Destination Unknown: Part 10

Garden of the Gods.

After spending the night sleeping on a leather bench at the Denver Airport we took the train downtown. The train was expensive! Fortunately we always buy tickets as this time there was a ticket inspector on board. In Denver we went to Starbucks and Whole Foods to buy breakfast. The area in Denver surrounding the train station is very reminiscent of Helsinki in our opinion. We took the Bustang bus to Colorado Springs. We like taking the bus so we can do some sightseeing. We try not to let our previous bad experiences deter us from taking the bus. Mjau, we are mainly referring to our Greyhound bus trip from Tampa to Sarasota. The bus smelled like the metro in Los Angeles. The experienced traveler will know exactly which smell we are referring to! 

We arrived in Colorado Springs on time. We were a bit uncomfortable due to a lady having a violent and passionate argument with a tree, so our butler hurriedly walked away from the bus station and towards our accommodation for the next couple of days. We had to stay at a hostel again. We have to admit that this hostel was levels above the one we stayed in in Charleston. Dare we admit, even a bit cozy. The beds were slightly  bigger than usual bunk beds. We really liked the curtains providing extra privacy. Our only complaint is the poor Wi-Fi and poorly equipped kitchen. Where are the utensils!? 

Prospect Lake.

Taking a nap in our hostel.

We were only allowed to check in at 16.00 so we left our bag and our butler walked us to Prospect Lake. A nice lake with view of the mountains and a really nice memorial. After killing some time at the lake we returned to our hostel and checked in. We explored the town a bit. We must admit we were slightly disappointed with the town at first look. We somehow expected a more small town feel to Colorado Springs. 

Some of us are getting tired.

Snack time and nap time.

Siamese Twins.

The next morning we packed for our day in Garden of the Gods, our main reason for visiting Colorado Springs. We took the bus as far as we could to one of the entrances to a hiking trail as we could. It still took us half an hour to walk to the entrance. Most likely because our butler was paranoid about rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Mjauhihi, we only encountered a ground squirrel before more people started walking the trails and our butler felt more secure. We walked the different trails and admired the rocks for a couple of hours before making our way to the Visitor Centre where we picked up a map. We then continued our hike along every trail on the map. Mjau, the entire hike took our butler approximately six hours. We had one break were we ate a peach and a cookie we had packed as a snack. The view from the Palmer Trail was spectacular, reminiscent of a western movie. Our favourite rock formation was the Siamese Twins rocks. Mostly due to the name quite honestly, as we are siamese cats, mjau.

A lovely house.

We liked what we saw from the bus on our way up to Manitou Springs so we made our butler walk the entire way back to downtown Colorado Springs. Mjau, we were not disappointed as we got to walk through the Historic Old Colorado City. This was more on par with what we imagined Colorado Springs to be like. The houses here were positively charming. We even found a lovely pink house that might as well be housing Minnie Mouse. 

Chocolate Banana bread and iced coffee at Central Peak.

The following day we decided to explore the downtown again as our perception of Colorado Springs had brightened. We found a nice coffee shop called Central Peak that became our go to coffee shop due to their high speed Wi-Fi and delicious seasonal iced coffees. We also visited the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum that had previously been closed and had free admission. It was interesting to learn about the history of Colorado Springs as a health center and its effects on the active lifestyle of the residents of Colorado Springs today. 

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

Order in the court!

On our last day in Colorado Springs we went to Central Peak to download some music for our long bus journey to Albuquerque. On our way to our hostel to pick up our bag our butler took us to a thrift store, hoping to find some reading material as they had finished reading First they killed my father in Charleston. Our butler could not find a book. Instead we saw a kitten that needed a home so our butler bought him for one dollar. His name is Chip and he is a bit shy. Perhaps he does not understand Swedish. Our butler says we are too aggressive and that he is probably a bit scared of us Siamese cat girls. Mjau, humbug! At least Bu now has some company for the rest of the trip. 

Chip waiting for the bus to Albuquerque.

Mjau, it turned out Chip brought a lot of bad luck with him as our bus was five hours late! They could not even give an estimate of the new departure time. They kept postponing the departure by one hour every hour! The bus stop was not even a proper bus station with facilities. It was only a measly old bench under a bridge! When the bus finally arrived we were happy to get a window seat and the seat next to us for ourselves. We were slightly disappointed that we missed the scenery, as it got too dark partway. At the same time it was quite cozy to ride the bus in the dark. We had one longer stop where our butler could use the bathroom and buy us some snacks. We got a chicken sandwich and a Reese's peanut butter bar. 

The kitchen in our AirBnB.

Enjoying some marshmallow cookie dough chocolate cake while watching Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

We were happy to arrive in Albuquerque and finding the streets empty so we felt safe walking to our AirBnB in the dark of the night. Our AirBnB was absolutely lovely. It was nice to finally have a kitchen. The television in our bedroom even had Disney+ on it, so we were finally able to watch Pinocchio, Lightyear and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. We were pleasantly surprised by Albuquerque. On our first day we walked to the Old Town Albuquerque. Very nice buildings and arts and crafts. We found another thrift store on our way and our butler finally found some reading material. 

Old Town Albuquerque.

Close to the Old Town was the Sawmill Market. They had interesting food stalls and cocktails, although a bit overpriced. At the outdoors seating area they also had live music. Mjau, one evening our butler bought a Pina colada crème brulée. On the walk back to the AirBnB the strap to the purse snapped and the purse containing the crème brulée dropped to the ground. Fortunately the crème brulée was also wrapped in a plastic bag so the mess was contained to the bag and we were spared from being covered in the mess. Mjau, our incompetent butler! Au was extremely discontent with our butler as the previously instagrammable crème brulée was now a hideous mess. As hideous as our butler exclaimed Au. The taste was still delicious and we enjoyed it in bed while watching Disney+. 

