It’s hot. Not just hot but hot, hot. Like step outside and melt hot. To escape the heat, we decided to flee Texas for cooler climates. First stop: Colorado.
Last year, we did a workation in Colorado Springs and we loved it. We could go out during the day without bursting into flames. So, we did it again! This is the story of our tour of Colorado.
Colorado Springs:
Our main destination was Boulder but to get there, you have to go through Colorado Springs. We liked it so much last time we decided to stop here for lunch. John said find something good. Boy did I!
The Green Line Grill is the epitome of a hole in the wall, and I mean that in a good way. Three tables inside and one out. This place was grilling some serious burgers.
I got a blue cheese burger that was so good. The skin on fries were delicious! It wasn’t far from where we stayed last year. I’m not sure how we didn’t see this place last time. It’s on our radar now!
After that quick break, we pressed on.
Louisville:
When we looked for a VRBO in Boulder, we came up empty. We "settled" for this place in Louisville. Turns out, we chose wisely. The house was perfect and the neighborhood was great. There were walking trails everywhere. Louisville is a really cool little town. From our place we could walk to several restaurants and bars. It’s started out as an old mining town. Now you have to have some cash to live here.
Taking a rest on one of the many walking trails. The weather was amazing. John’s just sitting there. He’s not on fire or anything.
Our first full day, we went out for breakfast. Once again, I was assigned the task of finding some place good. I found Deleite. It’s was another hole in the wall in/around Broomfield. I got chilaquiles that were to die for. I’m always dubious when restaurants have these on the menu but these did not disappoint.
Boulder:
It was about a 20 minute drive to Boulder from Louisville. The University of Colorado is here, so lots of college kids. Not much else. We went to the Boulder Museum.
It was a cute museum but…
Their main exhibit was about the history of beer. Now I love history as much as the next guy (maybe more) but this was a bit much even for me.
Check this baby out! My accounting geek is showing but I really wanted to add something up on this thing.
The main attraction was a place call Pearl Street Mall. It's a really cool strip (Pearl Street) where they have restaurants, shops and street performers. We strolled around and soaked up some ambiance and then we went home. That's when we realized that we really got lucky on the location of our VRBO. The big Bison at the end of Pearl Street Mall.
Eldorado Canyon State Park:
As I mentioned, this was a workation but we were an hour behind so we stopped working at 4 and we had time to play. John found this place and it was amazing. Colorado is really all about being outside.
This place was so cool. The mountains were pretty high and people were actually climbing the mountain. I'm not kidding! When we got there, there was a guy hanging off the side of the mountain as he tried to pull himself up to the next foothold. Me? Mountains are for looking, not climbing.
Remember the old Coors commercials? They'd show you a stream and tell you this was the water used to make their beer. I wanted to put my hand in to see how cold it was. That was discouraged.
There were trails everywhere here as well. The trail we selected said that even handicapped people could do it so we went with it.
It was awesome! The views were spectacular.
This is the road to Boulder. To the left is the highway. That's right, they have walking/bike trails along the highway!
This is pretty much the view from everywhere you look. It's the Flatiron Mountains and it's beautiful! The photos do not do it justice.
Breckenridge:
We had two days off in Colorado so on one of those days, we drove to Breckenridge. We're not skiers but when would we ever get go there if not now?
On the way to Breckenridge, we drove through this tunnel. It goes right underneath a mountain! I wouldn't have wanted to be on that project.
I thought this was interesting. Coming out of the tunnel, it was a very steep grade. If truckers lost their brakes, they had to use this runaway truck ramp, which is that pathway up the hill, to slow down and/or stop. Now, pretend you're a trucker and you are careening down this hill at say, 70 mph. I can't imagine hitting that hill at that speed. I'd be afraid it would be like running straight into a brick wall.
Breckenridge, Co. It's a beautiful little town. We didn't see any ski places but we did see the signs for the lifts.
This right outside the visitor's center. This was a mining town initially and people flocked here from everywhere to get rich quick mining for gold.
A view from the top of the visitor's center. The visitor's center was also a free museum.
An exhibit on the hardships for the women who followed the men out here. Very interesting.
The visitor's center looks like an old timey saloon. It's not.
The "Historic District" is the main street where the visitor's center is. There are tons of cute shops and lots of restaurants. Not really my thing but I'm glad we went.
Some of the shops/restaurants in Breckenridge.
This is Frisco. Colorado not Texas. Huge difference. It was scenery like this that really made the drive worth while.
