Big Horn Restaurant; Estes Park, Colorado

Say what you will about the often-labeled tourist trap of Estes Park, Colorado; but there is one thing there that is worth battling the over-crowded streets of the city: breakfast at  Big Horn Restaurant.

I'm speaking specifically about one dish in particular.

Huevos Rancheros.

It's very rare that I am impressed with restaurant food, particularly when traveling. I often find myself unimpressed with the restaurants that come highly recommended on sites like Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet. But when a local person recommends going to a cafe you know it is going to be good.

The strange part of this story is that I really don't care too much for breakfast food...I'm not a big egg and omelet kind of girl. So this dish totally took me by surprise and swept me off my knees.

Big Horn Restaurant is located on the western edge of Estes Park. From the exterior, it doesn't look like a fantastic place. It looks more like a place you would find in small town America that could go one of two ways:

1. Be a complete dive with really terrible food and service
2. Be a complete dive with really amazing food and great service

Thankfully, Big Horn is the latter of those two.

The inside has a very comfy country cafe feel from the decor to the mismatched coffee mugs.
I saw the description of the huevos rancheros and almost immediately fell in love: two eggs, refried beans, and pork chili verde poured over the top of a large flour tortilla, garnished by diced tomato and lettuce.

How could you NOT order that dish?

I rarely have "oh my god" food moments. But this was one of them. The flavor of this dish was out of this world. It was spicy, but not too spicy. The chili verde was chock-full of green chilies, providing that distinct, roasted flavor. I ordered the eggs scrambled, and they cooked them perfectly; not loose but definitely not overcooked (something that you think would be obvious, but you rarely find done right).

Probably the best feature of this dish is the way that the tortilla sops up the excess liquid from the chili, while the outer edges of the tortilla remain dry and ready to be torn off in small pieces to eat along with the rest of the dish.

I left the restaurant with the intention of coming back the following day to have the exact same dish again.

However, a few hours after I went to this restaurant, a wildfire broke out a mile or so down the road and spread about 20 acres. Quite a few places on that side of town were being evacuated and I assumed that Big Horn Restaurant would be closed down due to this. But they didn't even bat an eye, remaining open throughout the mass of panic that spread through town, mostly among tourists.

I was excited (and relieved for them) the following day to be able to come back to this wonderful establishment...this time with my camera equipment (having been previously taken off-guard by the quality of food they served). Sadly, I wasn't quick enough with my camera equipment to snap a photo or two of what I witnessed outside the restaurnt: a stampede of about 75 horses were being herded through the main street by police escort. They had had to evacuate the horses the day prior, due to fires, and were returning them to the ranch where they were from. That is definitely not a site you see every day. I ran outside when I saw it happening, they were at full gallop, a small handful of cowboys (swoon) on hand to keep them in check. It was truly an amazing and unique site. And sound! The clanking of that many hoofs on pavement was almost hypnotic!

But I digress...back to huevos rancheros.

As you can see, I was VERY excited to partake an another breakfast of huevos rancheros...a dish that will probably be ruined for me at every other restaurant for the rest of my life.

As I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of Estes Park, but the surrounding areas just outside of the city provide beautiful scenery if you are more into the small-town local feel and less of the tourism scene. However, after going to Big Horn Restaurant, I now have an excuse to wander into town when I am in the area! 

Bon appetit!

MSNBC "It's a Snap" Photo: I'm currently in the lead!

Hi All you wonderful people that I have been horrible about actually blogging to.

I'm at it again.

I'm a contest addict.

I'm currently being featured on MSNBC's "It's a Snap" for best travel photo (I think of the week...but I can't be too sure).

Anyway it's for one I took while I was in Shetland. Here it is:

To vote go to this link:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38060532/ns/today-travel/t/readers-submit-their-best-vacation-photos/#.TvQQ6WOBqU_

You will be able to see mine there...but just in case the photo above isn't clear, mine has the caption "Northmavine area of the Shetland Islands, United Kingdom"

Thanks for voting!!

Sincerely,
Miss Adventurous

The Art of the Misadventure

I originally posted a blog about this earlier this year as part of a speech I did for Speechcraft. Now that I am in Toastmasters, I reworked it a bit. Enjoy.

