Colorado, That place with big hills

Over the labor day weekend me and the wife took a trip out to Fort Collins Colorado, but first we had to get there. This entails a drive across the great state of Nebraska. Nebraska, "The Good Life" being the state motto should of course be changed to Nebraska, "Wow, I-80 sure is a long road to drive on through this state with not a whole lot to look at, Oh and the good life" I realize that the cost of making the signs bigger would break the budget, but since when has that stopped this state.

Me and the wife have friends in Colorado so we have made the trek several times but this time we found a way to make the trip fairly easy. We stopped half way. Yes, taking the night to sleep is a good idea on a trip though the grass lands. We ended up staying in North Platte and I have to give a thumbs up to the place we stayed at, Americas Best Value Inn was a friendly, clean place to stay on the cheap, about 45 bucks. I really like the name too, it gives me faith that all of those sushi places have not named their restaurant incorrectly but this is some sort of world wide advertising idea the places value on just throwing out a jumble of happy words at you. An example being I have seen sushi places called "Happy Number One Sushi", and "Sushi Number One Enjoy", and my favorite "Go Happy Number One Sushi" and yes, they ALL seem to be number one which begs the question "How sad it is to be Number Two Sushi?" OR they might be called "Very Sorry Unhappy Number Two Sushi"

Anyway, major sidebars aside, Americas Best Value "Happy Number One" Inn, may be just that so if you are rolling by North Platte give it a shot.

My other shout out to a place that surprise me on the way is Sterling, Colorado with a historic downtown and pleasant Northeastern Junior College campus we stopped by for breakfast at the J&L Cafe. We try to stop at local places as we go. It is the whole "avoid big chains and try to support local biz thing" This kind of philosophy can be trick as the quality of local places can vary wildly but that day we hit the jackpot. A small town feel with great service and non-greasy food (crazy but true.) I wish there was a place like this very close to me, like right outside my house. I also must say I am a sucker for any place that has a chef chasing a cow, pig AND a LOBSTER around with a cleaver. How Awesome is that, and that cow looks a little tired, tired enough to be dinner, HA.

So, back in the car and to Greeley Colorado our first stop before Fort Collins. Greeley is a nice town with a good downtown too, but the best thing and this gos for most of Colorado I would say, is the beer selection. I am a beer snob from way back, the smaller the micro brew, the more idiosyncratic the label, or the more pricey the beer the bigger sucker I am. Colorado is a heaven for this kind is indulgence. Sure they have bush, and old style but they put them in a corner where they are regularly beaten with sticks and made to clean the bathrooms. No, the real word of the day is "micro" in all of it's glory. New Belgium, Odell, Fort Collins Brewing, Big Horn Brewing, and so many more that Colorado is ranked third in the county for number of breweries, and brewpubs. Not only that but the selection of imported Belgian Ales is amazing, I love those ales, they are wonderful, they are great. I know this is not good writing but I am trying to make a point about the yummieness factor of Belgian ales. So, we bought some beer while in Colorado. The down side of beer is that sometimes it will make you do things like.....

In all fairness this friend of mine was NOT drunk or even drinking when he preformed the "Corn Dance" so it is up to you to decide if that is worse or not.

After a fun night in Greeley we headed up to Fort Collins, or the fifth most populous city in Colorado, that is their city tag line Fort Collins "The Fifth Most Populous City in Colorado, and the Good Life Also" it is a little belabored but at least factual.

In light of our recent South America trip, Fort Collins small 5000 feet was nothing although still enough to set off my ear non-popping issue that I brought back with me (thanks a lot for that South America!) Fort Collins turned out to be a great town with yet another cool downtown/old town area, beer, and trees all over the place. So, go there already and visit those big hills to the west I hear they are nice too. Next week Peru Videos.

I got to wear some big sunglasses too.