Colorado Trip Report (Summit, Grand Counties)
Sep 2nd, 2005, 06:53 AM
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Colorado Trip Report (Summit, Grand Counties)
Here are just a few words to set up this rather impromptu but wonderful vacation for you. We had a pair of air tickets we got at a charity auction. They were to expire 8/31 if we didn’t use them. After procrastinating ALMOST too long we decided to use them. Since I had never been to Colorado we decided to fly to Denver. Within a couple of days I pulled this trip together and it couldn’t have happened without the assistance I received on this Fodor’s board.
Colorado is a huge state. I was advised to settle in one spot and given several suggestions. One of them was to stay in Summit County and others raved of Grand County etc. Someone even recommended a specific condo on Dillon Lake that couldn’t have been more perfect. Well you get the idea and now join us on our trip!
We left early on the morning of Friday August 19th to drive to Newark Airport-about 2.5 hours from our home in Connecticut. Our tickets were with Air Tran and they don’t fly out of Connecticut. I had packed a rather substantial lunch for us as we had a full day of travel. (I can’t let my husband get hungry or it isn’t pretty!) Most Air Tran flights have to connect in Atlanta. We flew into Atlanta and then another flight on to Denver. (See what I mean about a full day of travel.) Our flights were pretty much on time and uneventful.
We arrived in Denver around 5 pm and went to Alamo to pick up our car. I rented this through Priceline (intermediate car for 32. per day). They were quite busy and there was a wait. In the end they gave us a full size car-4 dr Impala. The trunk was big enough to hold two sets of golf clubs that was a big plus. We drove to Boulder area that night and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in Louisville. We got this on Priceline for 50. It was fine accommodations. There are lots of shops and restaurants in this area. However we were tired and still had some “picnic” food leftover so we finished that off and called it dinner and hit the hay.
Next morning we were up and out early—bright eyed and busy tailed!! We are enroute to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped in Boulder at a Safeway and picked up more picnic food—ham, cheese , rolls, mustard and cookies and of course water. (My husband had run out the night before to get a cheap styrafoam cooler that we filled with ice.) I should mention here that Safeway brand has some good cookies—combo of peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal.
The drive up to Estes Park on the eastern side of RMNP was very very pretty. I think it was Rte 35. I was loving Colorado already. Before we got to Estes Park there were some little cute cabins along a bubbling stream that looked so appealing. Estes Park looked quite nice too even though we took no time there and did a drive through. I think it would be a nice place to stay.
We entered the RMNP fairly early so we were allowed to drive to Bear Lake. The lake was clear and beautiful. One could easily see the trout they are cultivating in the Lake. My husband took the hike around the lake that he said was very easy. I am babying a bad knee so sat and admired the Lake. This trip has convinced me to see an orthopedic guy that I will do later on this month. This getting old stuff is for the birds! There is also there near Bear Lake a gorge and a waterfall to hike too. My husband took that little hike and really enjoyed it. I drove the car down to the Gorge parking lot to wait for him while I put together the picnic lunch. A bee (which has great symbolism for me) kept me company during the chore.
Then we were off on our adventure along Trail Ridge Road. The sights there cannot be described well by me. Around every corner it was more spectacular!! We took almost every stop possible and couldn’t get enough. Throughout Colorado I kept saying to my husband how wonderful it is that we have saved so much of this beautiful and special land for us to enjoy and those to come as well.
As we increased in altitude the topography changed and we got above the tree line. The Tundra area was different but fabulous to see as well. (Of course the signs say stay on the trails and there were those ignoring it and walking on the tundra with cigarettes in hand) I became very protective suddenly of what we have there and this strange voice came from within speaking to one man sitting out there with his cigarette. He ignored me and I could only speculate what happened to his cigarette with that attitude.
Once we got to the top or as high as we were to go by car (over 12,000 feet) I started to feel sort of weird. I didn’t feel sick just weird in the head. We had been drinking a lot of water to be careful. This was followed by a mild headache. I thought maybe it was time for our picnic. We stopped at Lake Irene that has a picnic area. We were entertained by some VERY aggressive birds who clearly wanted our lunch. There was the most tame deer there walking very close to the people. I think he is used to getting fed and/or enjoying leftovers. The only animals we saw on this day were elk in the tundra area. I felt much better and renewed after some food.
The rest of the ride through RMNP was pretty but nothing in comparison to the eastern side in my opinion. We stopped and took pictures at the Continental Divide. I know I had learned of it in school but had forgotten its significance.
As we left the Park we found ourselves right at the Grand lake Lodge-our resting spot for the next two nights. I prepared my husband for the “rustic” nature of our accommodations. We were lucky I guess to have gotten a room on such notice.. We had a half cabin with king bed. That is just about what it was a king bed and not much else. Very clean but very very basic. No phones, tvs, not even a radio with the clock. The room rate with tax was 105. per night with a two night minimum. Of course you must go into the Lodge first when checking in and that is awesome. The best front porch in Colorado is how it was described to me. The Lodge and porch is definitely something to see! There is the restaurant, gift shop, cocktail area—then lots of seating inside and out with a huge fireplace in the center. The porch has a few swings and EVERYONE has to swing for a while when visiting.
The cabin as I said was very basic and one would have little reason to stay in there except to sleep. There are no views from the cabins except woods. The cabins are quite close together. The big views are on the porch of in front of the Lodge of Grand Lake. Grand Lake is the largest natural lake in Colorado and looked small to us in comparison to some of our New England lakes. I guess many of the lakes in Colorado are actually manmade and are reservoirs. It was very pretty though.
Before I left home I had made dinner reservations at the Ladge for the porch. We went to the porch early and swung!! We met same very interesting people that evening. Many of the people had been coming as far back as 40 years ago and they all said they “loved” it!! Clearly many people were having dinner there outside of Lodge guests. We had 7 pm reservations. I let them know about 6:45 that we were here and they could seat us whenever. She said it would be a ten minute wait. Forty five minutes went by and our beeper never went off! We had been doing a LOT of swinging by this time. The reason for the delay she said was a lack of busboys. I guess a lot of the college kids had returned to school and they had serious staff shortages. We were to hear this consistently during our stay.
In the end we took a table inside next to the window. The buffet is 19.95 and 2.50 extra pp if you sit on the porch. (As an aside they do give a 15% discount to each person 60 and over) Sadly we both qualified for this discount—me barely by a couple of months! (Am I really in my 60’s??) I am a soup person and loved the soup as well as the salad bar. They had spicy salmon, fettuccine with shrimp and chicken and steak (it was actually a roast they were carving), broccoli au gratin, O’Brien potatoes?, etc etc. The salmon was too spicy, the pasta (my husband said ) was blah, the cheese had congealed on the broccoli etc. The roast was fine and cooked medium rare. I had two bowls of soup, a big salad and the roast. Desserts were plentiful but ordinary. Overall I would give the buffet a c+, I think they do a lot of weddings on the weekend. One was going on this evening as w ell. Perhaps the kitchen is overworked and at this time of the summer understaffed. I have been told the food used to be excellent. I left a suggestion on my rec card they asked us to fill out that they lose the buffet and the extra charge to sit on the porch. I heard several people complain about that.
