Tag Archives: glenwood springs

march: burgers, beer and backyard camping

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Scott & Mandy at Casey Brewing

March roared in like a lion in terms of workload, so our getaway for the month was a date day followed by an overnight campout…in the backyard. It’s easy to plan a staycation here with so many things to do, see, eat and drink.

We started the day touring a nearby camping spot, Elk Creek Campground, that our good friends purchased and have been renovating. This is a beautiful spot in New Castle, Colorado, that’s about 20 minutes from home and, now that we’ve seen it, is bound to be on our list for the year. It’s located in a beautiful, wooded valley right on Elk Creek. The new owners have cleaned things up and invested in lots of infrastructure upgrades—including full hookups at every site. There are sites in all sizes, including a couple for big rigs, and multiple cabin options. A new laundry area and rec room are in the works now and should be finished by the May 1 opening day.

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travel tuesday: romantic glenwood springs staycation

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Glenwood Springs staycation

There’s nothing like an opportunity to dress to the nines to spark a romantic staycation! The Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association‘s Annual Gala was last weekend, and my client Hotel Colorado won Business of the Year. Plenty of reasons to celebrate, so I booked a room for an early Valentine’s Day night out with my Valentine.

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staycation: grand mesa loop

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One of the best things about living where we do (near Glenwood Springs, Colorado), and one of the reasons we’ve chosen to live here twice, is its proximity to so many wonderful places. Within three hours we can be in Denver, Breckenridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Moab, Ouray and Ridgway, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction…you get the idea. That makes it easy to get away for a week or just a weekend without traveling too far.

Sometimes, though, we can’t get away for a whole weekend (one of the downsides of owning a retail store) but still need to leave the house and yard work. It will always be here when we get back. I keep hoping that won’t be the case, but time and again it’s still here.

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months 10-11: back where we belong

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Are you “back back?” That’s the question we’re getting a lot these days when we run into friends in Glenwood Springs, and the answer is yes. Our life as vagabonds has come to an end, at least for now. We are settling into a house sans wheels in New Castle, Colorado, nine miles west of Glenwood.

Our original plan was to travel for a year, but we ended up cutting it a little shorter for several reasons. First, we noticed that houses in our price range were starting to sell very quickly. Our house was on the market less than 24 hours before we made an offer! Second, we wanted to be back for our daughter’s college graduation in June. And third, we were homesick. Continue reading

colorado cheeseburgers i love

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Horsefly Brewery

A couple of 50/50 burgers, a Six Shooter and a Bug Eyed Blonde at Horsefly Brewing Co. in Montrose.

Happy National Cheeseburger Day! In honor of this national holiday (it is a holiday, right?), here are my five favorite Colorado cheeseburgers, in no particular order. Continue reading

burnin’ rubber

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A stop at the Redstone General Store for ice cream on our first ride.

A stop at the Redstone General Store for ice cream on our first ride.

Another item on the “someday” list: learn to ride a motorcycle. Scott has ridden most of his life and lives to ride. I  tried riding on his bike with him, but, as Austin Powers would say, “that’s not my bag, baby.” Control issues: Check.

For our anniversary last year, my gift to Scott was a promise to take the Learn to Ride* class to find out if I like riding my own bike any better. Fast forward to April. I took and passed the class and got the coveted “M” endorsement on my driver’s license. And a crappy new driver’s license photo to go with it.

Long story short, I practiced riding Scott’s street-legal dirt bike for a while and then I bought my own bike. Not a little girly bike, either. A big, bad Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. It’s awesome. It’s still a little scary, but I’m definitely walking with a little more swagger these days. And learning a lot about motorcycle etiquette and rules of the road. Here are some of the things I’ve learned: Continue reading

someday has arrived

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Enjoying a walk on the beach in Oregon on our first empty nest road trip.

Enjoying a walk on the beach in Oregon on our first empty nest road trip.

Last fall, after 20 years of diapers and daycare, car pools and packing lunches, and worrying about who was where and why, I found myself in that worrisome place that many parents dread: the empty nest. My evenings and weekends, once filled by driving all over the state and cheering on the sidelines at track and cross-country meets, soccer and volleyball games, were suddenly free. What’s a mom to do?

Week 1: Overcompensate. That’s what I did, anyway. I registered at Colorado Mountain College and signed up for cooking, baking and yoga classes. That took care of Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I added in breakfasts, coffee meetings and lunches until I barely had time to work. Or think, which was the point.

Week 2: Play catch up because of all of the stuff I crammed into week 1. Continue reading