Groupons ROCK!!!

As do Living Social deals!!!  As do our newspapers "Gazette Deal of the Day"!!!

 

This deal happened to be the Gazette Deal of the Day - actually, the same one the 4 of us did last Feb!!  A Cripple Creek night's stay, $80.00 to spend at the Steak House, free breakfast, and $30.00 to spend at Baja Billy's - all for the tidy sum of $80.00!!!!  Now you just can't go wrong there!!!

 

Martin and Jo picked us up Friday afternoon and we headed over to C. Crk, enjoying the aspens as we drove!!  We checked into our AWESOME room at a super nice place - the regular hotel where we were supposed to stay was already booked full, so they sublet the coupons to 2 other places to stay and we chose The Gold Strike Inn which looks like a new Victorian house sitting on this hill - wow - it was beautiful with probably a total of 5 rooms - ours were on the lower level with our own private entrance and 2 separate sitting areas - very nice!!

 

We picked up our restaurant coupons, gambled a little bit and then headed to the Steak House for our evening meal!!

 

Once again, the meal was delicious - we started with shrimp cocktail and table side made guacamole which we all shared and after our salads came the entrees - I ordered the butter fillet steak again and it proved to be the BEST at the table!!  Even though we were all full, we did share the brownie ice cream sundae slathered with chocolate and whip cream!!  Our waiter was a riot and Glenn, Martin and him tried to outdo each other with their jokes.........we walked around a little bit because we were so full but didn't last very long - we old people were content to head back to our nice cozy rooms, turn on the fireplace and enjoy a little TV!

Glenn and I got up earlier than the others so opted to go for a walk - it was a little chilly out and there were hills everywhere you walked - walk, breathe, walk, breathe - we were sure ready for breakfast by the time we were done!!  Here's a picture of the place we stayed at!

You never know what you're going to see when you're taking a walk in Cripple Creek - instead of a fence, this place was surrounded by bed frames - in every color you could imagine!!

We had a delicious breakfast of omelets, fresh fruit, bacon, biscuits and lots of coffee!! Then it was back to the casinos for a while - Joleen and I always opt for the 5 cent ones!!!

Then we headed to the top of the hill where the Visitor Center and historical society have displays!  The place was beautiful!!

The building design overlooks Cripple Creek and the back of this 3 story building is all windows - the views are magnificent!

We spent quite a bit of time there looking at all of the displays and really enjoyed the little theater which told the history of Cripple Creek and included so much that I never knew before!!

The guys stopped at a car show back downtown while Joleen and I checked out the newest casino - very nice, very clean and with a great little coffee place and free popcorn, we enjoyed it!!  And to top off the day, we headed in for our Mexican lunch which had wonderful food and an enjoyable atmosphere! 

We took the long way home, through Victor, and the aspens were incredible on the way back as we took a different route!!  Another super time in Cripple Creek, Colorado!!!

Aspens, Aspens Everywhere!!

Sunday morning was gorgeous!  It's strange waking up and it's light outside, but there's no sun for a while - it takes a long time for it to get up over the mountain!

 

We opted to go downtown for breakfast at a cute place that had great reviews and they were right on - it was delicious!!  After a leisurely walk on the River Walk, we packed up and headed out!

 

We stopped in Montrose so I could run in and get some coffee - a cute, cute place and extremely busy which led me to believe that Montrose needs ANOTHER coffee place!!

 

Soon we arrived at Sargeant's, Glenn's usual hunting place, and we unloaded the ATV and were off!!  We both knew the aspens would be abundant here as we have ATV'd this area several times and every time we drove through these miles and miles of aspen trees, I would tell Glenn that I bet it would be beautiful in the fall - trust me, it WAS!!!

 

We rode around for about 3 hours - 3 hours of seeing the most aspens I've ever seen at one time!!  I just couldn't stop snapping pictures!!

Because Blogger completely switched my pictures around, these next 2 of the orange aspens were supposed to be at the end because they are actually on Monarch Pass - we stopped on the way home as we were heading up the pass as I just had to have pictures of them!

This is where we stopped for lunch!  I love the white, white bark of the aspens over in this area and sometimes, the trunks have strange formations!

Relaxing at lunchtime while Glenn went on down over the hill - I chose to just sit and have the aspen leaves fall on me when the wind would come up - it was heavenly just sitting there in nature!