Finally we head back to our “cabin” after a wonderful day of sightseeing in what has already become one of my favorite states! I’ll tell you how the bed was and about our explorations of the Grand Lake area in my next edition. H
Colorado is a huge state. I was advised to settle in one spot and given several suggestions. One of them was to stay in Summit County and others raved of Grand County etc. Someone even recommended a specific condo on Dillon Lake that couldn’t have been more perfect. Well you get the idea and now join us on our trip!
We left early on the morning of Friday August 19th to drive to Newark Airport-about 2.5 hours from our home in Connecticut. Our tickets were with Air Tran and they don’t fly out of Connecticut. I had packed a rather substantial lunch for us as we had a full day of travel. (I can’t let my husband get hungry or it isn’t pretty!) Most Air Tran flights have to connect in Atlanta. We flew into Atlanta and then another flight on to Denver. (See what I mean about a full day of travel.) Our flights were pretty much on time and uneventful.
We arrived in Denver around 5 pm and went to Alamo to pick up our car. I rented this through Priceline (intermediate car for 32. per day). They were quite busy and there was a wait. In the end they gave us a full size car-4 dr Impala. The trunk was big enough to hold two sets of golf clubs that was a big plus. We drove to Boulder area that night and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in Louisville. We got this on Priceline for 50. It was fine accommodations. There are lots of shops and restaurants in this area. However we were tired and still had some “picnic” food leftover so we finished that off and called it dinner and hit the hay.
Next morning we were up and out early—bright eyed and busy tailed!! We are enroute to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped in Boulder at a Safeway and picked up more picnic food—ham, cheese , rolls, mustard and cookies and of course water. (My husband had run out the night before to get a cheap styrafoam cooler that we filled with ice.) I should mention here that Safeway brand has some good cookies—combo of peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal.
The drive up to Estes Park on the eastern side of RMNP was very very pretty. I think it was Rte 35. I was loving Colorado already. Before we got to Estes Park there were some little cute cabins along a bubbling stream that looked so appealing. Estes Park looked quite nice too even though we took no time there and did a drive through. I think it would be a nice place to stay.
We entered the RMNP fairly early so we were allowed to drive to Bear Lake. The lake was clear and beautiful. One could easily see the trout they are cultivating in the Lake. My husband took the hike around the lake that he said was very easy. I am babying a bad knee so sat and admired the Lake. This trip has convinced me to see an orthopedic guy that I will do later on this month. This getting old stuff is for the birds! There is also there near Bear Lake a gorge and a waterfall to hike too. My husband took that little hike and really enjoyed it. I drove the car down to the Gorge parking lot to wait for him while I put together the picnic lunch. A bee (which has great symbolism for me) kept me company during the chore.
Then we were off on our adventure along Trail Ridge Road. The sights there cannot be described well by me. Around every corner it was more spectacular!! We took almost every stop possible and couldn’t get enough. Throughout Colorado I kept saying to my husband how wonderful it is that we have saved so much of this beautiful and special land for us to enjoy and those to come as well.
As we increased in altitude the topography changed and we got above the tree line. The Tundra area was different but fabulous to see as well. (Of course the signs say stay on the trails and there were those ignoring it and walking on the tundra with cigarettes in hand) I became very protective suddenly of what we have there and this strange voice came from within speaking to one man sitting out there with his cigarette. He ignored me and I could only speculate what happened to his cigarette with that attitude.
Once we got to the top or as high as we were to go by car (over 12,000 feet) I started to feel sort of weird. I didn’t feel sick just weird in the head. We had been drinking a lot of water to be careful. This was followed by a mild headache. I thought maybe it was time for our picnic. We stopped at Lake Irene that has a picnic area. We were entertained by some VERY aggressive birds who clearly wanted our lunch. There was the most tame deer there walking very close to the people. I think he is used to getting fed and/or enjoying leftovers. The only animals we saw on this day were elk in the tundra area. I felt much better and renewed after some food.
The rest of the ride through RMNP was pretty but nothing in comparison to the eastern side in my opinion. We stopped and took pictures at the Continental Divide. I know I had learned of it in school but had forgotten its significance.
As we left the Park we found ourselves right at the Grand lake Lodge-our resting spot for the next two nights. I prepared my husband for the “rustic” nature of our accommodations. We were lucky I guess to have gotten a room on such notice.. We had a half cabin with king bed. That is just about what it was a king bed and not much else. Very clean but very very basic. No phones, tvs, not even a radio with the clock. The room rate with tax was 105. per night with a two night minimum. Of course you must go into the Lodge first when checking in and that is awesome. The best front porch in Colorado is how it was described to me. The Lodge and porch is definitely something to see! There is the restaurant, gift shop, cocktail area—then lots of seating inside and out with a huge fireplace in the center. The porch has a few swings and EVERYONE has to swing for a while when visiting.
The cabin as I said was very basic and one would have little reason to stay in there except to sleep. There are no views from the cabins except woods. The cabins are quite close together. The big views are on the porch of in front of the Lodge of Grand Lake. Grand Lake is the largest natural lake in Colorado and looked small to us in comparison to some of our New England lakes. I guess many of the lakes in Colorado are actually manmade and are reservoirs. It was very pretty though.
Before I left home I had made dinner reservations at the Ladge for the porch. We went to the porch early and swung!! We met same very interesting people that evening. Many of the people had been coming as far back as 40 years ago and they all said they “loved” it!! Clearly many people were having dinner there outside of Lodge guests. We had 7 pm reservations. I let them know about 6:45 that we were here and they could seat us whenever. She said it would be a ten minute wait. Forty five minutes went by and our beeper never went off! We had been doing a LOT of swinging by this time. The reason for the delay she said was a lack of busboys. I guess a lot of the college kids had returned to school and they had serious staff shortages. We were to hear this consistently during our stay.
In the end we took a table inside next to the window. The buffet is 19.95 and 2.50 extra pp if you sit on the porch. (As an aside they do give a 15% discount to each person 60 and over) Sadly we both qualified for this discount—me barely by a couple of months! (Am I really in my 60’s??) I am a soup person and loved the soup as well as the salad bar. They had spicy salmon, fettuccine with shrimp and chicken and steak (it was actually a roast they were carving), broccoli au gratin, O’Brien potatoes?, etc etc. The salmon was too spicy, the pasta (my husband said ) was blah, the cheese had congealed on the broccoli etc. The roast was fine and cooked medium rare. I had two bowls of soup, a big salad and the roast. Desserts were plentiful but ordinary. Overall I would give the buffet a c+, I think they do a lot of weddings on the weekend. One was going on this evening as w ell. Perhaps the kitchen is overworked and at this time of the summer understaffed. I have been told the food used to be excellent. I left a suggestion on my rec card they asked us to fill out that they lose the buffet and the extra charge to sit on the porch. I heard several people complain about that.
Finally we head back to our “cabin” after a wonderful day of sightseeing in what has already become one of my favorite states! I’ll tell you how the bed was and about our explorations of the Grand Lake area in my next edition. H
Sep 2nd, 2005, 10:12 AM
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Part Two
We slept like logs this night and the bed was surprisingly comfortable. It was a good thing we were so tired as our neighbors were rather noisy. There were several young couples staying near us—all well acquainted and having a good old time. I think they may have been there attending a wedding on Friday and spent the weekend. While they disturbed us on occasion we managed to sleep well.
