Lunch in Denver

September 11, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

With barely two hours to spare in Denver, we beelined for the hip LoHi neighborhood, another stop on our could-we-live-here tour. LoHi, so-called because it encompasses the lower stretches of Highland, was beckoning us with its foodie haven small restaurants and bungalow houses. We’d been through here once before during Kristen’s business trip back in February, but this time we couldn't wait to sample some of the local fare.

So we got straight to business, settling down at Linger restaurant just in time before the kitchen closed during the lull between lunch and dinner. After noticing sweet potato waffle fries on the menu, we knew we’d arrived at the right place. In addition to the dream-come-true sweet potato goodness, our lunch consisted of braised goat tacos, and a delicious and beautiful salad.

Goat tacos with feta, cucumber-red onion slaw, dill, mint & chimichurri

*Crispy lentil salad with goat cheese, gala apples, and pistachio paste!*

We stopped in a coffeshop around the corner where we ordered some energy to go before winding through the neighborhood, checking out potential properties. While Denver isn’t quite Boulder, it still seems like a great place to live.

And from there, we turned east with our sights set on Kansas, where we’d hope to camp. Colorado, we hope to see you (and your prairie dogs) again soon!

Boulder, We Love You

September 10, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

During our stay in Colorado, we made Broomfield our home-base due to its central location between Boulder and Denver. Plus, it's where Loren’s friend from middle school, Jordan, lives in a spacious apartment. A few hours after we arrived, the air mattress was beckoning to us, partially owing to our climbing extravaganza a few hours earlier. And once we started sleeping it was hard to stop! We woke around 11am, still feeling like it had to be 8ish, and quickly got movin’.

Our mission for the day was to see as much of Boulder as possible and to scope out potential areas where we might want to live. Checking out Trulia searches (for rentals) in every neighborhood we drove through, we quickly realized that Boulder is a pricy place to live. Makes sense, because it seems like one of the best places in the country.

We also wanted to check out a nearby town called Longmont, which is about 15 minutes northeast of Boulder. While in our opinion Longmont is a tad in the wrong direction (um, hello? the mountains and outdoor Meccas are to the west!), we totally fell in love with the quaint and historic-looking neighborhoods that are WAY more affordable than their Boulder equivalents. Paying a visit to a bulk foods store on the main strip in Longmont, we again stocked up with some roadtrip-friendly noshing foods, and then made our way back to Boulder.

Any visit to Boulder is not complete without a stroll down Pearl Street, which is dotted with hip restaurants, bars, outdoor outfitters, knick knack stores, and performing street musicians. By then, we were ready for lunch and our timing couldn’t have been more perfect - it was happy hour! Grabbing seats outside at a restaurant called Hapa Sushi, we enjoyed a few appetizers and some fruity sake in the warm afternoon sun. We normally love raw fish, but instead opted to save some dough by ordering the half-priced happy hour fare, which was nonetheless delicious.

Afterward, we continued down the strip and landed in a Fro-yo and mochi shop called Smooch, but ended up ordering a delicious homemade coconut lemongrass popsicle. Gotta try that recipe someday with our popsicle molds! Next, we found a European market called Bayleaf that was a wonderland of chocolates, specialty foods, and beautiful books, among other things. We instantly noticed a huge display of our favorite brand of chocolate, Chocolove, which is made just a few miles away in Boulder. For a couple years we have been buying their almond and sea salt dark chocolate. But, this shop boasted a flavor we'd never seen - we found out the chocolate bar is named after the store (the only place it's sold), and that it's almost the same as our favorite bar but with the addition of toffee. Of course we picked up a bar to try later.

For dinner, we met up with our host at Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, a microbrewery on Pearl Street. The beers are made here and only served in-house. They were fantastic, and so were the burgers we ate to soak it up!

We had a great stay in Boulder, which confirmed our previous ideas that we could (and should) live here. Awesome mountains that offer climbing by summer and snowboarding by winter, a great food scene with emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients, a small-town feel supplanted by the University... what more could one want?