Pictures just don't do justice to the large aspen groves!

This is one of my favorite pics I took and after I find a neat frame, it's going to get enlarged, along with a couple of others for the office!

All in all, one great fall weekend trip!!  And there's always this weekend to look forward to as we head to Cripple Creek with friends' for a nights stay........so stay tuned!

It's All About The Leaves

One of the reasons some of the pictures are kind of hazy looking is because of the smoke - yes, between the Idaho and Montana fires, not only was Pikes Peak covered in a haze of smoke all of last week but also the valleys and mountains around Ouray!  It didn't make for great pictures but I didn't dare complain - getting those fires out is all everyone should be thinking about, not about the quality of the fall pictures!

 

It was fun trying to capture the beauty of these aspens as the sun was shining through them!  I'm not very good with light but still thought they turned out OK.

As with most years, some leaves had already dropped, some were in full gold color, and others were still green - but it does make for beautiful pictures!

We headed back into Ouray mid-afternoon and dropped the trailer and ATV off at the lodge - then just took the car to do some driving in the area - Glenn had picked out a road on the map called Last Dollar Road and he was right on when he said there would be aspens on it!!

It was a beautiful drive on a gravel road and there were lots of cattle and horses grazing in the fields!

Eventually the highway ended and we were on our way to Telluride!!  This is another cute mountain town although MUCH bigger than Ouray and a whole lot busier!!  We walked the streets for awhile and peeked in the expensive window fronts - tried to get some ice cream but the lines were so long it just wasn't worth waiting for so we headed back to Ouray!

While Glenn took a quick nap, I grabbed my book and sat on the deck overlooking the stream and just enjoyed the moment................we had 6:30 reservations at The Outlaw - it's not a very big place and more like a bar/restaurant but it serves the best steak in town!!!  My filet mignon was excellent!  They also had a piano player banging out tunes on this old upright piano and we had fun guessing the names of the songs - of course, I knew most of them - he he!!

We were both so full we could hardly move - a walk SHOULD have been in order but that nice comfy bed with those wonderful reading lights was beckoning so we headed back to the room for another great nights' sleep!!

Yankee Boy Baisin

Did I mention that the Hot Springs Inn also serves a continental breakfast that's included in the room price?  They had a lovely setup in their lobby - a fireplace - lots of beautiful candles - just a real homey atmosphere!

 

After breakfast we hooked up the trailer and first headed to Box Canyon to check out the waterfall - only with all the dry weather, there sure wasn't much water at all!  It's a deep canyon and the water at the bottom is just like the color you see in the picture, due to all the minerals in it!!  This is quite the place for ice climbing in the winter - YIKES - that would be scary!

 

Next we trailered over to Yankee Boy Basin and headed up this mountain on our ATV!  Since we were pretty early, there wasn't a lot of traffic yet which sure helped on the dusty trail!  There's quite the overhang at this spot which is called the Hanging Rock!

Because of the high elevation, there weren't a lot of aspens on this trail but we went on up to the top and the views were outstanding!!  In the distance is Mt. Sneffels which is an elevation of 14,150.

The drive up and back followed Canyon Creek and also went by the Revenue, Atlas and Ruby Trust Mines - it's always interesting to see those old buildings and wonder how the miners lived way back then!!

There are a couple of beautiful waterfalls that we stopped at - this particular place is covered in wildflowers in the summer time but of course they were all gone this time of year!

Finally - a few aspens!

This waterfall is called Twin Falls - it makes for a beautiful backdrop, even though there wasn't a lot of water running this time of year!

On the way down, we stopped to have lunch at this beautiful spot, set right in the aspens!  The sun was peeking through them and I couldn't stop snapping pictures!!  We were eating away when a large motorcycle came around the corner and promptly tipped over!  Glenn was more than happy to help him get it back up and after struggling to even get the bike turned around (we were on quite a steep hill), he opted to turn around and head back down - probably his best idea of the day!!

Because Blogger is not cooperating with downloading pictures, this day will continue in the next blog!

Ouray - The Switzerland of America

Ouray, Colorado - a neat little village tucked in the valley, surrounded by mountains - with quaint little shops, great restaurants, jeep tours, waterfalls, hot springs, and a river walk - my type of place!!

