8/26 - 8/27 - Denver, CO to St. Louis, MO - 850 miles on the fast track

This morning I woke up reluctantly, knowing that this would be the day when the fun part of the trip ends and the suffering part begins. I had been on the road for ten days, but I was nowhere close to my final destination. In fact, Denver marks only about one third of my total planned travel distance. I knew there was still a long way in front of me, and I had to finish it in a short time. The sky was gloomy as I walked out of the hotel, matching with my mood perfectly.

I left Denver on a gloomy day amid the rain.

I had two days to travel from Denver to St. Louis, and I hoped to reach St. Louis before 6PM so I can catch the Cardinals game there. That meant I only had one and a half day to drive the whole 850 miles. So I had to shift gear to the driving mode.

I didn't really have a plan for the day. I just drove. I would like to go as deep east into Kansas as
possible, so I had less distance to cover on the next day. Several potential stopping points for the day were Salina, Topeka, or even as far as Kansas City. I chose not to make a call before I set off and waited to see what I can do.

The east-bound drive from Denver was mostly a descent from the mile high city into the Midwestern plain. It was a dull day, I have to admit. Most of the time I sit behind the wheel, moving through the unpopulated I-70. I took several breaks at the rest areas as the only
change-of-sight for the day.

After crossing the state border, it was again a different scene. On both sides of the highway sit endless green. It made me feel refreshed. I turned on the radio, found a country music station, and swiftly drove through the country side with the right background music and high spirit.

The weather became better as I crossed the state border.

and I blazed through the endless green fields with countless cattle in Kansas with the accompany of some nice country music.

I still remember, in the late afternoon, I had to really convince myself to hang in for some more time whenever I saw an exit. Physically I was not so tired, but mentally it became increasingly unbearable to be confined in the limited space. Whity is not a roomy car, and I had make it worse by cramming a lot of stuff in the seats. Finally, when the night fell, it symbolized the last straw put on my back and I decided to finish the day at Topeka, KS.

I remembered when I checked into the Motel 6, my left foot and right foot didn't feel the same when I walked. My head ached due to the loud wind blowing into the car through the day. That annoying sound still echoed in my ears. It had been a long day but I had made good progress. Although there was nothing much worth noting, but we all need this kind of days in which we get the jobs done.

The Unexpected


The next morning I woke up feeling tired but hopeful. With the 540 miles I suffered yesterday, the work left for today was easier, and I was very hopeful to catch the baseball game in St. Louis by the evening. However, when I loaded my luggage onto Whity the car and got ready for checkout, the hope was shattered. I saw the front wheel on the driver side completely flat. What a surprise! It was all good until last night, I could swear it!

Luckily I was also somewhat prepared for a flat tire. I pulled out the air pump from my trunk and paddled hard to inflate the flat tire. I labored to get the car to a drivable situation, but when I was done I could hear the hissing sound from the tire. It would not take me long on the road. Is this a speechless complain from Whity that I worked it too hard yesterday? Anyway, I got to find a place to fix this. So I asked for a close-by tire shop at the counter when I checked myself out, and headed slowly with Whity over there.

Another disappointment stroke when I reached the tire shop. This was a Sunday and they were not open. I almost forgot that we are bounded by a weekly system after being on the road and out of regular schedule for such a long time, but it exists and stands still as ever, at the time I hoped it never exists the most. Now I was strangled in a place I have never been to with a car that I couldn't drive for maybe more than 20 miles.

But I was so lucky that my new cell phone provided a way to access the Internet on the road. I pulled out my computer and connected to the Google map, trying to find out any further hope around. I tried several nearby small tire shops without luck, and finally arrived at a Walmart. I was so glad to see someone open, although there was a long line waiting for service. They looked at my tire and was able to do a patch job on it. The root of the problem was a screw that got into the tire somehow. Finally, when the tire was eventually fixed and I was once again good to go, I already lost two hours resolving the issue. It was not desirable at all, but luckily things were still under control. I just had to make it up on the way.

As soon as I entered I-70 again I hit another unexpected obstacle: the toll station. Living on the west coast for three years, I was not adapted to the toll road system. I didn't like the concept, but I guessed I have to pay. This is the first time I paid a road toll in US. What I didn't know by then was that I am bound to pay a lot of toll after I settle in Florida.