Climbing in Colorado

September 09, 2012 by K & L in News, North America, Outdoors, People, Places, Roadtrip 2012

The second pinnacle of our roadtrip (if there can be such a thing) was spending time in our possible future-home-state of Colorado in the summertime (a first for Kristen). Adding to the awesomeness was a chance to meet up with two of our friends and fellow climbers, Berto and Bern, who live in the area. Bern took the four of us to an awesome cliff in Golden, just a ten-minute hike from the roadside parking area.

We aren’t super comfortable lead climbing outdoors, so we let our friends start off, and then belay us as we top-roped. We got to send four different routes, ranging from 5.8 to 5.10 in difficulty, which, for us, definitely boosted our confidence a tad for our next outdoor climbing trip.

Afterwards, we soaked our feet in the cold creek just down the hill, and then drove into the historic downtown of Golden for some eats. Not far from where we were, the Coors factory, the largest single-site brewery, churns out millions of gallons of watery beer each year. Bern insisted on taking us to D’Deli, a cool little gourmet sandwich shop on the main street, with such sandwich names as The Oinker, Maui Waui, and The Jackwaggon. Bern and Berto both got a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, while the two of us split a Prime Time and Piggly Wiggly.

For dessert, even though we were already full, we made a stop two doors down at Golden Sweets for delicious homemade ice cream. We both fell in love with the same sample and each got one scoop of the coconut chocolate chunk. Delish!

Thanks to Berto and Bern for showing us a great time (and climbing spot)! Hope to be back soon.

A Very Sparse Drive Through Wyoming

September 08, 2012 by K & L in News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

After a quick pop-in visit to the Grand Tetons, we had to get crackin’; our next stop was the Denver area, and at the rate we were going, we wouldn’t arrive until 11pm. Just south of the mountains, we found ourselves in the way cool-looking resort town of Jackson, famed for amazing snow sports, restaurants, and celebrity residences. Again, we couldn’t linger long, we had to get into Colorado, but what we saw, we liked. This town is definitely on our list of places to get back to, especially in the wintertime for some snowboarding.

Then we drove for, like, 10 hours through one of the most boring parts of the country, west to east across southern Wyoming. There were thousands of snowdrift “fences” all over the landscape. There are probably more of those wooden structures then people in this state (it is, after all, the state with the smallest population). The only real saving grace of this super boring drive: there are pronghorn all over the place, right near the road in spots.

The one other notable stop we made was in Pinedale, where we yelped to seek out a coffee shop. However, we were led astray and we walked into a health food store, which ended up being pretty cool: it had a great selection of foods plus an adorable and playful dog that was determined to play fetch with us as soon as we walked through the door. Of course we obliged. At one point while Kristen was talking to the store owner, the dog sneakily stuck the tennis ball into the space between her knees, slowly backing away and waiting for the throw. Apparently the dog was a red heeler, and was raised right there in the store as a tiny puppy. After stocking up on a few roadtripping snacks, we drove down the street to the real coffee shop (and restaurant), Rock Rabbit Coffee & Bistro. Seemed like a pretty cool place for a sleepy town like Pinedale.

Eight hours later, our mission was to find a campsite in the mountains west of Boulder, but (again) we’d neglected to realize that it was Saturday night, so we'd be competing with outdoorsy Boulderites to find a spot. Around 11pm, after driving past three campgrounds with their signs reading “FULL,” we lucked out with a spot just south of Nederland. Fourth time’s a charm, right? So we set up our tent and sleeping bags, burned a tiny fire to basically finish our firewood, and finally got to bed sometime around midnight. Phew, what a long day!