 

Naturally Glenn didn't get out of the office as planned but we did manage to leave only 1/2 hour later than planned so I shouldn't complain!!  I had grabbed Subway sandwiches to eat on the way over and after a stop in Gunnison for mango-pineapple smoothies, we were headed to Ouray!

 

As we were driving past Blue Mesa Reservoir, I thought this mound of stone and dirt looked pretty unique so I rolled the window down and attempted to snap a picture - you can tell by the bushes at the bottom of the picture that we were going pretty fast!1  But at least the pic turned out OK!

 

Our reservations for 2 nights were at the Hot Springs Inn - a very nice hotel/lodge type place with a western/rustic theme - I was extremely impressed with the decor when we checked in and was in for a surprise when we went to our room!

This was one of the nicest rooms we have stayed in as far as conveniences go!  Not only was there a microwave, coffee pot and frig but "extras" which included a night light, one of those fold out mirrors attached to the wall to do the back of your hair, and a neat fireplace!! Track lighting made for the best reading in bed EVER!!  The door at the end of the room leads out to a small deck which overlooks the river walk and the Uncompahgre River!

Check out this mirror in the bathroom!! 

We settled in quickly, enjoyed a drink on the deck and listened to the running water which was actually pretty loud!!  In fact, we left our door open at night, just to hear the sound of that babbling brook!!

Dinner was foremost in our minds so we drove about a mile into town and there was the main street, with cute shops and restaurants on both sides - we walked up and down the 3 block area, trying to decide where to eat and saw this cat in the shop window, just sleeping away! I don't think she was for sale though..........

Our first choice restaurant had a waiting time of over an hour so we made reservations for the next night and continued on to our second choice, Mama G's - it was actually downstairs in this old building with the most amazing staircase and neat old pictures on the wall!  Too bad the meal wasn't that great...........

And this is a picture of the back of the Hot Springs Inn, standing on the bridge by the River Walk!

I slept like a rock that first night on their pillowtop mattress - in fact, so well, that I'm actually considering getting rid of our ancient waterbed and buying one of those mattresses!!  But it could have been the rushing water, lulling me to sleep............    Coming up - the ASPENS!!

September

Cold, frosty mornings - golden aspen trees - and no more capris or sandals - September MUST be here!!  And it's flying by way too fast, even though I'm saying SLOW DOWN - let me enjoy!!

I LOVE September - it's been my favorite month for as long as I can remember!  And even though it's pretty chilly every morning, I love the fact that I have to put on a jacket to walk out the door in the mornings!  The drive between our house and Woodland Park is gorgeous - once again, the aspens are beautiful and I'm hoping we don't have a hard rain to knock those leaves off!

I'm so looking forward to our "fall trip" which is this Friday!  Our usual adventure takes us to Lake City but we're changing it up this year and going to Ouray - yes, a little bit further but we're excited to try out new ATV trails and this will be the perfect place!  Peak colors over that way was last weekend so the colors should be wonderful!!  Be prepared for pictures in the next blog - LOTS and lots of fall pictures!!

Wine and Games and Fun

Glenn and Bob came in from hunting late Tuesday morning - no elk in sight - it's a good thing they're having fun anyway as the hunting sure doesn't sound like it's panning out!!

 

Glenn came into work to collect his deep stack of messages and didn't seem at all thrilled when I handed them to him!  As I proceeded to tell him - DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER!!!

 

By late afteroon Bill and Jeanine came in and we headed down to Wines of Colorado, despite the rain!!  Luckily it was not raining down there so we were seated on the upper deck and Jeanine and I headed inside to do some wine tasting!  FUN!!

 

It was a perfect evening for sitting outside!  Yes, it was cool out but we had our jackets on and thoroughly enjoyed our meal!  A red fox even joined the evening as he was running around on the lower level, probably looking for scraps!

Glenn and Bob headed back out to camp when we got home and Jeanine and I enjoyed watching the movie "Letters To Juliet" before hitting the sack!

September Means HUNTING!

Blogger is NOT being friendly today and letting me post above this picture - but I have much more pressing matters today so I'll let it pass!!

This is one of Glenn's flowers he planted from seed and it has finally bloomed in the pot on the deck!  I'm not sure what the actual name is but I love it and I hope it will last awhile!!

