The Greens Summer Tour – Gunnison, CO

May 31 – June 7

The Greens Summer Tour of 2024 started last week with our triumphant return to the Western Slope of Colorado. This will be part one of, like, 100 in the series.

On the Road Again

I woke up right around 4:00 Friday morning. I leashed Ash up and got in an early morning walk to try to calm him a bit before we headed out. I then finished loading up what I could before getting Brandy up at 7:00.

She got ready, packed up the rest of her stuff and we loaded up and were on the road just before 8:00. After a quick stop at BP to top off with gas and Scooter’s for coffee and breakfast, we headed out to pick up Sue. We were, of course, detained by a train for a while but were at her door around 8:30 or so

I piled her stuff into the already full bed of the truck (all of this for a one week trip!), said our good byes to Craig and headed out.

We got on highway 163 heading northwest until we got to Des Moines. We made a pit stop at Casey’s and hopped on I-235, through the state’s capital, merged on to I-80 and stayed on that through Iowa and halfway through Nebraska to North Platte.

The drive was pretty uneventful. We did hit a pretty major, but brief downpour of rain but otherwise, we pulled in to the Motel 6 in North Platte unscathed.

The room was pretty tiny but it served our needs. There was a small ledge on the wall at the foot of the bed that was supposed to be sort of a desk but my laptop hung off the front edge, and I sat on the bed to do some research for the rest of our drive.

The next morning, I got up around 5:30, took Ash out, showered, got all packed up and we were on the road again.

The first part of day 2 was pretty uneventful. As we crossed into Colorado and made our way through Denver, Brandy suggested we take a detour to St. Elmo.

St Elmo

St. Elmo is a ghost town in the Sawach mountain range. As we headed past Buena Vista, we took a right off the highway and made the steady climb up into the forested hills where the town resides. The pavement soon ended and we continued on a winding, mud-slicked path behind a pair of white Jeep Wranglers. There were times when we felt we were balanced on the edge of a steep cliff that was kind of reminiscent of Skyline Drive in Canon City.

We finally made it to the single road ghost town. We passed the first building, which was the town gift shop, and quickly passed the jail, the fire house, a church and others. At the end of the short road, we’re made to turn around to make our way back out.

I hopped out and took a handful of pictures then Brandy, Sue and I ran into the gift shop for our plunder.

After we paid for our purchases, we headed back down the mountain to the highway and made the rest of the drive, up and over Monarch Pass and into Gunnison.

Our AirBnB

Our AirBnB was a three bedroom house that’s much larger than it appears to be from the outside.

There is a small front yard with a white picket fence separating it from the driveway. The lawn is an artificial turf leading up to the bright blue house. There is a large steer skull hanging on the front wall facing the road.

A large master bedroom is right inside the front door, followed by a second bedroom, then the bathroom and third bedroom split the hall. You continue then into the spacious and well-appointed kitchen before continuing on to the living room, then through the laundry room and on to the back yard.

Christy was already at the AirBnB (she’d beat us due to our detour to St. Elmo). When we got there, we unpacked then I headed out to get supplies for a night of drinkin’.

Right next to the AirBnB is a Love’s gas station, and right next to that is Gunnison Liquor Store. I simply walked over and picked up the booze and mixers, walking back with my booty in a box.

We spent the rest of the night drinking and socializing, once more forgetting how easily I get drunk at elevation.

As I stumbled to get my CPAP hooked up, we quicky realized there was only one outlet that was remotely close to being able to reach my side of the bed, and it doesn’t seem to work. In a drunken revelation, I remembered I’d brought my Jackery, which powered my machine on a few camping trips. I pulled it out, plugged in all up and before long, we were all in bed, fast asleep.

Crested Butte

The next morning, we were up at 7:00 and getting ready. Brandy was especially hung over so it took her a little longer to get up and going, but we eventually got out the door by 8:00.

About 30 minutes later, we pulled in to Crested Butte, parking near our intended destination, McGill’s.

McGill’s is a narrow diner with bar seating on one side, a row of tables against the opposite side and a short row of tables down the middle. The place was remarkably empty, considering it was getting close to breakfast time. We were shown to an empty four-top in the middle and handed menus. We selected our dishes and drank our coffee while we waited. I ordered the Southwest Benedict:

TWO POACHED EGGS AND CHORIZO ON ENGLISH MUFFINS, TOPPED WITH OUR FIERY GREEN CHILI AND HOLLANDAISE. SERVED WITH CHOICE OF POTATOES.

-McGill’s Menu

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of heat offered by the dish. Overall it was delicious, however I feel that the home fries I ordered as my side of potatoes were slightly overdone.

We finished up our breakfasts noticing that the joint was considerably more crowded than when we’d walked in. It looked like we’d timed our arrival just right.

We headed up Elk St. to the weekend farmer’s market held through the summer in Crested Butte. The street was lined for two blocks with vendor tents, people selling fresh produce, breads, jams and jellies, pickles, candles, homemade crafts and so much more.