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

September 08, 2012 by K & L in News, North America, Outdoors, Places, Roadtrip 2012

The Grand Tetons, french for the big tits (no joke), are so picturesque, so memorable... at least, that’s what we’ve heard. We didn’t have much time to spend wandering and hiking around these stunning mountains, so we had to defer to the guide books on this one. It’s true, the mountain range is indeed spectacular from almost any vantage point, as they abruptly rise out of the fairly flat Wyoming prairie, allowing onlookers to gaze at the mountains in their full glory. But we’re sure it would have been even better close up, on a long hike or a nice boat ride on Jenny Lake. This park is going on the list of places to revisit for longer than a couple of hours.

Binoculartown, USA

September 07, 2012 by K & L in News, North America, Outdoors, Places, Roadtrip 2012

From Bozeman, our next official stop was Colorado, and fortuitously our route took us through possibly the most awesome national park, Yellowstone. We’d both spent time here in this amazing place, but few things are as exciting as entering through the Roosevelt Arch and preparing for some inevitable wildlife encounters. Our plan was to enter through the north entrance, wind down the eastern route, and exit out the south gate, stopping along the way to gaze at animals and natural wonders. First stop was at Mammoth Springs visitor center to get the obligatory national park stamp in our dorky passport. As an added plus, the area around the visitors center was surrounded with elk grazing in the grass. The taxidermy wildlife exhibit there is fascinating, and another room held beautiful old black-and-white photos of early Yellowstone explorers. After the short visit, we moved on.

We anxiously peered out the car windows as we drove through the wilderness to our next big stop, Yellowstone Falls, seeing a few lone bison, but not much else. We parked and walked out to Artist Point, one of the best vistas to peep the tremendous waterfall, but it was getting late in the day, and the sun was lowering on the horizon just beyond the falls, obscuring the view in shadow. That was fine by us, because it made for a stunning photo anyway! Looking the opposite direction (with, rather than into, the sunlight) we marveled at the canyon walls’ dozens of layers of colorful sediments.

Back on the road, we saw a swarm of people with telescopic cameras and high-powered binoculars all looking in one direction. Our first thought: grizzly! We swung the car around and double-parked, eager to catch a glimpse. Loren asked a guy nearby, “What’s everybody looking at?” to which we learned, “Apparently there’s a wolf over there.” We took aim by lining up our telephoto lens and binoculars with somebody else’s equipment, and eventually identified a tiny black blob, laying in the grass just outside the forest, about 3/4 mile away. The usual wildlife-obsessed nerds were at full force, and we overheard one of them say, “Shh! I think it’s howling!”

Just a few minutes further down the road, we noticed one or two cars pulling over to the shoulder, so we acted fast and followed suit. We jumped out and stood watching a beautiful, calm coyote walking slowly through the tall grass, no more than 50 yards away. Wildlife... can’t beat it.

This Yellowstone drive didn’t include any bear sightings, but we managed to see several herds of buffalo, some very close up, before it was all over.

At this point, it was getting late, and we didn’t think we could get much further towards Colorado, so we decided to camp in Yellowstone for the night. We easily found a site at the southernmost campground, Lewis Lake, enjoyed an enchanting campfire, and turned in for what would be the coldest tent-camping night of the whole trip (bottoming out around 30 degrees Fahrenheit!).

The next morning, we made our way out of the park, winding through the southern stretches which were coated in thick fog. Like nowhere else.

Bozeman and More Family Time

September 07, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, News, North America, People, Places, Roadtrip 2012

Kristen is lucky enough to have family in the beautiful city of Bozeman, Montana, which is where her mom grew up and most of the family has remained. Who can blame them? It is a stunning outdoorsy town which has maintained a lot of the historic sites and neighborhoods that make it a gem. Plus, it’s perfectly located a few hours from, arguably, the best national parks in the country: Glacier, Yellowstone, and Tetons. Also, the weather started changing for the better the closer we got to Bozeman, such that when we arrived we were greeted with a warm sun. Our first stop was Grandma Ruth’s old house, which is where Kristen’s mom grew up, and is just down the road from the elementary school they attended (which now is home to artist studios and galleries, we’re told). If and when that house goes on the market, we’d consider buying it - no joke.

