We wanted to start off first and foremost with a thank you for continually viewing and supporting our blog. We are having a blast sharing our travels with you! The site has over 2000 hits and to our surprise we have several readers in various countries in Europe and even a few hits from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Our situation is a bit more stable as you will soon discover and we should be back to posting regularly every week.
Home sweet home! We have settled down in Pueblo, Colorado for three months where we will continue our adventures in the Rockies. It has been two weeks already and boy has the time flown by! After some concentrated travelling we have already seen why this state is such a big tourist destination.
Our first week here was spent partially living it up in the lovely Ramada where we enjoyed free internet and continental breakfast. When we first arrived, road weary and ravenous, we dropped our fury children off at the hotel and went in search of a fine sample of local fare. We didn’t have to look far because one of the top rated restaurants was right beside our hotel! After a quick round of “Frogger” we were seated in the Cactus Flower, a Colorado-style Mexican joint, where Minnie enjoyed a Western margarita.
Surprisingly, the cats loved the hotel (and managed to dominate a king sized bed) and it was a nice sanctuary whilst we figured out our more permanent living situation. Minnie got in the swing of things at her new traveling OT position, which she is enjoying quite a bit. Bilbo travelled the entire expanse of Pueblo looking for an apartment that has monthly leases.
After a few stressful days viewing less than stellar facilities we moved into a nice, quiet neighborhood with great landlords. Our apartment is decently furnished including a 40 inch flat screen! The furniture itself is a bit 80’s, but we’ve managed to jazz it up with a touch of home…
But enough about that, on to our exploration. The basic structure that has been established for our time in Colorado is as follows: short, after work trips 3-4 evenings per week and more time intensive trips to farther destinations each weekend.
Our first evening outing, and the only one we were able to squeeze in the busy first week, was to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. This park consists of what seems to be a random scattering of red rock formations glowing in the sun—and the effect is phenomenal! The whole area was once owned by one man…nice yard, huh?! In his will he left the land to his family with the stipulation that it must remain open to the public at no cost. Rock climbing is allowed with a permit, but our first mission was to walk the trail and enjoy the scenery.
Our first weekend outing was to Boulder, CO, to spend some time hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. Along the way we drove through Denver and caught a glimpse of Bronco Stadium. Of course we took a picture for the Shrimp Meister, since Denver is his favorite NFL team.
Our arrival in Boulder was bright and early and Mr. Cooper’s roommates (who are much more manly than they appear on TV) were just waking up. It just so happened that one of Mr. Cooper’s peeps is a rock climber and he and a friend were interested in going adventuring with us. Once the coffee was made and consumed, a day of light hiking and rock climbing in Boulder Canyon was agreed upon.
As you can see, Boulder Canyon is a beautiful place with rocky mountains, a rushing creek, and plenty of pine trees. But how were we to get from the road on the left of the creek to the mountains we wished to climb on the right? A Tyrolean traverse, that’s how! With our harnesses clipped to the rope, we had to pull ourselves from one rocky side of the creek to the next. It wasn’t as scary as it sounds, just tiring. Look at Minnie and Mr. Cooper doing the Tyrolean like pros!
A quick scramble up a talus bed led us right to where we wanted to be. Better weather could not have been asked for that day and our view left nothing to be desired. While Bilbo and his two new buddies spent the morning climbing, Minnie tried her hand a photography and chatted with Mr. Cooper. Bilbo noted the climbing was quite scenic and the last route of the day was one of the better quality climbs he has done at that difficulty in some while.
Mr. Cooper and the RB’s bid ado to the roomie and his friend that afternoon and set out to explore Chautauqua Park. It is an historical site in Boulder where the areas early mountaineers, both recreational and serious, spent time scaling the hills. Admittedly we were tired, so we spent some time on the flat ground before hiking about 100 yards upward. Chautauqua offered a much different landscape with grassy fields and sand as well as an eagle-eye view of the city. The RB’s hope to return there with a bit more zest next time!
Mr Cooper and Bilbo quenched their common thirst for quality craft beers at Avery Brewing, one of the best Colorado breweries. Bilbo tried enough of the $1 samplers to be certain that this brewery is one of the finest he has tried. The beers tended to be a bit on the hoppy side (usually not my style) but hops contributed more to a crisp aroma than utter bitterness, much to our delight.
After the boys had their fill it was off to Beau Jo’s to sample the mountain pie which featured great fresh ingredients and a thick fluffy crust that was to be dipped honey as the style du jour.
