Aspens and Burnt Pizza

Today we went up to see the aspens again, and I'm glad we did. The colors were astounding. We went to Golden Gate State Park and hiked along the Raccoon Trail. At first I had low expectations, as the aspen around the trailhead had passed their prime. However, once we got down into a valley, the colors were awesome and the rocky outcroppings of the park made nice backdrops for our colorful aspen. The hike was a nice 2.5 mile loop and not too strenuous. It is sad, though, that my first real hike of the year is happening in October.

We drove through the rest of the park and then caught Highway 72 over to Nederland, where, unfortunately, we stopped for lunch. I say unfortunately, because the lunch there set my mood for rest of the day in a negative way. We went to Backcountry Pizza. After sitting for a bit and seeing no waitstaff, we ordered at the counter. Okay, that's fine. I asked for a small deep dish supreme After a long while, Gavin and Sarah, who ordered their pizza after us, got their pizza, which was a bit burnt on the crust. We figured that our pizza, being deep dish as well as made in laid back Nederland, would take a little bit longer. Time ticked by and Gavin and Sarah were mostly done with their pizza. I got up and got a refill and inquired about our pizza. I was told then that deep dish could take 30-45 minutes. That would have been handy to know when we ordered. Shortly thereafter, the restaurant was filled with a smoky haze, as something in the oven was burning. We waited and waited. Gavin and Sarah finished their pizza. After what seemed like an hour since ordering, and about the point I was ready to go cancel our order and just grab some slices, they called our name and presented us with a pizza whose crust was quite burnt. The guy at the counter apologized quickly, but at this point I just wanted to get out of there. The pizza wasn't bad, and would have been good if not for the burnt crust and hour long wait.

I suspect they either burnt the pizza or forgot about us. The deep dish isn't as thick of a crust as the normal one, and certainly shouldn't take 45 minutes to cook, let alone the hour ours theoretically was in there. Whatever the case, I won't be returning there.

That set the tone for the rest of the day as I felt hurried, trying to make up the time I'd lost to the incompetent cook. Finally, around 9, I'm finally feeling like I'm out from the funk. I'm looking forward to having some free time tomorrow to make up for it. I see me, my deck, and some alcohol in the near future. Oh, and the pictures from last weekend and this weekend are up as well. I've got them in a Picasa gallery for your viewing pleasure.