Another beautiful vista.
Estes Park/ Rocky Mountain National Park:
This was the highlight of our trip. We wanted to make the trek out here last year but you had to have an appointment to get into the park and they appointments were full, blah, blah, blah. This year was the same. Poor planning on our part.
Then John found a guided tour in the park. Loophole found, we booked the tour. We went out there for brunch. With time left over, we hung around the visitor's center for a bit.
Headed toward Estes Park was this scenic turnout. There was a cool sign too but the line to get your photo in front of it was nuts.
I thought this was funny. In the park behind the visitor's center were all these signs about an "aggressive Elk". Kind of judgy, no? Had I seen the Elk and had he been aggressive, I might have had a different opinion.
This was the lake behind the visitor's center. No matter where you looked, beautiful views.
First stop in Rocky Mountain National Park was the Alluvial Fan. You can't see the water because of our big heads.
The Alluvial Fan was created in 1982 when the Lake Lawn Dam burst flooding the park as well as the town of Estes Park with 200 million gallons of water. The force of the water ripped trees out by the roots and displaced huge boulders.
This is Horseshoe Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. All the twisty curves you can see between the trees are the curves of the creek/river.
This is Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Apparently the hike to the top takes about 16 hours for the hiker who is acclimated and in shape. Our guide was a runner and he actually ran to the peak. Guess who's
not hiking to the top. That little speck of white towards the top is snow. Yup, in August, there is snow at that top of that mountain.
Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. If we'd had the time, we could have walked around the lake. The trail around the lake is about 9 miles. The weather was beautiful. The elevation is about 8600 feet.
Last stop was Bear Lake. This was a bonus. Not originally on the itinerary, Bear Lake is a trailhead in RNMP.
The elevation is about 9400 feet and it's beautiful. But when you hear thunder, it echoes and sounds like a sonic boom. We hightailed it out of there and back to the car. Once again, the photos do not do this place justice.
Back in the town of Estes Park we drove by the Stanley Hotel. It's the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's
The Shining. King and his wife, Tabitha, stayed here one night right before it closed for the season and a story was born.
The hotel was built in 1910 by F.O. Stanley (of Stanley Steamer fame as well as other things). He came to Colorado because he had tuberculosis and the dry climate was supposed to help with that. I would love to stay here some time. They have tours of the hotel but I didn't realize that until after we left.
Louisville (again):
Our last night, we walked around "downtown" Louisville.
This mural is painted on one of the government buildings downtown. I thought it looked particularly cool. People just hanging out, reading books.
This is the United Methodist Church, built in 1891. It sits on the corner of a neighborhood street.
This is a mural on one of the downtown buildings and it says "God Bless Johnny Cash". I'm not sure what the Johnny Cash connection is but it's a cool mural.
The Louisville Historical Museum. I'm not sure how I missed this place. I didn't go in but if I wander back here again, you know I will.
The front of this building is a church. It's on the national registry of historical landmarks but it appears to be in the process of being converted to a house! It's very expensive to buy a house in this town. If the house/building is a historical landmark, there's not much you can do with the outside so I guess these folks will live in what appears to be a church.
This St. Louis Catholic Church and school. Also nestled in the middle of the neighborhood. I would assume folks walk to church as there didn't seem to be a lot of parking.
This is Lulu's BBQ, one of the places we tried. I thought it was pretty good. I got a pulled pork sandwich that was yummy. We walked here from the house.
The Empire Lounge. It closed a while back but I love the old-timey sign. Not far from here is Casa Alegre, a family owned Mexican place that has good food and a great outdoor patio. Then about two blocks over was Pica's Taqueria. They make a mean margarita. It was so cool that we could walk downtown to these places and feel like part of the community.
This old schoolhouse was built in 1894 as an overflow for the other school. It is now the Center for the Arts. It sits right on the edge of one of the many parks. This one is not far from St. Louis Catholic Church.
Saturday morning, we walked downtown and got coffee from a local place and then headed out. I loved being in this town. I hope we do make it back here sometime.
Colorado Springs:
We came full circle with another stop in Colorado Springs to see our friends Evangeline and Ariel. Seeing this guy was the true highlight of the trip. He was so cute. He was shy at first but I won him over.
It's been a little over a year since we've seen Gideon. Now he's walking! He is fun to play with.
John gets a hug as we have to say goodbye.
It was a fabulous trip through Colorado. Thank you to our friends for taking the time to meet us for lunch and let us hang out for a bit.
Now, on to part two of our scheduled program....
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