We decided to give AirBnB a shot after hearing so many great things from friends. Airbnb is a website where you can either list your place, or a room for other people to stay in. If you haven't heard of it, check it out. We thought about doing this in Europe however we just stuck to the hostel scene. Anyways, you can search for the type of place or room you seek. You can filter for amenities you are looking for, prices you are willing to pay, areas you would like to stay, etc.
We found this great little place on the North side of Denver in the Berkeley area. The hosts were a young couple. They were welcoming, friendly, smart, and well-traveled. We had great conversations and they had a lot to share with us about the area. They also have a dog (retriever, border collie mix) and a cat. We didn't see the cat much, but the dogs got along very well!
Nate had to work quite a few of the days we were staying there, but we made the most of the time off he had. We made a visit to REI. The REI in Denver is huge! There is even a climbing wall inside. There are three staggered floors of clothing, camping gear, snow equipment, shoes, and a Starbucks. The building is old and used to be an industrial building on the river. I can't remember exactly what it's purpose was, but it had something to do with coal. We found a few good deals for their pre-holiday sale.
Friday was also free day at the Denver Botanical Gardens and the Denver Zoo. Yes, it was a chilly day of about 20F, but we both we geared up with hats and mittens and there were plenty of buildings to duck into for a little relief and to warm up our toes. Now, free days tend to be quite busy in my experience but neither place was bad at all. The gardens had a special exhibit of Dale Chihuly. My pictures weren't very good, I only had my phone and the sun was in a goofy place. I recommend you click on some of these links to see his beautiful glass sculptures. They were having a small market as well for people who wanted to get an early jump on Christmas shopping!
The zoo was a fun time as well. The animals were much more active than in the summer. We saw the otters, sea lions, Siberian tiger, cheetahs, all moving around. Many warmer climate animals were in their respective houses for the winter but were still pretty active. I had a good time watching the elephant. He was playing with some toys, throwing sand, and rubbing his body on the walls! Nate had an even better time with the gorilla. When we arrived inside, he looked mad. He was swiftly spinning across the floor and making very abrupt movements. The exhibit was neat because you could step right up to the glass and be closer than ever. At one point the gorilla wound up his arm and send a blow to the glass immediately in front of Nate's teeth. The glass made an echoing sound and everyone stepped back...and then, the gorilla did it again! Could've been a bad day, who knows, but it sure scared me! We stopped for a hot beverage on the way back to the Airbnb to chill out for awhile.
For dinner, we found this Native American place that was unique and very good, Tocabe. It reminded me a bit of a Qdoba where you decide what goes in/on your food but instead of tortillas you meal was made on fry bread! It was very good and I would go back in a heartbeat!
We checked out some local bars and tried to find the opener of the Badgers Basketball, instead we found the UW-Milwaukee game on in the corner. All in all it was a good night and a great time. I would recommend airbnb again!
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Day 5: Driving I-70E From Grand Junction to Denver
Normally, a four hour drive along an interstate would prove to be fairly uneventful. Not this time! I drove home since Nate had to work and the thought was that he could relax, maybe catch a nap, and at the very least not have to drive on the way home. When we left Grand Junction it was about 65F and sunny! I put on my comfy driving clothes of leggings, t-shirt, and Chacos. As we drove eastward, the sky slowly clouded up and there was snow in the distance. I had briefly joked to Nate, "Do you think I'll have to drive through that snow?" It was quite a while until we hit flurries, but they slowly came and it was kind of pretty. You could see the shape and design of each snowflake as it hit the window and immediately melted.
Quite a few more minutes passed and steadily my pretty snowflakes began to lose their enthusiasm. We were about to hit the big mountain ski towns of Vail and Breckenridge, thus rising in elevation. The homes are immaculate! We continued to drive and soon I could hardly see, still climbing up the spiraling mountain road. Needless to say, Nate was not as relaxed as planned due to my minor freakout of having to drive down the mountain in ice and snow!
I did just fine and needed a beer with my lunch. The temperature dropped about 55F, the snow and ice covered the car, and my feet were freezing! Nate helped me determine when to downshift, coast, and keep up with traffic and was very encouraging. Hopefully, this has/will make me a better mountain driver.
