Just clicked "Confirm Reservation" for our annual Colorado vacay. Doing the same as the last two years - four days in Fraser, four in Creede. This year will be even more fun as SWMBO will be six days into retirement when we start pedaling north. A celebration of sorts.
Same plan as before... no plan. Only schedule obligations are check in/out times for lodging. Otherwise, it's whatever strikes our fancy in whichever direction looks interesting. Meals? Both lodges provide excellent breakfasts. Remaining meals come from the snack bag and a cooler of sandwich fixins, mostly at Stop-&-Gawk roadside breaks. We usually catch sitdown meals every couple days with a "Last Blast" steakhouse splurge the night before we head home.
Last year we took a different route up to Fraser, the result of my seething hatred for I-25 between Colorado Springs and Denver. Kicked off the interstate at Pueblo and cut north at Canon City. Up the valley past Hartsell and Fairplay to Grant, then north over Guanella Pass to Georgetown. Cost us an extra hour, but it was a hour well invested. The drive is lovely - relaxing and pretty. Guanella is a beautiful drive, one of the prettier passes in Colorado. We enjoyed it so much on the trip in that we got up the next day and did it again.
Last year's trek from Fraser to Creede was pushed further west than anticipated due to road washouts. No biggie as it resulted in finding cool new backcountry routes to explore, plus breathtaking vistas from atop Grand Mesa. This year, we'll likely do the road we intended for last year, either south from Vail through Leadville to Buena Vista then west over Taylor Pass, or jump over to Glenwood Springs then south through Carbondale and east over Kebler Pass to Crested Butte. Either way, we end up going south from Gunnison through Lake City and on to Creede.
One fun little side trek last year was a quick jump north from Walden just so SWMBO can officially say she's been to Wyoming. Tip-toed across to Woods Landing then snuck out before anyone noticed. Pretty drive. After that, followed the Poudre River east to Fort Collins. Definitely a drive worth taking.
We're both ever so ready for this year. The first year SWMBO wasn't exactly sure what to expect. The second year she started to pick up on how fun and relaxing it can be. Last year she started getting in the groove and looking for places to go. This year she's already jotting down places she'd like to see. Celebrating her retirement is just icing on the cake.
Brad