I had made arrangements for my husband to play golf on Sunday at the Grand Lake Golf Course. I found out they charge $50 for 18 after noon for Grand Lake Lodge guests so he was going off at noon. This left us the morning to sightsee etc. The Lodge has a big Sunday Brunch including Champagne for 21.95. They do not serve a regular breakfast on Sundays so we went off in search of a good but more simple breakfast. I checked out the Brunch and it looked great. It was far superior in presentation than the buffet on Saturday night.
We first went to check out the golf course as my husband was getting excited on playing his first real mountain golf course. They were serving breakfast so we enjoyed an excellent hot breakfast. It was 8.50 for the hot including coffee and 5.50 for the cold. We met several golfing couples (I DO NOT PLAY GOLF!!) but they described the course as a “gem” to John and I could tell he was excited to give it a try.
We went then into the town of Grand Lake that is rather cute and drove around. A couple of people had recommended highly The Rapids Restaurant so we stopped for a dinner reservation. Apparently the best seat in the house is a window seat overlooking the rapids. The menu is a bit pricey but the food is reportedly excellent. She could only guarantee me a table at 5 which was going to be tight with his golf. By the way this place has lodging overlooking the rapids—townhouse type. A gal we met there stayed in one and said it was fabulous. They were at a wedding the day before at Grand Lake Lodge. The rates for these townhouses were between 175-89 but they were spacious she said and slept a family.
My husband suddenly remembered he had a business colleague that he thought might have a cabin in this area. Now he remembers. He found him in the phone book and we went in search of this cabin. IT was a darling A frame overlooking one of the nearby lakes and they were not using it on this particular weekend. My husband really gets into vacations once we leave the house but wants to know nothing about anything before the vacation and leaves the planning to me. (Which by the way is fine with me)
There are some fine looking homes overlooking the lake that we checked out. About this time I did say to my husband “I don’t get it” and he said “I don’t get it either.” This area was fine and I am glad we stayed there but neither of us would make an effort to come back. I think somewhere along the line the charm and draw of Grand Lake eluded us.
About 11 John headed off to golf and I was left to my own devices. I let him take the car and I spent about 4 hours “hanging out” in the Lodge. I sat on the swings for a long time, checked out the gift shop, sat near the fire and “people watched”, read and just relaxed. By the way the Lodge is a very busy place on a Sunday afternoon.
Finally I decided to go back to my cabin to read. IT is a bit of a hike back up to the cabin and I felt every step. I knew I was at a higher altitude than my norm.. Even my husband who plays lots of golf, tennis and exercises was getting winded.
New people were checking into the next door cabin and they had a toddler and a newborn. My reaction was “Oh Lord!”—these walls are so thin. However they went to bed early with nary a sound all night and we were up before them on Monday.
John came back from golf about 5:45 which meant no window table. We opted for pizza and beer. The front desk recommended a place on Main St called Grand Pizza and off we went. It was a nice night and we sat outside—very pleasant. I should mention here that the temps so far in Colorado have been delightful after the humidity and high temps we have experienced in Ct. this summer. It seemed almost every afternoon a storm would pass through quickly and then the sun would return. We had a Caribbean pizza there which was pepper, onions and mushrooms with red sauce, cheese and a touch of honey. Different but very good and we were hungry with no food since breakfast. We were in bed by 8 (NO we didn’t go to the lounge to listen to the band!) We are not party animals in any sense of the word and tend to hit the hay early even at home. There was entertainment every night at the Lodge and there are lots of activities for adults and kids alike—swimming, boating and horseback riding. The kids seemed to all be having a ball. Really everyone seemed to love the place. We liked it too sort of. We found it to be a different experience and glad we gave it a try. Now get me to more luxurious quarters please!
Next installment—our drive south through Hot Sulphur Springs and on to Summit County. H
We slept like logs this night and the bed was surprisingly comfortable. It was a good thing we were so tired as our neighbors were rather noisy. There were several young couples staying near us—all well acquainted and having a good old time. I think they may have been there attending a wedding on Friday and spent the weekend. While they disturbed us on occasion we managed to sleep well.
I had made arrangements for my husband to play golf on Sunday at the Grand Lake Golf Course. I found out they charge $50 for 18 after noon for Grand Lake Lodge guests so he was going off at noon. This left us the morning to sightsee etc. The Lodge has a big Sunday Brunch including Champagne for 21.95. They do not serve a regular breakfast on Sundays so we went off in search of a good but more simple breakfast. I checked out the Brunch and it looked great. It was far superior in presentation than the buffet on Saturday night.
We first went to check out the golf course as my husband was getting excited on playing his first real mountain golf course. They were serving breakfast so we enjoyed an excellent hot breakfast. It was 8.50 for the hot including coffee and 5.50 for the cold. We met several golfing couples (I DO NOT PLAY GOLF!!) but they described the course as a “gem” to John and I could tell he was excited to give it a try.
We went then into the town of Grand Lake that is rather cute and drove around. A couple of people had recommended highly The Rapids Restaurant so we stopped for a dinner reservation. Apparently the best seat in the house is a window seat overlooking the rapids. The menu is a bit pricey but the food is reportedly excellent. She could only guarantee me a table at 5 which was going to be tight with his golf. By the way this place has lodging overlooking the rapids—townhouse type. A gal we met there stayed in one and said it was fabulous. They were at a wedding the day before at Grand Lake Lodge. The rates for these townhouses were between 175-89 but they were spacious she said and slept a family.
My husband suddenly remembered he had a business colleague that he thought might have a cabin in this area. Now he remembers. He found him in the phone book and we went in search of this cabin. IT was a darling A frame overlooking one of the nearby lakes and they were not using it on this particular weekend. My husband really gets into vacations once we leave the house but wants to know nothing about anything before the vacation and leaves the planning to me. (Which by the way is fine with me)
There are some fine looking homes overlooking the lake that we checked out. About this time I did say to my husband “I don’t get it” and he said “I don’t get it either.” This area was fine and I am glad we stayed there but neither of us would make an effort to come back. I think somewhere along the line the charm and draw of Grand Lake eluded us.
About 11 John headed off to golf and I was left to my own devices. I let him take the car and I spent about 4 hours “hanging out” in the Lodge. I sat on the swings for a long time, checked out the gift shop, sat near the fire and “people watched”, read and just relaxed. By the way the Lodge is a very busy place on a Sunday afternoon.
Finally I decided to go back to my cabin to read. IT is a bit of a hike back up to the cabin and I felt every step. I knew I was at a higher altitude than my norm.. Even my husband who plays lots of golf, tennis and exercises was getting winded.
New people were checking into the next door cabin and they had a toddler and a newborn. My reaction was “Oh Lord!”—these walls are so thin. However they went to bed early with nary a sound all night and we were up before them on Monday.
John came back from golf about 5:45 which meant no window table. We opted for pizza and beer. The front desk recommended a place on Main St called Grand Pizza and off we went. It was a nice night and we sat outside—very pleasant. I should mention here that the temps so far in Colorado have been delightful after the humidity and high temps we have experienced in Ct. this summer. It seemed almost every afternoon a storm would pass through quickly and then the sun would return. We had a Caribbean pizza there which was pepper, onions and mushrooms with red sauce, cheese and a touch of honey. Different but very good and we were hungry with no food since breakfast. We were in bed by 8 (NO we didn’t go to the lounge to listen to the band!) We are not party animals in any sense of the word and tend to hit the hay early even at home. There was entertainment every night at the Lodge and there are lots of activities for adults and kids alike—swimming, boating and horseback riding. The kids seemed to all be having a ball. Really everyone seemed to love the place. We liked it too sort of. We found it to be a different experience and glad we gave it a try. Now get me to more luxurious quarters please!
