It’s a rainy day in Denver

And the weather gets in our way…again

In case you don’t know, when we packed, the weather for our trip was sunny, highs in the 70s, lows in the 40s and virtually no chance of rain. Clearly, things can change quickly here

The alarm was set for 8am this morning. I woke up at 7am to the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen, but I managed to keep my hunger in check until 7:50am. At that point, I woke up Allen and we headed down to strawberry cheesecake pancakes and bacon. It was quite tasty and especially nice because we were the only guests eating. There was also a little boy, maybe 9 years old, who clearly belongs to the house and was sneaking around and under the table,which was pretty cute.

After breakfast, we got ready for the day, which involved numerous checks of the weather. Though it was raining, we decided to walk to the science museum. Several blocks down, however, the rain picked up and we decided maybe our plan to walk 2.5 miles in cotton pants to the museum was a little ambitious. Back at the mansion, we lounged around for a while in recliners (me with tea) and made a new plan. Once the rain let up a bit, we walked down to Mad Greens to have lunch. Next on the list was the Denver Art Museum, where I got a very cool souvenir. Usually jewelry is my go-to keepsake, which I like because I can think of the trip whenever I wear it, but this is something I will put on my desk at work, so I’ll think of this trip every day!

Next up was a walk to Larimer Square, a historic district downtown. The rain picked up again, so we tried to ride the free shuttle downtown, but it wasn’t running because the “Occupy Denver” protest had blocked off several blocks (basically, it’s a mini version of “Occupy Wall Street”), so we got very wet. Luckily, we found The Market, which gave us a California Cappuccino and a huge apple turnover. After wandering around The Market, which was a great little rustic market, we got lucky. The protest ended while we were inside so we caught the shuttle, which got us out of the rain halfway back to the mansion.

After some reading, relaxing, and a hot bath, it was time to spend our last night in the city. We walked to Cheesman Park to catch the sunset. It clouded up as we walked, so although we didn’t get much of a sunset, we still got to enjoy the park itself. A long walk to downtown got us to Organic Pizza Company. We split a pizza-whole wheat crust, roasted pheasant, onions, spinach, bacon, and crimini mushrooms-and we both got locally made drinks (mmmmmm….strawberry rhubarb soda with agave syrup).

The temperatures was dropping quickly, so we decided it was time to call it a night. We put on our hats, zipped up our coats, and now we’re back at the mansion with cocoa and the tv, relaxing before our travels home tomorrow, which will be complicated by the fact that there’s a marathon here tomorrow. It goes right past the mansion and will close most of the streets around us tomorrow, so getting to the airport will be interesting. Home, here we come!

Making the most of it

Intent to enjoy our day despite the weather, we woke up Thursday morning in Grand Junction, which is completely surrounded by majestic mesas. I have to admit, I always pictured Grand Junction as a more open, desert-like cowboy town. Don’t know where that image came from, but it’s not like that at all. When we headed out, a thick fog was rolling off the mesas. First stop was Camilla’s Cafe in Fruita for a tasty diner breakfast, then we were off to the Colorado Monument.

Now those are rocks!

The rangers at Black Canyon recommended the Colorado Monument, and it did not disappoint. The Momument is beautiful and the rock formations throughout the Canyons-Monument, Ute, Redrock, and Columbus were to a scale I’ve never seen before. I’ll admit, when I think of rocks like these, I think Utah. The weather couldn’t have been better. In the park, it was sunny and warm, with a chilly breeze, fresh air that smelled like pine and wild tarragon, and so quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere so quiet.

We drove the whole park, which is 23 miles, stopping ever few miles at viewpoints and overlooks. I didn’t see any desert bighorn sheep, though I looked for them at every turn, and at the end of the park we stopped to hike to Devil’s Kitchen. The trail went through a canyon bottom, along a dry steam bed filled with wild tarragon, pale evening-primrose, and asters, all of which were still blooming. Devil’s Kitchen was a cool rock formation we had all to ourselves.

Desert, alpine, city….

Then, alas, it was time to head back to Denver. We got on 70 East and between Grand Junction and Denver we went through Glenwood Canyon, White River National Forest, over the Vail Pass (almost 11,000 ft), and the Arapahoe National Forest. Snow was on the mountains, the aspens were still turning near Vail, and it was a great drive.

We got to Denver just in time to check in at the Capitol Hill Mansion and run the rental car back to Enterprise. So long, McQueen…actually, the Eclipse was a pain to get in and out of, which made stopping at overlooks every couple of miles rather annoying, so we were glad to get rid of it. Dinner was at Steubens (now of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives fame)-we started with sugar rolled hushpuppies, Allen had herb roasted chicken with vegetables and I had salmon with black eyed peas and crispy brussels sprouts, then walked back to the mansion for a good night’s sleep.

Adventurers have to be flexible, right?

We had today all planned out, until we heard the updated weather forecast. Last night, there was a 20% chance of precipitation; this morning they were forecasting heavy snow across the passes we needed to get through to get to Durango. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, we decided to at least start the day as planned, so we packed up and headed out of Alamosa toward the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Now that’s a lot of sand!