Sunday, before church, we went to breakfast at the Buff to sample the saddlebag pancakes. These bad boys were features on the Food Network show Man vs. Food for good reason as they were infused with the meat of our choices –ours being sausage and ham – with a couple of eggs to add to the challenge. Bilbo literally had half a bottle of maple syrup and was a little sugar buzzed for the morning service. Mr. Cooper’s church was a delight, the people were very welcoming, and we truly look forward to visiting again soon.
After the service, Mr. Cooper had a long church meeting to attend. So your fabulous gypsy couple pressed on to see the mighty Rocky Mountain Nation Park—and oh was it glorious! The Trail Ridge Road which runs through most of the park is at over 12,000 feet, the most elevated continuous paved road in all of the United States and a myriad of animals and flora greet you along its 50 mile course. A group of 40ish elk were the highlight for our jaunt. Though we hoped for a nice hike, the rainy weather deterred us for a while and Minnie got to test our her new Chaco’s on a .2 mile “self guide nature trail”. We did run to a chilly but beautiful mountain vista at 12k feet only to be short of breath for the brisk walk back to the car.
Another highlight was the obligatory photo next to the continental divide. Overall the park is amazing and we look forward to more adventures here. We also really enjoyed the lands between between Boulder and the park and imagined several locations for our dream house.
On the way back to Pueblo, we stopped in Idaho Springs, “Where the Gold Rush Began”, or so their sign says. It is one of those old western towns that retains a quaint feeling. The picture below shows their main street, nestled in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
The main attraction for us was dinner! On Mr. Cooper’s suggestion, we stopped at Tommyknocker’s Brewery for Bilbo’s beer, Minnie’s root beer, and bison burgers…YUM! The beer, though not as good as Avery’s, was much enjoyed by Bilbo and we both thought that the root beer was the best that we ever had!
The second week’s evening jaunts began with the Royal Gorge Bridge, in Canyon City. Being from WV, we had the subconsciously expectation that the Royal Gorge Bridge would, like our New River Gorge Bridge, be part of the highway and be free to drive across…WRONG! When we arrived, a nice but pushy sales lady informed us that the bridge was in fact an attraction built by the city or some company to provide a special view of the Royal Gorge and passage to a mini theme park. She also informed us that passage costs $50 per car! YIKES! We politely told her that we hadn’t expected to have to pay to go across the bridge and were, therefore, unprepared to visit the attraction. We did take a quick trip up to a free vantage point for some pictures and a look at an old railway train. Speaking of trains…There is a company independent of the Royal Gorge park that offers scenic rides through the gorge and under the bridge. Even better, they offer a murder mystery dinner train ride that the RB’s will definitely be attending this fall. I wonder if Hercule Poirot will show up?
Shelf Road is Colorado’s largest sport climbing area and features limestone climbing in a semi arid desert setting. It is just 15 minutes outside of Canyon City and an hour from our house so we both were happy to explore this area. Bilbo did some previous scouting so we knew were to head, but our plans changed when he almost stepped on a rattlesnake that was sun bathing on the trail. He was bit by a copperhead a couple years ago and didn’t want to test fate again so we proceeded to another area as the rain began to fall. We hiked out determined to come back other day and the rain subsided so yet again we tried to climb at another cliff that was on the way out, finally with some success. The canyon is surreally quiet and looks like one of those iconic scenes from a spaghetti western film.
Our last evening of the week took us back to Colorado Springs for some spice! Based on good old Trip Advisor we decided to try some non-traditionally Coloradan, but oh-so-wonderful cuisine at Jamaican Flavor. Neither of us had ever tried authentic Jamaican food before, so the experience could have been a “hot mess”. However, the owner of the restaurant offered us guidance on what to try for an authentic taste and good introduction to the flavors. Bilbo had the jerk chicken and Minnie the jerk pork, both came with rice and beans and fried plantain. The owner himself prepared and served our food and offered very courteous service. Now the food…AMAZING! We will most certainly be visiting this place again!
These have been a busy two weeks, but this brings them to an end. In our next blog, we’ll tell you about our weekend trip with Mr. Cooper to see Mesa Verde, Durango, the Great Sand Dunes, and a few places in between.
I loved Rocky Mtn National Park when I was out there with Mr. Cooper. Estes Park was beautiful too. Glad you guys are enjoying it.
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