Landing on a Saturday morning, the air was crisp but not as cold as I had expected. My friend picked me up at the airport and we headed towards the Mountain.The drive was nice. Chatting and laughing with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a couple of years.
We drove through Ft. Collins and Boulder as we approached the mountains.
Feeling amazed that when I landed in Denver at over 6,000 feet elevation, I was very surprised when we started climbing higher and higher into the mountains.
My destination; Estes Park. A beautiful little tourist town sitting just outside the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. As we drove through town I noticed many touristy type stores and shops popular to the hundreds of thousands of visitors the park each year. As we drove past City Hall we had to stop to let 5 elk leisurely cross the road to get to the city park.
After a filling early dinner of Beef Chimichanga and a bottle of Blue Moon at Ed's Cantina & Grill, I opted for a quiet evening at my friends house with a good bottle of wine and some catching up.
On Sunday, after sleeping late and having a couple cups of delicious coffee, I asked if we could go visit The Stanley Hotel which we had passed on our way to her house. In less than 5 minutes, there we were, walking up the front steps of this amazing, historic, haunted hotel. I recognized areas immediately from the movies "The Shining" and "Dumb and Dumber". In the darkly lit lounge, sitting at the long wooden bar, I requested their famous Bloody Mary with maple candied bacon. I was not disappointed.
The view from the front patio was breathtaking. It had an unobstructed view of The Great Divide. The mountains were easy to discern due to the lack of snow on any of them. Apparently there has not been any good snows the entire winter. This also allowed for us to take an early Spring drive through the lower Horseshoe loop in the National Park. Through mountains, canyons and valleys with meadows we drove. Stopping to take some photos along the way despite the strong winds blowing.
After leaving the park we took another drive up through some canyons to see many of the high lakes, famous peaks, wildlife and buildings. My favorite of these was seeing the Church on the Rock at the Saint Malo Center. This little church was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1993 when he was here for a conference. The conference center on the hill behind it is where Cardinals meet. Much of the property had been ravaged by fire but it didn't touch the little church.
Sunday afternoon we enjoyed another early dinner, this time at Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Taphouse. Delicious brisket, ribs, cornbread, potato salad, sweet potato fries and a cold bottle of Blue Moon.A cozy evening by the fireplace, a good bottle of wine and one of my favorite movies, "Bridesmaids" as the snow began to fall... and fall... and fall.
The snow didn't stop until late Tuesday morning. All of Monday I sat and watched the snow accumulate on the back patio furniture, only venturing out a few times to shovel the driveway or sweep the snow off of the satelite dish. I've never seen snow accumulate so quickly. Four inches, eight inches, a foot, 16 inches, 18 inches. It just kept coming. I had a flight to get to in the morning.
I called the airlines. No flights were being cancelled. Weather wasn't that bad in Denver. Well, that's good news, but I have to GET to Denver. Two feet of snow, some of the most dangerous canyon highways in the entire state and freezing temperatures stood between me and the airport.
I considered my options. I could just stay and take a flight later in the week, but a second storm was scheduled to hit in less than 24 hours. Who knows when I'd get out after that one. We decided to take our chances and head towards Denver. Once we were on the main road, her little All-wheel drive car did quite well on the plowed and packed roads. Only once did we blow through a light turning red because otherwise we would have slid through the intersection trying to stop in time. The snow levels became less and less the further away from Estes Park we got. Even the canyon passes weren't as bad as we feared. The closer we got to Denver the wetter the roads became and soon it was mere slush.
Arriving at Denver Airport, we said our good-byes and I promised to return when there would be promise of warm temperatures and sunshine.
It was a good trip and a much needed respite from every day stress of work and family. If you've never been to Colorado, I think I would definitely recommend it. Visit the park, drive the mountain roads, peruse the shops and try some of the great restaurants. I'm giving it a Thumbs Up!
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE FULL SCREEN PHOTO SIZE. THEY ARE STUNNING.
The Stanley Hotel, Ed's Cantina, Smokin' Daves BBQ, Colorado, Rocky Mountains, snow, Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Denver, airport, travel, vacation, The Shining. Historic hotel, Haunted Hotels, elk, deer, church
Estes Park, Rocky Mountains