As we drove toward the park, the clouds started to part and we caught some between views of aspens on the mountains. But they didn’t compare to the dunes! I will admit, the storm clouds took a little away from the view, but it was worth it. The wind was gusting about 40 mph-I have the sand in my hair and sandburn on my legs to prove it-but we tromped around over a few of the lower dunes before heading back inside. It was a good thing that we went back inside, though, because the park ranger spent a lot of time talking with us about our travel options and at his recommendation, we decided to head north toward Grand Junction instead of west through the “first major storm of the year” as originally planned. A sudden sandstorm had us starting off a little slow, but it eventually cleared as we neared the San Isabel National Forest.

I’ll admit, the new route was not without incident, as we still hit snow at Monarch Pass, which is at just over 11,000ft at the division between the Rio Grande National Forest and Gunnison National Forest. After about an hour of snow and wintery mix (good thing we weren’t in an Aveo!), we cleared the storm and started west through Gunnison. The views were truly impressive and worth the route adjustment. Skimming along the Blue Mesa Reservoir and the Curecanti National Recreation Area was rocky and so colorful.

We had planned to see Black Canyon of the Gunnison Friday, but our new route let us see it today. The canyon, which you get to by climbing to the top of a mesa and looking down into an incredibly deep, dark canyon (twice as deep as the Empire State building) was cold and blustery but worth the wait!

After the canyon, we went to Montrose to find somewhere with Wifi so we could plan our next steps. After a snack and a little research, we decided to spend the night in Grand Junction, which puts us in mesa territory. And, in case you’ve ever wondered, it also allowed us to cross the latitude line that divides South and North Korea. I don’t know why, but we passed a sign for it.

I think today we drove through more ecosystems than I can track-sand dunes, dust-stormed farmland, desert scrub, alpine passes with evergreens and quaking aspen, canyons, mesas and more but we can definitely say we’ve really met Colorado…in sun, wind, rain, and snow.

Let the trip really begin

On Wednesday, I decided that the conference would be over for me and it was time for Calley and I to start our Rocky Mountain vacation in earnest. After a quick stop for some bagels, we were off to Enterprise to pick up our car. I had the choice between a Chevy Aveo or a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Before I could even think about the choice, Calley said, “We’ll take the Eclipse.” I guess she wanted a little extra speed in her vacation.

And who’s responsible for weeding?

Our first stop in Colorado Springs was the Garden of the Gods. Now, why gods would want to plant rocks is beyond me but they did a great job. The arrangement and choice of color provided for a pleasant stroll around the grounds. I told Calley not to rearrange the rocks, but she didn’t listen to me. Luckily, I don’t think the gods minded.

Climbing higher and higher

We zipped across the road to catch the train to the top of Pike’s Peak, which tops out at just about 14,000 ft, has views of 5 states, and is one of only 3 cog railways in the country. Did you know that America, the Beautiful was inspired by a trip to the top? Did you also know that it was about 30 degrees colder at the top (28 degrees) than at the bottom? Yeah, me neither so my Chacos made a trip to the top. It worked out though; I ate 3 high altitude doughnuts to warm up. ;0) Once we got to the bottom, it was time to hit the road for the 3 hour trip to Alamosa so we could see the sand dunes first thing in the morning.

Denver: part 1, day 2

Tuesday, continued…

After breakfast, I headed back to the hotel to do a little research, then met up with Allen for lunch. After checking out a few places, we settles on Los Cabos, more for convenience than anything else. We had Peruvian food in Portland a couple years ago and I’ve been hooked on it ever since, and Los Cabos didn’t disappoint. Allen had the buffet and I had ceviche and chicha morado, a purple almost grape-juice like drink made from corn, which I love and can’t ever find anywhere.

After lunch, we parted ways and I set off through the city towards the Denver Botanic Garden. Along the way I passed the Capitol, walked through some lovely parks and beautiful historic neighborhoods, and got a little wet. As I was nearing the Gardens, cutting through Cheesman Park, the sky opened up. What was really odd, however, was that there weren’t clouds above me- the rain was blowing in from a cloud in the distance. I hung out under a tree until it passed, which was just a few minutes, snapped a few pictures while I waited, then wandered a bit until I found the entrance to the Garden.

I have to admit, I was skeptical whether the Garden would be worth it after looking at the website, but I was quite surprised. It was very well designed, thoughtfully cared for yet still natural, with a wide variety of sub-gardens ranging from a Japanese garden to an alpine rock garden. I could have stayed all day there, but only had the afternoon. I took lots of pictures, but they are trapped on my “big” camera, which seems to not be compatible with the computers we have with us, so you’ll have to wait until we get home before seeing them.

After the long trek back to the hotel (I think my walking total for today is about 10 miles), I met Allen for wine and snacks in the lobby-Cabernet and house-made potato chips with balsamic truffle reduction-and we headed out to the REI flagship store. It was amazing! Easily 3 times the size of any other REI I’ve been in, it’s in an converted warehouse and was just fun to walk around. No shopping for us though…nothing else will fit in the suitcase!

After REI, we got dinner at Panzano, which is in the hotel. Allen ate there when he first arrived and I’ve wanted to go since he told me about it. I got prosciutto-wrapped shrimp stuffed with dates, served over polenta and drizzles with rosemary honey and gorgonzola. Allen got chicken with zucchini and fresh pasta in a spicy cream sauce. Desert was chocolate layered with chocolate topped with chocolate, and there’s no doubt in my mind why Panzano is #5 in the city!