There's so much one could say about I-70. The way it runs from Cove Fort, UT to Baltimore, MD. The way it travels through major cities such as Denver, Topeka, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. The way I learned all of this from its Wikipedia page. The way that we biked on it yesterday (now about a week ago, but this was accurate when I started writing the blog).
We biked on an INTERSTATE! On purpose! How nuts is that! Mom, Dad, I am fine don't worry. We only spent about 9 miles on the interstate (~40 mins for us bikers, ~9 mins for you car goers). And it was WILD.
When we were figuring out the route between Glenwood Springs and Rifle on Google Maps we were presented with two options:
47 miles, 4000 ft of elevation, 6 hours: Don't take I-70
27 miles, 250 ft of elevation, 2 hours: Take I-70
This was sort of like a moment we reference a lot: which is when Tom Cravens, who hosted our learning festival in Hazard, KY and very kindly found us housing in Liberty, KY, presented us with two housing options:
We could stay in the fire department, but they don't have showers so we'd shuttle 10 mins down to a church with showers.
Or we could stay with Tom's very loving and kind family, who would feed us, let us shower, and take us on a tour of their cow pasture.
Totally up to us, he had said. Whichever one you want. We went with the second option. In both cases.
The actual biking on the interstate was fine. The shoulder was very large for the most part, and it had a very cute rumble strip. Cars tended just to switch into the other lane when they saw our bright yellow vests from a far. We were a sight to be seen in those vests. So highly visible. This look is usually reserved for Maxwell and Franklin (because they have high vis jerseys they wear regularly), but Mariela and I rocked our never worn bright pink and yellow vests.
Franklin says that I am actually more high vis than he is. He has a matching bright yellow helmet, and I have a bright blue helmet. His reasoning is that if we were on a bright yellow background no one would be able to see him, but they could see me. I agreed. What if we all fell into a vat of Mountain Dew? Franklin would totally disappear. I could be rescued in a flash. Picture below for reference.
Something that I've spent a lot of time thinking about in Colorado is what I would name a weed store. We've passed by so many weed shops since we've been here, and it reminded me of a question I started posing to people a few months ago.
Last summer when I was living in Portland, ME, there was this half weed half coffee shop downtown called "Higher Grounds." I thought this was such a good name, which got me thinking: If I had to name a weed store/coffee shop what would I call it? So I asked a lot of people in my life. Here were the results from that survey:
Recently the question I've been thinking about is what are other stores I could combine with a weed shop and what would it be called? Here are some that I've thought of:
The High Chair: weed store/furniture store. They could sell really comfy couches and beanbags.
Pot and the Kettle: another coffee/tea shop and weed store. I am so proud of this one, I think its great.
Bike and Bake: weed/bike store.
The Smoked Spoke: same as above.
The Highffel Tower: French weed store. I don't stand by this one, it's one of my weaker ones.
Herbal Essences: hair salon/weed store.
Burger Joint: it's in the name, burgers and joints.
The Potluck: you can bring your own food/buy weed.
If you have any ideas to add to the above list, you know where to reach me (in the comments of this blog. Also at literally any mitspokes related media: email, instagram, the works).
Finally, here are some pictures to satiate your picture appetite. As always apologies for the sudden bursts of blogs after complete radio silence. Hope you savor them :)
xoxoxo,
Sim1
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