"The Bourne Legacy" is still my source of entertainment. I am not sure who gets their ass kicked more. Jack Bauer of 24 gets a smack down once an hour for 24 hours. Jason Bourne/ David Webb gets a near death smack down everyday. I am not sold on being any type of agent for our government.
I did have several run ins with some government agents along this leg of the trip. They all seemed quite nice. I might change my attitude towards power hungry/abuser cops. My stiry does have some background. 3 hours into my 2 lane highway trip to Crested Butte, I realized I missed a turn off. Just a mere 50 miles out of the way. I try to make up for the lost time and get to just 15 miles from my destination. I see a big explorer with sirens make a u-turn and come up right behind me. Officer Summer informs me that, SURPRISE,I was going 73 in a 50. I am figuring, there is no way I can talk my way out of this. I decide to play the dumb card. I honestly had not seen a speed limit sign, That could be because I was going too fast. However, my out was in the paperwork for El Verde. I could not find the rental Contract. They attempted to call National Car Rental and had no luck. He noticed I was nervous and I explained I felt "retarded" for not having anything he needed. He laughed. Phew, I may have a chance. 10 minutes later he approaches, no clip board, good sign. I get the yellow warning slip and I am on my way, yippee kay yay! Love cops, today!
I get into Crested Butte, it is a quaint little town. It kind of reminds me of Northern Exposure, until you see the HUGE Mc Mansions on the hills. Speaking of Hills, My cousin Peter tells me Heidi from the Hills is from here. This poor little town, she is a horrible media whore. I get out of my car and wonder if I have enough warm clothes for this short visit. I am confused by this chilly , rainy, hailing "summer" weather. Another reason to go straight to the island vacation and ignore any urge to take a road trip. I meet Pete at the Eldo, a local bar and brewery that Pete had owned at one time. He verified my belief that the bar business is tough. It is almost impossible to cover the overhead. I would figure it worse in such a small town. They did have a delicious Porter. I had a buffalo burger with Gorgonzola for dinner. That was quite tasty, as well. Good size, great bun, perfectly juicy. (I avoided the word 'moist' for those of you that cannot stand that term) the local taught me this gambling/ reason for shots game called, "right,center,left." It was a blast. Ely, the bartender, made up several rounds of delicious shots. We call it night around 11ish, I think, and head back to my lovely room at the Elk Mountain B&B.
The beds at all of these places have been great. The breakfast selections have also been an extra added bonus to the reasonable prices. I wake up at 7:30 and head out to catch up on my Blogging. Freshly made blueberry pancakes , delicious bagels, eggs, ham and yogurt are all apart of my buffet selection. I do not fear carb overload today. Pete, stirs to the land of the walking around 9ish. The B&B has Schwinn bicycles for their guests. I hop on one and meet Pete at a local coffee beanery, Camp 4. (spellcheck wants nothing to do with beanery , I am adopting it anyway. They roast their own beans. Brewery would give a wring impression. They were also voted best coffee in Colorado) I especially enjoyed the Chai latte. It was right up there with Groundworks delicious Chai, nice and spicy. Pete has to go to work. I decide to take a little ride all over town. Thirty minutes later I find myself on the "otherside" of town and a small, brief windstorm comes blasting through. Thoughts, of Dorothy, wicked witch and flying monkeys come to mind,just as quickly. With all of the random hurricanes, tornados and recent floodings on the news lately, my adventure takes me promptly closer to home base.
Stephen, Peter's brother, and yes, also my cousin, arrives from Ft. Collins, Colorado. It is always great to catch up with the Basile's. I have not seen Peter in about 20 years and Stephen in about 4. I cannot stop asking Pete about this little town he has lived in for the past 18 years. there are only about 1500 in immediate vicinity. I am almost positive that is how people were at my High School. i could never do it. Half the population would be gone because I killed them!! I was only suppose to stay one night, but pushed it out to 2 nights. The locals say that how it usually happens. Everyone has every intention of just a short stint, but become lifers soon after. I swear I am just staying because Stephen is on his way.
It has been an absolutely beautiful sunny day, after a few happy hour beverages outside, we head inside to Lil's to watch the Laker game and celebrate Steve's birthday. Who knew, a landlocked little city such as Crested Butte could have such fabulous sushi. I tried a surf n' turf, which was surprisingly delicious. I was always skeptical of the Beef tataki and raw fish rolls. it just sounded odd. The delicious thinly sliced seared beef was on top of a Tempura lobster roll, yum yum! The Escl=olar was perfectly smoothe and buttery. I was lucky. I guess Lil's had been closed due to a fire the previous year. It had opened just this past weekend. The lakers win!!! We play some more Right left Center, have some birthday shots and head in around 1:30. All very early nights on my vacation, thus far. It actually does not get any crazier.
Did I mention the gorgeous the weather the previous day? I wake up early, with a little bit of a headache from those sugary shots. It was most definitely not just the excessive alcohol intake. Surprise, I am the first to get to the buffet. Apparently, none of the families or couples needed to caffienate and protein up to stop an alcohol induced headache! I had decided that morning that I wanted to go through New mexico and check out Santa fe and Albuquerque, so i pack up and wait to hear from the Basile boys. Coffee, camp 4, same time as the previous morning. I was thinking of taking a last ride on the schwinn, but, SURPRISE, it is SNOWING!!!!! My west coast brain was having some issues wrapping around this idea. June, snow,June Snow?!!! I hope in my cars in my wool sweater, skirt and flip flops. I am heading out so no need to overdress for the short ride to summer like weather. I grab a HUGE vanilla latte, say my goodbyes, gas up El Verde and head south for the rest of my Summer vacation.
YOU'RE MY HERO Nicole,
You're the best!! Can you post some pictures? I'm so stupid with this blogging thing I don't know how it works. But be careful the rest of the trip.
You still must come to Palm Springs....
NicoAri
Nicole Ariola
nimz
fun with the fuzz in the mountains of speed, another good entry is all i need