The Art of the Misadventure 

This won’t come as a shock to any of you, but I was recently a finalist in a competition called “The World’s Unluckiest Traveler.”  It may not sound like an award a person wants, but I feel like it’s my version of an Oscar. The award was to come with a hefty amount of travel vouchers, but really I just wanted the bragging rights. Having spent several months in communication with the sponsors of the contest, they also knew that in addition to the story I submitted, I had a handful of other stories that could qualify me for this distinction and that I even have a blog called Miss Adventurous Travel. So upon hearing that I had not won, they contacted me and told me that they felt confident, given my history, that I would be a finalist next year.

But all this talk of travel got me reminiscing about the crème de la crème of adventures I’ve had in my life. And despite the many perfectly planned and executed trips that I have had it is always the ones that went wrong that stick out in my mind and are held dearest to my heart.

I can still remember the first time I had a misadventure. 

I was 5. My family and I had gone to Colorado for vacation like we did every year back then. My parents had decided that it would be an awesome idea for all of us (my three brothers and I) to hike up a mountain and back.

The only problem was, somewhere along the way we lost the trail. As dusk approached, my parents were desperately trying to figure out what to do. With no cell phones and absolutely no one else around, there wasn't much to do but keep walking. But throughout all of it, I wasn't scared...as a matter of fact, I felt there was absolutely nothing to worry about because I was packin' a ziploc bag full of gummy bears in my purple "My Little Pony" backpack. And I knew this secret weapon would make everything okay. 

Actually, that was probably a lie...I’m sure I was terrified. I vaguely remember my three older brothers trying to scare me in regards to the overpopulation of snakes that they said existed in the woods and only came out at night. But I’m sure the gummy bears brought some level of comfort. 

Eventually we did make it out of the mountain...but we landed on the wrong side of it and my dad had to hitchhike to the opposite side to get the car. 

It was the first of many misadventures that would follow. 

I went quite a few years without any trouble after that. All trips went according to plan, no delays, no accidents. It was a dark period in my life.  

And then enter Laura, my best friend from high school. To be honest, we never really got into much trouble when we were in high school…it was only when we were in college she in North Carolina and me in Oregon, that we managed to get ourselves into trouble.

There was the road trip across the country that we took after getting massively sunburnt. We drove from Oregon to Nebraska in the middle of the summer in my old beat-up 87 Volvo I named “Blue.” Blue didn’t have air conditioning. So you can imagine the comfort level of our already scorched skin in 110 degree weather while we draped ourselves in wet wash clothes and with windows down got “Blue” up to 90 mph for only the second time in its life. It should be noted at this point that the other time “Blue” got above 90 mph was when I was trying to out run a tornado. I won. But I digress…it was on this same trip that my dear sweet old “Blue” found itself trapped in a puddle of mud on a dirt road roughly 6 miles from the nearest house in the middle of nowhere Wyoming.

And then there was the time that Laura and I went on a trip to Colorado to go whitewater rafting. But before that could happen I wound up in the hospital for almost a week having emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder. What was supposed to be a cheap weekend trip wound up being the most expensive vacation of my life. I would have been more bothered by it, but I was hopped up on Deladed and hallucinating blue coyotes having staring contests with me from the corner of my room.  

And then Hawaii happened and opened a door to misadventures I never even dreamed possible.

It started out innocently enough with us biking down Haleakala, a volcano on Maui, at sunrise. Except, a quarter-mile into the ride a part of the rental bike I had shifted and I careened off the side of the volcano.

Me about to proceed with EXTREME caution on Haleakala

But my favorite misadventure I have had was when Laura talked me into sea kayaking off of the shores of Oahu.

Picture this: You're in one of the most beautiful places on earth, on one of the more remote beaches on Oahu, you'll be kayaking between Kailua beach and Lanikai beach, which run parallel to the two mini islands a mile or so off the coast, called the Mokulua Islands, or The Twin Islands. It's paradise. 

Now, sea kayaking sounds awesome in theory, and honestly I had always wanted to try it. But the peaceful, serene atmosphere that I had always imagined quickly crumbled before my eyes. We ended up getting a two-person kayak so that if I ended up getting carried out to sea, Laura would come with me. It was a wise decision, because I'm pretty sure I'd be floating somewhere in the middle of the pacific right now if we hadn't. 

As we walked out the door of the kayak rental place, I made note of a cautionary sign that noted that due to currents that day, the passage to the Mokolua islands was open only for expert kayakers. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but clearly I should have factored Laura’s sanity into the whole equation, but more on that later.