Hunting season for Glenn started last Saturday!  Bob always comes out from Nevada to hunt and this year he brought his wife Jeanine to stay with me!  And even though Bob and Glenn have hunted the last 15 years together, I have never even MET Jeanine!  Pretty strange, considering the fact that she grew up in the Soldier/Moorhead area (even though she is older than me), her sister Judy and my sister Patty were BEST friends in high school and I used to run around with both of them AND the fact that Glenn's sister is married to Jeanine's brother!!!  So she's almost family, don't you think?

Anyway, Bob and Jeanine arrived last Thursday and as soon as I met her, I KNEW we were going to get along just great!!!  The guys left Friday morning, I headed into the office and Jeanine had the house to herself!!

We've had a great time together - she loves playing games and I introduced her to Bananagrams - I can't tell you how many games we've played but it's been a lot!!!  She's also a cribbage player, loves to read and watch TV so MY kind of person!!

Saturday we met Joleen for coffee and then headed into the city-wide garage sale!!  I ended up buying quite a few books and 2 humidifiers so I should be set for the winter!  We went to quite a few more garage sales that day and all had lunch together!  Jeanine and I headed downtown for a little shopping and then went to see the movie "Hope Springs" - we both loved it!!

Jeanine likes wine and I had this email from someone that had suggestions for advice in the kitchen and one of them we decided to try - freezing grapes to put into your wine glass to chill the wine a little bit without getting it watery!!  It's not only a great idea, but it looks so pretty!

Between heading into the office some to take care of business, Jeanine and I are having lots of fun together talking and just enjoying each others' company!  And Tuesday, the guys came in for a break - but more on that in the next blog!!

This Time...........Tea For Two

Tea again????  Yes, my friend Carrie from Washington flew in last week and I enjoyed her company for a couple of days!!  Carrie LOVES tea so I knew we had to take a trip to Cripple Creek and introduce her to Creations Everlasting, my favorite tea house!!!  I ordered some type of raspberry tea (it was 4 days ago so of course I can't remember!!) and it looked so pretty in the scalloped edged teacup with that cute matching plate!!!

Once again we had quite the spread with all the little tea sandwiches, chocolate chip scones with devonshire cream, and 3 samples of cakes - rum, carrot and pound - there was so much food that I had to bring some home!

Carrie and I had a great two days talking nonstop and I'm sure she'll arrive home exhausted after visiting her numerous friends here in Colorado!!  Here's to great friends!!!

Labor Day Continued............

Did I sleep good the night before due to all the solar lights that I had staked outside or could it have been the full moon lighting up the sky or maybe because it was REALLY cold and I was all huddled down in the covers?   Probably a combination of all of it that made the first nights sleep so good but the second night - not so good - I think I just was too sore from all of that bouncing and then there was one of those awful headaches...............I was almost glad that morning came because once I was up and about, I felt fine!!

 

We decided to do EASY trails today - and we headed over to the other side of the highway and did some of those trails!  Even though it looks like Glenn is going to open the gate (there was a series of 4 gates you had to open and close to get to this particular trail) the picture doesn't show the 3 gates that I opened and closed!!!

 

We rode by some beautiful streams during the course of the day!

And also had some awesome views of Taylor Reservoir from the top!!

Even though none of the pictures show it, we did see quite a few trees that were starting to change color - in fact there was one section that was completely turned - I'm ready to see more of those golden aspen trees!

But we did take a wrong turn - I've never known Glenn to be somewhat lost on a trail and we could NOT find the one we were looking for - we found several others of course but never the one we wanted!  In fact, one of the trails looked rather steep but we started in and it was an extremely poor trail with lots of loose gravel and seemed to go straight up!!!  I finally got off and told Glenn I would walk the rest of the way up and he hit it hard to even get up the trail - scary!!!  And here I thought I was DONE with treacherous trails!!!  I had to climb up the rest of the way - and it was so steep and high that for every 4 steps I took, I had to stop and rest to catch my breath!!!  I'm even in 1/2 way decent shape!!!  I FINALLY made it to the top and we were sure glad to see the better trail right below us!!

One large section had been cut we assume by the forest service and it made for a neat picture!

All in all, a pretty fun day except for the one steep trail and we enjoyed seeing some new country and riding around on some nice easy trails!!!

I always try and take a picture of our campsite so I can remember where we were at!!  And it's always fun to scout out new ones for the next time we come back!!  It was a great Labor Day Weekend!!!