The next day, still snowing of course, we played in the snow!
Quite a few more minutes passed and steadily my pretty snowflakes began to lose their enthusiasm. We were about to hit the big mountain ski towns of Vail and Breckenridge, thus rising in elevation. The homes are immaculate! We continued to drive and soon I could hardly see, still climbing up the spiraling mountain road. Needless to say, Nate was not as relaxed as planned due to my minor freakout of having to drive down the mountain in ice and snow!
I did just fine and needed a beer with my lunch. The temperature dropped about 55F, the snow and ice covered the car, and my feet were freezing! Nate helped me determine when to downshift, coast, and keep up with traffic and was very encouraging. Hopefully, this has/will make me a better mountain driver.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Day 4: Black Canyon of Gunnison and Colorado National Park
Waking up in Montrose proved to be a beautiful morning to explore the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. We headed a few minutes east to the entrance to the park. We were both surprised when there was a sign on the park station, "No fees during the winter season". I didn't know that the NPS ever waived fees, even if it was cold.
We carried on to the visitor center to get a map from the ranger. We followed South Rim Road to 11 lookouts along the way. We were unable to hike with Kobi as dogs are not allowed in the inner canyon, so we stopped at all the lookouts. Some of these has short trails a couple hundred yards long and each one was well worth the stop!
I haven't gone too crazy about the rocks, minerals, or fossils in area of the areas we have visited, however I have to mention a few things here. When the explorers came through this area they called the canyon "black" because of the dark rocks and the fact that part of the canyon only receives 33 minutes of sunlight. The dark rocks are black gneiss, a metamorphic rock. There are also incredible pegmatite dikes running through the canyon like an artist painted stripes on the rock walls. Pegmatites are very cool! These large crystals were formed and are visible because the cooling time was very long, allowing chemicals to form the structure that you see in the large mineral chunks in these walls! There were a lot of micas, both muscovite (light) and biotite (dark).
The Gunnison River rages below and many rapids are visible. The river cut the canyon deeper than the Royal Gorge. The first outlook we stopped at was ~1700ft down to the river, whereas the last outlook was more than ~2700 ft down!
The trails around the South Rim Road were dotted with many junipers, pinyon pine, and the gnarly branches and trunks of trees long gone. There were many yucca which I always thought were cacti, however they are actually the lily family.
A truly beautiful park! We hopped back in the car and headed westward yet again to the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction.
We carried on to the visitor center to get a map from the ranger. We followed South Rim Road to 11 lookouts along the way. We were unable to hike with Kobi as dogs are not allowed in the inner canyon, so we stopped at all the lookouts. Some of these has short trails a couple hundred yards long and each one was well worth the stop!
I haven't gone too crazy about the rocks, minerals, or fossils in area of the areas we have visited, however I have to mention a few things here. When the explorers came through this area they called the canyon "black" because of the dark rocks and the fact that part of the canyon only receives 33 minutes of sunlight. The dark rocks are black gneiss, a metamorphic rock. There are also incredible pegmatite dikes running through the canyon like an artist painted stripes on the rock walls. Pegmatites are very cool! These large crystals were formed and are visible because the cooling time was very long, allowing chemicals to form the structure that you see in the large mineral chunks in these walls! There were a lot of micas, both muscovite (light) and biotite (dark).
The photo directly above is Painted Wall! One of the most beautiful views!!!
The trails around the South Rim Road were dotted with many junipers, pinyon pine, and the gnarly branches and trunks of trees long gone. There were many yucca which I always thought were cacti, however they are actually the lily family.
A truly beautiful park! We hopped back in the car and headed westward yet again to the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction.
The Colorado National Monument is appropriately named! There are alternating layers of sedimentary rocks that dance in and out of the scenic drive going through the park. The scenery is amazing, not only because of the sedimentary strata (layers), but because you can see the mountains in the distance, and the city below. The structures within the park are beautiful as well and as you will see above, there were rock climbing on that high pinnacle. As we approached the visitor center, we happened upon a herd of Bighorn sheep. There were young and old, male and female, and hungry and not! Nate snapped these great pictures!
After the Monument, we found a little motel and a brewery to watch the Packers completely destroy the Bears!
