When our two week holiday in Colorado was over (boo!), we returned to Frisco for a week. Bit of a cheeky maneuver with the blog in that I combined our two weeks in Frisco into one post.

Next stop: Steamboat Springs. Actually, before that, we had a weekend to play with, starting with a diversion to Boulder. Reason being, the last time we were in Boulder on the vacation section of the trip, Avery Brewing wasn’t yet open. Whereas now they’d had a bit more time to get their act together and it seemed such a shame to be so close and not pay them a visit.

For the Brits out there or any non-beer aficionados, Avery does really good beer. Standout favorites include their Maharaja imperial IPA, and some stonking barrel-aged dark stuff. Definitely worth going back for.

Taking this route to Steamboat Springs also meant we got to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park, having only scratched the surface with a couple of hikes first time round. Unfortunately, RMNP is not what you’d call trailer friendly. It was an impressive scenic drive, but sorry no pics as there was nowhere for us to stop.

Nearby Estes Park on the other hand, was chock full of photo opportunities. Little town, big lake, blue skies, mountain backdrop.

As I’m still religiously doing my One Second Everyday video, I’m constantly on the lookout for video opportunities. Darren is totally over posing for videos that I take just in case I might need a video of the day (but which in fact generally get usurped by a different video later in the day).

This was one such example where I’d had Darren posing on his SUP on the lake. Video in the bag, I continued on my run, heading for another lake. Squinting into the sunlight, I saw splashing up ahead, which I gradually realized was elk. Not just one of them either, a whole herd of maybe 20 elk made a break from the bushes on the shoreline into the water. Once there, they were like kids at a water park, joyfully frolicking around, splishing and a splashing, teasing and chasing each other. Such a delight to watch.

It wasn’t long before they bolted from the exposed water to the relative safety of dry land, crossing the bike path I was on and startling a couple of cyclists. So I’m sure my One Second video doesn’t do this sighting justice (kind of too short and too far away), but sorry Darren, the video of your SUPing is relegated to the sidelines yet again.

Steamboat Springs

Given the current situation, we are deliberately avoiding cities, instead centering our road trip around towns that are smaller, more compact, and more at one with their surroundings. Hopefully less risk of coronavirus (but obv no guarantees). Generally places you’ve never heard of. Steamboat Springs seemed to fit the bill: a small town positioned along the banks of the Yampa river in Northwest Colorado.

Our co-working space for the week, the Ski Locker, was particularly well situated between a donut shop and a brewery, Mountain Tap, that excelled in pizza. They claim their “pizzas bake to perfection in 90 seconds in the wood-fired oven heated to 700 degrees”. Sounds suspiciously like our uuni pizza oven. OK, so their oven’s a bit bigger than ours. Likewise, their pizza was bigger, rounder and more consistent than ours. However. It tasted just like ours, oh how we miss you uuni!

We lasted all the way to Friday with just daily coffee from the donut shop before finally caving into the donut craving on our last day. Ooh so light and fluffy, totally hit the spot.

Taxes, boo. I’m not sure which bright spark extended the tax deadline to 15th July, but they didn’t take into account that’s my birthday. And doing taxes is not how I want to spend my birthday thank you very much. Hence, doing taxes put paid to two days worth of valuable time right before my birthday that could otherwise have been spent recreating. (Recreating seems to be a new word. Is it even a word? Possibly an American word).

All done and dusted by my birthday though – treated myself to a long hot shower, some cocktails and a bbq 🙂

We still managed to fit in some hiking before work, or maybe you’d call it walking, certainly nothing too strenuous here. And running (alongside the nice flat paved Yampa river path). And mountain biking (for D obviously, not for me). And just as we were out doing our stuff in the morning, like clockwork so was the Steamboat Springs hot air balloon.

Actually we did do more of a proper hike at the weekend at nearby Rabbit Ears pass, just west of Steamboat Springs. We hiked up to the top of Rabbit Ears Peak. Now whoever named this peak and this pass has a very vivid imagination.

Ears aside, it was actually very pretty, meadows littered with wildflowers – lilac lupines, cow parsley and fiery red indian paintbrushes (get me, like a walking wildflower encyclopedia – with a bit of help from Google).

Dry slope ski jumping seems to be a thing in Steamboat Springs. What on earth is that all about? For a start, these people are kitted out like Michelin man with a big plastic suit which is no doubt essential but must be ridiculously hot in the sun. I’m sure it must hurt if you fall in the snow… but falling when there’s NO snow, must surely be worse. Ouch just even thinking about it. Never mind Michelin man, I’d need a Mr Blobby suit to attempt that.

Tubing. This seemed more up my alley. I’d watched people on the river throughout the week, floating down the Yampa in huge inflatable tubes. It looked tame enough – while I heard a few shrieks and wahoos, this seemed to be more exuberance than terror. I mean, there were young kids doing it. (Note to self: Not a good measure. The amount of gumption most young kids have in their little finger is generally more than I have in my whole body. And kids are resilient: they bounce.)

However, I needn’t have worried. The most difficult part is admitting that you don’t have any control whatsoever over where you are in the river, which rocks you’re gonna hit or which direction you’re going to be facing as you hit a particular ‘rapid’.