Next installment—our drive south through Hot Sulphur Springs and on to Summit County. H
Sep 2nd, 2005, 11:52 AM
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I wanted to add something here about the lore of Grand Lake. I think it was also called The Lake of the Spirits. ONe lady shared this story with me and I would love to know if it was true. She said a peaceful nation of Indians the Arapahoe I believe lived on the lake. Then a warrior tribe arrived and war was pending. The Arapahoe in order to keep their women and children safe put them all on a raft out on the lake. The raft subsequently sunk and with it the lives of all their women and children. Such a sad tale. H
Sep 2nd, 2005, 12:49 PM
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As a resident of Summit County, I'm looking forward to the next installment! I agree, those little cabins and lodges just outside of Estes Park and before the Park entrance appeal to me too. Did your husband find that his golf ball flew farther at altitude?
Sep 2nd, 2005, 12:55 PM
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Man --he loved it at Grand Lake Golf that they gave him little tips. He said tips that worked. All told he played 6 rounds of golf in Colorado and said he was using different clubs for sure. He is out today on his regular course and I am anxious to hear how it felt and if his Colorado golf experiences helped or hindered his game. Summit County is coming soon (which we all loved). My husband is in a tournament tomorrow so I should have lots of free time for my chit chattery ways on Fodors' H
Sep 2nd, 2005, 03:14 PM
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HI Reeder....disneynan here again...I am still so thrilled you enjoyed the Dillion condo I suggested, and am enjoying your trip report ..My family lived in Louisville for several yrs, moved up to Longmont so I am familiar with alot of stuff you mention. Like you, I had the same feelings about the Grand Lake area! My sister had urged us for years to go there, but a one time visit was enough for me! We will take Summit County any day. There are just so many things to do from that area. Sorry to hear you had altitude sickness. I should have really warned you, as I get it too. Takes me several days,if not more to feel right.In fact we started spending a few days visiting family in CO. before heading straight up to Dillion like we originally did. We just came back from WY and alot of family members from our group had several off "beginning days" there too.
Sep 2nd, 2005, 04:22 PM
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As usual at this early hour I am off to bed to rest up for my marathon trip report writing tomorrow. I was glad to hear someone besides my husband and I who for whatever reason went against the general sentiment and didn't "Love, Love" the Grand Lake Lodge.
My husband and I met on Cape Cod and we both went there all our lives. It is a very special place for me and I feel young again just going over the bridge. We leave next week for almost two weeks there by the water-to a place that we go to each year. It is the tiniest cottage you ever saw but the views are to die for. Our kids join us and we are squished in there but it is very special to us. I guess great memories endear a place for a person and nothing can change that. Our son joined us for four nights in Dillon and he loved the place as much as we did. We will always have fond and great memories of our time on Lake Dillon. More tomorrow I promise. H
My husband and I met on Cape Cod and we both went there all our lives. It is a very special place for me and I feel young again just going over the bridge. We leave next week for almost two weeks there by the water-to a place that we go to each year. It is the tiniest cottage you ever saw but the views are to die for. Our kids join us and we are squished in there but it is very special to us. I guess great memories endear a place for a person and nothing can change that. Our son joined us for four nights in Dillon and he loved the place as much as we did. We will always have fond and great memories of our time on Lake Dillon. More tomorrow I promise. H
Sep 3rd, 2005, 06:26 AM
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Part Three
We were up and out of Grand Lake Lodge quite early and began our drive to Summit County—Lake Dillon! We drove to Granby and the across to Kremling and then down Rte 9. Once again it was a very pretty drive and we made a few sightseeing stops along the way. We did go through the town of Hot Sulphur Springs and stopped at the HSS Resort there. It was practically deserted on a Monday morning—perhaps two rooms appeared rented. The town itself was VERY quiet too. The resort looked like it had a new face lift. We were wondering if it was more a weekend resort or we were there out of its season.
We were keeping an eye out for a breakfast spot that appealed to us with little luck along the way. The population appeared quite sparse along this route until we started nearing the Silverthorne area. We came upon the Raven Resort at Three Peaks that I recognized as one of the golf courses my research had revealed to be one for my husband not to miss. We drove in and around this area and the homes were a sight to see. As we went up the mountainside they just got bigger and more impressive with views to die for. We could see some of the holes of the Golf Course that got my big “little “ boy excited. He was almost drooling in anticipation of playing there in the next couple of days.
We were really starving now and decided to stop at a place called the Sunshine Café for breakfast in Silverthorne. It turned out to be an excellent choice. We had a VERY friendly waitress who was efficient and full of energy. They served an excellent breakfast for a very reasonable price. My husband chose with his breakfast the dollar pancakes as a side instead of toast or English muffin. I was afraid that it wouldn’t be enough food for him—these tiny pancakes I anticipated. These dollar pancakes were three in number and eight inches wide—a full breakfast in itself. He also had eggs, hash browns and some of my bacon. We read later in the week that the Sunshine Café was rated best breakfast in the entire area. Can we pick em or what?
Even though we were not supposed to get into our condo until about 4 we were anxious to check it out. Me in particular as I was still a bit nervous about renting something sight unseen over the internet. We had nothing to worry about as the condo was too perfect. The view of the lake with mountain backdrop was to die for. The condo recently refurbished with great style was comfortable and well equipped. It had two bedroom (one queen and a room with two sets of bunks), two baths, a modern kitchen, dining area and living room with gas fireplace. The deck was large and extended across living room and master bedroom. The deck had a grille and lots of heavy comfortable furniture-even rockers. The decorating theme was Western America—with a photo of John Wayne to boot! In the days to come we would feel that Pointe Dillon condos had our favorite location—a unobstructed view of the lake with a bit of grass and a bike trail between. It had a secure parking garage and an elevator. And the price was right. You can check out this condo at www.vrbo.com/5839.
We met the lady with the cleaning service who seemed very thorough. She told us about City Market which was across the road and added she liked the meat better at the Safeway in Frisco. So we headed out on the dreaded grocery shopping adventure—that everyone who rents a condo or cottage etc is familiar with. We wandered around the Safeway for a while not knowing exactly how to attack. We got some veggies—potatoes, onions etc. Then when in the meat department I found they had a sale on London Broil and a roast. I really got carried away here and bought a small roast for dinner and two huge London Broils. After all they were 1.99 lb and beauties. I also bought some chicken thighs for my apricot chicken and lots of breakfast foods. I am not much of a breakfast eater but my husband comes from the school of “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” Our son would be joining us in a day and my husband was to see to it that the kid had a huge breakfast each morning.
Speaking of Kevin he was due to arrive the next day from Chicago. I tried to make his van reservations from Denver to Frisco on Colorado Mountain Express. When I called the 800 number I found out that it cost $10. more each way than making the reservations on the Internet. We found our way to the Silverthorne Library’s computer and after some difficulty with their website was able to make the reservations for him saving $20 in the process. Let’s face it $20 is 20 bucks!