Next stop: Home! Or at least the closest thing we have right now.
Day 3: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve etc.
As we were driving to Alamosa yesterday in the setting sun, we didn't even notice that the Great Sand Dunes were visible from the road. We started in Alamosa and drove east on Hwy 160 to Hwy 150. I read in some booklet in the hotel that there is a worthwhile water fall on the way to the dunes, so we decided to give it a whirl.
Zapata Falls was not difficult to find at all. The road to the falls is clearly marked from Hwy 150, although the directions say to take a BLM road there was no need to worry about finding the specific road due to the helpful signage. It was a short 1/2 mile out and back trail. It was uphill there and downhill back. The path was covered with snow and ice and riddled with large granite boulders. The falls were partially frozen upon out arrival but was still a lovely place. I saw a lady hiking the trail with flip flops in all that snow!!!
From the trail head, the Great Sand Dunes were visible however without knowing where and what they were, I may have suspected something else. See the photo below...you be the judge!
The falls were only about 5 miles away from the Great Sand Dunes and we couldn't wait to get there! As we traveled up the road the dunes grew taller and taller. Admission into the park was $3.00/adult which I felt was a royal bargain! We drove to the dunes and got ready to climb!
The sands shift and move as the winds push them, ultimately changing the landscape. There are finer grains of sand on the top and larger grains (pebbles actually) are on the bottom of the dunes. As the wind carries the sediment the heavier, larger grains fall out first leaving the lighter, finer grains settling on the top. We packed up a bag full of water and snacks and set out on our unexpected adventure of climbing the tallest dune at 699 ft. We started climbing and kept going until we could see everything from the top. Honestly, I wanted to quit but Nate kept pushing me and I'm glad he did. It was hard to walk near the top of the dunes on the ridges because your feet just sunk right in. As we walked on the ridges we caused small sand avalanches!
The sand was temperate and felt good on our bare feet. It was warm, but not too hot. In the summer the sand can reach up to 150F degrees ! When we got to the top the sand was quite a bit colder and the view was amazing. We could see two different mountain ranges and an entire valley with dunes!
We ran down the dunes too! Gravity just took us! My feet would sometimes sink into the sand and would sometimes slap and bounce to my next step. It carried us down at least three times faster than what it took to climb up the dunes. Kobi absolutely LOVED the dunes. He was able to run up and down the dunes at will and was happy the entire time! Some people had snowboards to ride down the dunes, which would've been a good time too.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience! I recommend as well! I unfortunately didn't take many pictures on the dunes, I was afraid that I would get sand grains stuck in my lenses.
I drove westward from The Great Sand Dunes NP on Hwy 112 to scenic Hwy 149. This drive was beautiful. We saw more of the San Juan Mountains which are quite showy and volcanic. We crossed over the Continental Divide as well at 10,000+ ft. I drove for about two hours in the mountains on the way up. It has been quite some time since I drove in the mountains and I was a bit nervous downshifting, braking, and taking the curves with ice on the road. Shorty after we crossed the Continental Divine I pulled over and let Nate drive.
We passed through a really neat little mountain town, Lake City. There were mule deer all over the place; in peoples yards, in the fields, on the roads, etc. The charm and quaintness of the town makes me want to go back some day and spend some time there. We pushed on to Montrose because that was close to the Black Canyon of Gunnison which was the plan for tomorrow.
We drove in the dark on Hwy 50 to Montrose which is a little sad because we according to my geology book, we missed some good stuff. We settled in at the Black Canyon Motel which was incredibly reasonable at $48/night, clean, quiet, pet friendly, and really comfy! Dinner occurred later that night at Horsefly Brewing. There was some great entertainment from a little three piece bluegrass band and the bar was decorated with coasters and bottle caps from breweries all over the world! The beer was great and food okay... I would still recommend.
Tomorrow, the Black Canyon!
Zapata Falls was not difficult to find at all. The road to the falls is clearly marked from Hwy 150, although the directions say to take a BLM road there was no need to worry about finding the specific road due to the helpful signage. It was a short 1/2 mile out and back trail. It was uphill there and downhill back. The path was covered with snow and ice and riddled with large granite boulders. The falls were partially frozen upon out arrival but was still a lovely place. I saw a lady hiking the trail with flip flops in all that snow!!!
