TRAVEL: SOUTHWEST ROAD TRIP 2010 PART TWO UTAH TO COLORADO AUGUST 2010

Ted and I parted ways after 4 days in Salt Lake City - he headed to Baja California to fish and I headed to Colorado for business.  Our last evening in SLC for Outdoor Retailer we attended an industry party hosted by Liberty Mountain that was all the happs, and the source of some great road trip music too.  LM deserves props not only for good food and drink, but also for hiring local SLC band, the Daniel Day Trio to perform their smooth jazz lounge versions of popular hits from other bands like Guns-n-Roses, Nirvana and Oasis. Once we realized they were also playing songs from Depeche Mode and New Order, we were hooked.  We bought the CD.  So next time you're in Salt Lake City, give a listen to the Daniel Day Trio.

 I eased across Utah on my way to Colorado Friday morning via Highway 89 and Interstate 70 through Moab.  I didn't make any sightseeing stops, just enjoyed the scenery and the ride.  I passed through the San Rafael Swell (being considered for National Monument status) and over the Green and Colorado Rivers into Moab before heading into Colorado from Monticello (unlike Thomas Jefferson's place, pronounced "Monti-sello").

San Rafael Swell

Colorado Riverway, Moab

Bike bridge at the Colorado Riverway

The corridor from Monticello, UT to Cortez, CO is part of the Four Corners area of the southwest.  Named for the geographical convention that allows you to access 4 states - Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico - almost simultaneously as they meet at four corners.  This area is also archaeologically rich as the ancient home of the Ancestral Puebloans (better known by the politically incorrect term Anasazi), ancestors of the Pueblo, Hopi and Zuni Indians, who built spectacularly situated cliff-dwellings amongst many other types of masonry architecture.  The high desert climate of the Colorado Plateau and the low volume of contemporary human population has preserved this architecture to a striking degree, though in many parks and monuments the dwellings have been rebuilt and stabilized by archaeologists.  This area is also home to the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute, who are not descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans.  Cortez is the gateway town to Mesa Verde National Park, the first park to preserve the cultural treasures of the Ancestral Puebloans.  Mesa Verde is "green table" in Spanish, and refers to the distinct plateau of green tableland that looms over Cortez at 7000 to 8500 foot elevation.  The ancient native population may have been growing corn, beans and squash on the mesa top, but the Cortez area is heavily agricultural surrounding the mesa below.

Staying with my friend Laurel in Cortez, we decided to celebrate all this agricultural bounty by attending the Cortez Saturday Farmer's Market and purchase groceries for the week.  I had come to Mesa Verde to do some retail consulting work for Laurel's organization, the Mesa Verde Museum Association.  As the Executive Director of this cooperating association, Laurel and her staff raise funds for Mesa Verde National Park by operating visitor center and museum bookstores in the park.  

After acquiring provisions for the week, Laurel and I set out on the Trail of the Ancients, a scenic byway that connects many ancient pueblo sites including the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument designation given to many ancient pueblo sites scattered throughout southwestern Colorado.  Laurel and I had visited Hovenweep National Monument on my last visit, so we hoped to pick up where we left off.  Beginning at the Anasazi Heritage Center with it's fine museum and beautiful native garden, we collected our info and set out for Lowry Pueblo.

Lowry Pueblo with preservation shelter over stabilized room blocks

Laurel enters the re-built pueblo interior

1000 year old plaster on the walls

Kiva stairwell - no large people allowed!

Lowry's caretaker - Western Fence Lizard

In contrast to Lowry Pueblo's stabilized structures, Sand Canyon Pueblo has been excavated, but never stabilized in any way.  Some pueblo ruins in their current state look like piles of rubble - because they are. However, the desert landscape can still be read by archaeologists to learn the history of ancient peoples.

The monsoon season got the better of us at Sand Canyon but we viewed the entire site before it began to rain. Dinner plans centered around farmer's market goodies, so we employed the fragrant basil from the market and Laurel's backyard to create Rotisserie Chicken with Peaches, Walnuts and Basil (which became Rotisserie Chicken with Nectarines, Pine Nuts and Basil in my version).  An excellent cheater recipe that utilizes rotisserie chicken from the grocery store provides a perfect canvas for ripe summer fruit and basil.  This recipe and a tomato basil salad are courtesy of Sunset Magazine - how would I eat without it?  I also found a Bellini style drink with a bottle of Cava (Spanish champagne) nectarines and peach nectar for a summer cocktail.