We finished up our grocery shopping at City Market as we couldn’t find Hellman’s Light. City Market didn’t carry it either. I was planning on making a large pasta veggie salad. (I made a huge one—that I could only sell for a couple of days until it became a joke. (At least half of it went into the garbage on checkout day!) Also since coming home we have been on a fish diet and neither of us is in a mood to see a London Broil again for a while. I made a hash out of it, --finally finishing it for sandwiches on our plane ride home???
That afternoon my husband got a tee time for Copper Mountain golf and off he went. I was in LOVE with my view and found it so peaceful. I tried to read but I would read a page and stare at the view for 20 minutes only to repeat the cycle over and over. I got very little reading done.
There are wonderful bicycle trails connecting all the nearby towns—and the views must be so wonderful. As we expected the people of Colorado are the outdoors healthy type—biking, hiking, running, walking, roller blading. And many of them were doing it before my eyes on the bike trail in front of Point Dillon. I saw so many cool bikes I had never seen before and everyone was enjoying themselves. I made a nice dinner roast, baked potatoes and butternut squash and unpacked. The condo has a washer and dryer so I also got caught up on our laundry. I felt “at home.”
My husband enjoyed the golf. We watched a storm roll through ending with a beautiful rainbow, had a nice fire, dinner and bed. From this condo you have an amazing perspective in watching the process of a storm.
Tomorrow Kevin arrives (my husband has a playmate for golf) and I get to spoil them both. h
We were up and out of Grand Lake Lodge quite early and began our drive to Summit County—Lake Dillon! We drove to Granby and the across to Kremling and then down Rte 9. Once again it was a very pretty drive and we made a few sightseeing stops along the way. We did go through the town of Hot Sulphur Springs and stopped at the HSS Resort there. It was practically deserted on a Monday morning—perhaps two rooms appeared rented. The town itself was VERY quiet too. The resort looked like it had a new face lift. We were wondering if it was more a weekend resort or we were there out of its season.
We were keeping an eye out for a breakfast spot that appealed to us with little luck along the way. The population appeared quite sparse along this route until we started nearing the Silverthorne area. We came upon the Raven Resort at Three Peaks that I recognized as one of the golf courses my research had revealed to be one for my husband not to miss. We drove in and around this area and the homes were a sight to see. As we went up the mountainside they just got bigger and more impressive with views to die for. We could see some of the holes of the Golf Course that got my big “little “ boy excited. He was almost drooling in anticipation of playing there in the next couple of days.
We were really starving now and decided to stop at a place called the Sunshine Café for breakfast in Silverthorne. It turned out to be an excellent choice. We had a VERY friendly waitress who was efficient and full of energy. They served an excellent breakfast for a very reasonable price. My husband chose with his breakfast the dollar pancakes as a side instead of toast or English muffin. I was afraid that it wouldn’t be enough food for him—these tiny pancakes I anticipated. These dollar pancakes were three in number and eight inches wide—a full breakfast in itself. He also had eggs, hash browns and some of my bacon. We read later in the week that the Sunshine Café was rated best breakfast in the entire area. Can we pick em or what?
Even though we were not supposed to get into our condo until about 4 we were anxious to check it out. Me in particular as I was still a bit nervous about renting something sight unseen over the internet. We had nothing to worry about as the condo was too perfect. The view of the lake with mountain backdrop was to die for. The condo recently refurbished with great style was comfortable and well equipped. It had two bedroom (one queen and a room with two sets of bunks), two baths, a modern kitchen, dining area and living room with gas fireplace. The deck was large and extended across living room and master bedroom. The deck had a grille and lots of heavy comfortable furniture-even rockers. The decorating theme was Western America—with a photo of John Wayne to boot! In the days to come we would feel that Pointe Dillon condos had our favorite location—a unobstructed view of the lake with a bit of grass and a bike trail between. It had a secure parking garage and an elevator. And the price was right. You can check out this condo at www.vrbo.com/5839.
We met the lady with the cleaning service who seemed very thorough. She told us about City Market which was across the road and added she liked the meat better at the Safeway in Frisco. So we headed out on the dreaded grocery shopping adventure—that everyone who rents a condo or cottage etc is familiar with. We wandered around the Safeway for a while not knowing exactly how to attack. We got some veggies—potatoes, onions etc. Then when in the meat department I found they had a sale on London Broil and a roast. I really got carried away here and bought a small roast for dinner and two huge London Broils. After all they were 1.99 lb and beauties. I also bought some chicken thighs for my apricot chicken and lots of breakfast foods. I am not much of a breakfast eater but my husband comes from the school of “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” Our son would be joining us in a day and my husband was to see to it that the kid had a huge breakfast each morning.
Speaking of Kevin he was due to arrive the next day from Chicago. I tried to make his van reservations from Denver to Frisco on Colorado Mountain Express. When I called the 800 number I found out that it cost $10. more each way than making the reservations on the Internet. We found our way to the Silverthorne Library’s computer and after some difficulty with their website was able to make the reservations for him saving $20 in the process. Let’s face it $20 is 20 bucks!
We finished up our grocery shopping at City Market as we couldn’t find Hellman’s Light. City Market didn’t carry it either. I was planning on making a large pasta veggie salad. (I made a huge one—that I could only sell for a couple of days until it became a joke. (At least half of it went into the garbage on checkout day!) Also since coming home we have been on a fish diet and neither of us is in a mood to see a London Broil again for a while. I made a hash out of it, --finally finishing it for sandwiches on our plane ride home???
That afternoon my husband got a tee time for Copper Mountain golf and off he went. I was in LOVE with my view and found it so peaceful. I tried to read but I would read a page and stare at the view for 20 minutes only to repeat the cycle over and over. I got very little reading done.
There are wonderful bicycle trails connecting all the nearby towns—and the views must be so wonderful. As we expected the people of Colorado are the outdoors healthy type—biking, hiking, running, walking, roller blading. And many of them were doing it before my eyes on the bike trail in front of Point Dillon. I saw so many cool bikes I had never seen before and everyone was enjoying themselves. I made a nice dinner roast, baked potatoes and butternut squash and unpacked. The condo has a washer and dryer so I also got caught up on our laundry. I felt “at home.”
My husband enjoyed the golf. We watched a storm roll through ending with a beautiful rainbow, had a nice fire, dinner and bed. From this condo you have an amazing perspective in watching the process of a storm.
Tomorrow Kevin arrives (my husband has a playmate for golf) and I get to spoil them both. h
Sep 3rd, 2005, 06:20 PM
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I realize this is too late for Helen, but for anyone else using CME (mountain express), you can reserve online for a ride to the Frisco Transfer station (behind Safeway) for only $29 one way. This is a lot less than the $55 airport to door price.
Summit County has the best bike trails and paths anywhere.
Summit County has the best bike trails and paths anywhere.
Sep 4th, 2005, 06:47 AM
#13
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Part Four
What a wonderful way to wake up –with the beautiful clear Lake Dillon and the mountains right out your bedroom window!!! We had our coffee on the patio and the weather was beautiful and the air so clean!
Kevin was arriving via CME at 11 am. John helped me chop the veggies for my pasta salad, I got really carried away using two pounds of elbows. In any event we always make a great team. He can’t help me enough. We were both looking forward to seeing Kevin (28) as he has been traveling with ESPN for over a month now. We normally see him on regular basis as he lives about ½ hour away from us. For John it was something more as he now has a playmate for golf!!