The first thing I learned about sea kayaks is that they are hard to get into. We capsized no less than 3 times while trying to set off on our adventure. Once we finally got the hang of it and set off, it was amazing. The views couldn't be beat and the water couldn't be bluer. 

After kayaking around for awhile, and capsizing a small handful of additional times, Laura decides that we are what the rafting guides considered "experts" and that we should kayak out to the Mokulua islands which had been labeled for "EXPERT KAYAKERS ONLY" 

I spent a good deal of time trying to talk her out of it, pleading that her 1 prior sea kayak experience, and my current 45 minutes of experience did not make us experts. But, alas, she didn't listen. I even tried paddling in the opposite direction, but that didn’t work either. In retrospect, I probably should have ducked and rolled outta the boat and swam ashore. But I didn't. Besides, I was feeling overly confident because earlier that day I had finally figured out how to say the name of Hawaii’s state fish…in case you were wondering it’s humuhumunukunuku apua’a.

As we approached the small island giant waves wrapped around it and crashed together in the middle of the beach. There was no good way of landing on the island, and eventually a wave took us down. 

Drenched, but alive, we washed ashore. And amazingly so did all of our gear. 

But more troublesome than our arrival on the island was the thought of departing. And as we watched these giant waves crashing together in front of us I flashed back to when we were had attempted to get in the kayak in calm waters. I knew it wasn’t going to end well.

As expected, our attempts to leave the island weren’t met with success. After watching us struggle for quite some time, and watching both Laura and I nearly drown twice, a merry band of surfer dudes came to our rescue, helped us back on shore and got us situated in the kayak. Then they pulled us out of the rough patch of water. As we paddled off one of the surfers shouted to us “We’re with the Peter Miller Foundation, dude! Look us up!” I did look them up a few weeks later and made a donation to their foundation thanking them for saving us, they wrote back and were amused and appreciative. I’m pretty sure if those guys hadn’t been there Laura and I would still be stuck on that island living Swiss Family Robinson-style.

But our fun with sea kayaking wasn’t over yet. We were in calm waters midway between the Mokolua islands and Lanikai beach when suddenly, and for no apparent reason, we capsized.

It should be noted at this point that I am a swimmer. I have swam laps my whole life, was even captain of my swim team in high school. But there is nothing as humbling as trying to stay afloat in the middle of the ocean. Laura and I made several attempts to get back in our kayak, but to no avail. I was starting to get fatigued because I had been panicking, and despite the fact that it looked relatively calm on the surface, the current was very active underneath.

I lead a charmed life. I’m very convinced of this. Because just about the time that I was going to turn to Laura and say “Save yourself!” a kayak guide approached us.

He pulled Laura up into the front of the kayak and then attempted to pull me up in the back. We capsized a few more times, and then, finally, I managed to flop up on the back of the kayak laying on my stomach. I didn’t dare move. I was afraid we’d capsize again.

I smiled at the kayak guide, who probably thought I was drunk at this point. He attempted to correct my position on the kayak and I waved to him…

“No, no I am fine. I’m just going to lay here for awhile. I’m good.” I gave him a thumbs up and thanked him for his troubles.

It was then that I realized that he had about 8 kayakers in tow that had been watching the entire spectacle. I smiled and waved to them as they passed by, “Nothing to see here, folks! Just keep on paddling!” they laughed and Laura about capsized the boat again laughing.

I laid like that, on my stomach, perpendicular to the kayak for about half the distance back to the mainland…making Laura paddle the whole way as penance for what she had gotten us in to.

We made it back to land finally, and in a final act of defiance, the kayak whipped around and tripped me as I stood to get out of the boat, causing me to fall back into the ocean, once more. Turns out, there’s a right way to get out of a kayak...and then there’s a wrong way. Guess which one I took? 

But the thing that ties all these stories together is the fact that during all of these absurd and insane adventures, I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situations I get myself into. You can choose to get mad about things not going the way you planned, or you can laugh and realize you may not have ended up where you planned, but you ended up going on an adventure you never expected and walking away with a story you will never forget.  

World's Unluckiest Traveler - I AM A FINALIST!

I probably should have posted this on here weeks ago...I have no idea why I didn't! I must be losing my mind...

