermorial

View of the city and the old Train Station from the memorial.

The Oz Museum!!! (Aka. We found Dorothy!)

Did you know Kansas has an Oz Museum? It does in lovely Wamego, Kansas.
During our adventure the day before we saw billboards for the Oz Museum and decided we HAD to visit it.
On the way there we also passed through Manhattan to see Kansas State University. We even checked out the Tri Delta house! That was fun.
But back to Oz. There was this collector who had accumulated a lot of Oz paraphernalia ...so much that he started a museum. People in the town decided to jump on board too. There was an Oz winery and a Toto's taco. Cute!
The tacos were great and the museum was fun. I had no idea there were so many Oz sequels as well as spinoffs. Enjoy the pics!

Still no Dorothy

  Kansas is mainly flat high prairies...but it does hide some interesting landscapes. Dave and I discovered a cool little rock formation in the middle of Kansas. It was a detour and an adventure to get there!
   It was still snowing when we left Oakley. Not far out we noticed a sign for a rock formation. When I checked the map it didn't seem that far so we went...45 minutes later we were driving down a dirt path in a farmer's field. It was pretty, though! On our way back we drove on a road that our GPS didn't know about. In all it was a fun diversion from our otherwise very straight and flat ride.
  Our detour did mean that Dom needed us to stop before we got to Junction City so we found a fried chicken place in Salina. I'll let the picture speak for itself ;-)

If you look up the road you will see the rock formation. 

Looking the other way...it almost looks like the rocks of the Grand Canyon.

Our GPS had no idea where we were. 

In Kansas...but Where's Dorothy?

  I was worried about tornadoes in Kansas. I didn't expect snow! All I knew of Kansas was what I had seen in the Wizard of Oz. It looks so warm in the movies. Dorothy was running around in a dress...not a snow suit. I guess that was summer. ;-) Now I know.

  We broke up our drive through Kansas into a couple of days because we had heard that it was a bit taxing. (it's a little flat!) This ended up being a VERY good decision as we hit an April snow storm just as we were leaving Denver. Geographically, Denver is very similar to Calgary. It is nestled in the foothills of the Rockies. This meant the second we drove east of Denver we hit the high plains. The rest of Denver and most of Kansas is very similar to Saskatchewan (no offense, Saskatchewaners) flat, open and windy! We were lucky to make it to Oakley when we did because they closed the I-70 behind us! 

   Oakley is the home of Annie Oakley. (Cool, eh?!) We stopped by the Buffalo Bill Cultural Centre and snapped a few pics and also photographed the Annie Oakley Motel. It's a very small town, but hey, when else will we ever see the Birthplace of Annie Oakley! 

The sign tells us we are "Leaving Colourful Colorado".

The States have a funny sense of humour when it comes to their border towns. They name them for both states. It produces some funny names: Kanorado, Texarkana, Texhoma, Arkhoma, Michiana...the list goes on! Check out this Wikipedia list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_towns_in_the_United_States_with_portmanteau_names

It was a little bleak at times ;-)

A statue of Buffalo Bill.

We had to. 

Another view of the statue of Buffalo Bill.

The Buffalo Bill Cultural Centre

Love the part about "Color TV!"

Denver

 Denver strikes a great balance between middle American charm and coast style. Cowboy boots, southern style BBQ, Mexican food and adobe style houses abound but sit comfortably beside Victorian houses, long haired mountain bikers and fusion cuisine. There are three or maybe even four universities in Denver, loads of  museums, clubs, restaurants, amazing parks and views.
  People in Denver are very athletic. Bikers, walkers and joggers are everywhere. Denver has been ranked as one of the States fittest cities by Forbes.  http://www.denver.org/what-to-do/sports-recreation/denver-forbes-fittest .
   It is a great city.
  Dave went to Denver University of Law and later worked in Denver so he has many friends there. We stayed with the ever awesome Trey and Suzanne and their adorable kids Quaid and Lucy. We went to a Rugby game that Trey was coaching which was cool. ( I have to admit, though, I still don't understand Rugby!) It was a beautiful day. The rest of our time was split amongst some of Dave's other friends and touring around. We toured DU and ate at a couple of great restaurants. We visited with Melody, Becky & Tom and Sarah & Nathan. Not surprisingly, everyone was super cool. Dave tends to have awesome friends. :-)
  Enjoy the pics!!

Having Lunch with the lovely Melody. 

Denver University

The iconic "Cash register" Building

We had delicious pizza at The Mellow Mushroom. 

Trey, Lucy, Quaid & Suzanne!

Waiting for our turn at Steuben's

Dom liked it there!

Steuben's was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives on the food Network.

Steamboat Springs & Eagle, Colorado

  Our Winter in April adventures continued in Steamboat Springs. Steamboat Springs is a little town of about 12000 nestled in the Rockies at an elevation of 6732 feet. Its a cute town with a Rocky Mountain Cowboy feel. The downtown buildings have kept the architecture of an old western movie. Very cool! We saw Dave's friend Elizabeth and drove around a little. It was snowing a lot though, so we took it easy.
   The next day we headed to Eagle where we stayed with Sandy and Pope, friends of Dave (and now my friends too ;-). They have a great place with a beautiful view of the mountains. Eagle is another little town with a Rocky Mountain Cowboy feel. Its elevation is 6,601 feet and is a little smaller with a population of 6 500.
  For most of our stay it snowed on and off but our last day there we got some sun. While we were there we also visited Vail and Beaver Creek: two ski resort towns. We also visited Dave's friend Chris who teaches skiing at Beaver Creek. It's really beautiful up there. I'd love to come back to ski or in the summer to go hiking... And of course to visit all the lovely people we met.
Enjoy the pics!!

This is a great taco place in Eagle. We had awesome tacos and horchata there. 

Vail ski resort.

Cool art in Vail.

Beautiful red stone. 

Cool Western style buildings.

The entrance to a ranch.