I just returned from a nice little trip to Denver, a place that I had never visited before. Actually, Denver is now the farthest west I’ve ever been in the U.S. (well, technically, it is Silverthorne, just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70, the extent of our driving). I liked it, despite typically heading eastward when I want to get away. There’s something about real mountains that is impressive to somebody who has spent most of his time in flat states.
I was only there for a few days, but I found a number of amusing and confusing things while I was there (and not just the airport that is almost as large as the city of Minneapolis, and located almost as far from Denver)…
- I-70 heading west out of Denver into the mountains is surprisingly wide. Why such a huge freeway? Seems out of place.
- Many times on the freeways I’d see people traveling around 45 MPH for no apparent reason. It wasn’t the terrain, since this was in the flat areas. Not being Minnesota, though, they were not in the left lane.
- Peña Boulevard, the freeway to the airport, allows bicycles on the shoulder. I didn’t see any, but bikes? On a freeway? That sounds more dangerous than the bike lanes on Hennepin in downtown Minneapolis.
- The Chevy Cobalt is a crappy car, but it become a bit less crappy once you figure out how to move the seat back from its default recline position.
- Suburbs look the exact same no matter where you go.
- Hotels are much cooler when they come with a semi-tame fox that lurks in the parking lot at night.
- States that allow grocery stores to only sell 3.2 beer should have large signs next to said beer informing people of this fact. Breweries that make 3.2 versions of decent beers should be mocked.
I took about 500 pictures while I was there, so processing them will take some time. I’ll have them up as soon as I can.