The first toll station I have ever seen in US.

Further East

I took I-70 East after the tire patch job. It was mostly a clear view of endless plain, and suddenly a major city emerged on the horizon. It was Kansas City at the crossroad of the Midwest. After traversing long across the countryside, the sudden rise of a city gave a quite surprise for change of the scene. I followed the signs very carefully to make sure I didn't lose more time getting lost in the highway exchanges.

Kansas City appeared from no where on the horizon.

But, there was still a small detour I must take at the city. I paid a visit to the Kauffman Stadium, the home field for the Kansas City Royals. The weather was less than perfect on that day. When I visited the Kauffman Stadium, the sky was gloomy, just a match with the situation the Royals has been in recent year. I took a couple pictures here, but I felt little reason I should stay any longer, so I moved on to get to my destination of the day.

Kauffman Stadium, the home for Kansas City Royals.

Crossing the state of Missouri was much easier than crossing the state of Kansas distance-wise. It was not a very long drive, and in the late afternoon I was approaching St. Louis. Luckily, I booked a hotel in downtown St. Louis on Priceline, just next to the Gateway Arch. This impressive landmark of St. Louis marks the starting point of the great expedition of Lewis and Clark. As I had also come a long way to reach here, it inspired a lot of thoughts from me that I put in this article (LINK).

The Gateway Arch, landmark for St. Louis.

I hurried to check in the hotel and got ready to the baseball game tonight. The stadium is in walking distance from the hotel, and I set off immediately after I settled my stuff in the room.

They gave me a room with a nice view towards the gateway arch.

Comparison of the Utah National Parks and some suggestions for NP visitors

Now that you have read my articles about national parks in the state of Utah, it is very natural for you to ask questions such as "Which of these parks is the best?" "If I have say four days to visit one or two parks, where do you recommend me to go?" I avoided the comparison among the parks in the previous articles, as it is indeed a very difficult task, and I am very sure whatever I say, there are always counter arguments.

However, in the state of Utah, there seems to be too much natural wonders to see and too less time. So we have to be selective - not to pick the good ones and leave out the bad ones, because there is really no bad place, but to go to the places that would match with our interests and the purpose of the trip. Although the five national parks all feature natural wonders, they differ in what they offer exactly. In the following I try to list some of these differences for your information:

Sizes of the park - The parks obviously differ in sizes. Small parks such as the Bryce Canyon NP provides a well-focused attraction, and you can appreciate the same canyon in a many different ways. On the other hand, large parks, such as the Canyonlands and the Capital Reef, provide endless wilderness for explorations and adventures. It depends on which way you like better: Checking one place inside-out and upside-down carefully, or blazing through the great unpopulated wilderness daringly. The mid-sized parks, Zion and Arches, provide a balance between the two.

Ease of access - Park on the ends of this string (i.e. The west-most Zion NP or the east-most Arches NP) are closer to major cities (Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver). So they may be easy targets for a short trip. Unfortunately this is not only true for you, so it also means you are more likely to fight with the crowds in these parks. The other three "inland" parks see significantly less visitors, and may be better targets if you prefer a quieter trip.

Nature of the park - This is just my personal impression. Bryce Canyon NP and Arches NP provide more "natural wonder" type of view. You go there to appreciate the marvelous, hard to imagine creation of the nature. Canyonlands NP and Capital Reef NP provides grand landscapes. You go there to understand the grandness of the nature and open up your mind in the endless world. Zion NP packs various nice scenery together -You can climb up the mountains, hike in the forest, and even swim in a river in the same day - and all of them are nice. It may be the most diverse park among the five.

In sum, if you want an easy, short trip with a good diversity of things, you may enjoy Zion. If you are really into checking out a place in detail and see different faces of it, go to the Bryce Canyon. Canyonlands and Capital Reef are for the great expeditions. They suit best for those who feel they are crammed in the cities and long for a real get away. If you want an eye-popping natural wonder and ask the question of how this is real, Arches will certainly satisfy you.

All in all, I think all five parks are more than worthwhile to visit. The T-shirt I bought at one gift shop says it the best: Utah ROCKS!!

Utah ROCKS!

Suggestions for National Park visitors

Here are my 2 cents for the national park visitors. It is just my personal experience about how to get the most out of the trip.