From the trail head, the Great Sand Dunes were visible however without knowing where and what they were, I may have suspected something else. See the photo below...you be the judge!
The falls were only about 5 miles away from the Great Sand Dunes and we couldn't wait to get there! As we traveled up the road the dunes grew taller and taller. Admission into the park was $3.00/adult which I felt was a royal bargain! We drove to the dunes and got ready to climb!
The sands shift and move as the winds push them, ultimately changing the landscape. There are finer grains of sand on the top and larger grains (pebbles actually) are on the bottom of the dunes. As the wind carries the sediment the heavier, larger grains fall out first leaving the lighter, finer grains settling on the top. We packed up a bag full of water and snacks and set out on our unexpected adventure of climbing the tallest dune at 699 ft. We started climbing and kept going until we could see everything from the top. Honestly, I wanted to quit but Nate kept pushing me and I'm glad he did. It was hard to walk near the top of the dunes on the ridges because your feet just sunk right in. As we walked on the ridges we caused small sand avalanches!
The sand was temperate and felt good on our bare feet. It was warm, but not too hot. In the summer the sand can reach up to 150F degrees ! When we got to the top the sand was quite a bit colder and the view was amazing. We could see two different mountain ranges and an entire valley with dunes!
We ran down the dunes too! Gravity just took us! My feet would sometimes sink into the sand and would sometimes slap and bounce to my next step. It carried us down at least three times faster than what it took to climb up the dunes. Kobi absolutely LOVED the dunes. He was able to run up and down the dunes at will and was happy the entire time! Some people had snowboards to ride down the dunes, which would've been a good time too.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience! I recommend as well! I unfortunately didn't take many pictures on the dunes, I was afraid that I would get sand grains stuck in my lenses.
I drove westward from The Great Sand Dunes NP on Hwy 112 to scenic Hwy 149. This drive was beautiful. We saw more of the San Juan Mountains which are quite showy and volcanic. We crossed over the Continental Divide as well at 10,000+ ft. I drove for about two hours in the mountains on the way up. It has been quite some time since I drove in the mountains and I was a bit nervous downshifting, braking, and taking the curves with ice on the road. Shorty after we crossed the Continental Divine I pulled over and let Nate drive.
We passed through a really neat little mountain town, Lake City. There were mule deer all over the place; in peoples yards, in the fields, on the roads, etc. The charm and quaintness of the town makes me want to go back some day and spend some time there. We pushed on to Montrose because that was close to the Black Canyon of Gunnison which was the plan for tomorrow.
We drove in the dark on Hwy 50 to Montrose which is a little sad because we according to my geology book, we missed some good stuff. We settled in at the Black Canyon Motel which was incredibly reasonable at $48/night, clean, quiet, pet friendly, and really comfy! Dinner occurred later that night at Horsefly Brewing. There was some great entertainment from a little three piece bluegrass band and the bar was decorated with coasters and bottle caps from breweries all over the world! The beer was great and food okay... I would still recommend.
Tomorrow, the Black Canyon!
Day 2: Canyon City and lots of driving!
My apologies for not having an immediate follow up to Day 1, we were in a bit of limbo. Now, I am sitting nice and cozy in our Airbnb. The snow is still softly falling outside as it has been all day and the temperatures here in Denver are more like January in Wisconsin!
We had a great time exploring Colorado Springs, I'm sure we missed a bit of it too but we decided to push on. Our next stop would be the Royal Gorge just outside Canyon City. The drive was easy, we headed south on I-25 to Pueblo and then headed west on Hwy 50. The main freeways often take you away from the outstanding geology, however we were able to see Pikes Peak from a distance! This is one of the famous "fourteeners" in Colorado, however it is not the tallest. This conversation occurred in the car and with the help of smartphones, we were able to decipher the tallest in Colorado is Mt. Elbert (if you click on this link it will show you the list of peaks in Colorado).