Grandma Ruth's house - This is where Kristen's mom grew up! — Grandma Ruth's house - *This is where Kristen's mom grew up!*

We unpacked our stuff into Kristen’s cousin’s house, set up the tent to air out and cleaned up and got ready just in time to get together with the rest of the family. Loren finally got to meet Aunt Roxie, Uncle Jack, (cousin) Jess, her husband Carl and their two adorable kids, Annie and Eric, and enjoyed dinner together on Bozeman's historic downtown strip at Bacchus Pub.

Kristen ordered her standard fish and chips, while Loren got to enjoy a burger with avocado and bacon. We also splurged and ordered moscow mules, delicious cocktails with vodka, ginger beer, and lime. It was great catching up with the family, and they gave us some insider tips on other good spots to check out in the area.

Once we got home, we were all a bit sleepy. We stayed up long enough to catch the tail end of Obama’s DNC speech, and then retired to bed, happy to be inside and under a down comforter!

Even with intentions of waking early, we slept in a tad and had just enough time to have coffee and some homemade molasses oatmeal bread before riding the family cruiser bikes down the street to Roxie and Jack’s house, a quaint bungalow that they’ve restored beautifully. Roxie, Jess, and the kids had to head over to MSU to meet with an entomologist to identify a spider they'd found in Roxie's basement (turned out, their fears were warranted: it was a hobo spider, which delivers some nasty venom known to cause necrosis)!

From there, we rode to the Cafe Francais des Arts, where we enjoyed another caffeine boost and split a crepe with egg, ham and onions (sans fromage). To wrap up our Main Street tour, we made a quick stop at the Vargo’s Jazz City & Books store (no photos allowed) and then a trip to The Co-op grocery store to stock up for the road.

By the time we got back to Jess’s house, it was much later than we’d planned for. We had a bit of fun with the kids on the trampoline, and then hugged everyone goodbye. We hit the road, thinking what a great place Bozeman seems for raising a family. Yep, we could definitely live here!

Thanks so much for having us, Jess!

Out of Glacier

September 06, 2012 by K & L in News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

We packed up our camp as quickly as possible, to minimize exposure in the 30-degree rainy cold weather. Leaving our campsite without even making breakfast, we made one last stop at the St. Mary’s visitor center, where we confirmed our suspicion that the weather across the park was equally dismal. So we cut our stay in Glacier a bit shorter than expected, and set out hungry, cold, and eager to land in a breakfast cafe.

We were out of luck. Passing through Browning, a small and rough-looking Reservation town, there was nothing. By the time we reached the next town, over an hour later, it was lunch time and we desperately needed something. So we stopped in Choteau and got a much needed but not great lunch - no photos necessary.

Continuing south, we stopped in Augusta, MT, on a recommendation from Kristen’s aunt. Wishing we’d held out on lunch til here, we thoroughly enjoyed the Latigo and Lace store, with its cappuccino bar and wide variety of schwag for sale, including ceramics, furs (a bit depressing but still impressive), paintings, books, and more. We could’ve spent hours here, but hopped back onto the road toward Bozeman, where we had a fast-approaching dinner date with Kristen’s extended family.

Glacier National Park

September 05, 2012 by K & L in Cooking, Food, News, North America, Outdoors, Places, Roadtrip 2012

Of all the national parks in this beautiful country, we had been itching to get to Glacier for years. This entire road trip formed around our visit to Glacier, because we had to budget enough time to be able to get a good feel for the park and its fast-disappearing namesake glaciers. (It is estimated that by 2020, all of the thirty or so remaining glaciers will be gone. See them while you can.)

Before we arrived, though, it was time to get the car checked, so we’d have peace of mind that we wouldn’t breakdown in the mountains! We landed in Kalispell, Montana, which is really at the foot of the mountains and a sort of gateway into western Glacier. Luckily, Kalispell is a big enough town that we could get the oil changed and all the major fluids topped off in the car, and the stop seemed quicker than ever (we had only enough time to post one blog using Valvoline’s free wifi). Then we headed into the Park, flashing our National Parks annual pass at Glacier’s southwestern entrance.

