The mother of all road trip : DAY FOUR

DAY four we wake up groggy eyed. It is really early as we prepare to leave Denver. While leaving the city you can see the vista of the downtown on one side and the snow-capped Rockies on the other side. We left so super early that there were hardly any cars on the road yet.

Once you leave the city borders of Denver and go towards Wyoming the scenary changes at every bend and it is truly breathtaking or as people in this generation likes to refer to it "instagram worthy".

For once we did have a destination. Teton National Park. We debated going to YellowStone National Park but then later decided that YellowStone will have to be a trip by itself. Wyoming is empty. When I say empty. I mean EMPTY. There is nothing anywhere around. Unlike the east coast there are no rest stops after every 30 mins. It is just wilderness. Raw and beautiful.

Finally after driving for hours we came across an almost broken gas station. But there were atleast 50 cars there. It looked like it was the only gas station for miles. As I entered the gas station, I saw on the left that there was a tiny designated room marked "PRAYER HALL / GURUDWARA". Surely enough that gas station in the middle of nowhere WYOMING was owned and operated by a Sikh family.  Along with the regular chips and sodas and candies they were also making " Aloo Paratha" in a corner. I was the only other Indian and I went upto them and asked them if I could buy one. They informed me that was for the family and not for sale. Seeing my dejected and hungry glances they just offered me one and said no payment was necessary. I was touched with their gesture. After that I went to use the restroom. I wish their compassion extended to the other guests using their facilities and they step up and clean the restrooms.

After a brunch of " Aloo Paratha" we were on our way again. We were driving at 100 miles an hour. And our windshield ended up being responsible for a million bug deaths. The white spots you see are not meteors, but bug guts.

The Grand Teton National Park is a national park(BIG SURPRISE) and the two major peaks are Teton Range and Jackson Hole. Words are not enough to describe this place in the middle of true cowboy country. It is pure, untouched, virgin. This is where peace lives. Nothing bad can ever happen here. It is where you fall silent and drink in the the grandness that nature has to offer. The few snaps in this blog does not do any justice to this place. We also got to see wild animals including wild buffaloes, deers, foxes and a moose.

We decided to have dinner at Jackson Hole town. It is the tourist spot and gentrified to appease the tourists and cater to them, what they would expect a cowboy town to look like. Although, I did have the best grilled salmon I have had ever in my life here.

When we left Jackson Hole we still had daytime. (Thank God for Summer). Then, however from nowhere a bunch of dark rainy clouds started floating in and covering up everything.

We were soon caught up in a crazy thunderstorm and had to make a stop for the night adding one more extra day to our epic road trip.

The mother of all road trips : Day 3

The next day we left Oakley Kansas a little late, around 9 am.  We knew we did not have a long drive as both of us wanted to spend atleast one night in Denver, Colorado. The drive was about 4 hrs. We decided to live lavishly and booked a Hilton for our stay.

As we were nearing the city limits we got the first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains way in the distance.

We reached Colorado by 1 PM. By rule no hotel lets you check in before 3 PM in this country. So the first stop on STP's request was a weed store. Weed is legal in Colorado and unlike California outsiders over the age of 21 are allowed to buy retail weed upto 1 ounce. Only registered weed shop are allowed to see these. And the shops atleast the ones that we went to, looked super edgy and cool. It had high end interior decorations, the best security 2017 has to offer, a bouncer at the door and super cool edgy sales people. A far FAR cry from how and where I have heard my friends buy their weed. There are variable options, multiple fusion, vapes, oils, chocolates, cookies, spreads, cake mixes apart from the actual weed leaves. Oh and yeah! Photography was prohibited inside the shops. I wonder if we, in India can do the same with bhang? It was a "heady" experience. Since STP dragged me to a marijuana shop, I dragged him to a NAIL salon and got my nails done. Sadly there was nothing special about that shop.

After our mini adventures, we checked in our hotel, dressed up for the first time in clothes which were not shorts and minion tshirts and headed out for DOWNTOWN !! We took the fast rail and decided to end the trip at the famous Union Train Station. The fast rail was easy, reliable, runs like every 10 minutes and I must say that the Denver Transport has a great sense of humour.

