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| Isak Heartstone is a 15 foot troll located on the Trollstigen Trail in Breckenridge |
There was one important stop to make before leaving Glenwood Springs. Thankfully Sweet Coloradough was open on Sundays. A road trip is always better with doughnuts, so we stopped in for a few before putting Glenwood Springs in the rear view mirror. It was a great three day adventure and we look forward to coming back again sometime. It's hard to go wrong with hot springs and doughnuts!
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| So many doughnuts...…….so little time! |
The drive from Glenwood Springs to Denver is around 160 miles on I-70. Normally there is some degree of monotony in driving on an interstate highway, however this stretch of highway is incredible. The drive takes you over the Vail Pass, under the Continental Divide by way of the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel (Johnson is Edwin Johnson, a former governor and US Senator) and down a steep descent near Silverthorne to the lower elevation of Denver. We had all day, so we made the most of it, stopping several times along the way.
First up was Vail, a small town in the White River National Forest. The town sits at the base of Vail Mountain and is a popular winter destination of skiers and snowboarders. The ski area is massive and the lifts are actually located in different areas. The newest area is called Lionshead, and is located to the west of Vail Village. Lionshead was nice but seemed kind of Disney like, while Vail Village had a more realistic look and feel to it. We preferred Vail Village to Lionshead. Only a few trails at the top of the mountain at Vail Village were open for skiing at this time. They hope to be fully operational on November 28, if the weather cooperates. If you're going to ski here bring your wallet. A one day lift ticket is $169!
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| Snow making operations were going strong at Lionshead Village |
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| Lionshead |
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| The Ski Trooper Memorial in Vail Village. It honors those who served in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II. |
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| It was still fairly early in the morning but skiers and snowboarders were heading for the lifts. |
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| Vail Village |
After Vail we stopped by Breckenridge, a former mining town that is now popular as a year round resort area. Breckenridge has a very nice main street that was bustling on a sunny, clear Sunday afternoon. The base of the ski area in Breckenridge is located a few blocks from main street so the shopping and skiing/snowboarding crowds are somewhat segregated. It did look like more of the ski areas in Breckenridge were open than Vail. Within a few weeks all these areas will be up and running, much to the delight of the orthopedic surgeons in Colorado.
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| Just off of Main Street- Breckenridge |
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| Downtown Breckenridge |
Just to the west of Denver is the city of Golden, home of Coors Beer (aka Colorado Kool-Aid). The brewery offers tours that conclude with tastings daily (times vary). Although we had both been through the brewery at Busch Gardens in Tampa, as well as a couple of micro-breweries, we thought it would be fun to do this brewery tour as well. Apparently we weren't alone in our thinking. When we arrived it was about a one hour wait to start the tour. After debating for a few minutes we decided to head on to Denver for our final stop before heading to the hotel.
The Denver Botanical Gardens is a 23 acre garden located in the Cheesman Park neighborhood just east of downtown Denver. As we pulled into the gardens we snickered when we noticed that the temperature in Denver was 60 degrees (it was in the mid-30's in Vail and Breckenridge), while the temperature on Anna Maria Island was 57. Although much of the outdoor displays weren't as colorful as they are during the spring, summer and early fall it was still a fun place to visit. The gardens will actually take on a different look in the next few weeks with "Blossoms of Light". This Christmas light display will run from late November through early January and would be worth checking out.
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| Denver Botanical Gardens |
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| Japanese Garden inside the Denver Botanical Garden |
We had an early flight today (Monday) back to Florida. Our current plans are to be here until Christmas eve, when we head to California for multiple celebrations with our family.