Next stop on the southwest road trip: Backcountry hiking in Mesa Verde National Park!

Junket Ratings:

Daniel Day Trio: Junk in the Trunk!

Cortez Farmer's Market: Junk-O-Rama

Anasazi Heritage Center: Junk-O-Rama

TRAVEL: SOUTHWEST ROAD TRIP 2010 PART ONE CALIFORNIA TO UTAH AUGUST 2010

Southwest Road Trip 2010 for work and play: California to Utah to Colorado to Arizona and back.  Lodging locations included:

1. The Canyons Resort in Park City, UT

 

2. Chez Rematore in Cortez, CO

3. Chez Chapman at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, AZ

Ted and I drove from Yosemite to Park City in 12 hours to attend the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City in order to ogle the latest climbing gear, kayaks, trail running shoes and 182 SPF lip balm.  The driving consists of 2 hours exiting CA, 2 hours entering UT and 10 hours in between crossing the great empty expanse of Nevada.  I love driving across Nevada for this very reason - major highways devoid of traffic. 

For summer trips we can exit Yosemite via the Tioga Pass Road which spills you out of the park very close to the Nevada border between the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains.  Heading toward Nevada on Highway 120, you pass through tiny Benton - home of Benton Hot Springs and hot tub camping (!).  Once in Nevada, you also pass through Tonopah, Ely and Wendover before crossing into Utah.  That's right, 3 cities across an entire state - go ahead, check the map.  There may be some other named locations on that route, but seriously, they do not count (apologies to citizens).

We arrived in Tonopah, home of the Clown Motel, just in time for lunch.  We opted for local biz Cisco's Restaurant on Main Street instead of gas station Burger King or the Banc Club casino cafe (which turns out to be another Cisco's oddly enough).  I had a perfectly good road trip hamburger and Ted had mediocre tacos, but the service was good and they have a Blue Bunny scoop ice cream counter with 14 flavors.  They refer to themselves as "Ice Cream Specialists" in their menu.

We arrived in Ely just in time to get a dose of Nevada political acumen:

And then several podcasts later we arrived in West Wendover, NV - the only place on land where you can see the curvature of the earth.  Ted was keen on scouting out $1 beers and $1 hot dogs in the casinos.  Apparently you have to go to Primm for that, because we had no luck, though we did enjoy our turn through the undersea neon world of the Montego Bay Casino.

Speaking of podcasts, I introduced Ted to Stuff You Should Know, which I found courtesy of my girls Katie and Sarah from Stuff You Missed in History Class.  I am riveted by the history podcast and find myself unable to drive without it, but Ted pulled the discrimination card and said he preferred listening to the boys (Josh and Chuck at SYSK) over the girls.  Whatever.  We always listen to Clay Jenkinson from the Thomas Jefferson Hour on every road trip, picturing him in his TJ duds working on the 35 Words Project, and I recently added The New Yorker's fiction podcast.  So we learned about the Large Hadron Collider, Tourette Syndrome, Voodoo, Garibaldi's 1000, Lord Darnley, the Haitian Revolution, and heard from John Updike.

We arrived at Park City without mishap and settled into The Canyons swanky ski resort at the Sundial Lodge with cut-rate rooms for summer.  Our room was lux and the pool and hot tubs were just fine.  Summer activities include mountain biking and hiking.  No bikes for us, but I did manage one short run on Holly's Trail. We didn't try the restaurants, but the Canyons hosts a farmer's market in the Cabriolet parking lot every Wednesday through the summer season.

The Outdoor Retailer show, hosted twice a year, is fun for work but also on a social level as we see many friends during our time in SLC.  Extra bonus for me via the magic of facebook, I reconnected with a friend from my Michigan youth, Kelly Blades, who happens to be the midwest rep for some popular kayak manufacturers. 

Michelle and KellyKelly also cheerfully ("Don't make me expand my horizons!") accompanied me to try SLC's latest mobile food truck, Chow Truck, offering asian food inspired tacos, sliders and salads.  I learned about Chow Truck from the Salt Lake City Lunch Examiner, but they were also featured in Sunset Magazine.  Since calamari is on the menu, my first food choice is a given, but we also tried coconut lemongrass chicken, pineapple ginger pork and beef cilantro chile pesto tacos.  Yum!