What I did get for my trouble is a wet bum. I mean it’s literally dangling in the river the whole time, like experiencing nature’s bidet. Good job it was a warm sunny day.

But hey, this is what I subject myself to for you guys, just so I’ve got something different to write about for a change. You’re welcome!!!

Of course, no holiday is perfect. And so ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the not-so highlights:

Rocky Mountain National Park

Only included here due to my near death experience of having to cross a snow-field. Said snow-field was a real wow to look at from afar. Picture perfect with hikers photogenically dotted against the snow white backdrop.

Um, not so scenic when we actually got there.

The thin sliver of packed down snow that was supposedly the path across was way narrower than it should be (in my opinion). My fear of falling turned me into a hunchback as I painfully inched myself across, trying to keep my center of gravity low.

With the occasional mistaken glance down at the immense steep snow bank below and my heart in my mouth, I spent the endless time crossing wondering how they could potentially get a helicopter in to rescue me if I fell or if they would just leave my dead body down there, like they do on Everest. Luckily I didn’t have to find out.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Bit harsh to put this in the not so highlights section. But just to set expectations, this is no Grand Canyon. The thing with canyons is that it’s a damn long way from one rim to the other. Which means a minimum 6 hour drive to the other side if you picked the wrong side. On a driving day-off day, no thanks. Instead, we made the best of it with a couple of short walks and a bit of fishing. At which point Darren was reminded why it’s called fishing, not catching (i.e. no fish).

The Laundromat

You don’t spend three weeks on the road without going through virtually every item of clothing you brought with you. I was hoping for one of those service washes but sh!t out of luck. Nope: one of those coin operated places where you have to attend to all your own washing and drying needs. So I whiled away a few hours of the holiday watching our clothes spin round in a circle. Hey, at least they had wifi!

Boondocking

Finding the best boondocking spot isn’t always easy. It generally involves me being kicked out of the truck to go walk ahead and check, amongst other things, the state of the road and the options for turning around. Fine when all is well and good. Not so fine when the weather turns into a storm of biblical proportions and I still get chucked out to the elements.

When we’d set off earlier in the day, the sky was blue with a balmy temperature in the 80s. Not any more. I gave Darren a ‘you cannot be serious’ look and played for time, pointing out that my jacket was in the Basecamp and I couldn’t possibly go outside in a t-shirt. Darren produced my insubstantial cheap hoody from the back seat, raised his eyebrow and unsympathetically growled “Off you go”. Bottom lip out, I shrugged on my hoody, held onto the door tightly so it didn’t blow off in the wind and forged ahead to do my duty.

Note to self: hail the size of rabbit droppings hurts.

I was actually relieved when the hail turned to rain. But rain the size of rabbit droppings gets you very wet very quickly.

Mountain biking

I struggled around my first ‘beginner’s loop’ in Fruita. Not fast or clever – I could have trail run it faster. But I made it round in one piece. And was quite proud of myself to boot. The same could not be said for my next attempt. The ‘Trust Loop’ near Darongo. Sigh.

After a mile of negotiating my way around a rather nice suitable course (minimal obstacles, tricks and ups & downs), I clocked a steep incline up ahead and rapidly changed down gears to give it a bit of oomph. Unfortunately not enough oomph to get me up. Realizing I wasn’t going to make it, I started to put my foot down, at the same time realizing I was on an adverse camber, for which there was no way my little short legs could possibly over-compensate. Game over.

It’s a long way to fall from a bike. I saw the world whizz past me at odd angles and then “dufffff”. Upside down in a bush. Me, the bike and the bush became one. (I was still finding bits of sagebrush in nooks and crannies days later). Darren came rushing back to extricate me when he heard my yelp. Sorry no photos of me in my predicament (even though Darren DID ask if he could get a quick snap. Quite frankly, I wasn’t in the mood).

You remember that Fear of Falling thing I have? Well it’s not one of those things that gets better by facing your fear. However… this was a one way loop, and there was little option other than to carry on.

Confidence wrecked and one gear out of action from the first knock, I got little more than half a mile further before repeating another spectacular launch from the bike. Another shriek, another fall, another bush. I’m sorry but I’m just not cut out for this. A mountain biker I am not. A week later my bruises still make me look like a domestic abuse victim. Bikes are for bike paths and that’s the way it’ll be for now, thank you very much.

The main difference between our two week vacation and the rest of our trip is that this bit doesn’t involve working. Or not too much anyway. The rest of it is kind of the same… hiking, biking, paddling, camping, eating and drinking. Only now we get to spend all day doing it 🙂

Overall, very impressed with Colorado. Some of the highlights from our hols:

Rocky Mountain National Park

Hiking in RMNP was a high alpine treat, complete with a rather close encounter with a fat furry marmot (not quite a bear or a moose but I’ll take it). This was also our first real taste of snow. Hence the only entry to make it into the highlights AND the not-so highlights.

Crested Butte

Cute little tiny town, they closed down part of their Main Street recently to allow for additional outdoor restaurant seating. Can recommend the Secret Stash pizza and also a place that does pasties, nom nom. Great hiking and bike riding right from town.