Kevin arrived on time. We teased him about the condo telling him the location was okay but the place was a dump. As he walked in he was looking at us like we were out of our heads. He thought the place was wonderful too. He LOVED the view and he was hungry. So I made him roast beef sandwiches on toast (from last night’s roast) and some of my ten pounds of pasta salad! He and John decided to play golf at Copper Mountain. John really thought I should see Vail so I drove them to golf and proceeded on the Vail. (To be honest I would have preferred to stay with my book and views) I drove reluctantly to Vail, drove all through the town without stopping. It was nice, looked expensive but didn’t do much for me. (Could it have been my mood?) When I got back to Copper Mountain it was too early for golf to be over so I decided to continue on and check out Leadville??? It was further away than I thought about 28 miles. I was getting hungry now as I hadn’t eaten since my morning bagel. I decided to stop in Leadville and have some soup. I am a soup person.
After all the beauty of Colorado thusfar—was Leadville ever a disappointment! It appeared to be what it is I guess-- an economically impoverished town, I didn’t find anything appealing about it plus I couldn’t even find a place I wanted to go to for soup. The only place that looked okay to me was Pizza Hut and I was to find out they don’t sell soup. I had seen hot soup in other Safeways I had been to so I decided to settle on that. The Safeway in Leadville does not sell hot soup. Thusfar my solo sightseeing trip had been a bust and I was starving. I drove back to Copper Mountain Resort and finally found the JJ’s (I think” at the end of the golf holes. It is more of a bar but they did have hot soup—mushroom spinach. To my starving self it was DELICIOUS!!
Dinner that night was the first of our London Broils—along with the famous pasta salad and a hot veggie. Of course those Safeway cookies I talked about are around for dessert should anyone want them. I have replenished our original—peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal. Kevin was tired from all his travels (and his first mountain golf) and hit the hay before the old fogies!!
Wednesday is golf at the Raven Three Peaks and they are looking forward to it. They are playing at one for $99. I had a coupon from the internet that included a golf shirt from the pre shop for that price. John of course was chefboyardee with the huge breakfast for Kevin and of course himself—cantaloupe, oj, home fries, eggs, toast etc.
We did some sightseeing in the morning checking out Breckenridge and surrounding areas. Breck is a busy cute town with lots of restaurants and shops. The ladies would love this. Kevin had some work chores to attend to ie sending something from Federal Express which we did.
I dropped them off at Raven and went in to the pro shop to help them pick out their new golf shirts. They were glad I did as neither of them are shoppers. The people running this golf course couldn’t have been nicer. We have found everyone we have come in contact with to be friendly. At both grocery stores they always thanked me for my business and told me how much I saved. It was such a sharp contrast to how I was treated the other day when I went for my first grocery shopping back here in Ct.
Tonight is chicken night and we all are looking forward to the change!? I had decided to cook all our meals as we couldn’t find a view like we had in any restaurant. After all these years I think I could cook in my sleep anyway.
So it was apricot chicken, roasted potatoes with onions and corn.
I tried to shop at some of the outlets hops on this day but wasn’t in the mood. I was hungry for some more soup. As was suggested here I tried the Arapahoe Café in center of downtown Dillon. Just to inform you guys reading about this area for the first time. Lake Dillon is actually a reservoir and is the water source for Denver. The town was once located on the site of the reservoir. In the 50’s it was proposed to become a reservoir and the town was actually relocated to its present site. The Arapahoe Café has a history as it was actually moved to its present site from the old Dillon. It is a cute friendly little café with outside seating if you choose.
They have a signature soup that I ordered—roasted tomato and spinach with assiago cheese. It was fabulous! I loved it and asked for the recipe. I was told the owner would not give it out. It turned out the owner wasn’t there on this day and the assistant cook (who had made this pot was pleased I liked it) and gave me the ingredients and sort of a method. It was the first thing I cooked on my return and it tastes as good as the original. So my day was made right on the spot in the heart of Dillon.
The boys absolutely LOVED the Raven Golf Course!!! We had a storm roll by this early evening again and it is a sight to behold. Kevin noticed them first and then John was fascinated with them. When the water was whitecapping some water creatures could be seen surfacing. We could never figure out what they were but they were large and looked dark. My husband speculated otters and someone else thought beavers. Does anyone know?
Once again Kevin –the night owl- hit the hay early as did his parents.
By the way my husband loved loved! The APRICOT chicken this evening. I don’t know how good it was but I think anything other than beef would have looked good???
They play The River Course at Keystone tomorrow and I have it easy as it will be leftover night. I hope to sell more of my pasta salad for sure. What was I thinking?
Same routine today—up early and the big breakfast. Weather is glorious each morning and it is just such a joy to wake up and relish our beautiful views. I just find the view to be so peaceful and soul renewing. I like to read a lot but did little reading during our stay in Dillon. I would read a page and then stare at the view for 20 minutes and repeat the cycle. This was heaven to me.
Kevin needed to make some plane reservations for himself so I had reserved him an hour at the Silverthorne Library. However when we arrived we were told the computers were down and we were directed to a café internet in Dillon. It is in the Office Max/and or Staples plaza right across from City Market plaza. They had delicious hot chocolates, coffee etc and the computer use was free. Very comfortable pleasant place. I even grabbed a computer and got caught up on the 300 email messages awaiting me on my computer.
On this day we tried the Dillon Brewery that Kevin told us was famous. I urged them to try the sampler tray—eight different samples of their beer in 4 oz glasses. We played a game rating them on a scale of 1-5. Not a beer drinker myself my favorite was the raspberry beer! I think the sampler tray was 8.50. I also ordered my self the onion soup gratinee. It was inedible with the amount of salt in it. They apologized and said others had complained the night before so it must be just a bad batch. They did not charge me for it. This was a little fun diversion.
I made the boys some lunch. A nice salad with among other things roast beef on top. My pasta salad is not selling too well at this point but I will get them at dinner! Then they were off to Keystone.I think their golf fees here were $99. also for afternoon play. I drove them and checked out Keystone and Dillon Valley. I also found myself back at the Outlets (Now more in the mood) and had a lot of success shopping at the Ralph Lauren shop—too much success.
Almost every afternoon a storm would blow through their golf games and roll on out. On this day they experienced lightning and for safety’s sake got off the golf course for a while. I heard all about the 2 hot dogs and water they had for $13.50! They really enjoyed playing The River Course and enjoyed the views from there of Dillon Lake. These views gave them a different perspective of the Lake.
No complaints about all the leftovers tonight. There was still some chicken leftover so that was good. They were making an effort to eat the pasta salad too but I still have tons! What was I thinking?
The boys enjoyed a long soak in the condo’s hot tub this evening before early lights out.
We couldn’t believe it was now Friday already. Another beautiful morning, another huge country breakfast a la John!—and yet one more London Broil to cook!!—and somehow make it look fancy??
