Travel destinations, what are your favorites # 2

Thank you, Victor. It feels so good to be pretty much back to what is normal for me. I am so grateful for the terrific care I received at Mass General in Boston. They really deserve their reputation from my experience there.

VV, those are great photos from your interesting trips. We may have to work in a few more stops if we get to do our western trip.

Wha, the Coors brewery in Golden is the view from my DSD Liz's office. 😜

Victor here's some info from my sis
Estes Park, CO is in the Rocky Mountain National Park- north of Denver They will see elk, wild fox, coyote.wild sheep, mule deer. They can take the trail ridge road to the top of this beautiful area. There is a visitors center at the top (12,000) feet and the scenery is breathtaking. But before you head up to the top it is advisable to stay at the 5,000 feet level for a day or two until the body adjusts to that before heading into the park area at the higher elevation.
My advise would have them fly into Denver spend time in Denver area seeing the sights, have a rental car and head to Estes Park (1 hour drive there)
You can hike on trails, see waterfalls, go horse back riding, spend time in Estes Park which is a small town. -rent a cabin or motel room for a day or two or just drive up from the Denver area for the day. To get into the park there is a fee for the car. The park straddles the Continental Divide and Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous highway in the U.S. The park is 415 square miles it has beautiful lakes too.In the winter we rented a cabin and went snow shoeing, had a fire place in the cabin and kitchen area and we enjoyed the wildlife and they have horse drawn carriages and barbeque in a heated round Ute tent plus great main lodges with hot tubs and buildings with indoor heated pools.
The address to Estes Park is P.O. Box 2810, Estes Park, CO 80517 Your friends can write and get their catalog about all of the events. Also triple AAA has info about the park and accommodations. I haven't checked on line to see their web site but I bet the chamber of commerce has one for Estes Park.

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2. If they stay around Denver there is a botanical Gardens that is wonderful, plus the large Science Center Museum, Children's Museums- hands on for the children also an amusement park in the Denver area. It was called Six Flags of Denver but they have renamed it. There is also a restaurant called the Fort, that is shaped like a fort and has then best food and around- and many of the U.S. Presidents have visited the restaurant. Plus there is a restaurant called the Broker. It is in a bank building with the bank vault opened. The Russian Tea Room is really neat also in Boulder, CO.


3. The other thing they can do is go to Summit County Colorado where there is Copper Mountain, Silverthorne, Arapahoe Basin, Frisco and Keystone.
Arapahoe Basin is where I first took my ski lessons. They have indoor ice skating, swimming pools, hot tubs, specialty shops, snow shoeing, sledding etc. Lodging in Summit County you can call 1-888-786-6482 for all information in this area.

She said if you decide where exactly you want to go she can give you more info

Thanks, Jen! Prob will stay a few days in the Denver area and then go west and possibly south into Utah. Glenwood Springs looks nice. Will be very tough to narrow this down!

some nice NP's in Utah - Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, and Zion. I have been to all but Capital Reef. Forget Colorado go to Utah. Backpacked camped in Bryce and Zion - fantastic.

And you do not need to acclimate yourself at 5K ft. - when I went to Nepal that was done at 10K feet for a day.

But you already live on a hill top you're used to it ^_^

Ditto to what Bill said, been to all but CR, Utah is beautiful. We tent camped along the Colorado river, I dreamed I fell in the river trying to pee in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I waited til daylight.

You guys are NOT helping! ^_^

yep on our trek out there we tent camped a long the colorado in a couple places - they have pull-offs along the highways so folks can just stop and set up camp.

funny jen - the "top" of the hill here is about 700 ft. above sea level - maybe.

I'm on a hill too - but only 240 ft.

Whenever we have gone to see Liz and family in Colorado, we have found that we are not bothered by the elevation change if we drink a lot of water. Liz's wedding was in Estes Park, and we took a drive to RMNP and the Continental Divide and I had a severe headache and nausea very suddenly when we arrived at the visitors center. Once I wobbled in and drank a bottle of water I was fine.

I agree that the NPs in Utah are all very worth the diversion from Colorado.

Debi, that is so funny about your dream! Perhaps you were subconsciously aware in your dream that Bill was also there and passing by doing his thing. 😜

I love the Colorado River area.

Arches NP vs. Canyonlands???

Also - Vail worth a stop??

I vote for Arches and skip Vail.....unless you enjoy gazing upon tourists. LOL

Depends what she looks like...

I think Arches too if you can only do one of them

Would probably stay in Moab.

Depending on whether you are a "hike a great distance and plan to camp out a few days" or a "drive to and through as much as possible (buffet-like) and take walks where possible" type...

I think you will enjoy Arches National Park immensely, and save Canyonlands for when you don't plan to go anywhere else. It will still be pristine when you get there.

Thanks. Yes, with our compressed schedule, Arches looks more doable.

i agree with Arches - just do not hike alone and get caught between a rock and a hard place.............

Ughhhhh. I'll be careful not to 'fall in Arches'.

bring a pocket knife just in case............

Oh, my, the puns are too much!

This message was edited Jan 28, 2013 9:24 AM

The best time to see Arches is sunrise or sunset, when the rocks are drenched in color.

Will have to be sunset. I don't do sunrise!

Near death experiences are wonderful for jump starting a career as a motivational speaker. Flexibility, deductible travel expenses...

Tentative plan for overnights is 2 in Denver, 2 in Estes/Rocky Mt Park, 2 in Glenwood Springs, 1 in Moab, UT and last night back in Denver. That still leaves one night. Will either add one to Moab or pick something between Moab and Denver.

Bring a western bird book & good binoculars......

Check!

Overnight in Grand Junction. Good food and wine to be found; orchards nearby in Paradise. A ride around the rim of Colorado National Monument is exhilarating.

Thanks, vv. Will check it out.

I might have meant "orchards nearby in Palisade" - not Paradise.

Rimrock Drive is the grand tour of the Colorado National Monument.

http://www.nps.gov/colm/index.htm

Cool. Thanks.

Loved Moab! Sounds like a great trip, Victor! I agree with Debi about seeing Arches at sunrise or sunset. Fabulous color! What lucky boys!

A couple of sunsets from the cottage on Lake Ontario.

Pretty...my niece used to live in Irondiquoit...now she lives above the Erie Canal....

Victor, your trip sounds great.

A taxi driver once told me in Aspen that if you take aspirin or a similar blood-thinner for a week before travel to high altitude it helps to acclimate more quickly. He learned that in the army.

We're planning an all-inclusive in the Dominican Roublic in March, got a great deal on the rooms at the Lifestyle Tropical resort. All we want is an easy warm week. My SIL gave us a tip, not to take a package that includes airfare. They make you leave early in the am and change planes at least once, could get in at the end of the day. So we booked our own flight, will be at the resort by noon.

We took the ski train to Winterpark, CO and had a little way to walk while carrying ski equipment, it was noticeable then.

Someplace tropical sounds great right now!

Thinking the same thing and I don't even have snow in the yard.

Awwww.....wish you were all down here so we could play together! House showings start tomorrow morning. We're as ready as we can be, I think. LOL

Here are a few blooms they will see.....