Plus one of the most amazing hikes we’ve done this year along nearby Scarp Ridge. I love the 360 views you get from a ridge hike and this one didn’t disappoint.

Ooh and Darren did a rather adventurous paddle down the Slate River at Crested Butte. Think shallow water. And rapidly moving water. And rocks. All of the above. Therefore also involved a bit of kneel down paddle boarding.

Ouray

Blasted through this town for an afternoon. Just time enough for a taste of the ‘Perimeter hike’. This trail skirts the mountains around the town, the entire time with a view down to the town encapsulated within a mountain amphitheater. Just gorgeous.

Telluride

Most other hikes we’ve done involved a 2 mile hike up through the forest to get to the more open exposed section (which is the bit where you start to get the views). Telluride has a gondola which gets you above all that. Not only that but a FREE gondola (the only one of its kind in the US). And from then on, views galore. And then there’s the wildflowers, OMG the wildflowers! I’m loving the wildflowers. Absolutely the best hiking so far.

And according to Darren, some pretty good mountain biking too.

Basecamp time

So happy that we have our home away from home. It’s so damn cosy for those chilly nights and there’s nothing like beers around the campfire after a hard day’s recreating! Rustled up a few nice meals along the way too, even if I do say so myself.

Harvest Hosts

Ah, gotta love the ability to stay at non-campground places that are happy for you to park at overnight with our annual HH membership. Our first on this trip was Mountain View Winery near Olathe, CO. So this wine region is no Napa Valley but what they lack in refinement, they make up for in rural charm. Not to mention the company of the four-footed residents. Old Seamus the 15 year old mongrel lab who may not be long for this world, a sausage dog with small dog issues, and Tiddlywinks the exuberant wolfhound, who didn’t think twice about bounding over the table where your wine is placed. A few near misses there.

Another Harvest Host was Stoneyard Distillery, Dotsoro, CO, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They’ve got a good thing going as they have ample parking and allow up to four RVs (whereas most others only allow one). They distill from beet sugar, their concoctions quite unusual, and in addition to working our way through a tasting of shots, the proprietor was more than happy to rustle up a few cocktails.

Their most unusual spirit was still in the making. A jam jar of intriguing layered contents sat by the bar, with cacao nibs settled on the bottom, cocoa butter above and topped with a light coffee colored liquid. Turns out this is going to be a cacao spirit fit to blow your head off, with high intensity cacao flavor emulsified into their 176 Proof spirit. A whopping 88% ABV. Yes you read that right. We were treated to a preview taster by way of a pipette!

We arrived in Frisco a week before our vacation was due to start – we weren’t here for a holiday, we were here to work. Ah well, maybe a bit of both, there’s time each day before and after work of course. And Colorado is on Mountain Time, an hour ahead of our usual Pacific Time. Which means we’ve got oodles of time in the morning to have fun in the wilderness, before the work day has even begun. Likewise, it means the evenings are somewhat short. But that just means we need to drink faster 🙂

Frisco is a cute little town nestled in the mountains, centered around a lake (actually a reservoir). The campsite is a couple of miles out of town, a picturesque little spot by the lake, with a bike path into town. As Annie said to Daddy Warbucks “I think I’m gonna like it here!”

So. The morning’s activities (before work I would remind you) consisted of trail running, mountain biking, paddle boarding and hiking. Not all on the same day. But we fitted in what we could.

For a couple of days, Darren even chose the SUP as his mode of transport for commuting to work via the lake.

Evening activities as I mentioned were time limited. But we still managed to fit in a little trip up to the nearby ski town of Breckenridge (they have a brewery AND a distillery!).

It was around this time we thought a fun addition to our trip would be a drone. Fun to learn to fly and hopefully get some interesting photos and videos of our trip. Within two days, a Mavic Mini was delivered to the co-working space. Hence an evening of practicing take-off, flying and landing (lesson number one: do not land in long grass with the propellor blades acting as a multi-purpose strimmer. It messes up your new drone and quite honestly, a lawnmower does a better job.)

None of this would be possible if we weren’t able to work along the way. So the EVO3 co-working space bookmarking both ends of our Colorado vacation was uber-important. Having been office-based for over 15 years, this remote working was new to me. And in this COVID-19 era, neither of us really knew what to expect. But we had WiFi. Tick. There was an individual desk for each of us, screened off from anyone else. There were masks. There was very blatant cleaning going on, and often. Anti-bacterial wipes and sanitizing gel in abundance. And it was next door to a coffee shop that excelled in afogato, a shot of espresso poured over their home made espresso chip gelato ice cream. Good job we were playing hard as well as working hard.

Ah and I cheated and had a bit more time off than Darren. Packed it in with a pootle round Dillon Dam on the bike path. And an awesome morning’s hike up Mount Royal, right from town, up a big mountain, views back down into town, sweet.

And then get this… I was able to get an appointment for a cut and blow dry at a nearby salon. Five months of hair growing longer and lankier, it felt sooo good! Both me and the hairdresser wore masks, which was the weirdest thing ever. But I’ll take it. The New Me. Ready for vacation. 🙂