First of all you should do your homework. Find out what's there in the parks, and find a good destination for you. A national park can be established for various reasons. So picking a place that will interest you is really important. More importantly, the more homework you do before the trip, the less hassle you will have on the road. It is particularly bad if you reach the gate of a national park, pay your admission fee, and ask "Now what?" You should have sufficient preparation to minimize the chance of this question popping up in your mind.

Secondly, when you arrive at the national parks with your plan, always discuss about it with the rangers, if time permits. The rangers know their park the best, and along the way I met with many helpful, nice rangers so I could conclude it is never a loss to talk with them. Some may know a secret that is not published in the books or posted on the Internet. Some would inform you about the latest changes in the park that may be relevant to your plan. Some have interesting stories to share. Get weather information as well if you plan for extensive outdoor activities. This is especially helpful if you have a half-cooked plan. The rangers have seen enough travellers so they can understand your preference from your draft of plans and easily fill the gaps for you.

I had some hiking experience on this trip so I can share some experiences on that. One should (1) Get the proper equipments for hiking. Have one backpack and try to have things organized instead of committing the same error I made, bringing multiple small handbags which become cumbersome on the way. As suggested everywhere, you should bring sufficient water. This is perhaps the single most important thing above all. (2) If you hike during summer days, it is desirable to hike either early or late. Avoid the hottest hours during the day. It would make your hiking much more enjoyable. Also, when you hike, you should either wear long-sleeve clothes if you can bear with it, or use some sunscreen. I personally dislike sunscreen so I took little precaution, and here is a picture to show the result after spending five days in the national parks.

This is an example of what will happen to you if insufficient protection is taken while hiking.

(3) Although the nice scenery in the parks always makes you want to go on and see more, you should be aware of the limitation and don't push yourself too much. The whole idea of a trip, after all, is to have a nice experience out of it. It is not a race to see as much as you can in the given time. I had that tendency myself, and I realized it when I asked a ranger in Zion about whether it is possible to see A, B, and C in the same day. He told me it is possible, but it would be a hell of a day and asked me why I would like to have it. It was then I realized over-stretching myself on a trip is not a great idea.

Wish all nice trips to the national parks in the future!

August 25 - Baseball at the Mile High City

The concluding highlight for today is the baseball game at the Coors Field. I got the ticket from the Rockies Official shop on the 16th Street mall and walked from the Mall to the Coors Field. In my opinion, the stadium situates at a nice location, just next to the train station and the downtown. The spot makes it very convenient for tourists and commuters to enjoy a game here.

Colorado Rockies is a relative young team in the long major league baseball history, established in 1993. I don't know much about the team, but I have heard a lot about its home stadium. Coors Field is an interesting outlier among the baseball stadiums in MLB baseball. At the mile high city, the air is thin so balls travel further. Even if the stadium is not at all small, lots of homeruns are hit at this park, and one can always look forward to high-scoring games here. It certainly makes the game exciting, and I hoped to see my share of runs in this game.

The notorious hitter's heaven/pitcher's hell - Coors Field.

There is an interesting shop for sports-related goods just across the street from the Coors Field. It has them all - jerseys for almost every team and lots of famous players. It is a bit puzzling to me why one would sell stuff from other teams just across the street from the local stadium. Perhaps it is an evidence that Rockies still have a long way to go to boost loyalty from local fans.

You can get things from teams all over the MLB here just across the street from Coors Field.

In front of the main gate, I saw a bunch of people selling snacks and drinks. This is not the case in LA, but I liked it. It makes every sense to avoid paying three times the price for just the same snack inside the stadium. Since I got my own food, I didn't need their service at the moment. But I would certainly like to have them around every baseball park I go to in the future.

Food vendors in front of the stadium.

Coming across the gate, there is a wide walkway leading to the stand. I liked the single-entrance design of the ballpark. It makes the access simple and fast. Unfortunately, it also reveals one weakness of the team - lack of attendance. The walkway and the area behind the stands appeared so spacious to me. Later, I figured out they are not actually wider than what we have in LA, but it is certainly less crowded. I walked down the walkway and started to circle around the field, checking out the facilities of the ballpark. I concluded very soon that this is a park with nice facility, but I also felt sad that not many people come to enjoy it. Consider that this was a Friday night, the attendance was not at all satisfactory. They have everything here: A nice park, nice facility, a team with a handful of rising stars, and the tickets are available at very affordable prices. It shouldn't be the case that I was able to walk about the stadium with ease 1.5 hours before the game. I understand that building popularity of a team takes time, but I figured they still have a long way to go here.

