We are crushing my goal of at least one getaway each month in 2022! So far, we have visited six states on seven getaways. Here’s a quick recap.
RELATED: Vacation planning for 2022
January: We kicked the year off with a mini-staycation in Palisade and Grand Junction that included visits to a brewery and winery and some incredible food. Soon after, a Colorado road trip took us to Denver for the RV Show and on to Colorado Springs for a relaxing weekend with our best friends.
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We stopped by Boulevard Brewing Co. while we were in Kansas City, Missouri, visiting family last week. Though we’ve been drinking Boulevard Beer for years, and even carry it in our store, we’d never actually been there. Start in the Tours and Recreation Center, but be sure to schedule a tour beforehand if that’s on your agenda. It’s located on Southwest Boulevard, hence the name.
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I missed Travel Tuesday and have decided that Travel Thursday is just as catchy. It’s the new big thing. Tell your friends.
I was in Denver this week for a media reception at the new Rally Hotel, which is spectacular. If you’re planning to catch a Rockies game, you should stay there and save some time to explore McGregor Square.
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I brought home a great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc last night, Lobster Reef, and have been craving lobster ever since. Or should I say “lobstah”? That brought to mind the best lobster roll I’ve ever had. We were spending a week at Bar Harbor in October 2014 during our big RV road trip, and a friend recommended Thurston’s Lobster Pound. Even though I ate lobster every day that week, this is the one I still dream about.
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We ride for the views, but it doesn’t always work out. This is from a July 2017 camping trip to Silverton, Colorado. Our ride took us over several passes, including Engineer Pass, to Lake City and back. Riding in this kind of fog not only kills the views, it’s terrifying. Thankfully, Scott is an excellent driver and we made it back safely.
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We discovered this historical treasure during our 10-month RV road trip in 2014 and 2015. It is not too far from where we spent the winter. An ancestral Sonoran Desert People’s farming community and Great House are preserved at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Whether the Casa Grande was a gathering place for the Desert People or simply a waypoint marker in an extensive system of canals and trading partners is just part of the mystique of the Ruins. Read the known history of this national monument here.
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The hoodoos north of Debeque, Colorado, on the way to the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, are a sweet surprise if you aren’t expecting them. Hoodoo rocks are often fantastically shaped, naturally carved rocks or earth pedestals, pillars or columns. The word hoodoo probably derives from voodoo, a West African-based religion in which magical powers can be associated with natural features. Hoodoos conjure up images of strange events. (Thanks, Canadian Encyclopedia!)
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Delicious Farms in Hotchkiss, Colorado, is a must-visit when we do a daytrip on the Grand Mesa Loop. You can camp in the orchard, eat at the café, shop at the store, play like a kid on tree swings, listen to live music and pick your own fruit. You can also grab a stool at the Cider Bar and sample Big B’s Ciders. The food at the café is very good, so step up and order your meal. I recommend the tamales, and my husband likes the pulled pork. Then, order a flight of hard ciders and dig in.
Note: The website says they are not offering tastings due to COVID-19, but we were able to order this flight last summer. You can always choose a single cider in larger sizes. Be sure to take some home along with goodies from the store.
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Cue the music from Vacation! In 1969, my family left Oklahoma for sunny California in the family truckster for a typical family road trip from hell. Just kidding, kind of. I’m the youngest of three, so I had to sit on the hump in the back seat with our family poodle Petite Jean Jacques Rousseau. (Dad was a philosophy major before law school.) If you’ve never ridden 3,000+ miles sitting on the hump between your older brother and sister, don’t judge me for calling it hell.
The air conditioning broke in Death Valley. And, apparently, back then motels would charge extra for families with more than four people, so I had to hide on the back floorboard under a sleeping bag with Rousseau every time we checked in. I recall hiding in the shower with him as well when someone came to the motel room door. Perks of being the youngest, I guess.
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Month two of my year of getaways is a wrap! We almost always go somewhere for Valentine’s Day, and this year was no exception. We spent three Val Day weekends in a row in Arizona; five years ago it was Riviera Maya near Playa del Carmen and two years ago we were on Anna Maria Island.
We have a big trip coming up in March, so this time it was a quick, romantic night in Ouray. It’s one of our favorite spots in the state, but only our second visit during the winter. Last time, it was on the frigid side with snow blowing horizontally. This year, Mother Nature was on our side, which was good since I forgot to bring a coat.
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