Tag Archives: Colorado

Telluride Colorado

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What’s in Telluride, Colorado?

What’s in Telluride Colorado you ask. Well if you need to ask that then you are probably going to have a great vacation. The last time someone asked  “What’s in________” we were talking about South Dakota and all I knew when the adventure started was that was where Mount Rushmore was located. Turned out to be one of the best vacations I’ve taken yet and we experienced a lot more than just Mount Rushmore. But that’s a tale for another time.

Gondola car, Telluride, CO 003-18-2018 016

Telluride , Colorado

Telluride has been on my short list of places to visit in Colorado since I saw an episode of “Destination Unknown” about Butch Cassidy. Josh starts the episode riding on the Gondola. I love riding Gondolas. The views are always worth it and even though I don’t have a fear of heights there’s always a little tingle in my belly as you glide up or down a mountain. So with a gondola calling me and the outlaw history to add spice, Telluride quickly moved to the top of my “very interesting possibility ” list. To increase my interest one of you, my readers, highly recommended a visit. Hearing from you folks always increases my interest. Thank you for your suggestions!

What to do in Telluride?

So what can I tell you about Telluride when I haven’t been there? Well digging around on the internet gives me lots of ideas. Of course if Telluride becomes my vacation choice I will then need to reconfirm everything. COVID has made a lot of the attractions obsolete. So what I’ve found out should not be taken as gospel at this point. We are in the very early exploratory stages.

I found a list of 21 Best things to do in Telluride

A Few Comments on the List

I can eliminate some of the things on the list like the Ski resort. I’d be going in warm weather and I don’t ski and don’t plan to start. But I could see doing an Off Road Adventure. I’m not in much shape for strenuous or long hikes. Bad knees and overweight makes me a poor candidate, especially at elevations of 8000 ft +. I’d love to do some horseback rides. I haven’t been riding since before my hip replacement but the surgeon told me that I was fully healed so that should be free to try it out. 

I’d like to find a way to get to Bridal Veil Falls so I could photograph it. Bridal Veil Falls is a 365-foot waterfall at the end of the box canyon overlooking Telluride.

About 84 miles southwest  is Mesa Verde National Park known for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, notably the huge Cliff Palace. I’d love to see those so that could be a nice day trip.

This is sounding better to me all the time! Please share your thoughts, recommendations and ideas for my Colorado Adventure. We have lots of time for planning!

 

Lazy Saturday Morning

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Lazy Saturday Morning

It’s just a lazy  Saturday morning for Banner, Balboa and me. The start of a 3 day weekend. I hope the weather will cooperate for the weekend. Right now it doesn’t look too good. It’s dark and rainy.  I’m taking advantage of the calm before Balboa starts his morning crazy cat antics. We’re enjoying a bit of Cat TV together.

We have to negotiate what to watch. Banner likes mice and squirrels, Balboa is excited by the birds and I like the fish. Something for everyone!

Where to Go When COVID has Past?

A laid back lazy Saturday seems like a good time to think about a trip once COVID is under control. “They” are saying it will be safe to travel in the fall. All I can say is we’ll see. But I still don’t know where I want to go. I’m leaning toward trying to pick back up on my canceled trip to Colorado. I had that booked for last August but by the time August rolled around COVID had everything in lock down. So here are my options for Colorado:

  • Breckenridge , Colorado
  • Vail , Colorado
  • Durango , Colorado
  • Steamboat Springs , Colorado
  • Avon , Colorado
  • Telluride , Colorado
  • Winter Park , Colorado
  • Mesa , Colorado
  • Fraser , Colorado
  • Keystone , Colorado
  • Estes Park , Colorado
  • Granby , Colorado
  • Aspen , Colorado
  • Beaver Creek , Colorado
  • Dillon , Colorado
  • Frisco , Colorado
  • Copper Mountain , Colorado
  • Silver Creek , Colorado
  • Pagosa Springs , Colorado

This is quite a list. I’m not sure how I will ever choose. Missing from the list is Colorado Springs and Denver.  They were on the list before COVID and more places have been added!

My Thoughts, Your Thoughts

My original trip was booked in Steamboat Springs. I thought I’d like the hot springs there and maybe see some wildlife. But I’d also like to go to Telluride and take the Gondola. The ride on the “G” provides expansive vistas of the San Juan Mountains, Aspen-cloaked mesas and sun-struck waterfalls.

 

 

Anyone from Colorado or who has visited Colorado want to chime in with a suggestion? Advice welcome.

 

Colorado Rocky Mountain High

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Colorado’s Rocky Mountains

When I say “Colorado Rocky Mountain High” I’m not talking about their legalization of Marijuana. In fact when I thought about going to Colorado it was just because I haven’t been there yet! I have a co-worker who used to live in Colorado. She has only good things to say about the state but every time I say I might go and suggest a place she says ” Oh that’s a great place to visit but…it’s really hard to get there“. Now that we’re all stuck at home I’ve started thinking and planning for a vacation that might not happen but planning is almost as much fun as the trip itself . So lets talk about Colorado.

Colorado Weather

When I first started looking into a Colorado vacation I had to narrow down the time frame. I’m not a winter sports buff, unless I’m watching it on TV. Love downhill racing from my armchair. It’s a great Olympic sport. But I never learned to ski. Too many of my friends wrecked their knees skiing when I was growing up. Plus its cold. So I don’t think I want to go in the winter. Since it’s mountains snow can come early in the fall. I came close to getting stranded in Wyoming in October due to snow so looks like summer is my vacation of choice.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Next step was to decide which part of the state I wanted to visit. Colorado is a big state. I started out by checking availability for  my time share.  This was before the quarantines and travel bans so there wasn’t much to choose from. If I wanted to book now there are 62 resorts available throughout the state! But back when I first thought about Colorado there was Vail (too touristy), Telluride (Where Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank) or Steamboat Springs ( Big Ski Area). Except for Vail my friend said nice to all and tough to get to for all. No help with my choice.  But finally the hot spring in Steamboat Springs tipped the scale. So I’m booked into The Steamboat Grand Resort in August. Time to figure out what to do there in the summer. Just in case I really get to go. 

What to do 2014 Vacation?

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Here we are well into February and the only decision I’ve made about vacation this year is that I need to use my time share and that I want to be able to cross another state off my To Be Visited list.

Sandy tells me she’s staying home this year so I’ll be flying solo.  My time share just launched Club Solo,  an additional membership which has been developed to provide a range of benefits for those members of THE Club® who vacation alone on a regular basis. Of course there’s an additional annual fee but it might be worth it. Some of the perks of membership are: For reservations for studio or club suite accommodations at a Diamond Resorts International® resort booked 10 months to 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 25% discount on the points values quoted. When booking from 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 50% discount.

That kind of discount would open up more  resorts. Something to think about for a future add on. I think this year I’ll stick to my regular membership.

I plan to make a return trip to New York in September to try to get more photos of hot air balloons. Now that I’ve done it once and can see how it works, I think I can improve my shots.

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So the question now is where do I want to go and what time of year to use the rest of my vacation time. I compared my list of Must Visit States to the states with timeshare exchanges and that only narrowed it down a little.

There were 30 states on that list and of those 30 my timeshare has exchanges in 17 of them. If I were to tackle the list alphabetically then the first state on the list with a time share exchange is Colorado.

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Colorado has 2 exchanges, one in Steam Boat Springs and the other in Estes Park. My initial reaction is that the Estes Park location is more to my liking but when I did a search about the best time to visit (for wildlife viewing) the recommended months were June for baby animals  or September for the Elk Rut. July and August didn’t even make the list!

cRAGS lodge

I’m interested in wildlife photography first and landscape photography second. Often they kind of go hand in hand anyway.

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Do any of you live in the area? Has anyone visited? When time of year did you go? Any suggestions? I would plan to rent a car to get around. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

B & C follow A

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I have to do 2 letters here because unless I’ve gotten so old and senile that I’ve forgotten a state, there aren’t any that start with B. So I can cross all the “B” states off my list.

For the “C ” states I have 3, California, Colorado and Connecticut.

C is for California

Maybe. I’ve been to California. I was in LA and went to the Queen Mary.

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It was back in the film days before digital. I mostly remember a lot of Smog.

scan0005But although I spent a week there I can’t say I “vacationed” and California is such a big state I’d have to say I barely scratched the surface.

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I have to drive Highway 1

California-highway-sign

with it’s majestic ocean views. And Channel islands National Park is another  “must”. And Yosemite

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(that’s been in the news so much lately because of the huge wild fire that threatened.) There’s Monterey,  San Fran and the  Golden Gate Bridge

Golden_Gate_Bridge_San_Francisco_04

and don’t forget Disney was there before Florida. Nappa Valley or Sonoma, oh my , must go wine tasting, and the towering Redwood trees, can’t miss those, and that’s before we even think about the famous zoos (San Diego) , museums, arboretums..oh I could go on and on.

C is for Colorado

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No, a resounding No. Colorado is a definite “must see”.  Any state that could inspire the music of John Denver must have something special in the air. Rocky mountain high…watch for eagles, visit Sand Dunes National Park. Look for wildlife. There are mountain goats in those “hills”. Spectacular vistas await. We’ll drive up Pikes Peak, visit the mile high City of Denver. Maybe make a stop in Aspen/ Vale just to say I’ve been there, in the summer because I don’t ski!

colorado

Now I have all those wonderful John Denver songs running through my head, especially Rocky Mountain High.

C is for Connecticut

Conn 007a copy

Yes. This is a neighbor state and although I haven’t “Vacationed” there I’ve spent enough time that I am rapidly crossing off many of the things on my list for that state. For example I spent a weekend at a spa in Old Saybrook, I’ve made another visit to Gillette Castle, I’ve ridden the Essex Steam Train

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and the paddleboat Becky Thatcher.

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I’ve made several boat trips on the Connecticut River, had lunch in the town of Essex CT. I’ve watched the ospry nesting on the swing bridge in Hamden, CT and photographed the Goodspeed Opera House over and over.

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I froze while I watched bald eagles at the Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River. It was the coldest day of the winter.

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Still to go, Mystic Aquarium and that might very well be in the next few weeks.

I know for my long time followers that this may be familiar but we didn’t get much farther than this last time. (2011) So tally so far: 3 states visited 4 to go.

Always open to your suggestions and must see/ wanna see ideas! Keep ’em coming! 🙂