I woke up a bit earlier than Sharon. I figured it would be best to start packing after all we were driving to the Denver Airport today and needed to have everything ready before we dropped off the car…and it is best to do this before hand rather in the rental car return line.
 I managed to separate the clothes into nicely folded piles. The only problem was that one pile was on the bed and near Sharon’s foot. I ended up waking up Sharon before I meant to. I know she has been tired and I wanted to get her an extra few minutes of sleep.

While Sharon was in the shower I explored the property. Seems this property is one big long hotel with most of the rooms on the ground level. They all open to the outside and not some hallway. Behind the hotel property are more houses…or rather mobile homes. It looked kinda run down. At the end of the hotel are a couple of garage doors which makes me think that it is a family run hotel. The front desk situation kinda confirmed my suspicion. The front desk clerk wasn’t there when I came to check out but he immediately came out of a non-descript room behind the desk soon after I arrived.

After packing up we went to the 19th Street Diner for breakfast. It’s a 50s themed restaurant where (apparently) the locals frequent. We were positioned near a local man who brought his grown son to have breakfast. He knew our waitress, “George” – must be short for “Georgia.” Sharon had a bacon and cheese omelette while I had a ham and cheese omelette. Both came with sourdough toast and potatoes.

After eating we set out to make the 2 hour 45 minute drive to Denver. We were to drive I-70 through the mountains. During the drive we saw some of the most picturesque county with clear blue streams, yellow deciduous trees (which had just changed to the fall color), white patches of snow from Colorado’s first snow earlier this week, and green pine trees. This made for a plethora of colors. Sharon took several photos from the car window. We stopped at a rest area to use the restroom. I saw a kiosk titled “Updated traffic information.” The only problem was that the time stamp of the printout showed “2007” as the printed date. So I’m not sure how updated the traffic information was.

We kept seeing signs stating “Chains needed when flashing.” Then soon after it there were inspection stations to see if people actually had chains on their car. I don’t know the first thing about driving in the snow and I’m not even sure how to put chains on my vehicle. Which begs the question – asked by Sharon – would rental car companies provide you with chains and help you put them on?

We went through the Einsenhower Tunnel – or Johnson Tunnel depending on which tunnel you’re using. I remember this tunnel from my visit in 2011 with Mark and Megan. It was a very long tunnel. I would not be surprised if it was the longest tunnel in the United States. After we exited the tunnel, a electronic sign flashed “Next 44 Miles are Downhill. How’s Your Brakes?” Sure enough we were at a 5 to 6 degree grade. Trucks in front of us flashed their caution lights. Sharon said the drivers were probably laying on brakes.

After a while we finally made it to Denver. We decided to eat snacks which consisted of Doritos and Fanta. The plan was to do the Four Mile Historical Musuem then eat at Atomic Cowboy / Fat Sully’s for late lunch / early dinner.

Four Mile Musuem is about 15 minutes off the interstate. It contains the oldest surviving house in Denver. It used to be an inn for wagon train travelers trying to get out west for the goal rush. Horses had to rest every 3 to 5 miles. So travelers would stay at these inns along the way. Inns were named in relation to have far they were from Denver. So it seems that this Four Mile House was four miles from Denver.

At the open air musuem we saw a blacksmith’s shop, a fur trading post, a small school house, a stable, horses, sheep and chickens. The angora sheep was being walked by her keeper. Her keeper said that the sheep was rejected by her mother and she thought humans were part of her herd. She had been bottlefed by humans. She would want to follow and be with humans. Her keeper said that she didn’t like to be petted, but helped hold her while some visitors petted her. She got sheared twice a year and her wool is very white after being sheared.

We waited around for a tour of the Four Mile House. Our tour guide was late and had given a tour to another couple beforehand. The then gave us a tour – about 15 of us.

There were three sections to the house – the original wooden cabin part – the brick part containing the formal parlor – and then the frame house which was moved from it’s original location. This contained the bedroom.

It was all very fascinating to hear the history of the house – how it changed owners and purposes – from a travlers’ inn to a farm house – and even to a private residence up to the 1970s. Sharon was very impressed as was I.

Next we drove to Fat Sully’s / Atomic Cowboy. Sharon wanted to see this because it was featured in Diner, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We were afraid we wouldn’t find a parking spot, but sure enough we found one right outside the front door.

It’s a quirky restaurant of sorts with some type of 60s space theme. We each ordered a slice of sausage pizza rather than try to eat the 26 inch pizza. It was decent pizza but not as good as Rocky Mountain Pizza the night before.

Then it was on to the airport. First we found a gas station to fuel up and get rid of our trash than we returned the vehicle. When we checked our bag, it was 5 pounds over the weight limit. It was either get rid of 5 pounds or pay an additional 75 dollars. We managed to made it work and get it down to 49 pounds!

Now we are waiting on our flight, anxious to get home at 12:54AM Nashville time!