Today the boys were playing Breckenridge in the afternoon ($67) I decided to make more of an effort with my dinner and made baked twice stuffed potatoes and baked onions a la Paula Dean. (for those interested—peel and quarter an onion without cutting through to the bottom(keeping onion in tact) place a boullion cube in the center pushing down and put butter in between the quarters. (Paula slabs a lot of butter all over but I don’t (she LOVES butter! And I also stuck in a whole garlic clove below the boullion cube (my idea) and then you double wrap them in foil twisting at the top. You can do them on the grille but I put them in a pan in case of leakage and bake them at 350 for 45 min to an hour. They will give real good when ready. Place foil packet in soup bowl and let each guest open his own. DELICIOUS!! It is truly an easy version of onion soup. My husband loves them. Now my trip report is turning into the Cooking Channel? Old habits die hard.
The boys really enjoyed Breckenridge Golf and the “dinner”. More hot tubbing and bed. Tomorrow Kevin leaves for Salt Lake so it will be a leisurely day with no golf. I got inspired and make roast beef hash for breakfast with some of my leftovers.
John had to run out early on Saturday for a couple of things for my hash—peppers, onion and potato. I am not a hash maker but they ate it okay with little complaints. I had him pick up also some ham and cheese. I wanted to make Kev a picnic lunch for his trip and didn’t have the heart to make London broil sandwiches. It was quite a lunch. Two big overloaded sandwiches, those cookies, cheese and crackers, some salso and chips and three bottles of water I had frozen. He said it lasted him through his dinner.
Before he left Kevin just sat and stared out to the lake and mountains. He made friends with some of the owners having a party below us and got himself an invitation to the party. He probably would have joined them if not for his impending flight. He also took a long relaxing hot tub by himself. We put him on the CME at 3 ish and went back and just chilled with our view. My husband felt it was his duty to single handedly finish off our hors d’s—salsa and chips and cheese and crackers. He also took a plate of leftovers that I forced on him. (I had wanted to offer the owners a pot of pasta salad for their party but my husband didn’t think it was a good idea!)
Was sad to find our stay here ending. I loved it and everything about it. Even though I cooked and grocery shopped etc I find myself surprisingly rested and relaxed.
Sunday morning was packing day that is always so much easier than packing to leave. Also we had a washer and dryer and I kept up on the laundry so we had barely any dirty clothes to bring home. Nice eh? And of course I packed us a picnic lunch. We did not get ham and cheese but the last of the London Broil!!! Yes we finally did finish it.
We took a different longer route to Denver. We went back through Breckenridge and down to Fairplay and on to Denver. This was another very pretty ride—different topography—more ranches etc. My husband wanted me to see downtown Denver which was quite nice. I was in the mood for Italian. I asked the concierge at the Hyatt to help me find an Italian restaurant. There are several but not many open for lunch. WE ended up off the 16th St. mall (which is cool) at Maggione’s. It is a chain but the portions were gigantic (and believe me we didn’t order beef!) I reminded me of the old Mama Leone’s of NYC and Boston fame. It was very reasonable. Did we have leftovers??
So that is what we called our dinner in our room at the Marriott airport that night. We got this room for $50 on Priceline. Nice room, nice hotel. We left off our luggage and returned our rental car to Alamo. We also stopped off at Air Tran counter to see if we could get exit seats on both our flights the next day and we did. (Air Tran doesn’t assign seats until 24 hours before the flight)
Flying from Denver to Atlanta and then on to Newark kills a full day and is tiring. Such a shame after such a wonderful vacation. One flight is enough for us. We had some delays this day but at least were comfortable (my bad knee was saved) and we still had our “Picnic” lunch to enjoy!!
We were both tired for a day or so after our trip but we left a piece of our hearts in Colorado! It was a last minute vacation for us but a very successful and fun vacation that we will always remember! Colorado is the BEST!! Helen
What a wonderful way to wake up –with the beautiful clear Lake Dillon and the mountains right out your bedroom window!!! We had our coffee on the patio and the weather was beautiful and the air so clean!
Kevin was arriving via CME at 11 am. John helped me chop the veggies for my pasta salad, I got really carried away using two pounds of elbows. In any event we always make a great team. He can’t help me enough. We were both looking forward to seeing Kevin (28) as he has been traveling with ESPN for over a month now. We normally see him on regular basis as he lives about ½ hour away from us. For John it was something more as he now has a playmate for golf!!
Kevin arrived on time. We teased him about the condo telling him the location was okay but the place was a dump. As he walked in he was looking at us like we were out of our heads. He thought the place was wonderful too. He LOVED the view and he was hungry. So I made him roast beef sandwiches on toast (from last night’s roast) and some of my ten pounds of pasta salad! He and John decided to play golf at Copper Mountain. John really thought I should see Vail so I drove them to golf and proceeded on the Vail. (To be honest I would have preferred to stay with my book and views) I drove reluctantly to Vail, drove all through the town without stopping. It was nice, looked expensive but didn’t do much for me. (Could it have been my mood?) When I got back to Copper Mountain it was too early for golf to be over so I decided to continue on and check out Leadville??? It was further away than I thought about 28 miles. I was getting hungry now as I hadn’t eaten since my morning bagel. I decided to stop in Leadville and have some soup. I am a soup person.
After all the beauty of Colorado thusfar—was Leadville ever a disappointment! It appeared to be what it is I guess-- an economically impoverished town, I didn’t find anything appealing about it plus I couldn’t even find a place I wanted to go to for soup. The only place that looked okay to me was Pizza Hut and I was to find out they don’t sell soup. I had seen hot soup in other Safeways I had been to so I decided to settle on that. The Safeway in Leadville does not sell hot soup. Thusfar my solo sightseeing trip had been a bust and I was starving. I drove back to Copper Mountain Resort and finally found the JJ’s (I think” at the end of the golf holes. It is more of a bar but they did have hot soup—mushroom spinach. To my starving self it was DELICIOUS!!
Dinner that night was the first of our London Broils—along with the famous pasta salad and a hot veggie. Of course those Safeway cookies I talked about are around for dessert should anyone want them. I have replenished our original—peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal. Kevin was tired from all his travels (and his first mountain golf) and hit the hay before the old fogies!!
Wednesday is golf at the Raven Three Peaks and they are looking forward to it. They are playing at one for $99. I had a coupon from the internet that included a golf shirt from the pre shop for that price. John of course was chefboyardee with the huge breakfast for Kevin and of course himself—cantaloupe, oj, home fries, eggs, toast etc.
We did some sightseeing in the morning checking out Breckenridge and surrounding areas. Breck is a busy cute town with lots of restaurants and shops. The ladies would love this. Kevin had some work chores to attend to ie sending something from Federal Express which we did.
I dropped them off at Raven and went in to the pro shop to help them pick out their new golf shirts. They were glad I did as neither of them are shoppers. The people running this golf course couldn’t have been nicer. We have found everyone we have come in contact with to be friendly. At both grocery stores they always thanked me for my business and told me how much I saved. It was such a sharp contrast to how I was treated the other day when I went for my first grocery shopping back here in Ct.
Tonight is chicken night and we all are looking forward to the change!? I had decided to cook all our meals as we couldn’t find a view like we had in any restaurant. After all these years I think I could cook in my sleep anyway.
So it was apricot chicken, roasted potatoes with onions and corn.
I tried to shop at some of the outlets hops on this day but wasn’t in the mood. I was hungry for some more soup. As was suggested here I tried the Arapahoe Café in center of downtown Dillon. Just to inform you guys reading about this area for the first time. Lake Dillon is actually a reservoir and is the water source for Denver. The town was once located on the site of the reservoir. In the 50’s it was proposed to become a reservoir and the town was actually relocated to its present site. The Arapahoe Café has a history as it was actually moved to its present site from the old Dillon. It is a cute friendly little café with outside seating if you choose.