We hanged around the Union Transport Centre which originally was a train station and now houses some of the best local chocolates, milkshakes, food, art and is basically the focal point of downtown. There are complimentary buses that takes you on tours around the mall. Another fun thing to do is to climb the 13th step of the Capitol Hill and get a mile high. (It is exactly one mile above the sea-level.)

There are million other fun things to do around Denver and Denver downtown mostly free. It is however a very expensive city and it looks it. The Denver that I encountered was all high-end apartments and sparkling malls and corporate buildings, a very pretty downtown and some really aggressive homeless people. When we were lounging around Union Station we encountered the local police arrest a few very loud women.

We had dinner at this charming downtown Mongolian BBQ. It was my first time at a Mongolian BBQ. The food was great but the experience truly unique.

 

I ended the night with a boozy milkshake from MilkBox Ice Creamery(without realizing its boozy properties). But honestly if there is one thing you do in Denver, Colorado do the boozy milkshake. YUMM !!

The mother of all road trips : Day TWO

Day two started with leaving Louisville Kentucky and our aim was to drive 10 to 12 hours and get as further across Kansas as we possibly could.

We drove a couple of hours and stopped for breakfast at a Denny's. I was the only person of color there inside the Denny's. I am usually immune to racial differences around me but right then I realized that I was the only person of color I had seen for quite sometime. Although our server was super sweet to us, I was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. I was acutely aware of everyone just staring at me. I did feel like the alien the government insisted on calling me. I will not lie I was taking comfort that STP was white and with me. We finished our terrible breakfast and got out of there.

Soon we were out of Kentucky and going across the first major city St Louis, Missouri and crossing the mighty Mississippi.

Soon after crossing St Louis city parameters the scenery changed. It was so flat. Flat green grass, yellow corn fields and vast blue sky. This scenary was going to be with us almost till Denver. And no frequent restrooms, almost no cars on the road. For the first time I encountered not only a maximum speed but also a minimum speed limit on the highway and the minimum speed limit was 65. The maximum 80 and the slowest cars were driving at 90. It was a dream to drive down straight roads at 90 miles per hour with the cruise control on.

We decided to stop for lunch at Kansas City and get some of their famous bar-b-Que at Arthur Bryant's. There was a long line and the food was to put it nicely underwhelming. Also they fry their potatoes in peanut oil. Enough said.

Kansas City by the way is in Missouri and is not a city in Kansas. The city stretches forever. I tried to take a picture of the city from the car.
 

 

 

After Kansas City it was again the flat plains of mid-west USA. And then suddenly we found ourselves sorrounded by wind mills. It was almost surreal. These giant structures rising from the ground and stretched till as far as your eyes can see. They stretched for miles.

We were making good time and dare I say good mileage thanks to the straight flat roads. but suddenly without warning we got caught in a flash flood. It felt like driving through a waterfall. I was ready to park the car and wait but there were other cars which were also driving and emergency vehicles lining the road. It took up much of our time and having to fight the flash flood we decided to stop. But when you are in Kansas, it is literally the middle of nowhere. It is not possible to just stop. We had to drive for two more hours to find a place to stop and we stopped at Colby, Kansas. To give you an idea of what Colby Kansas is, here is a picture of the neighbourhood of our hotel. Just check the CINEMA house out.

Disclaimer : Apart from the Arthur Bryant poster all pictures have been taken from the car. Including the neighborhood picture.

The mother of all road trips : First Day

The first day was a long day of being on the road. We crossed the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky. We spent the night at Louisville Kentucky and paid a customary visit to the YUM Centre.

Most of the pictures that I am posting are unedited pictures taken from the car. I assume that since this is a road trip post series all pictures that shall be posted will be those from the car.

he day was uneventful. We moved across mostly rolling green fields with occasional farm lands. There were regular rest stops as we were driving mostly on the highways. Very similar to the road trips to Niagara or Illinois which I had done previously too. But the open blue sky and the clouds promised much more to come.