New outdoor equipment is fascinating and all, but what I really needed was a mani/pedi.  Any visit to the big city requires a mandatory pampering session of some sort since I live in the sticks.  I spent Monday afternoon walking wondrously clean and lovely Salt Lake City until I found Akasha Spa and Salon, where I had a relaxing treatment and dozed off in the Meditation Room with my ginger tea (in my robe and slippers!).  On my walk back to the Salt Palace, I was surprised to come across a Greek Orthodox church with striking architecture.  I was even more surprised to see another orthodox church on our way to dinner that evening.  Come to find out, SLC has had an established Greek community for over one hundred years and hosts a Greek Festival every September.

Carl, Sherri, and Ted's colleague Greg joined us for dinner at Tony Caputo's Market & Deli in the downtown location to feast on old school Italian American food.  My hidden agenda was to exploit the 'market' part of Tony's to acquire provisions for home.  So gourmet tinned tuna, Valrhona chocolate, cornichons, and Mo's Bacon Chocolate Bar joined my luggage.

Tony's restaurant is more than a deli, and we enjoyed hot dishes like Chicken Margherita and Italian Sausage Pasta along with incredible deli sandwiches, antipasti and Caprese Salad.  Sherri always brings houseguests to Tony's Market, but this was their first experience in the restaurant.  The hot portions were very large, and everyone enjoyed their food.  Sherri and I thought the marinated mushrooms were particularly tasty and looked for them in vain in Tony's market. 

Ted, Greg, Sherri and Carl

When I first ran into Carl and his son, Sam, earlier that day, he explained to Sam that I am currently keeping a travel blog.  He said I might post a photo about a great adventure, but then there will be three photos to follow of the meal we ate.  I acknowledged that for me, food is part of the adventure!  Another specific ritual of the adventure is the libation.  On Thursday I skipped the trade show and perused Park City in search of hearty libations and met with great success.  Park City, as a high-end ski town, meets your expectations as a place for idle white folks to spend their cash in art galleries and souvenir shops.  

However, they are blessed with a remarkable setting, a disproportionate amount of interesting restaurants and the first legal distillery in Utah in the past 150 years, High West Distillery.  Distillery means hard liquor, so anyone familiar with Utah's byzantine liquor laws may find the presence of a whiskey distillery in Park City puzzling at the very least (In Utah, the state government owns and operates all the liquor stores and many towns don't have one.  I also read that the state is currently "out" of liquor licenses.).  Even better, High West also operates a restaurant out of the historic Ellsworth J. Beggs House and National Garage where the distillery is housed. 

Not being a whiskey drinker per se, I was intrigued enough by the context to give it a whirl.  In the gift shop I encountered a friendly woman who took my blurted question, "How are you selling whiskey here?" in stride and informed me that they hold 3 liquor licenses from the state of Utah - one to distill, one to serve, and one to sell in package form.  She deftly guided me to the saloon where I could partake in a whiskey flight, just like wine-tasting.  I sat at the bar, served by friendly bartender Larry, and tasted 4 whiskies and 2 vodkas.  They were ... yummy. Having no exposure to rye whiskey, I sampled Rendezvous Rye (spicy!) and the 16 year old and 21 year old versions of Rocky Mountain Rye (smooth!).  I also sampled 7000' Vodka (yes!) and Utah Peach Vodka with a slightly disdainful air that quickly transformed to wonder (yum!).  Last on the list was Silver Whiskey - not aged in a barrel, 'white' whiskies are often referred to as moonshine.  This, however, was not moonshine. Silver reminded me of fine tequila.  High West recommends using it the way you would other clear spirits, such as in cocktails like the Clementine: lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice, simple syrup, Gran Marnier and Silver on the rocks in a salt-rimmed glass.  From the Summer Signature Drink Menu, I opted for the Belle Starr: Silver Whiskey with muddled strawberries and basil with soda.  I also ordered lunch: Golden Gazpacho with Avocado & Crab.  

In a fine mood after lunch, I purchased Silver Whiskey and 7000' Vodka for my cupboard at home.  What a lovely day in Park City thanks to the High West Distillery!  Note that the cocktail and lunch links above take you to their fall/winter menus that read as the best reason to go back to Park City this winter.  Skiing might be good, too. 

Next stop on the southwest road trip: Colorado and Mesa Verde National Park.

Junket Ratings:

Cisco's Restaurant: Junkety-Junk-Junk

Chow Truck: Junk in the Trunk!

Akasha Spa & Salon: Junk-O-Rama

Tony Caputo's Market & Deli: Junk-O-Rama

High West Distillery: Junk in the Trunkety-Trunk-Trunk!