There was a bit of construction going through Canyon City, however it was well worth the wait. As we got through the city, beautiful geology starting to come into view. Lots of metamorphic rocks met us at the roadside and I began paging through my Roadside Geology of Colorado book. It has been very helpful in finding great geology in the area as well as deciphering some of the complex geologic history of the area! I highly recommend any of the Roadside Geology of (choose your state) books for any road trip you might go on. Another great book to have with you is a Gazeteer, in this case the Colorado one! Cell service often drops out in the mountains!
As we approached the road to the Royal Gorge, we noticed a lot of trees were lifeless and blackened. We learned from the visitor center that just last year, a terrible wildfire ripped through the area and devastated the park. A majority of the structures were damaged beyond repair and 2014 was a rebuilding year. Needless to say, the views were still incredible and the drive was well worth it. Dogs are welcome, however they need to be leashed. We walked Kobi through the visitor center, bought our tickets ($16 adult) and walked toward the bridge.
At the time of construction in 1929, the Royal Gorge Bridge was the tallest suspension bridge in the world. Here are some neat engineering statistics of the bridge! As you walk across the bridge there is a state flag for each state in the United States of America and you are encouraged to take a picture of you by your state and send it to them. The cables are extremely think, the screws are quite possibly the largest I have ever seen, and still the sway of the bridge surprised me. Vehicles would drive back and forth as their are shuttles and construction vehicles that need to go back and forth; what an erie feeling! I didn't enjoy the slight up and down, however Kobi did not like it at all! His tail was between his legs and he started to walk real low the ground. It was a little better where the boards were closer together and when vehicles weren't passing by.
The view was incredible! You could see the neighboring mountain ranges all around you and the raging Arkansas River over 1,000 ft below you. The wind whipped through the gorge at a pretty decent rate as well, joyfully flapping all the state flags adorning the bridge.
After we walked across and back, we stopped for a beer to enjoy the beautiful views and soak up the sun! I highly recommend this trip for all people of all ages, unless perhaps if heights aren't your thing!
It was early enough to continue on to our next location, so we continued west on Hwy 50 and south on Hwy 285 to Alamosa. The mountains were incredible on both of these roadways! We saw the sun setting on the range were "purple mountain majesties" inspired it's author.
Once in Alamosa, we stayed at the Grizzly Inn. It was okay for the night...see Trip Advisor
We visited a great local brewery in Alamosa called San Luis Valley Brewing. I had a fantastic beer and a fantastic burger! Nate was pleased with his food as well. Early to bed. Day 3: Great Sand Dunes National Park!
We had a great time exploring Colorado Springs, I'm sure we missed a bit of it too but we decided to push on. Our next stop would be the Royal Gorge just outside Canyon City. The drive was easy, we headed south on I-25 to Pueblo and then headed west on Hwy 50. The main freeways often take you away from the outstanding geology, however we were able to see Pikes Peak from a distance! This is one of the famous "fourteeners" in Colorado, however it is not the tallest. This conversation occurred in the car and with the help of smartphones, we were able to decipher the tallest in Colorado is Mt. Elbert (if you click on this link it will show you the list of peaks in Colorado).
There was a bit of construction going through Canyon City, however it was well worth the wait. As we got through the city, beautiful geology starting to come into view. Lots of metamorphic rocks met us at the roadside and I began paging through my Roadside Geology of Colorado book. It has been very helpful in finding great geology in the area as well as deciphering some of the complex geologic history of the area! I highly recommend any of the Roadside Geology of (choose your state) books for any road trip you might go on. Another great book to have with you is a Gazeteer, in this case the Colorado one! Cell service often drops out in the mountains!
As we approached the road to the Royal Gorge, we noticed a lot of trees were lifeless and blackened. We learned from the visitor center that just last year, a terrible wildfire ripped through the area and devastated the park. A majority of the structures were damaged beyond repair and 2014 was a rebuilding year. Needless to say, the views were still incredible and the drive was well worth it. Dogs are welcome, however they need to be leashed. We walked Kobi through the visitor center, bought our tickets ($16 adult) and walked toward the bridge.