 

The mother of all road trips : Prelude

I have always been that person who travels or likes to travel. But all my travels have always followed a schedule. A schedule to go back to school, or go back to work. It always had a destination. Never had a journey. And I always dreamed of a trip like that. A trip where there are no destinations, no time limits, just sit in a car and drive, wherever you want to go.


Last to last week  on the 7th of June something rather unfortunate happened with work. Something that made my future in this country uncertain. It was uncertain to the point that I did not know if I had to leave by the end of the month. Although the prospect of going back home was appealing but I was hurt, disappointed, enraged about how things were being conducted, about how everything was unfair to say the least, how even when everyone at work openly acknowledged to what was happening to me was unfair still was not fighting the cause and reason for it, instead supporting it indirectly. Anyways I digress. What ended up happening was that I realized I had three weeks left in the country and for the first time ever I had no commitment. I had no deadlines, no project goals.I made a plan. I shared my plan with STP and he was onboard as soon as he heard it.

So I cleaned the apartment. Packed everything that could possible fit in my car, moved the bed, the dining table, the coffee table to STP's parents garage, donated the rest which took about 5 days and then the next morning got in the car, bought my last cup of wawa iced macchiato and was on my way.

 Destination : UNKNOWN.

"There was nowhere to go but everywhere,
  So just keep on rolling under the stars"
                                        -----Jack Kerouac

Philadelphia : Visson and Misson

Ofcourse the Vission and Misson are mine. And when it is my vision and mission it has to do with food. PhiilyMag has just come out with the top 50 restaurants of 2016 in Philadelphia. It does not have any of my favourites likes Stargazy, Stock, Era or  Kilimandjaro. And I have not been to any of these restaurants. So as part of my vision and misson in this year and my eternal quest to explore a city better I will embark on a journey of eating in as many of these places as I can . Anyways here is the list.



50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

•     Laurel, East Passyunk
•     Vernick Food & Drink, Rittenhouse
•     Fork, Old City
•     Vedge, Midtown Village
•     Townsend, East Passyunk
•     Vetri, Midtown Village
•     Sbraga, Center City
•     Bing Bing Dim Sum*, East Passyunk
•     Serpico, Bella Vista
•     Helm*, Kensington
•     Zahav, Society Hill
•     V Street*, Rittenhouse
•     Volver, Center City
•     Marigold Kitchen, University City
•     Cheu Noodle Bar, Washington Square West
•     Pumpkin, Grad Hospital
•     Will
•     East Passyunk
•     Bibou
•     Bella Vista
•     Fond
•     East Passyunk
•     Bud & Marilyn’s*
•     Midtown Village
•     Amis
•     Midtown Village
•     Zeppoli
•     Collingswood
•     Fitler Dining Room
•     Fitler Square
•     High Street on Market
•     Old City
•     Le Virtu
•     East Passyunk
•     Le Chéri
•     Rittenhouse
•     Russet
•     Center City
•     The Fat Ham
•     University City
•     Osteria
•     Spring Garden
•     Abe Fisher
•     Rittenhouse
•     Brigantessa*
•     East Passyunk
•     Heritage*
•     Northern Liberties
•     The Good King Tavern*
•     Bella Vista
•     The Farm and Fisherman
•     Washington Square West
•     Amada
•     Old City
•     Talula’s Garden
•     Washington Square West
•     Barbuzzo
•     Midtown Village
•     Talula’s Daily
•     Washington Square West
•     Kensington Quarters*
•     Fishtown
•     South*
•     Spring Garden
•     Jamonera
•     Midtown Village
•     Pub and Kitchen
•     Grad Hospital
•     Il Pittore (closed January 2016)
•     Rittenhouse
•     Aldine*,Center City
•     Bistrot La Minette*,Queen Village
•     Brauhaus Schmitz, Bella Vista
•     Opa*, Midtown Village
•     Little Fish, Bella Vista
•     Barclay Prime, Rittenhouse
•     Ela, Queen Village

Source : http://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/50-best-restaurants/#M8e8D02gjHPS62HX.99