Since we arrived a little too late in the day to venture into the wilds of the park, we went straight to the first campground, near Apgar Village. After setting up the tent, we drove up the road a bit to check out Lake McDonald, exploring the shores just before sunset. Beautiful rugged mountains reflected in the pristine lake, and we were in disbelief that we’d finally arrived at this pinnacle of a National Park. Thankful for the warm, mild late summer evening, we returned to camp ready to cook up a storm.

We made a quick barbecue sauce again (sriracha, bacon fat, tomato paste, lemon juice, Mrs. Dash, and honey, to name a few ingredients), but we’d stepped out of our chicken comfort zone and opted instead to try our hands at campfire-grilled pork. As an accompaniment, we roasted foil-wrapped diced apple, onion and celery. It was our first time campfire-cooking real pork (this was no Spam), and it turned out alright, if a little dry from a bit of overly-thorough cooking. The cooked apples, which we nabbed from the hotel in Idaho, were tasty and complemented the meat nicely, but it wasn’t quite a slam-dunk. There’s always room for improvement! We stayed up later than usual, relishing the mild temps, which was a surprise given how far north we were!

At some point, the temperatures must’ve plummeted, because we awoke to a chilly but sunny morning. Makes sense. Eager to see the park, we quickly ate some yogurt and a banana (again, courtesy of the Idaho hotel), and then set out onto Going-To-The-Sun Road, which famously winds its way through the park. At the middle point, we crossed over the Continental Divide at Logan’s Pass, which offers some outstanding views of the vast wilderness. Continuing on to the eastern side of the park, we set up our tent at Rising Sun Campground, and then hopped back in the car to go back to Logan’s Pass.

Glacier National Park - The faint line on the mountain to the right is the Going-To-The-Sun road! — Glacier National Park - *The faint line on the mountain to the right is the Going-To-The-Sun road!*

Our first hike was the Highline Trail, which in its entirety amounts to about 15 miles, but instead we chose to do an out-and-back for about an hour. It was a little freaky in the beginning, because there was a group of people coming from the opposite direction, speaking of a grizzly cub that’d been following behind them on the trail, just seconds before we arrived. That could’ve been pretty amazing to see, but everyone was a bit on edge because the grizzly mother was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of wavering (Should we? Should we not?), we continued down the trail. Highline Trail is pretty cool because you stay at around the same elevation as Logan’s Pass but cutting a high line (get it?) across the mid section of the mountain. At one point, the trail got pretty narrow, beckoning hikers to hold on to the wire lines at the inside edge of a cliff that dropped down at least a hundred feet to the road. We wondered how often someone accidentally kicks loose rocks that fall and damage windshields...

Highline Trail was also great for wildlife watching. We picked out several mountain goats, an easy thing thanks to their stark white coats, and we were surprised with how sturdy they looked. Much harder to see because they absolutely disappear into their brown rocky surroundings were a few huge and intimidating bighorn sheep. Just off the trail we briefly saw a pika, an adorable high-mountain member of the rabbit family that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a mouse, whose numbers are beginning to dwindle due to climate change (they are suffering from declining habitats, and have to head higher and higher into the mountains, chasing their native high rocky zones). We also saw a chipmunk, always captivated by their short, quick movements and beautiful little coats. There was also an abundance of wildflowers and amazing views down the valley.

After that short jaunt, we walked across Logan’s Pass and up onto another trail to Hidden Lake, again about a mile long. The first half of the trail is an elevated wooden boardwalk, with some stairs built in, to make it “easy” for people. It’s funny though, because we think it’s actually harder on your feet to walk on those planks rather than plain old dirt and rocks. At the end of the trail we stopped to snack on some jerky, taking in the amazing surroundings and always half-wondering what wildlife was out there hidden by the distance.

