The Highest Saloon in America

 

South Park Saloon. 

10,580 feet. 

They have Mountain Time lager on tap but this was 10:33 in the morning and I just couldn't bring myself to wait around for them to open at 11 just so I could have a beer. 

Another time. 

The Continental Divide

 

The divide reaches its highest point in North America here, at Gray's Peak, at 14,278 feet. 

All water west of here leads to the Pacific. Everything to the east ends up in the Atlantic including the Gulf and the Caribbean. 

This is cool. 

Frisco

I have driven through here many times but I'm not sure if I've ever stopped. It's beautiful - as one would expect at 9,000 feet. 

There was a liquor store next to Whole Foods so I stopped in. They did not have anything I needed, but they had this can of Coors Light celebrating Colorado... which, now that I think about it, I guess I needed. 

Can Confirm

It's very different from when I lived there more than half my life ago, but enough is the same that returning always fills me with extreme happiness. 

And, as I mentioned, that autumn when I was 21 was possibly the single happiest time of my life, even if it would take me almost two decades to realize it. 

Until next time, Boulder. 

After-Dinner Drinks

Monica enjoys a glass of fernet after a nice dinner on vacation, so we went to bars after both Japango dinners. 

But I do not like fernet. (I do not like any liquor, really.) 

But I sure love beer. 

Japango Again

We ordered some new dishes and repeated some, including, of course, the tempura lobster. 

Some notes: 

- We sat at the sushi bar because Monica wanted to. I prefer the tables in the bar. 

- The chicken karaage the previous night had been a major disappointment. This time, they were fantastic, some of the best I have ever had. 

- Monica got a side of rice so she could pour the dynamite sauce all over it. 

- The pork belly was the best I have ever had. 

- I wonder how many nights in a row I would have to eat here before I said "Okay, I need a break." My guess is 4. But maybe more. 

Centro Mexican Kitchen

One day I will eat here, because it looks great. 

But not this trip. 

The Pony

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

- Ernest Hemingway