⚠️ Like the rest of this trip, my time in Colorado was an inch deep but a mile wide. Rocky Mountain National Park is gonna be its own post because this is way too long already.
Grand Valley
Grand Valley is one of Colorado's main wine regions. I didn't stop at any wineries, but I picked up a couple bottles from a wine store to try with friends and family when I get back.
Glenwood Springs
There are a lot of hot springs in this town. I planned on going to one, but I did laundry instead. It was hard to justify at the time paying $40 for a dip in a hot pool, but now I have hot springs FOMO.
I did ride my bike on the Rio Grande Trail while I was here though. Confusingly, it doesn't have anything to do with the Rio Grande river. It actually runs along the Roaring Fork river. Naming aside, there were pretty good views.
You can take it all the way to Aspen, but I just rode to Carbondale, which is about 12 miles from Glenwood Springs. I had lunch there and walked around the town then headed back. I somehow had headwinds both ways, but at least the way back was slightly more downhill.
There's a lot of road noise pretty much constantly since the trail runs along a main highway. But on the flip side, I saw some prairie dogs.
On my way out of Glenwood Springs, I took the short but steep trail up to Linwood Cemetery where Doc Holliday is buried.
It overlooks the town and valley. About halfway up, there's a tree with a bunch of ribbons on it that has a whole story behind it. If you want to know more, just google "glenwood springs cancer tree". And I saw the bluejay's more fabulous cousin.
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Vail
Just stopped for lunch in Vail. I liked how pedestrian-friendly it was (pedestrian-only really). A lot was closed since it's off-season, but enough was open for some grub and a coffee.
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Boulder
If you thought it was impossible to take a bad picture of the Flatirons, guess again!
That's taken from where Google Maps tells you to go to see the Flatirons, but you actually want to go to Chautauqua Park, which is where all the good pictures you've seen are taken. What those pictures don't show though is that it's a busy city park with limited and paid parking. I did make my way there but just saw the peaks from the car window.
Estes Park
I stayed in Estes mainly as a jumping off point for Rocky Mountain National Park. It's small and cutesy but served its function well. And you definitely feel like you're in the mountains when you're there.
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Also in Estes, the Stanley Hotel. Stephen King stayed here and it gave him the idea for The Shining. And parts of Dumb and Dumber were filmed here.
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A shot from Dumb and Dumber.
| Me, stolidly braving the cold and wind and snow.
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If you're a rando like me, you can check out the lobby. It's very nice. They charge like $400 a night though so I did not stay there.
The hotel really leans into the Stephen King angle. Their restaurant serves Shining-themed dishes. I got the Room 217*, which is a deep-fried biscuit with jam, lemon curd, mascarpone, and a "redrum gastrique".
* - In the movie, it's room 237, but in the book it's 217. Since the Stanley Hotel is more affiliated with the book, they went with 217. I approve of that decision.
I couldn't nearly eat all of it, but it was delicious. Stephen King may have had a nightmarish experience here, but I had a soul-soothing time drinking my coffee, looking out those big bright windows, and watching the light snow fall on the rockies and the town below.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Had a great time in RMNP. Will post about it separately.
Buc-ee's
My route took me near a Buc-ee's so I checked it out, and here's my review:
"I mean... sure."
There's nothing in the rule book that says a gas station can't have a mascot. Or a panic-inducing amount of merch. Or that you can't be a normal gas station times 100. Sure. I mean, fine. Whatever.
This place was huge. You have an idea in your head about how big a gas station is and this feels like an unholy abomination. Like someone's messing with fabric of the universe.
And the bathroom was a sight to behold. SO. MANY. URINALS. Remember that scene in The Matrix where they spawn in all those guns? It's like that but with urinals. And they were all very clean. I thought about taking a picture of the bathroom but thought it'd be weird (and possibly illegal).
They don't have tables. They're pretty laissez-faire. The cashier was just like, "you can eat anywhere, we don't care."
I ate in the car. Definitely one of the better gas station sandwiches I've had in my life, but the bread was soggy. I haven't tried the Beaver Nuggets yet. Will report back when I do.
Congrats if you've made it this far. I didn't expect to write so much about what at the time felt like liminal periods. That's probably a good takeaway. Life is made up primarily of in-between moments. Maybe they're the moments that really matter. Or maybe I've just seen one too many cartoon beavers today.