I Drive a 55

I left Victor, Idaho, went up and over the Teton Pass and into Wyoming. 

A friend of mine from the auto show circuit saw I was in the area and told me to stop by the Snake River Lodge & Spa on my way out. 

When I showed up she had me park in a special lot.
Ferrari, ZR1, The 55, Lamborghini, ZO6 & Lamborghini.
The 55 was in pretty good company.
So was I.
After catching up, I hit the road and headed to Rock Springs.
In Rock Springs I fueled up and did some math.
It turns out we averaged a little over 20mpg. 
Best milage ever in The 55!!
From Rock Springs I boogied down I-70 until I got to WY-130 and went south towards Riverside where I made a left. 
Wyoming’s open roads and wide open spaces are fantastic.
I left the southeastern border of Wyoming and made it into an area of Colorado I’d never been in before.

CO-125 led me into Cowdrey, CO.

I love these old post offices for some reason.
At the Walden Welcome Center I got out to stretch my legs and was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes.
I didn’t think Colorado had mosquitoes…
I was wrong.
The next morning I drove thru Granby then up and over Berthod Pass – 11,307 – and down to I-70.
I exited at I-70 at Idaho Springs with the intention of driving up the highest paved road in North America.
But I was immediately shut down.
The Mount Evans Scenic Byway has been on my list for years.
It’s only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day-ish and is the highest paved road in North America.
What the heck – I was there so I decided to head on up anyways. 
I made it up to Echo Lake where the road was indeed closed.

Oh well…
Next time. I continued on to Squaw Mountain Pass – 11,130 – and down into Evergreen to see my Pop.

Don’t let it fool you – Pop’s not wearing a KC Chiefs shirt.
He’s wearing his 303rd KC Hogs t-shirt – notice the A-10 – a gift from our buddy Rio.
When I arrived Pop had a nice surprise for me.
The first batch of “I Drive a 55” coffee-table books had arrived.
If you were a part of the first order – Thank you!
If there’s enough interest, I may print up another batch.
So lemme know if you’re interested in a “I Drive a 55” coffee-table book.
After checking out the books, Pop said we should have a beer at The Bucksnort Saloon to commemorate my arrival in Colorado.

And that’s exactly what we did. 
With dangling dollar-bills and graffiti covered walls, The Bucksnort is a real mountain bar.
That’s where we had a belated birthday toast to celebrate Pop’s 80th.
And after a beer, I even got Pop to carve our initials into one of the tables.
Don’t tell anyone – that’ll be our little secret.
We were invited to Keystone to see my nieces & nephew who were skiing at Copper Mountain all week.
You read that right.
They were snow skiing in August.
Pretty nuts right?!?
On our way up to Keystone we got the call that my Uncle Dale – my Pop’s brother – had passed away.
Uncle Dale & Aunt Barbara are the ones who introduced us to skiing.
It’s because of them we ski. 
I think it was fitting that the three “Colorado Thisteds” paid tribute to Uncle Dale on Copper Mountain – while Alex, Avery & Andrew skied behind us. 

I gotta thank my sister-in-law Val for getting what I think is the best picture of us ever.
So far it’s been a pretty awesome road-trip.
I’ve put some miles on The 55, I’ve seeing some beautiful country and I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with my family.
What could be better? 
I come out to Colorado a lot, and I’ve been planning a drive down Denver’s own Colfax Avenue for awhile now.
It’s become legend that “Playboy” magazine once called Colfax “the longest, wickedest street in America.”
I’ll have that in my next installment of I Drive a 55.
Until then, keep the rubber side down and I hope to see you out on the open road.
#idrivea55