Ouray

I had never been here before. It is like something out of a fairy tale. 

I considered spending the night, but a storm was on the way, which likely would have closed the highway south and necessitated a four-hour detour the next day. 

Next summer, for sure. 

Don't Be Surprised If This Becomes The Header Photo One Day

Portland, Colorado. 

I didn't know there was such a place.

The Million Dollar Highway

I've done some crazy-ass drives in my life, but never anything like this. The roads were slicked with ice, there were no guardrails, and the drop-off appeared to be as much as 200 feet in some places. 

The crazy thing, however, was when I got to my hotel in Durango that night. I Googled the highway to get more details and was shocked at how much crazier it looks when there is no snow: 

I think the snow camouflaged just how treacherous the drive truly is. 

If I had seen these photos beforehand, I might not have driven fast or taken photos while driving. 

Nah, just kidding. I still would have. 

The Lucky Bird

Obviously, I got the Asian Tenders. 

Justin's Five Favorite Days of the Year, Part 1 of 5: Championship Sunday

I am interrupting my Rocky Mountain Rambling for a rundown of one of my five favorite days: Championship Sunday. The final four football teams remaining. The Super Bowl semifinal. 

I got up early to over-caffeinate for the day. But Maggie was already up - although she was being lazy in the morning sun. 

I am pretty boring when it comes to breakfast lately. It is almost always the same thing: egg whites, turkey sausage, hash browns. 

The only new wrinkle here is that these are sweet potato hash browns.

And also cool football plates, obviously. 

REDSKINS COMMANDERS at EAGLES

Jayden Daniels is really, really good... but the Commanders win last week was more about Detroit's dumb game plan than Washington being the better team. Washington is weak against the run and yet Detroit refused to run it down their throats. I expect Philly will. 

Do you know how many rookie quarterbacks have ever led their team to the Super Bowl? 

Zero. 

This is not a coincidence. 

And I do not expect it to change today.

Prediction: Eagles 33 Commanders 24

I have had these chips before. They are delicious. 

I have never had this dip before. I bought it in Colorado. 

It's fucking AWFUL. It tasted like a shitty French Onion Soup mixed with Cheez Wiz and then tossed with even more salt, in case those two things aren't salty enough. 

After three bites, I threw away the dip. 

After I finished the plate of chips, I ate some pretzels with pimento cheese dip (also from Colorado). It wasn't great, but it was a hell of a lot better than that dip. 

Damn I love cupcakes. 

POSTGAME NOTES: Eagles 55 Commanders 23. I was pretty damn close on the Commanders score. Not so much the Eagles. I knew the Eagles were going to run all over the Commanders; I had no idea they would score SEVEN rushing TDs. Even if you had told me that Washington was going to turn it over four times, I still would not have predicted 55 points for Philly. Crazy. 

BILLS at CHIEFS

KC isn't as good as they have been the past two seasons. Josh Allen is likely going to be the MVP. He knows that if he doesn't beat KC this year, he never will. Buffalo has already beaten KC this season. Buffalo is the better team. 

So my pick is easy. 

Kansas City. 

I have never seen a team in any sport be more favored by the officials. Not the Dallas Cowboys. Not the New York Yankees. Not the Los Angeles Lakers. 

There is no question the NFL wants the Chiefs to be in the Super Bowl with Taylor Swift in attendance for the third year in a row. The last two Super Bowls were the two highest-rated telecasts in the history of American television. If the Chiefs Taylor is there again this year, the advertising revenue will be at an all-time high. 

Now... does that mean there is a conspiracy and the refs are actually cheating? 

I don't know. 

Five years ago - when the Patriots and Tom Brady were getting the benefit of almost every call - I would have said "No way." 

But if we have learned anything in the last five years, it is that there is no end to corporate corruption when billions of dollars are involved. 

I fully expect Buffalo to look like the better team today and two or three bullshit calls to be made against them - most likely roughing the passer when Patrick Mahomes has barely been touched - and KC to win on a last-minute (perhaps last-second) field goal. 

Prediction: Chiefs 31 Bills 29

I smoked a turkey breast all afternoon and tossed it with this sauce I picked up in Durango. 

Maggie got a piece of turkey even though she is a Poop Dog. 

She did not get any beer, though.

POSTGAME NOTES: Chiefs 32 Bills 29. Well, I literally could not have been any closer on the score without getting it right. The Chiefs benefited from many calls, as they have all season, but none in the last two minutes of the game as I expected. When you play the Chiefs - especially at Kansas City - you have to be good enough to beat the Chiefs AND the refs. Buffalo was not. I'm not disgusted like I used to be when the Patriots got away with cheating, because Kansas City is a cool city and Boston is the asshole of America - but I'm just tired of this Chiefs team. I hope Philly beats them, and that's a sentence I've only ever uttered three times in my life - when the Phillies played the Yankees in the 2009 World Series and when the Eagles played the Patriots in the Super Bowl (twice).

Back to my Colorado adventures tomorrow. Asian Fried Chicken Tenders at 9,000 feet. 

Blue Bird Market & The Coldest I Have Ever Been

It took a while to get up the mountain from Longmont (elevation 4981) to Silverthorne (elevation 8790). 

There was a big snow storm and at several places, traffic had slowed to a complete stop. 

But by the time I got there, I was above the storm. The skies were piercing blue. 

And it was the coldest I have ever been. 

The thermometer in my car read 1º, but none of the food establishments in the market were open yet so I decided to go for a walk. 

It was windy, somewhere (I'm guessing) between 30 and 40 mph.

1º F with a wind speed of 30 mph is a wind chill of -19º. 

With 40 mph winds, it's -27º. 

Fucking cold. 

I was wearing two t-shirts, a fleece-lined cotton jacket, and a Carhatt down jacket, with a fleece beanie and a thick cotton scarf wrapped around my neck... and my skin still felt frozen. 

My walk didn't last very long. 

I went back in the market and sat at a table until my chosen eatery opened. 

More on that tomorrow. 

I mean Tuesday.