Neon Asphalt

Neon Asphalt

Road trips mean new adventures whether it be seeing new & cool things, eating new & cool foods or acquiring new & cool stories. One of my favorite parts about road trips, especially road trips through random area are the incredible roadside signage. This year’s SIA show was in Denver, so naturally that called for a road trip and all it’s glorious signs of yesterday.

The road out to SIA (that’s the ski / snow tradeshow) has been the same thing for as long as I can remember, the show’s been in Vegas for eons but this year there was a change and the road trip was on. Along the way we saw some incredible signs, drop dead amazing sights and rode some great terrain.

Gallup, New Mexico was the first “Route 66” place that we hit. The El Rancho had been advertised for the previous 100 miles and it was a welcome leg-stretching break. Really cool western movie memorabilia inside and a great sign outside. I could have done without the nonsense below the main sign but all in all it was a nice, classic sign / place. Unfortunately all the t-shirts had Route 66 and all kinds of other nonsense on them or, well, I’d own one.

Wolf Creek resort in Colorado has a very old school feeling sign. The riding there was fun, it would have been epic had we been able to go on the way out instead of the way back. It reminded me a lot of June Mtn with better terrain. Similar feel / vibe, with low price (lift tickets are $52 and 2 people can eat a hearty lunch with a drink for under $15).

I wonder if Bernie’s food is as fun as his sign?

Quite a number of “big arrow” type places along the road, complete with Big Arrow sticking in the ground.

Little white churches with red neon signs shot while it’s snowing look neat.

Apparently Jesus couldn’t save the crown in this sign.

I’m adding this for a few reasons. While the sign is pretty fun, it wasn’t a traditional roadside sign like the others. It’s a great restaurant we randomly found right near the convention center in Denver. Who knew that Denver had such a love for creole / cajun cooking. It was uncrowded, had great food and better prices plus I’m writing this on Fat Tuesday. Until next January, Bayou Bob, keep on keepin’ on.

This is what road trips are all about. I’ve saved my favorite for last, it doesn’t get much better than this jewel. It was a bit sad to see that this establishment has turned into a run down weekly / monthly hotel. It’s not hard to imagine how cool it would have been to be there 50 years ago when it & Route 66 were in their prime.