Overlooking Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park

Then we started back, and about halfway down the trail we experienced the most entertaining wildlife sighting ever. We were walking on the elevated boardwalk of a trail when we spotted a hairy animal about the size of a woodchuck. Unsure of what the creature was, Kristen started to ask and just before Loren could answer, a passerby said “Marmot” without breaking pace. This marmot was adorable and apparently not afraid of humans, eating the yellow wildflowers and their leaves, which cracked us up. See, he was not only the first marmot Kristen had ever seen, he reminded us so much of one of our cats back home, Wally. We’ve always said that he’s part dog, part walrus, part otter... Now we know he’s also part marmot! This little guy was so goofy and clumsy, we spent about 10 minutes watching him and giggling, until he was out of sight.

Determined to get in at least one more hike before the sun went down, we drove a few miles east, back toward our awaiting tent, and stopped off to do the 1 mile hike to the beautiful but not gigantic Mary’s Falls. We sat for a few minutes to take in its mesmerizing constant flow, then explored a bit more off the trail before heading back to the car.

Back at camp, the drizzle that was picking up started to come down a little heavier, making it harder and harder to make dinner and keep up the campfire. We roasted one foil-wrapped yam and when it was ready, we split the package in half and each used a bit of butter for taste. Easy and delicious! A new camping tradition, perhaps. Next, we ate sardines in the car, right out of the can, to avoid the falling rain and also make sure the fish-smell stayed in the car and not near our tent (it is bear-country after all!).

Glacier National Park, Rising Sun Campground

Lucky for us, the heaviest downfall didn’t start until we were safely inside our tent for the night. Great timing. Believe it or not, this was the first rain we’d received in over three weeks, even though we’d been traveling through Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Seattle's Seafood (and Starbucks)

September 05, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

Well past the halfway point of our road trip (working towards a Sept 15 deadline), we knew we had to get to our next big destination as quickly as possible. That meant, unfortunately, that we could only spend a couple of hours in super cool Seattle, which probably has a lot more to offer than we could manage.

We took the ferry from Bainbridge Island into Seattle, and immediately hit up Pike Place Market. An incredible year-round indoor market, Pike Place has dozens of fresh farmer stands, fish vendors (including the famous fish throwers), and artisans. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived but crowds of people still filled the walkways. We’d move to Seattle just to have daily access to this amazing market.

We were itching to try some fresh seafood, so we strolled into Lowell’s, a 3-story restaurant and longtime Pike Place fixture. Kristen ordered her standard fare of Fish n chips, while Loren couldn’t resist trying Seattle’s famed dungeness crabcakes and veggies. Both dishes hit the spot.

Even though we aren’t great lovers of Starbucks, we had to stop in at the flagship location, just up the street from Pike Place. We were baited into trying the “clover” brew machine for one Pike Place coffee, and decided to compare it with the regular-brew. There was certainly a difference - clover was much more bold - but all Starbucks coffee seems characteristically dark and possibly over-roasted in flavor. The flagship Starbucks was a really nice space, but we couldn’t dawdle. By 7pm, we were on the road continuing east as far as we could make it.

Around midnight, we’d arrived at the Idaho state line, and made a desperate call to the Hampton Inn, where we got a government rate room and happily arrived 30 minutes or so later in Coeur D’Alene. Yes, it was a bit of a splurge compared to camping, but after 6 straight nights of tent sleep, we could use the comforts of indoor life. It gave us the chance to do a bit of laundry (that’s right, Kristen did all of the laundry by hand in the bathroom sink, not realizing that there were laundry machines that took a few quarters near the lobby) and utilize more wifi before hitting the hay around 2am.

We awoke early to scavenge the complimentary breakfast pickings multiple times, stocking up on bananas, apples, oranges, hard-boiled eggs, yogurts, and teas, before continuing Northeast to our most awaited stop: Glacier National Park.