The broadway into the stadium - I think it has greater capacity than what is needed now, but I like the set up.

Spacious, almost empty walkway behind the stands - 1.5 hours before the game.

View from the home plate.

They have everything here but customers.

A shot in the team store at the stadium. I certainly like the color patterns on the Rockies stuff.

Note that only 1 row of seats in the stand is painted purple. According to the Rockies official webpage, it marks 1 mile above the sea level. Hence this is truly a mile high ball park.

An interesting event took place before the the real game. A small-scaled baseball game took place among kids on the left-field grass. It was fun to watch kids trying to hit the balls served (I wouldn't call it "pitched") by the team mascot, Dinger. Although it was obviously unfair that they put kids of all ages in one game, it was not an issue at all because the kids seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Kids play baseball with the team mascot, Dinger, under the supervision of the team cheer-leaders.

A nice view towards downtown Denver from the stadium.

The real game of the day was between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies. Jeff Francis, the upcoming Canadian ace of the Rockies, and Mike Thompson, a rookie of the Padres, started the game. But the stage belonged to the hitters on this day. As expected, it was a wild batting competition among the teams. The Padres was able to score 5 runs from Francis early in the game. But the potent Rockie lineup came from behind and hit the pitchers of Padres around. That included 18 hits and 12 runs scored, and I was happy that I saw a game matching with the "fading tradition" of the Coors Field (as they started to use humidifier on the balls, the hitting was not that dominant as before at the park).

Today's match-up: Padres v.s. Rockies.

The starting pitcher for the Rockies: Jeff Francis.

As the night fell it soon became very cold at my seat atop the right field pavilion. I tried to bear with it, as I didn't like walking away from a baseball game before it is finished - it is against the spirit of the game. I was really surprised that it got so cold on an August night, probably because I was spoiled by the nice Southern Californian weather. Luckily I was able to hang in there until the end of the game, and took several more interesting pictures of the park during the night.

The fountain comes to live whenever a home team player hits a homerun.

Shops behind the outfield pavilion.

Overall I liked the game here. The Rockies are certainly playing good baseball, and they have superb facilities. I certainly wish more fans come to appreciate it, and make the games here more alive.

Aug 25 -Denver City tour

When I wrote up my trip plan, I generously granted myself a one-day break at Denver after spending a week at the national parks. I woke up with great appreciation to my own kindness this morning, realizing I had been on a run of 10-day trip without a break. I was fun, but it was also tiring, and I could really use a break here.

For outdoor trip I had to wake up early to take advantage of the daylight. Finally it was not required on the day. I stayed in bed for an extended period in the morning. It was supposed to be a day of relax today.

The first thing I did on the day was taking the hard-working Whity to an oil change at a local Walmart. I got some refreshments for myself at the same time. After that, I took it to a car wash to remove the dirt from the unpaved roads in the national parks. After a short maintenance session, both the man and the car were ready to move on.

Whity got an oil change at a Walmart...

and a wash... It was ready to go again.

The City Tour

I did not have a complete plan for the day at Denver. The only must-see place for me on this day was the US mint. So I headed there first.

Denver US mint is one of the two mints in the country. In case you don't know, there is a small "D" or "P" on every coin in the US, indicating the birthplace of the particular coin: "D" is for Denver and "P" is for Philadelphia. I am always curious about how coins are made, and I thought this would be the day to find out the answer with a first-hand experience. Unfortunately, to my disappointment all the slots for the tours were taken when I arrived at the main entrance of the mint. I was kicking myself for under estimating its popularity and not making a reservation when I set up my trip plan. There was nothing much I could do, so I took a picture just to show that I was here, and turned to other tourist attractions in the area.

People leaving the US mint after a tour. I wished I could be one of them.

The US mint is close to many other government buildings, including the Colorado state capitol. I visited the place quickly and took several shots. It is an ancient, classy building.

Colorado State capitol featuring a golden dome.

The inside of the dome.

Portraits of the former US presidents are displayed around the circular wall underneath the dome.