Anyway, I am a finalist for the World's Unluckiest Traveler 2: The Rescue...a contest sponsored by Travel Guard.

It seems only fitting considering that people call me Miss Adventurous (mostly at my insistance...but that's really neither here nor there)

I nominated my friend Laura, who had to take care of me when my gallbladder decided to explode!

This is Laura and I on that trip.

I have this funny thing where I tend to laugh through pain...so this was either the day before I went to the hospital or two days before. I can't remember. I was in a lot of pain though...and hadn't been able to eat in like 5 days.

I have some photos that Laura took of me in the hospital...I let her take them (even though I looked hideous) because it entertained her and I felt bad that she had to look after me while on vacation (she's is a nurse practitioner). Also because I was so drugged up on pain meds that I hallucinated a blue coyote. :-)

Anyway, I entered this contest randomly in May and now Laura & I are in the top 10!!! So if you have a minute to vote for us, I would really appreciate it!!

Follow this link:

http://www.worldsunluckiesttraveler.com/gallery.asp

You'll need to sign up (I think it only accepts citizens from US & Canada...sorry rest of the world, I really wish you could vote!

then VOTE FOR OPERATION VACATION!!

And then tell everyone you know to vote for us! :-)

If we win, I will post the horrible photos of me at the hospital on here as a bonus prize! :-)

Thanks in advance!!!!!

Miss Adventurous (Sara)

Finding me on Facebook

Since I had to suddenly switch over from my GoDaddy site to here, I don't think I've posted about how you can find me on facebook. I have my own Miss Adventurous Travel page on there that you can find here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Adventurous-Travel/145198222220549

Come and "like" me! :-)

That went fast...

I cannot believe it has already been almost two weeks since I got back.

I've finally caught up on sleep (probably today alone! I slept until 1:00 pm! Whoops...)

It's hard for me to even find the words to summarize the trip I had. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime type experience. Only, I don't want it to be just a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I honestly can't even imagine trying to travel any other way, now.

Coming back to life here was actually really hard. Is hard. Not that my life here is terrible...far from it. It's just I felt so connected to everything despite being pretty much unplugged to the rest of society.

It's hard for me to reconcile the version of me that was over there that loved every single second spent of every day with the version of me who is here and getting by with the status-quo.

I've already started researching the next place I will go to WWOOF at so I don't go insane. New Zealand is currently at the top of my list, but I'd love to hear your suggestions!

I'm going to be doing some more writing now that I've finally caught up on things from being gone. Sorry for the short break there!

I'll also be posting all my old posts that I had originally had on my other blog which I am getting rid of because of my deep hatred of GoDaddy.

Also coming up sometime in the not-too-distant future is a revamp of my blog! I might actually be switching over to wordpress when that happens, so stay tuned.

Lots of exciting things coming up. :-)

On the horizon for the next year are a few weekend trips I'd like to make: Wisconsin (multiple times), New York City (Katherine, I swear I'll make it out there this year!) and Portland (Destiny, I swear I'll make it out there this year!).

I'd also like to thank everyone who followed my travels, whether a silent follower or not...it was fun to take you along on my trip with me. It made traveling solo not feel like I was traveling solo.

So thank you for listening to me tell of my crazy tales. My hope is that instead of making people jealous that I was out seeing the world, I inspired you all to go out and see the world yourself!

It's easy to live within the confines of the horizon of where you life, but don't forget that when you travel, your horizon expands and you realize that there is so much more out there than our own little bubbles. Since I came back, I've seen and heard reference to things that I saw and heard about over there that I had never noticed before. It's not that I probably never saw or heard them before...but they weren't in my horizon then. But they are now. And I will carry them with me wherever I shall go.

Explore. Dream. Discover. <---- Mark Twain's words that I live by. You should, too. :-)

Until next time,

Miss Adventurous.

Why I Should Never Have Ended With Edinburgh

I should have known that following up Shetland with any other Scottish town would be a mistake.

Two weeks in peaceful isolation can lead to a jarring smack back to reality when you rejoin the rest of the world.

In Shetland I was staying in a place where you literally couldn't even hear a car engine whirring except a couple of times a day when people would swing by the small town store. You couldn't even hear cars off in the distance.

In Edinburgh, you can't escape it.

Within an hour of arriving here I had a massive headache.

