It seems visitors think of Colorado like they do Italy-- that they can see it all in one quick drive-by visit. No, you can't. Please, don't even try. Because rushing through a beautiful place like Colorado (or Italy), for the sake of saying "I've been there" is a waste of time, IMHO. It also jeopardizes the quality of life in Colorado.

Mountain roads get congested in the summertime and during ski season, with people trying to touch bases with an over-packed itinerary of places. Driving can be sluggish or at a standstill in spots; cars overheat on the inclines pulling campers and boats; people have unfortunate fender-benders, and worse. Trees along the highways are dying from all the noxious fumes.

Please minimize your driving, help reduce the pollution and congestion that threatens to ruin what we love about Colorado. Just enjoy Colorado's quiet beauty and lively activities, without contributing to its choked highways. Take time to actually smell the forests, listen to the silence, look at the peaks, walk in the woods...

So many threads propose an insane itinerary like: "land in Denver, drive to Vail/Beaver Creek, stay there for 2 nights, and while there make a day trip to Aspen. Then on the 3rd day, leave early and head to Estes or Grand Lake for 2 nights. Then head to Denver for the last night... maybe go to Garden of the Gods for a day trip. We don't mind getting up early and driving for 2 or 3 hours to get to our destination. This seems pretty do-able, wouldn't ya say?"

Sorry if I seem to be ranting. It's a hot button of mine. If we had a good train system here, like in parts of Europe, it would be a godsend.

>>> How is Colorado like Italy? <<<

It isn't. At least in any way I can think of.

Oh dear, Maureen. You would not want to see our upcoming Colorado itinerary! This will be our 3rd circle loop tour of Colorado. We start in Denver and always go as far as Ouray b/c I LOVE Ouray!

We sort of travel like this all the time, b/c we like to see lots of stuff. Sometimes we'll re-visit an area and then stay a whole week (like we've done for Glacier and areas of the Southwest), but usually a first visit will have us covering some ground.

My favorite times are usually when we are taking looong hikes in the middle of nowhere. But this is not feasible with my kids - they don't much like to hike and they would be bored to tears. So we move a bit more with them and stay put more when it's just my husband and me.

Oh brother! Maureen not everyone chooses to travel like you do or the way you think they should. To create a post to mock Donna's itinerary is unbelievably rude. Are you cutting back on your trips to the mountains this summer? Or are you just frustrated because you had a long drive out of the mountains this past weekend? If you want a better transportation system contact the governor and leave Donna alone.

People get just as irked at posters who want to see all of Italy in a week.

Different people travel in different ways. Some like to linger, some like to keep moving. I think one of the problems for people who want to see Colorado is there are quite a few posters here with very definite ideas about what must be seen. So a newby to the state is getting pulled in too many directions. In reality, people just need to visit and find out what captures them. We all have our personal preferences and maybe we try too hard to sell them here.

!!!Um, What ???!!!

I'd do that itinerary myself.

Thanks to others on this post, I found the other thread where Maureen ranted at Donna.

Now, she starts a new post to continue the diatribe? Not very nice. IMHO, of course.

Sorry, MaureenB, but it isn't your business to tell anyone how to travel...you travel your way and let everyone else travel their way. Geesh!!

I 100 % agree with you guys. I can't blame anyone for wanting to see as much of a place as they can, that's why I travel.

I can't stand reading some of these posts where someone uses the "this is what you have to do" or else tone.

Of the places I love in Colorado, I don't think I could spend a whole week at them without getting itchy feet.

I did a 9 day Venice-florence-Rome itinerary in Oct. and I wouldn't have changed that, either. Yes, I would loved more time in Rome, but I would not wanted to give up seeing either Venice or Florence, either.

People don't have unlimited vacation time. Not everyone loves the same things, either, and traveling around lets you see all there is to offer. I KNOW I am in the minority here, but I wasn't overly impressed with RMNP. I've been to Glacier, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, etc., and I would rate all of them higher than Rocky Mnt. I'm glad to have visited, for however short a time, but now know that I have "seen enough" for ME. I know I could spend more time in Glacier probably than the average person. To each his own...

This post is incredibly stupid. I'm hoping MaureenB is just having a bad day.....

People rush through vacations everywhere. At least twice a week on the Lonely Planet board an Australian (sometimes a European, but usually an Australian) posts: "I have 7-10 days and want to see LA, San Francsico, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon." It's really quite comical at this point.

Karens,
Your itinerary is fine--we do the 'grab and go' thing in Colorado all the time; especially with kids! I'm with you--driving any distance to spend time in Ouray is worth it. Isn't it just spectacular?

We usually end up combining a little bit of mountain with a little bit of city. The mountains are for the adults--Denver is for our teenagers. Everyone's happy

Thanks for the itinerary suggestion. Do you think I could squeeze it all into Labor Day weekend?