Next to the state capitol sits the beautiful Civic Center Park. A couple shots would describe it better than my words.

The civic center.

A nice looking fountain.

Since missing the US mint tour opened an one-hour hole in my schedule, I needed to find something to fill it. I browsed the AAA tour book I had at hand, and found a close-by museum, Colorado History Museum, may be interesting. Although the history of the state is not that long (one hundred something years at most), the museum does a very good job in displaying every relevant aspects to the subject. It made me think about my hometown, Taipei City, which has about the similar length of history. I couldn't recall any similar efforts to preserve the history about Taipei City back home, and after visiting this museum I would definitely look at the issue more seriously. It is certainly worth the effort to have a showcase for people who are interested in knowing more about the past of the city.

Colorado History Museum.

One interesting display on the wall... From one side it shows the Denver City in the current day...

...and from the other angle it shows the city in the past.

A model for Denver in the 1860s.

16th Street Mall

16th Street Mall is a famous attraction at downtown Denver. To me, the place is best described by calling it "3rd Street at Santa Monica, CA in a greater scale". The idea is very similar: A closed, pedestrian-only street with many interesting stores ranging from apparel to souvenirs on both sides. The real difference between the two places is their scales. The 16th Street Mall runs for about 15 blocks, and there was no way I could see it in every details. I casually walked down the street, hopping from one shop to another, checking out whatever appears interesting. A lot of people also joined me to enjoy their Friday afternoon on the street that provides a nice shopping experience with great diversity. In addition to the stores, the street itself is colorfully decorated, too.

People enjoy the afternoon sunshine on 16th Street Mall.

An interesting statue - a colorful cow.

Some more artifacts.

A building with a clock.

The street is so long that it was painful to finish the whole trip on foot during day time in summer. Just as I felt a loss of motivation to continue the walk, the help was right around the corner. They provide shuttle buses along the 16st Street. They buses come frequently, and there is one stop at almost every corner. It is a nicely designed public transportation system, running through the full length of the 16 Street Mall and extending to the train station for its terminal stop. Further, it is free. I used the shuttle to see most of the street and visit the Union Station within less than 20 minutes.

Free "MallRide" Shuttle bus.

The buses are well-maintained, much better than the general impression we have for the public transportation. Here is one of the reasons.... With such a strong warning posted, it would be wise not to do anything funny in the car.

The terminal stop, Union Station.

There are plenty of interesting shops on the street. I visited the official shop for Colorado Rockies, the local major league baseball team, and got my ticket for tonight's baseball game. I walked about the shop to look for something from the pitcher, #71 Chin-hui Tsao, the first Taiwanese pitcher appeared in the major league. Nothing was available in the shop. I was not that surprised considering that he was inactive for almost two years due to injury. When I asked the cashier about this, he showed me a jersey with his name, which is a custom-made not yet picked up. He was nice to let me take a picture of it. Rumors said that Tsao chose to join Rockies because he liked their jersey. It is a nice looking jersey, but it is a pity that he no longer wears it (as this is writing, Tsao was non-tendered by the Rockies and signed with the Dodgers.) Another interesting photo was taken at the ESPN center on 16th Street, where they have a miniature of the Coors Field (the baseball stadium) made of Coors bear wrappings.

A custom-made Rockies jersey with Tsao #71, the first Taiwanese pitcher to play in the MLB.

A model of the Coors Field made of Coors bear wrappings.

I ended by tour at the 16th Street Mall and walked to the Coors Field for a baseball game (for details about the game, see here). After the game, I walked through the 16th Street for one more time to get to my car. Interestingly, it gave a very different feel during the night. All the crowds were gone, the lonely street sit silently under the lights with mystical orange glow. The shuttle buses running up and down the street swiftly disappeared, replaced by the horse wagons pacing slowly and gracefully. The footsteps of the horses echoed around the almost-empty street, adding interesting musical effects to the otherwise placid scene. It was a nice, quiet walk for the night, and I walked the full length of it to get to my car.

I highly recommend the 16th Street Mall if you visit Denver some day, and you should check it out for both the day and the night to appreciate different faces of it.

The building with the clock certainly looks different in the night

The wagons replace the shuttle buses on the 16th Street for the night.

The almost-empty street provides a sense of serenity under the orange glow from the lights.