Blueberry Mojito.

The crème brulée that got dropped. Au is quite angry.

Another brownie point for Albuquerque was the free public transport. You could hop on and off the busses however you pleased. One day we took the bus as close to the Petroglyph National Monument we could, and then walked the remaining 45 minutes to the Rinconada Canyon Trail. At the beginning the petroglyphs were a bit underwhelming. Soon we found several petroglyphs  that were fun to try to decipher and interpret. We were quite tired after our walk around the trail so we decided to spend the rest of the evening relaxing at our AirBnB with some snacks and cake we bought.  

We decided to forego hiking the Sandia mountain and instead visit the free museums at the University of New Mexico. We walked around the shops at Noob Hill and went for lunch at 66 Diner. We got the turkey sandwich and fried ocra. Mjauhihi, the turkey sandwich was not at all what our butler expected. It was only two slices of plain bread with some slices of turkey slathered in gravy. The server inquired if the food was to our liking. It was not! Our butler replied in the affirmative and suffered the miserable turkey sandwich in silence. The fried ocra was however delicious.

Au at the museum.

Dinner at 66 Diner.

Railrunner train to Santa Fe.

On Sunday we took the Railrunner train to Santa Fe. The architecture was really nice in Santa Fe, similar to Albuquerque Old town. We went to a cafe and got a delicious pumpkin pie. We walked around some interesting shops and bought some cookies and chocolate from Whole Foods. We found out they had a parade of some sort and a market at the town square. The parade was fun in the beginning. It got boring when it was only several cheer and sport teams from surrounding schools in a row. We decided to leave the parade and walk to the Railway station to walk through the market there and catch the next train back to Albuquerque. We were glad we decided to stay in Albuquerque instead of Santa Fe, as there was much more to do in Albuquerque.

In conclusion we were pleasantly surprised by Albuquerque. Perhaps as we did not have high, if any, expectations. 

Downtown Albuquerque.

Destination Unknown: Part 9

We were unfortunate kittens again and our plane was delayed once more due to the weather. We had to wait several hours for our flight to Charlotte were we would connect to St Louis. We arrived at St Louis several hours after originally planned as they had to switch us to a later flight. Mjau we just barely made it to the last train for the night thanks to our pilots making up for lost time en route. We were a bit peeved that we missed several hours as we had booked a hotel in St Louis and now missed out on half a day in St Louis. Similar to Charleston we heard about the crime statistics in St Louis. We arrived in downtown St Louis around midnight and the streets were basically empty. We did not feel unsafe in the slightest. We checked into our hotel The Missouri Athletic Club. A very nice hotel. We really enjoyed the decor inside the hotel.

Our room at The Missouri Athletic Club.

In the morning we walked around the area and bought tickets for The Arch. We then went to Schnucks Downtown grocery store. Mjau, we were very surprised to see they were selling the delicious brown bread from the Cheesecake Factory at the store. We bought some fruit and a gooey butter cake that is famous in St Louis and a croissant for breakfast. We enjoyed our breakfast in our room. We then headed to The Arch again. The had a nice museum of the history of St Louis and the Arch that was free to visit. The ticket is only for the tram to the top of the Arch. You were assigned to small groups of a maximum of five people that you would share the pod with. We shared the pod with a nice man and woman from Colorado who gave us some tips and recommendations for our upcoming trip there. The tram ride up is an elevator that one could compare with a quarter of a Ferris Wheel. The pod actually swings a bit when it goes up the arch. It can be a bit frightening, especially if you are both claustrophobic and fearful of heights. Fortunately we have ridden the Mickeys Fun Wheel over at Disney's California Adventure without knowing it would swing that much, so the Arch tram ride was tame in comparison. We were surprised to learn that The Arch is actually designed by a Finnish architect, Eero Saarinen. The view from the top was nice although the Illinois side was a bit barren. The ride down was more smooth and not as uncomfortable. 

Bu in front of The Gateway Arch.

View of St Louis from the top.

 

View of St Louis on the Illinois side.

Museum inside the Arch.

We walked around the town some more and were overcome with nostalgia for Chicago and love for the Midwest. We usually visit the coast, Florida and California and miss out on the so called fly over states. We made a resolution that we would explore the middle of the country more in the future. 

Si walking along the Mississippi River.

Enjoying a walk in the Gateway Arch National Park.

Sassy Si at Busch Stadium.

St Louis have been on our travel list since 2015 when we were in Chicago and failed to take the train here. We had honestly forgotten why St Louis had been on our list of must visit places. After eating our way through St Louis we remember exactly why. Mjau, the food is so delicious. We had a St Louis style thin crust pizza from Imo's Pizza. So delicious! We have heard that the cheese ,Provel, they use in St Louis is strange and not to everyone's liking. We actually liked it and the end result is not too far from the Oltermanni cheese we use on our pizza at home. 

Gooey butter cake.

St Louis Style Pizza.

We only had one full day in St Louis so the next morning we left our bag at the consierge and went to the museum at the Arch. We them walked to Bogart's smokehouse. Bogart's is actually one of the highlights of our trip, not including Disney of course. The ribs were just perfect. Mjau, we had to go and sit down on a bench at Lafayette Square to rest as we were so full and our butler could not move. In the afternoon we left for the airport and waited for our flight to Denver. We slept at the airport like poor peasants and then took the bus to Colorado Springs.

Dinner at Bogart's Smokehouse.

Lafayette Park.

Lafayette Park.