At the time of construction in 1929, the Royal Gorge Bridge was the tallest suspension bridge in the world. Here are some neat engineering statistics of the bridge! As you walk across the bridge there is a state flag for each state in the United States of America and you are encouraged to take a picture of you by your state and send it to them. The cables are extremely think, the screws are quite possibly the largest I have ever seen, and still the sway of the bridge surprised me. Vehicles would drive back and forth as their are shuttles and construction vehicles that need to go back and forth; what an erie feeling! I didn't enjoy the slight up and down, however Kobi did not like it at all! His tail was between his legs and he started to walk real low the ground. It was a little better where the boards were closer together and when vehicles weren't passing by.
The view was incredible! You could see the neighboring mountain ranges all around you and the raging Arkansas River over 1,000 ft below you. The wind whipped through the gorge at a pretty decent rate as well, joyfully flapping all the state flags adorning the bridge.
After we walked across and back, we stopped for a beer to enjoy the beautiful views and soak up the sun! I highly recommend this trip for all people of all ages, unless perhaps if heights aren't your thing!
It was early enough to continue on to our next location, so we continued west on Hwy 50 and south on Hwy 285 to Alamosa. The mountains were incredible on both of these roadways! We saw the sun setting on the range were "purple mountain majesties" inspired it's author.
We visited a great local brewery in Alamosa called San Luis Valley Brewing. I had a fantastic beer and a fantastic burger! Nate was pleased with his food as well. Early to bed. Day 3: Great Sand Dunes National Park!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Adventures around the Crown of Colorado: Day 1 Denver to Colorado Springs
Well...at least I have been referring to our latest adventure at the Crown of Colorado, I'm not it actually exists. In fact, it probably doesn't!
Last Thursday, we left with no real plans. We figured that we didn't really need them, considering we did 12 days in Europe with no real plans. We left Denver and headed south to Colorado Springs. I have been wanting to see Garden of the Gods and it looked like Colorado Springs had a lot to offer. So we went to Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon Recreational Open Space. It proved to be an exciting adventure like all the rest thus far.
Garden of the Gods was given to the City of Colorado Springs and is intended to be free to the public forever! What a gift! It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. There were massive chunks of sandstone shooting out of the ground. We walked an easy path touring the different structures that were all named after something fairly religious. We saw a few rock climbers, a lady walking a cat (on a leash), and beautiful sedimentary rocks and structures in them!
After Garden of the Gods, we ventured onward to Red Rock Canyon Recreational Open Space. In Colorado, they have many "open spaces" and the closest thing I can equate them to are county parks in Wisconsin. They are many activities there from biking, hiking, dog areas, horseback riding, etc. This one did have an off lead dog area and Kobi was lucky enough to explore it. He was crazy running around in the pokey grass and cacti. I was reluctant to let him go. He sure enjoyed it, but then I spent about an hour tweezing cacti needles out of his paws and legs. A great time was had by all!
We hiked a bit more and called it a day, especially since Nate had been up for over 24 hours. We found a LaQuinta, ate some dinner, and called it an early night.
Next trip: Royal Gorge in Canyon City!
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Geology Museum: Colorado School of Mines
Yesterday was pretty gloomy and cold, however we still wanted to make the most of the day. I took an early trip to the grocery store to acquire some fixings for some chicken and rice soup! It was a good soup day. I grabbed a mocha from Forty Weight Coffee (a must if you are ever in Denver) and went for a little ride to look at the mountains. I wrote this on my facebook page with some pictures, but I will reiterate it here: the mountains are always reaching up to the sky and yesterday it was if the clouds finally decided to reach back. Even though it was gloomy, chilly, and not the best day for hiking, there was a whole new beauty to the mountains. I sat watching the clouds, drinking my mocha, and talking to my grandma!
After making a delicious pot of soup, Nate and I headed over the the Geology Museum at the Colorado School of Mines. It was free admission (although you pay for parking) and that wasn't even the best part. There were so many beautiful mineral specimen from around the world. The minerals were neatly organized by region of the world and type of mineral class. They also had fossils, gemstones, education materials, and a goodwill moon rock (only one of two on display)!
Beautiful minerals: malachite, azurite, and gypsum!
The big "M" on the side of the mountain is for the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
I picked up a lot of education materials, I know you're probably not surprised by that at all. Don't worry I won't turn this into a classroom blog, however one of the neatest and most surprisingly things I learned was that Marie Curie discovered radium from uranium crystals from Colorado! Let that be your new thing you learned today, if you are interested in more just hit me up, I'd love to tell you more!