They have a signature soup that I ordered—roasted tomato and spinach with assiago cheese. It was fabulous! I loved it and asked for the recipe. I was told the owner would not give it out. It turned out the owner wasn’t there on this day and the assistant cook (who had made this pot was pleased I liked it) and gave me the ingredients and sort of a method. It was the first thing I cooked on my return and it tastes as good as the original. So my day was made right on the spot in the heart of Dillon.
The boys absolutely LOVED the Raven Golf Course!!! We had a storm roll by this early evening again and it is a sight to behold. Kevin noticed them first and then John was fascinated with them. When the water was whitecapping some water creatures could be seen surfacing. We could never figure out what they were but they were large and looked dark. My husband speculated otters and someone else thought beavers. Does anyone know?
Once again Kevin –the night owl- hit the hay early as did his parents.
By the way my husband loved loved! The APRICOT chicken this evening. I don’t know how good it was but I think anything other than beef would have looked good???
They play The River Course at Keystone tomorrow and I have it easy as it will be leftover night. I hope to sell more of my pasta salad for sure. What was I thinking?
Same routine today—up early and the big breakfast. Weather is glorious each morning and it is just such a joy to wake up and relish our beautiful views. I just find the view to be so peaceful and soul renewing. I like to read a lot but did little reading during our stay in Dillon. I would read a page and then stare at the view for 20 minutes and repeat the cycle. This was heaven to me.
Kevin needed to make some plane reservations for himself so I had reserved him an hour at the Silverthorne Library. However when we arrived we were told the computers were down and we were directed to a café internet in Dillon. It is in the Office Max/and or Staples plaza right across from City Market plaza. They had delicious hot chocolates, coffee etc and the computer use was free. Very comfortable pleasant place. I even grabbed a computer and got caught up on the 300 email messages awaiting me on my computer.
On this day we tried the Dillon Brewery that Kevin told us was famous. I urged them to try the sampler tray—eight different samples of their beer in 4 oz glasses. We played a game rating them on a scale of 1-5. Not a beer drinker myself my favorite was the raspberry beer! I think the sampler tray was 8.50. I also ordered my self the onion soup gratinee. It was inedible with the amount of salt in it. They apologized and said others had complained the night before so it must be just a bad batch. They did not charge me for it. This was a little fun diversion.
I made the boys some lunch. A nice salad with among other things roast beef on top. My pasta salad is not selling too well at this point but I will get them at dinner! Then they were off to Keystone.I think their golf fees here were $99. also for afternoon play. I drove them and checked out Keystone and Dillon Valley. I also found myself back at the Outlets (Now more in the mood) and had a lot of success shopping at the Ralph Lauren shop—too much success.
Almost every afternoon a storm would blow through their golf games and roll on out. On this day they experienced lightning and for safety’s sake got off the golf course for a while. I heard all about the 2 hot dogs and water they had for $13.50! They really enjoyed playing The River Course and enjoyed the views from there of Dillon Lake. These views gave them a different perspective of the Lake.
No complaints about all the leftovers tonight. There was still some chicken leftover so that was good. They were making an effort to eat the pasta salad too but I still have tons! What was I thinking?
The boys enjoyed a long soak in the condo’s hot tub this evening before early lights out.
We couldn’t believe it was now Friday already. Another beautiful morning, another huge country breakfast a la John!—and yet one more London Broil to cook!!—and somehow make it look fancy??
Today the boys were playing Breckenridge in the afternoon ($67) I decided to make more of an effort with my dinner and made baked twice stuffed potatoes and baked onions a la Paula Dean. (for those interested—peel and quarter an onion without cutting through to the bottom(keeping onion in tact) place a boullion cube in the center pushing down and put butter in between the quarters. (Paula slabs a lot of butter all over but I don’t (she LOVES butter! And I also stuck in a whole garlic clove below the boullion cube (my idea) and then you double wrap them in foil twisting at the top. You can do them on the grille but I put them in a pan in case of leakage and bake them at 350 for 45 min to an hour. They will give real good when ready. Place foil packet in soup bowl and let each guest open his own. DELICIOUS!! It is truly an easy version of onion soup. My husband loves them. Now my trip report is turning into the Cooking Channel? Old habits die hard.
The boys really enjoyed Breckenridge Golf and the “dinner”. More hot tubbing and bed. Tomorrow Kevin leaves for Salt Lake so it will be a leisurely day with no golf. I got inspired and make roast beef hash for breakfast with some of my leftovers.
John had to run out early on Saturday for a couple of things for my hash—peppers, onion and potato. I am not a hash maker but they ate it okay with little complaints. I had him pick up also some ham and cheese. I wanted to make Kev a picnic lunch for his trip and didn’t have the heart to make London broil sandwiches. It was quite a lunch. Two big overloaded sandwiches, those cookies, cheese and crackers, some salso and chips and three bottles of water I had frozen. He said it lasted him through his dinner.
Before he left Kevin just sat and stared out to the lake and mountains. He made friends with some of the owners having a party below us and got himself an invitation to the party. He probably would have joined them if not for his impending flight. He also took a long relaxing hot tub by himself. We put him on the CME at 3 ish and went back and just chilled with our view. My husband felt it was his duty to single handedly finish off our hors d’s—salsa and chips and cheese and crackers. He also took a plate of leftovers that I forced on him. (I had wanted to offer the owners a pot of pasta salad for their party but my husband didn’t think it was a good idea!)
Was sad to find our stay here ending. I loved it and everything about it. Even though I cooked and grocery shopped etc I find myself surprisingly rested and relaxed.
Sunday morning was packing day that is always so much easier than packing to leave. Also we had a washer and dryer and I kept up on the laundry so we had barely any dirty clothes to bring home. Nice eh? And of course I packed us a picnic lunch. We did not get ham and cheese but the last of the London Broil!!! Yes we finally did finish it.
We took a different longer route to Denver. We went back through Breckenridge and down to Fairplay and on to Denver. This was another very pretty ride—different topography—more ranches etc. My husband wanted me to see downtown Denver which was quite nice. I was in the mood for Italian. I asked the concierge at the Hyatt to help me find an Italian restaurant. There are several but not many open for lunch. WE ended up off the 16th St. mall (which is cool) at Maggione’s. It is a chain but the portions were gigantic (and believe me we didn’t order beef!) I reminded me of the old Mama Leone’s of NYC and Boston fame. It was very reasonable. Did we have leftovers??
So that is what we called our dinner in our room at the Marriott airport that night. We got this room for $50 on Priceline. Nice room, nice hotel. We left off our luggage and returned our rental car to Alamo. We also stopped off at Air Tran counter to see if we could get exit seats on both our flights the next day and we did. (Air Tran doesn’t assign seats until 24 hours before the flight)
Flying from Denver to Atlanta and then on to Newark kills a full day and is tiring. Such a shame after such a wonderful vacation. One flight is enough for us. We had some delays this day but at least were comfortable (my bad knee was saved) and we still had our “Picnic” lunch to enjoy!!
We were both tired for a day or so after our trip but we left a piece of our hearts in Colorado! It was a last minute vacation for us but a very successful and fun vacation that we will always remember! Colorado is the BEST!! Helen
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