Leaving Denver for Wyoming

We did not even spend a night in Denver. Since we met the early morning appointment for the tires, we got the sheep skins in the early afternoon and got out of Denver before rush hour traffic. Back up I-25 toward Broomfield and parts north. We had another possible stop. 

The stop was supposed to be for a road worthy item we researched, the Airtab. These are devices attached to to the rear outline of any kind of trailer or RV to increase aerodynamics http://www.airtab.com/what.html. The Airtabs create a vortex of air behind the vehicle in order to reduce wind resistance. We were really sold on these until we started the drive to Alaska. With the trailer fully loaded, our speed was so diminished that we could not believe anything would improve our gas mileage (except a truck that could carry us the whole way!) Through the Airtab website, we found a dealer in the Denver area and had contacted him for a meeting. Unfortunately for the distributor, we did not follow through with that meeting. Due to our laden trailer, our speed was much reduced in order to attempt to maintain reasonable gas mileage. The Airtabs would have taken several trips of our magnitude to pay themselves off, the expense was not one we felt we could make at the time. We were destined to drive slow. 

In the phone conversation with the distributor, when he heard we would be in the area, he recommended a stop at Johnson’s Corner for their world famous cinnamon rolls. As a nice treat for the beginning of our next leg of driving, we could not pass up the prospect of delicious cinnamon rolls. We stopped at Johnson’s Corner just before sunset http://www.johnsonscorner.com/ . This is definitely a world famous truck stop. It was opened by an insightful entrepreneur who knew the impending highway development destined him to be highly successful. As for the cinnamon rolls, I would not exactly say they were worth the stop. This review is for my culinary friends and foodies. Saying these were good cinnamon rolls is like saying Taco Bell has good Mexican food. Yes, the rolls were as big as a plate, but size will not make up for lack of taste, texture, or satisfaction. Johnson’s Corner is a must stop for historical measures and classic comfort food dining spot once you are out of Denver. A big plus is the business is open 24/7, a luxury for road-trippers. But for the cinnamon rolls, I think not. 

With our bellies full, we were then off to Cheyenne. Being evening, we did not want to try to find a place to stay too late at night. We stopped in Fort Collins which would enable us to hit the city early in the morning. Ken had luck in the past with Motel 6’s being affordable and decent. Our fist few choices of them were rather lackluster. Motel 6 has been renovating their motels in the past few years and we did find a nice one last month on our trip to Corpus Christi. However, the selection in Fort Collins was disappointing. The first clue was the night clerk being behind bullet proof glass. Then the room, omg it was nasty and still not worth the low price. We checked the GPS for others in the area and found a La Quinta close by running a special. It was well worth it, a few dollars more but much nicer room. Usually on road trips, I would stop at every motel to ask prices. Here we learned to call ahead, and in the case of Motel 6, to ask if the rooms had been renovated. One point in the Magellan plus column-still not outweighing the closed businesses it took me to in Wichita (which had been closed well over two years).