I see that we are much colder that Milwaukee this morning, so enjoy your nice day!
Much love to my homeland!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Beer, food, and more drinks!
I'll keep this one short and sweet, however I write about our dinner and drinks last night! We weren't completely set on a place to eat, so we drove downtown Denver and looked for something appealing. We still have the Rocketbox on top of the car and honestly forgot about it until we heard the scrape on in the parking garage. We found a spot right away so it only hit once on the way up and once on the way down.
We walked around where the 16th St. Mall begins and settled on the Wynkoop Brewery. We later learned that this used to be owned by the current governor of Colorado (he's up for reelection so this may not be accurate by the time you read it). Nate and I studied the brews carefully and decided to split a flight called, The Koop. The flight consisted of their Railyard (amber), B3k (black lager), seasonal wheat beer, Patty's Chili Beer, and Uber (light lager). Nate also ordered London Calling IPA which was a cask conditioned beer. My fav was the Railyard. The chili beer is nothing like I have ever had before. It is made with Anaheim and ancho chilies and you could definitely smell them! It tasted good and I did like it, however I don't know if I could consume copious amount. My nose was left smelling of peppers and it was just weird that you couldn't taste them.
The food was very good too! I had Turlu turlu and Nate had a reuben brat.
After, we planned on walking around and found a little jazz trio at another restaurant. We had a few drinks, listened to the trio, watched some college ball, and called it a night.
One of the lessons we have learned since moving out of Wisconsin is that drinks are made WAY differently. There were some issues with an old fashioned sour and I had the worst drink ever a few weeks ago when we all ordered bloody marys. The glass was rimmed in salt, the drink was garnished with a single stalk of celery, and the drink tasted like vodka and ketchup. I tried to spice it up with Tabasco and pepper, but it just didn't cut it.
Enjoy your bloodies Wisco! I'd love one from Centraal right about now!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Golden Gate Canyon State Park
We went for a day excursion with Kobi the other day. We went to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. It is located in Golden, and not too far from Ben and Ellie's (well the road to to get there). There is a slow winding mountain road that takes you up to the park. From my few experiences so far, Colorado Parks really have their stuff together! Immediately, as you enter the park, the visitor center was in sight. An adorable log cabin with a pond where you could feed the fish, restrooms, and many information kiosks greeted me. I was unable to feed the fish due to the thin layer of ice that covered the entire pond. I knew it has been getting chilly and snowing in the mountains, but I wasn't prepared for this.
After talking to the knowledgeable park staff inside, Nate and I assessed the park map and decided to take Mountain Base Road to Panorama Point first! We wound up the narrow two lane road. I hung on to the "oh shit" handles to keep me in place! When we arrived at the top, it was stunning. I couldn't have imagined such a sight. On one side, you could see Longs Peak (a fourteener) and some of the other peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. On the other side you can see Mt. Evans (which we drove up to last weekend) on the far side of Idaho Springs.
After not spending much time at Panorama Point due to the wind and cold, we headed down to Kriley Pond and hiked the Blue Grouse Trail. It was an easy .8 mile trail that was out and back. We decided against doing too much hiking due to the fast that we were not well equipped in case of more wind and cold. We hiked up and then back down to the pond for a snack. It was a little warmer facing the sun, but when the wind whipped up it sure was fierce and chilly.
On the way down the winding road
There is the car!
After our brief lunch by the pond we decided to do one more hike on the Horseshoe Trail, 1.8 miles out and back. It was a nice trail, all uphill on the way in and all downhill on the way out. We saw a gray jay, but I wasn't able to get a picture. We also saw some ice on this trail!
More mountain roads
Pine tree collecting aspen leaves
Ice!
This is what I do in the car...
On the way out of the park we took a loop that would eventually meet up with the road we took in. There was some crazy geology along the way. I saw some major pegmatite, gneiss, lots of schist (pardon my link to wikipedia), and some granitic intrusions (or at least that's what I think this might be). There is a lot going on in this picture, however I only had a chance to snap it and not get out and look.
Today, I hiked a few trails at North Table Mountain where I have already been a few times. It was a good straight up hike. Love to all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)