IL to CA - Day 2, day of the longest drive

We had a long drive ahead of us on Day 2, all the way to Denver, CO through KS (Map), and so we started early in the morning (8:30 AM) after a quick breakfast at the hotel. Our initial plan was to drive along I-70 W throughout the road trip, till we hit I-15 S in NV. But to avoid paying toll, we took a little detour from I-70 W onto US-40 W, as we entered KS. Fortuitously, the countryside was beautiful, with small houses, stables and cows grazing around the narrow winding highway. After an hour or so, we merged back onto I-70 W.

I must admit that the drive through KS in the middle of summers can be excruciating. First of all, there is not much to see around, just vast expanse of grasslands. Secondly, it is extremely hot and we could not keep the A/C of our over-loaded car running for longer than a few minutes at a stretch. The window that I had opened up to get some "fresh" (read hot) air, refused to close down, deafening us with the loud highway noise. Thirdly, it is so windy that it is hard (at least for me) to keep the steering wheel stable. This poses a great problem when you are trying to overtake shaky 18-wheel trucks. Ooh! that drive was stressful. All along, me and Monik kept wondering why such high intensity winds are not being put to good use, until we encountered rows and rows of wind mills. Go, Green Energy :)

We decided to take a lunch break at Gella's diner and Lb. brewing co. in Hays, KS. As we walked to our table at the restaurant, everyone's eyes followed us. Hmmmm, maybe we were the only non-white people they had seen in a long time!? We ordered a Falafel pita and a Salmon burger, along with the home-brewed American Hefeweizen. Everything was great, especially with the A/C to cool us down :)

Monik was coping much better with the heat and wind, and so he drove the rest of the way for 5 continuous hours. This was a bad idea because by the time we reached our hotel in Denver, his feet were toast. Nevertheless, he was game about checking out the downtown. The Lower Downtown (LoDo) district of Denver is quite happening, with loads of restaurants, bars and pubs. We decided to dine at Gumbo's Louisiana Style Cafe that serves Creole/Cajun cuisine and let me break it to you right away, this was one of the best meals of my life. The food was simply delicious. Every bite brought along mystical flavors. The lemony and peppery spread that came with the bread was crazy good. The ordinary Idaho potato chips were uplifted to a whole new level of savory "Cajun chips", which came with a mustard-like dip. The shrimp gumbo flavors were equally amazing, but the cherry on the cake was the Salmon wrapped in puff pastry with spinach, cheese, jalapenos and some heavenly sauces. It was like a foodgasm. The build-up to this climax wasn't bad either. The restaurant was beautiful, with romantic dim lights and jazz music playing in the background. Oh! how I loved the whole experience :)

After the lovely meal, we headed back to our hotel, where we could not find any parking in the front lot. I drove all the way to the back and pulled up into a free space, where a bunch of teenagers were just siting in a car parked adjacent to ours. Monik immediately asked me to pull back and drive to the front. I obeyed and started looking for parking spots in the front. The same car zipped past us. This scared the shit out of me. We decided to wait for a parking spot that could be seen from our room window. Finally, we found one and as I pulled in, Monik saw those teenagers again. He tried to follow them, but they had disappeared. Their car zipped past us again. By this time, I was horribly scared, but Monik was calm. Once we reached our room, he called the reception to report the incident. Fortunately, they were aware of the situation and had already called the cops. We were relieved, but I couldn't sleep that night. My thoughts kept going back to those teenagers in the car and if they would come back to steal. Luckily, nothing of that sort happened. The car was fine and I was raring for the adventures of Day 3 :)

Our ratings:
Gella's diner and Lb. brewing co.: 4/5
Gumbo's Louisiana Style Cafe: 5/5
Red Lion Hotel Denver Central : 3/5

Odometer reading:
452 --> 1095 miles

Road Trip IL to CA - Day 1

On that hot Delhi afternoon, a clairvoyant said to a 14 year old pigtailed girl that one day she would become a "Doctor". I didn't believe it then and I couldn't believe it the day I became one. Although, as they say, not a "Real Doctor", just a "Doctor in Philosophy". Graduate school was my life for 6 years, but it was over and I had to move on. I had to leave the small, quiet, friendly and lovely town, where I made the best of friends, learnt from the best of teachers and matured as a human being. I did leave, but a part of me will always be there.

The route out of Urbana, Illinois to Riverside, California was through 6 different states, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada (Map) . Needless to say, I couldn't have done this 2115 miles drive alone. Me and my husband, Monik, did it together :) Our first ever Road Trip!

Like every other road trip, we had our share of adventures from the very beginning. Or, wait a minute, even before the beginning. Monik came down with Chicken Pox at the tender age of 30. And you know how it goes at that age. His body was wired with tiny, but devastating, "itch bombs" that went off every other second, leaving behind ghastly scars. This, combined with an "untouchable" treatment, sucked the energy out of him. But, Monik fought courageously and came out of this horror unscathed. Our journey was delayed by merely 3 days and we learnt an invaluable lesson: Always buy insurance while booking a hotel :)

We started driving my over-stuffed car on the lovely morning (9:00AM) of May 21 (Lara's wedding anniversary, a good day, indeed :D). The weather was perfect, overcast with little to no showers. This was a blessing, as there was no way we were using up gas to run the A/C in such a loaded car. We reached St. Louis, MO around noon and headed for lunch at an Irish Pub called Tigin along I-70 W. Before we started this trip, we had set our minds on trying different cuisines along the way and so we ordered traditional Irish potato pancakes called "Boxty". I thoroughly enjoyed my savory "Veggie Boxty Quesadilla" and so did Monik his "Blackened Chicken and Shrimp Boxty". With good food and beer in our bellies, we walked to the St Louis Arch. This was Monik's first time in St. Louis and he loved it. Was it the weather or just his mood that made him feel like he was roaming the streets of Europe?

After a few touristy snaps, we were off to our destination of the day, Kansas city, MO. We made a brief pit stop for gas and coffee at Exit 148, before reaching our hotel in the evening (5:30 PM). Lucky us, out of all the floors in that 15-storey hotel, we got the lowest 2nd floor room :( Nevertheless, the room was nice. We decided to try our palates at an Ethiopian restaurant called Blue Nile Cafe in the downtown "City Market". The market was small and nice. At the restaurant, we started with some beers, Belgian ale-Delirium Nocturnal and Kenyan-Tusker, and then had the traditional fermented Dosa-like bread, Injera, with chicken (Doro Watt) and potato (Dinich Watt) curries. The curry flavors were amazing and Indian-like. We also got complementary red lentils (Misir Watt) and greens (Gomen), which were equally yummy. After the meal, we drove down to the Missouri river front and then headed back to the hotel (9:30 PM).

Day 1 went great and we were eagerly looking forward to our next day.

Our ratings:
Tigin: 4/5
Blue Nile Cafe: 4/5
Holiday Inn, Kansas City : 3/5

Odometer reading:
Zero --> 452 miles