Day 4 - To Mountain House

Welcome to day four of our vacation blog.

Ashleigh and I are happy to report that we did not see any ghosts during out stay at the Redstone Inn. We checked out this morning to rain (big surprise) and headed out on I-70 to Vail, Colorado. We walked around for about an hour in Vail Village, which looks like a little German ski town. Almost all of the shops were closed for the off-season and it rained the entire time, but Ashleigh and I agreed that this place would be awesome to visit either at night or during ski season.

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

We left Vail around lunch time, stopped in Silverthorn, then headed to the mountain house in Granby. The view here is nice – we are surrounded by mountains! We’re very glad that we have a place to cook and relax.

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

Up next:

Rocky Mountain National Park

Day 3 - Aspen!

"Rain, rain, go away..."

Our third day in Colorado opened to grey skies and raindrops.

We drove from Redstone to Aspen mid-morning. Aspen was much smaller than we expected, but a very cute little town. There are a ton of Victorian houses with tulip gardens, historical buildings downtown, and several ski resorts (of course). You could easily tell the locals from the tourists in Aspen. We were freezing while wearing jackets over our fleece sweaters, yet the locals were walking around town in shorts and tank tops.

We headed to White River National Forest after lunch. This scenic drive came highly recommended by the woman at Aspen’s tourist information center. The ride up was beautiful. We stopped to take photos in a forest full of Aspen trees, Ashleigh frolicked in snow up to her knees, and Jay stopped to read ALL of the plaques. :)

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

We ended up hiking through the Maroon Bells, a snowy area with a river running into a lake. We met several friendly people along the way; tourist couples, locals out with their dogs, and a bicyclist who had lost her group going up the mountain… We exchanged friendly "hellos" and took photos of one another.

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

Afterwards, we headed back into Aspen to walk around town. We stopped at the grocery store to buy fruit, visited a few art galleries, and dodged several rainshowers in between. We found the PERFECT piece for Ashleigh’s parent’s fireplace in one of the galleries. Unfortunately, we were fourteen thousand dollars shy of the asking price... We'll keep looking! ;)

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

We are back in Redstone this evening. We had a picnic dinner at a park on the river. Tomorrow we plan to stop in Vail and Winter Park on our way to the mountain house. We are looking forward to the trip, but keeping our fingers crossed that the sun comes out to play.

Nighty night,

Ashleigh & Jay

Day 2 - To Redstone

Greetings from Jour de Fete, a sandwich shop in Aspen, Colorado.

Jay and I are currently staying at the Redstone Inn, in Redstone, Colorado; which is located in a historical district about 3.5 hours west of Denver. The Redstone Inn was built in 1902 and is quite charming, retaining many of the building’s original details... We do not have cell phone reception, cable, or internet in that neck of the woods; which is kind of nice. Last night we were listening to piano music by the fireplace in the main parlor. Nearby a couple was celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary and another group was celebrating a wedding.

Our second day in Colorado was very eventful. Here’s the recap:

We started the day with breakfast at a corner café in downtown Denver. Jay made me walk past the Federal Reserve Bank again so he could frown at it in daylight. (silly) Then we walked to the capital building, through a beautiful park with an Ionic temple, to the Denver Art Museum, and more. Below are some photos of our Sunday morning stroll:

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

Jay and I especially liked the art museum in Denver. The architecture was amazing. Plus, we had the pleasure of seeing pieces from Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Lichtenstein, Caravaggio, and several other “greats.” We also went to an interesting exhibit featuring late 60’s poster art, album covers, and hippie paraphernalia. (Lizzy, you would have loved it.) Jay liked the museum’s Modern Art section best. I preferred the collection of historical furnishings and the really intricate architectural model of the museum itself.

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

It started to rain as we left Denver, so the drive to Redstone took about 4 hours. I am proud to say that I drove a majority of way through the mountains – into a monsoon of a rainstorm with lightning and hail. It was scary, butWE SURVIVED!!!

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

Enjoy a few photos taken while we were on the road and in “downtown” Redstone, population 92. ;o)

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

From 2009 Colorado Vacation

Here is today’s itinerary: Day trip to Aspen

Happy Memorial Day, love, Ash & Jay

Day 1 - Arriving in Denver

Greetings friends and family,

We arrived in Denver in once piece, despite Ashleigh's double ear infection/sinus infection.

Upon arrival, we were off to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods.  Special thanks to Aunt Paula and Ashleigh's friend Tanya for the recommendation.  :)

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

We hit the road back to Denver as the storms started rolling in.  Ashleigh took a cat nap of what she thought was for sure over an hour but was really only about 5 minutes.  

The hotel the first night was awesome!  After $70 million in renovations our room was very nice!  Ashleigh had a good time pointing out all the details from her job to me, including wall covering and carpet manufacturers.  I was oh so interested in all that she had to say, totally.

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

Since the hotel was on the Pedestrian Mall we walked to dinner.  As we were exploring, we came upon an art festival, Federal Reserve Bank, and got to check out downtown Denver architecture.  Finally we came upon a great pizza place in the basement of an old building just off the mall.  It was by far some of the best pizza we have ever had.

Thus concludes our first day!

From 2009 Colorado Vacation Day 1

Tomorrow:

• Colorado State Capital
  
• Denver Art Museum
  
• On to Redstone CO!