The weather was absolutely magnificent. The sun was shining and warm, there was a light breeze and it was just overall a nice day.

As we walked up the street, we passed over a bridge that crossed over a rushing Coal Creek, a creek I had no idea was there. The water roared as it came down the nearby hill and passed under the street.

We walked the length of the market, picking up a couple of loaves of sourdough bread, a jar of pickled garlic, some spicy pepper relish, HUGE asparagus, and more.

After we’d finished up at the market, we headed down Elk Street to the shops lining the road. We stopped in at several though we didn’t walk away with very much. I got a small sticker for my travel water bottle, Brandy got a necklace, and we got a dreamcatcher for the truck. That’s really about it.

Christy and I stopped in one of the coffee shops on the road and I got myself a chai latte. She got a chocolate chai latte, which was… interesting. Not something I’d do but hey, ya never know until you try it, right?

Then, we passed by a place offering B12 shots and hydration IVs. Brandy stopped in for a hangover helper, which was supposed to be a half hour process. Sue, Christy and I waited and when I walked in about 30 minutes after she went in, they’d just gotten started.

With plenty of time to kill, the three of us walked a few blocks to the nearby Dispensary where I spent about $170. Sue and Christy made some small purchases and we made our way back toward Brandy. She was closer to being done when we got back so we waited patiently while she got buttoned up. In the meantime, Christy was giving Sue a lesson on marijuana when Sue suddenly popped a 10mg gummy. I was shocked to say the least, Sue, a tiny woman, popping such a high dose gummy was startling.

When Brandy came out, we headed back up Elk St, stopping at a few more shops along the way. We soon found ourselves near Secret Stash, the same pizza shop we’d gone to on our last trip to the Western Slope. It was lunch time so we stopped in for a bite.

Brandy and I were seated while Christy and Sue finished up a little shopping, and when they finally joined us, Sue was high as a kite. Half-lidded and laughing at everything, it was an absolute riot.

We ordered Crack Fries, which, not sure if I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but are simply THE best French fry dish I have ever had in my life. The sauce they serve the fries with is outstanding and I wish they sold it by the bottle.

I got myself a 12″ Texas Biggin, basically their version of a supreme, with all the major meats and vegetables, Brandy got a baked pasta dish, and Christy got another order of Crack Fries and an order of Crack Wings, chicken wings prepared in the same fashion as the fries.

After lunch, we made a quick stop at The Dispensary again where Brandy got another $190 worth of stuff and we headed back to the AirBnB. I popped a gummy that took a LONG time to hit. I peaked for a couple of hours then I came down and ran to the nearby Safeway for groceries.

I got back to the AirBnB, ate some leftover pizza and promptly fell asleep.

Back to Work

The next morning, I woke up at about 1:30 with my CPAP not going. I checked and my Jackery had died at some point. It dawned on me that I was supposed to put the CPAP in airplane mode, and turn off the humidifier to extend the battery’s life. I got up early and took a shower, plugged in the Jackery and sat down to write this blog post for a bit.

As the morning drew on, I made a breakfast of French toast using sourdough I’d bought at the farmer’s market, eggs and bacon. I’d bought real maple syrup at the store and that just set the dish off.

After that, I worked, doing the little bit of work I had to do, then took an afternoon nap to try to recoup some of the sleep I’d lost by waking up as early as I did.

When I got up, I finished up my work day and made dinner. I made hamburgers seasoned with Kinders Smokehouse Garlic seasoning, grilled, topped with cumin gouda cheese from the farmer’s market, and sauced with an aioli of minced pickled garlic Brandy got from the market mixed in with some mayonnaise. I got some pre-made potato and macaroni salads from the store on Sunday so those were the sides.

After that, we settled in to watch the Netflix series Tires for a bit, then we headed off to bed.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a bit of an adventurous day for us. We lost power for a bit, which killed our internet. Three people’s work days came to a screeching halt until I remembered I had a fully charge Jackery I could plug the router into. I did so and got us limping along, all of us experiencing extended issues with the connectivity for the rest of the day.

After we’d had enough, Brandy and I called it a day and we, along with Sue, headed up to Taylor Reservoir.

It’s about 45 minutes from our AirBnB to the Taylor Park Trading Post but the drive is so magnificent. It parallels Taylor River all the way up to the reservoir where we made a right turn into the parking lot of the trading post. We walked in, shopped around for a bit and I picked up a hoodie to replace the one that was cut off of me on 10/11/2023, a small sticker for my travel water bottle and a t-shirt.

We hopped in to Clyde (our truck) and started making our way back down the mountain when we spotted a moose just off the road. We made a quick left off the highway and found a small parking area next to a bridge that crosses over Willow Creek. I ran over the bridge and got closer to the moose to try to get some more pictures. This is the best picture I came up with

But I did capture some video of the guy walking away.