Was it the fact that the incompetent person at the Innskeeper Lodge I spoke to last week about changing my date of arrival completely forgot to tell management and they rebooked my room? Or that, as a result, I was placed in a wing of the hotel that is being renovated and paint fumes and hammer bangs are ubiquitous?

Or is it the constant traffic outside the window or fumes in the air?

It's just a different world. I went from being in a totally zen like state to being stressed out and needing to take ibuprofen to handle the throbbing ache of the city pounding against my brain.

I'm feeling better now though. The staff here was super apologetic and really have been very nice to me in the pub and restaurant since then.

I had a pint of beer, a relaxing afternoon in my hotel room, just grabbed some dinner and am enjoying my second glass of Scotch. Matt, I wish I could tell you what kind it is, but I literally could not understand the bartender when he told me. ha! It's good though!





I'm also currently enjoying my pudding. They call all dessert "pudding" here. My pudding of choice is a rhubarb crumble with an endless jar of warm custard. Idon't know how anyone could polish off the entire jar. There's probably a giant soup bowl's worth of custard in it. But oh man, is it delicious.

Also, I got hit on by a middle-aged Scottish man as I was entering the restaurant. I looked lost (a standard look for me) and the following convo happened:

Him: Been-ere before, then?

Me: Huh?

Him: You been 'ere before, then?

Me: Oh, yeah I was here earlier.

Him: Sorry, I just couldn't resist tha chance to talk to a beautiful lady.

Me: *confused look* *awkward laughter*

The waiter came along and seated me at that moment. Then, later when I went to go get my carvery and curry he came up to me again.

Him: I'm sorray if i was, ehh, forward with ya there.

Me: Don't worry about it *awkward smile*

Him: It's just you're GORGEOUS!!

Me: *even more awkward laughter*

Thank god the chef came out after that. I don't think I could have handled more uncomfortable laughter.

Was it flattering in its own special way? Sure.

Was it slightly creepy? Most definitely.

Did I still find it significantly less creepy because of the Scottish accent? Absolutely.

Ha.

(Side note: Scotch Whiskey and pudding should not be consumed together. Holy conflict of palate, batman.)

Anyway, back to my main point.

I am sure that Edinburgh is an amazing city. And I think part of the reason I'm upset that I am ending my trip with it is that I literally did not have enough time to do anything while I was here. Less than 24 hours in a city does not inspire much. Especially when I am tired and am battling a cold that makes me sneeze when I am in the sunlight (don't ask, I don't have an explanation for that one).

The one redeeming part of the day was that the train ride from Aberdeen to Edinburgh was absolutely gorgeous. It was another sunny day with these big billowly clouds.

Also, it should be noted that I never got lost today! I am getting more travel savvy. That and I paid for taxi rides instead of bussing it. :-)

It was really hard saying goodbye to my WWOOF hosts in Shetland. You really do walk away feeling like family. I've never had an experience like it, but it truly was a one of a kind, life altering event. They are just the most wonderful family and they treated me like a family memeber the instant I met them.

I will miss working in the garden on sunny days.

Working in the kitchen on rainy days.

Talking world politics and differences in culture over dinner.

Drinking tea with Jan in the afternoon and having wonderful conversations.

Hearing Pete say "Sweet Potato Pie" in his best southern accent.

Shetland milk. I'm not kidding, it is the most amazing thing I have ever tasted.

Waking up to a beautiful view out the window.

Being greeted by their dog, Odin, a giant Grate Dane, with a teddy bear he carries around with him in his mouth.

Watching Ertie (or Inspector Ertle), their bassit hound, give expressions of disdain at any number of things he found unfair.

Hearing british swear words.

Hearing the word "lovely" in British and Scottish accents.

Going for early morning or early evening walks.

Seeing the stars and the faint glimmer of the northern lights on clear nights.

Making my hosts laugh with crazy stories from my life.

Laughing at crazy stories from their lives.

The smell of the peat fire on a cold, rainy day.

Being asked: "Cuppa tea?"

Getting to know and live with people from another country and really understand their perspective on life.

I'm honestly going to miss everything.

But I have a feeling Shetland hasn't seen the last of me.

Well, I've had as much pudding as I could possibly handle and my whiskey glass has gone dry, so I am going to call it a night and catch some much-needed sleep.

I will be writing more stories about my stay in the coming weeks. So stay tuned! The fun doesn't end when I get home. :-)

Location:Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom