Colorado Day 3-Steamboat Springs..........a piece of paradise is just up a dirt road!

Strawberry Hot Springs Park...….paradise just up a dirt road!

This was our first day in Steamboat Springs.  We were greeted with a cloudless, blue sky and a temperature of eleven degrees.  That's right, a tropical eleven degrees!  We knew it was going to be a chilly start but it did take us by surprise.  The temperature dip took at least one local by surprise as well.  We were talking with a nice young lady who worked in the restaurant where we had lunch (Freshies, if you're ever in town and looking for a good sandwich or salad).  She was telling us that she took her dog on a walk this morning after washing her hair.  She said by the time she got home her hair was full of ice-icicles.  The good news is that the sun was out all day, which combined with the low humidity, made the high temperature of around 40 degrees feel very comfortable.
Steamboat Springs is located in the Yampa Valley of northern Colorado and has just over 12,000 residents.  Winter in Steamboat Springs is all about skiing.  There are two easily accessible ski areas.  On the east side of town is Steamboat Ski Resort which is on Mount Werner. On the west side of town is Howelsen Hill Ski Area which is a part of the cities Parks and Recreation Department.  In the summer there is hiking, biking, golf, fishing, tennis and a whole lot more. As with any destination town, there are plenty of shops, art galleries and restaurants especially along Lincoln Avenue between 3rd and 12th street.

Lincoln Avenue with Mount Werner and the Steamboat Ski Area in the background

There's been a significant amount of natural snow fall already on the mountains.  The natural snow along with the cold temperatures have allowed both ski areas to make enough snow that they are opening earlier this year than ever.  Howelsen Hill opens Thursday night and Steamboat Ski Resort opens Friday.  We'll have moved on by then.  Our skiing days are a distant memory so there is no angst in leaving town before they open.  The angst of leaving will be because it didn't take long for us to figure out this is a really nice place.
Our love of hot springs has been well documented in previous blogs.  We've enjoyed soaking in some good ones in our travels around the globe.  We found one in Steamboat Springs that was just as good as any we've ever visited.  This one, Strawberry Park Hot Springs is located just outside of Steamboat Springs about two miles up a dirt road.  The springs offer several pools of hot mineral water of varying temperatures from around 104 degrees down to a comfortable 98 degrees.  For as refreshing as the water is, the setting is equally awesome.  The springs sit in a small valley surrounded by snow covered mountains that are dotted with aspen trees.  We were amazed when we checked the time that we had been soaking, for two hours had passed in what seemed like only minutes.

The entrance to Strawberry Park Hot Springs

Hot springs tucked in a snow covered mountainside

Here are a couple of things we learned before visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs that might be helpful if you plan to visit.  They are open all year and currently open at 10:00 AM.   Sunday through Thursday they are open until 10:00 PM.  On Friday and Saturday nights you can soak your weary bones and tired muscles under the stars until midnight.  At the present time the admission fee is $15.  They only take cash or checks (does anyone still carry around a check book?).  You will need to bring your own towel and changing rooms are available.  All of that is pretty standard stuff.  The one unusual thing is accessing the park during the winter.   According to the website and signs posted on the road, during the winter months snow chains or an all wheel drive vehicle with snow tires are necessary to navigate the steep, narrow, dirt road.  I'm not sure how to deal with that one, but you can call the park for more information.

The winding dirt road to paradise!

Strawberry Park Hot Springs
With happy bones, refreshed muscles, cleared heads and smiles on our faces we made our way back into town for a late lunch.  As I mentioned earlier in this blog, we had a nice lunch at a small place called Freshies. It was recommended to us by one of the hotel staff after we told her to recommend something inexpensive, local and good.  There were plenty of sandwiches, salads and soups to choose from to satisfy any appetite.  The cinnamon rolls are excellent as well!
Freshies
Directly behind the restaurant was the Yampa River Core Trail.  This paved, multiuse path runs for over seven miles along, you guessed it, the Yampa River.  We took the trail north towards the downtown area.  The trail took us through a nice city park and close to the Howelsen Hill Ski Area.  We then took a side trail into the downtown area.  Unlike Grand Lake and Estes Park, everything was open in Steamboat Springs.  Although it's not real busy right now, the crowds will be picking up once the ski areas open.  Our lack of a desire to shop has been well documented although we do enjoy roaming through a few shops occasionally.  We did manage to leave a few dollars in one store.  There is a very cool old drugstore, Lyon Drugs, near the intersection of Lincoln Ave and 9th Street.  It has an authentic "soda fountain" that is staffed by someone who is proudly known as the "soda jerk".  If you're less than a half a century old, you're probably lost right now, but let me assure you that in the pre-Walgreens and CVS days most drug stores were locally owned and had small areas that served food and beverages.  The soda fountain in Lyon Drugs was the real deal.  They still made cokes the old fashioned way by mixing coke syrup and carbonated water right before your eyes.
I enjoyed a "real" cherry coke while Beth enjoyed a little ice cream, all for less than four dollars.

The Yampa Core Trail

Yampa Core Trail and River

A real coke and a real soda jerks arm!

It was now getting later in the afternoon (the sun is setting around 5:00 here at this time of year) so we started back towards the hotel.  We saw the visitors and made a quick detour to pick up a little more information on the area and suggestions for the next day.  After about fifteen minutes we were loaded with maps and pamphlets that will give us plenty to do on our second day in Steamboat Springs!

Sunset over Steamboat Springs

  

Colorado Day 2-Grand Lake and the other side of Rocky Mountain National Park

A selfie in Grand Lake

The weather forecast said it might happen.  When we woke up we were thrilled to see that it was really happening.  It had been snowing for a while and it was continuing to come down.  Before it was over, around 2-3 inches of fresh snow blanketed the ground and cars.  We celebrated by heading down to the outdoor hot tub, and enjoyed an early morning soak, while the snow continued to come down.  The snowfall was tapering off as we were getting ready to leave the hotel.  Thankfully the roads were pretty clear so driving wasn't an issue.

There's a car under there somewhere

Scraping ice...….a view from inside the cozy car

De-icer was selling fast and furious at the convenience store...…...we were purchasers

Keeping the roads clear.  Beth and I had never seen so many snow plows and this wasn't a big "event".

Our final destination for the day was Steamboat Springs.  However, we took a little detour to spend most of the day exploring Grand Lake and the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park.  The scenic 105 mile drive to Grand Lake took us through the ski resort town of Winter Park and the ranching community Granby.  There were rivers, lakes, forests and steep passes along the way which made the drive very enjoyable all along the way.

Lake Granby overlook

Grand Lake, Colorado
Grand Lake is named after the lake it is located on, which happens to be the largest natural body of water in Colorado.  The quaint town, which has a population of less than 1,000, is much smaller than Estes Park, it's neighbor on the eastern side of Rocky Mountain National Park.  We expected it to be smaller, but what surprised us was that most of the shops and restaurants had already closed for the season.  We did enjoy walking through the town, along the waterfront, and had a really nice lunch at the Sagebrush BBQ and Grill.

Downtown Grand Lake...…...finding a parking place wasn't an issue

The Sagebrush was open and very good, especially the peach cobbler with ice cream

Along the shore of Grand Lake

Ice Fishing is a popular winter activity.  The ice isn't thick enough yet.

Sagebrush BBQ and Grill
We had a nice ten mile drive into the national park that took us along a section of Trail Ridge Road that neither of us had explored before.  As we drove along we were amazed at two things, the spectacular scenery and the lack of people.  We pretty much had this section of the park to ourselves, seeing less than a dozen other cars.  The snow was fresh and a little deeper, so there was no hiking today, but our eyes got plenty of exercise taking in the magnificent views.

An unusual site along the Trail Ridge Road today...…...another car!

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

Back at one of our favorite places in Colorado!

Saturday evening we left the beach for some mountain time.  We'll be enjoying the cooler temperatures and the mountain views of Colorado for a little over a week.  We've flown through Denver several times over the past few years on our way to other places, but this is the first time in a few years that we've spent any time roaming around this neck of the woods.  We're looking forward to it!
We arrived late so we opted to spend the first two nights in Westminster, a northwest suburb of Denver.  As is often the case, even though we got in late and were pretty tired, our internal clocks woke us up pretty early this morning.  Getting an early start was a good thing, since it gets dark around 5:00 PM at this time of the year.
Our Day 1 adventure was to revisit a couple of places we've enjoyed several times before, Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  From our Westminster hotel to Estes Park was a little over an hours drive. Estes Park is a small town with a population of around 6,000 people that is a summer resort area (there are no ski areas nearby) and the headquarters for the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Thanks to our early start we were there by 9:30.  We decided that our best strategy would be to head directly to the national park and save the town for the afternoon.
Estes Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
According to the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park was visited by over 4.5 million people in 2018.  This made it the third most visited park of our sixty one national parks, trailing only the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.
There are four entrance stations to the park.  Two of these are located at Estes Park.  Given it's close proximity to Denver, most visitors enter the 415 square mile park through Estes Park, earning the town the title of "Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park".

Although it is somewhat "off season" and parts of the park, including the main road (Trail Ridge Road) is closed for the winter, we didn't have the park to ourselves.  However, we got through the entrance in just a couple of minutes and had no trouble finding parking at some of the more popular areas.  During the "peak season" this often isn't the case.
We enjoyed visiting Bear Lake, but due to recent heavy snowfall the trail was too icy for us to hike around the lake.  We did slip and slide for a bit down to the waters edge and got some nice pictures of the lake, which is now covered with a thin layer of ice with snow covered mountains in the background.  We also visited the Many Peaks area along Trail Ridge Road, which is as far as you can go along this road until spring when the snow at this high elevation melts and the east and west sides of the park are once again connected.

There is a great trail around Bear Lake.  The elevation here is 9,500 feet.  It was too icy to hike......but....

when you can't hike you can sit and enjoy!

After exploring a few more areas, and making numerous stops along the side of the road to simply enjoy the setting, we made our way back to Estes Park for lunch and a little walk along the creek and through the downtown.  While most of the shops and restaurants were still open, a few had already closed for the winter.  As on past visits, one of the highlights of yesterday was the huge herd of elk that tend to hang out on the local golf course.  There were hundreds of them helping keep the fairway grass low as they grazed peacefully, some of them occasionally crossing through the small stream only to graze on the other side, upholding the age old saying that "the other elks grass is always greener".

Downtown Estes Park

Over the next couple of weeks the number of visitors to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park will continue to drop as winter strengthens it's grip on the area.  Visiting Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park is always a treat.  However, if you're planning a visit and can do so, consider coming at this time of the year.  The temperatures tend to still be comfortable (it was around 50 yesterday), the crowds are smaller and the deals are better.  I don't see a downside to any of those!

Thank You, this Veterans Day weekend and everyday!

ZooTampa at Lowry Park.........a day of old school fun!

On Safari at ZooTampa!

As a kid growing up less than an hour from Tampa, the Lowry Park Zoo was a pretty big deal.  You have to remember, this was back in the dark ages, before Disney, Sea World and Universal Studios.  It opened it's doors in 1957, the same year I got whopped on my bottom and opened my eyes for the first time.

Welcoming visitors since 1957

My dad worked with the railroad and the annual company picnic was at Lowry Park.  We'd hop in the Chevrolet and make the trek at least once a year.  While I can't remember too much of the details, I do remember they had a few animals, a couple of rides and the railroad provided a generous amount of food.  Over the years the not for profit zoo has grown not only in size but in quality as well.  In 2009 it was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US.  In 2018 it rebranded itself as ZooTampa at Lowry Park.  Currently the zoo is the home to over 1,300 animals including a manatee critical care facility.
Earlier this week Beth, NaNa and I loaded up the Honda Accord for a trip to ZooTampa.  It was a fun day for reminiscing about past trips to the zoo while enjoying viewing a variety of animals in spacious and very natural looking habitats.  Being that it was an "off season" weekday the crowd was small.  Although it was unusually hot for early November the zoo is full of oak trees that provided welcome shade throughout our visit.

There are several admission packages ranging from simple one day admissions to annual memberships.  We opted for an annual membership special they are currently offering that provides unlimited admission for Beth and I as well as one guest per visit.  This membership is good until the end of 2020 and includes discounted reciprocal discounted or free admission to over 150 other zoos and aquariums around the country.

NaNa and her new friend

While you may or may not have childhood memories of the Lowry Park Zoo to reminisce on during your visit, I'm sure you'll enjoy spending a day at ZooTampa.
ZooTampa at Lowry Park

Going batty at ZooTampa