Arriving back in Denver, we found the Silver Bullet right where we left it and ready to go. I've mentioned it before, but it's worth another mention. The website Park, Sleep and Fly is a nice option to consider for a combination of a hotel night (can be at the beginning or the end of the trip) and extended airport parking. We had stayed at the hotel before flying from Denver to Tampa, so we threw the bags in the Bullet and were on the road to our first destination.
The great majority of our Colorado adventure will be spent in Ouray, however, we kicked it off in the small community of Basalt. It was just a little over a three-hour drive from Denver to Basalt. Most of the drive was on I-70 until we reached Glenwood Springs. As fate would have it, we arrived in Glenwood Springs around 1:00 PM, one hour before Sweet Coloradough closed. Sweet Coloradough is an amazing and somewhat eclectic bakery/sandwich shop that we had discovered on a previous trip. The sandwiches were good, but the sweets are amazing! We knew that there would be plenty of hot springs soaking once we reached Ouray, so we fought off the temptation to make a detour to the Glenwood Hot Springs, and with full bellies and a few extra treats for later we made the short remaining part of the drive to Basalt.
Basalt is a small community of approximately four thousand residents that is located twenty miles from the resort town of Aspen. Basalt was first named Aspen Junction because there was a railroad junction there that led to the town of Aspen. There are actually two sections of Basalt, located a few miles apart. Our hotel was located in the "newer" area, which was a nice mixed-use development that seemed to be only a few years old. The "Historic District" is located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Fryingpan Rivers. It had been a long travel day, but we still enjoyed walking through both the commercial and residential areas near the hotel. It was a well-planned development that reminded us of areas like Disney's Celebration and Lakewood Ranch near Bradenton. A nice place to reside, either full time or just for a couple of nights.
Although we spent two nights in Basalt, we arrived midafternoon the first day and planned to leave fairly early in the morning on the day of departure. We took full advantage of the middle day to explore both Aspen and Historic Basalt. First up was the very upscale town of Aspen. Although it is most commonly known as a ski destination, it is a year round playground for the rich and famous (frequently visited by Jeff Bezos, Oprah, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner to name just a few), as well as the not so rich and famous like the Tuckers. If we passed any of the rich and famous, we didn't recognize them. We did however enjoy a nice hike on a section of the Rio Grande Trail. Afterward we roamed around the downtown area, which was quite busy in spite of it being "off season". "Cheap Eats" are not easy to find in Aspen, but we found a good one. Big Wrap had a nice selection of wraps and salads that were a nice bang for our buck in a town where a buck doesn't go too far. Our favorite places to eat along the way tend to be those local places with a one $ sign.
On our way back from Aspen we stopped for a while in the Basalt Historic District. This section of Basalt is sometimes referred to as "Old Town". "Old" seems to fit us just right these days and we had a great time wandering up and down the two main streets (Midland Avenue and Two Rivers Road). The buildings were filled with shops, restaurants, art galleries and local businesses. It was distinctly different from the area around our hotel but equally enjoyable to see.
We enjoyed our two days in the Basalt/Aspen area. It was a great place to kick off our Colorado adventure. Next up............Ouray!