I made my way back over to the bridge where we took some pictures and then continued on our way, stopping twice more for picture opportunities.

Once we got back to the AirBnB, I made a dinner of steaks seasoned with the Kinders seasoning, some potatoes roasted with the same and lemon grilled asparagus, and for an appetizer, I deep fried some jalapenos, stuffed them with brie, broiled them then drizzled them with honey. It was without a doubt the best meal I’ve made in a long time.

By the time dinner was done, it was after 8:30 and we were ready for bed. We took some gummies and off we went.

Wednesday

After a great night’s sleep, I woke up to my alarm at 4:00 Wednesday morning. I showered, got dressed and got logged in to work. When Brandy and Christy got up, I made breakfast burritos with leftover steak and potatoes from the previous night’s dinner. I added some scrambled eggs, cheese and green chile, wrapped in a tortilla.

I went about my workday. The day was a lot more uneventful than Tuesday was, and at the end of the her work shift, Christy left to head back to her place, then after Brandy and I got off, we headed out to the Dispensary once more to top off. We came back to the AirBnB, had some drinks and went to sleep.

Thursday

Thursday was the busiest uneventful day of the trip.

I woke up to my alarm, showered, got dressed and started work. At lunchtime, I headed out to Ol’ Miner Steakhouse for a BLT for Sue, a Rueben for Brandy and a Prospector Burger for myself:

Swiss, pepper jack & cheddar, sweet BBQ sauce & topped with onion straws

-Ol’ Miner Steakhouse Menu

I got back, scarfed my food down and hopped on to a meeting, followed by another meeting, then, after one last meeting, the chaos began. I started by packing up my computers and getting them ready to go. I packed up whatever clothes needed to be packed, as well as my overnight clothes in my backpack.

I then began the task of trying to cram everything back into the truck. We aren’t leaving with much more than we came with, so you’d think it’d be about the same, loading it back up again, right?

Well, it really wasn’t too bad, though Brandy is concerned about the amount of stuff she thinks she has to take. When we do pack up for the big trip, it is going to be awfully tight. Granted, we won’t have Sue’s stuff, but I will need a full sized suitcase, Brandy thinks she will need a LEAST a carry-on sized bag in addition to the full sized suitcase she’s bringing, we have two totes of food, a tote of toiletries and my two full-sized monitors I’m taking to work on. I DO plan on breaking down the Recreation tote, packing our shoes in our suitcases and wedging our hiking packs, hammock and binoculars in wherever they will fit, so that saves the room of one of the totes we had this time.

Home

At any rate, we were on the road toward home by 6:30 am Friday morning. A quick stop for gas and hitting the drive-through at Starbuck later and we were boogeying.

We decided to bypass the halfway point in North Platte and push on to Lincoln. Brandy reserved a couple rooms at New Victorian Suites. On the map, it looked pretty close to the interstate, and sure enough, it was only 6 miles from where we exited. The problem was though that right as we hit Lincoln, it started raining very heavily. The traffic slowed to a crawl and we barely moved. It took us around half an hour to go the six miles from our offramp to the hotel.

Brandy got us checked in and we scooted around to the side door of the building. We were in room 101 so we were the first room when we got into the hall, and Sue was right next to us.

Getting our overnight stuff brought in was a wet process but we got it done. Shortly after, Brandy had some Chinese food on its way via DoorDash. The food was actually pretty good. I finished all mine, threw away what Brandy didn’t eat, took a gummy and was out for the night.

We were back on the road at 6:30 Saturday morning and, with a short, barely more than 4 hour drive ahead, we were home in no time.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a pretty good trip to Gunnison. I’m happy Sue and Christy joined us; if only we could have gotten Hilary to come too, it would have been a perfect trip for Brandy. As it was though, I had a GREAT day on Sunday, the drive to Taylor Park was fantastic, and I’m glad we loaded up with THC-infused products. We should have enough to last us until our next trip to Gunnison, which we will likely make an effort to go out in the late fall, I’ll try to aim Brandy for a week or two before we head to Idaho to spend Christmas with my parents.

The side stop at St. Elmo was a great side quest and look forward to similar side quests on the next legs of our tour.

What’s Next?

We are home for four full days and will be heading out for almost two weeks in Oregon on Thursday after work. We will be stopping in Boise on the way to spend an afternoon with my parents. After our stay in the PNW, we begin the long journey across the country, heading TOWARD Vermont, stopping at home for the first few days of July, then heading out on the 4th. We will then stop in New York for a side quest to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Niagara Falls, then on to Vermont.

I am exceedingly excited for this trip, seeing parts of the country I’ve never seen, or didn’t really appreciate if I did see them (Oregon, Kentucky).

In the meantime, I have pictures up on my Photo Diary, and I took some video I stitched together and will put on my YouTube channel as I get them edited.

Otherwise, keep an eye out for part 2 of our amazing Summer journey!

-Phil