COLORADO: A little off the beaten path but well worth the ride…

Written by Dan Donovan, March 12, 2009

Colorado is a breathtakingly beautiful state. With 300 days of annual sunshine, the world-famous Rocky Mountains, record snowfalls and great vacation values offered year round, Colorado is a very appealing destination. After spending a week in Colorado the words “unforgettable outdoorsy experience” come to mind. Incredible golfing, whitewater rafting, skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing and other outdoor adventures are just some of the perfect activities that can be found in this wonderful region. You’ll also find authentic historic attractions, terrific arts and entertainment, plus award winning dining and countless other vacation options from the extreme to the extremely relaxing.

We began our trip with a quick flight into Denver. From there, it’s a scenic and relatively short drive to Fort Collins (90 minutes). Fort Collins has a thriving local arts scene, a world class university, numerous eclectic shops and restaurants, hundreds of miles of walking and biking paths, and a plethora of other outdoor activities. My favorite part of this mountain city is “Old Town”, a section in the historic core which, through a preservation program, has been maintained with its original architecture and heritage, albeit with modern shops and restaurants. This area was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1978, and Fort Collins was named a Preserve America city by the White House, in 2005. There are several excellent restaurants in the city but I recommend Enzio’s Italian (http://www.enzios.com), in the heart of Old Town, which features great Italian food made fresh from scratch and accompanied by an outstanding wine list. The atmosphere is real Americana with high ceilings, white linen and lots of wood and large windows. Another restaurant of note is called Plank. This restaurant serves local organic food purchased daily and makes a special meal each evening from the day’s selected ingredients. On the night we dined, Plank featured a seven course meal, each served with a different beer from The New Belgium Beer Company. Fort Collins is the second largest producer of beer in Colorado and the state is ranked first in the country in volume produced by breweries (kind of ironic for a town that was “dry” until 1969). Each brewery has its own distinctive style, and The New Belgium Beer Company is recognized not only for its famous beers, including the award winning and tasty Fat Tire and Amber Ale, but the company is also recognized globally as one of the world’s leaders in eco-friendly and sustainable business practices. Visitors to Fort Collins can sign up for a “Foam on the Range Tour”, at one of the city’s many breweries.

For breakfast, stop by Café Ardour in Old Town and dive into a cup of strong mountain coffee and a distinctive local breakfast. House favorites include waffles, grilled sandwiches and homemade soups. You need to be fully nourished to take on the city’s hundreds of miles of bike paths. Making a day of it, we rode along marked paths that zigzagged in and out of the town, through the university campus and through numerous nature trails with the incredible Colorado Rockies as a constant backdrop. A picnic lunch along the trail re-energized everyone for the afternoon ride. You could not have asked for a better day.

However, a better day came when we went whitewater rafting in the Poudre Canyon Valley. We first stopped at VERN’s Place for a hearty breakfast. A landmark establishment in Northern Colorado, this restaurant has a 60 year tradition of serving great home-style cuisine for adventurers, fisherman and locals. I would say that if there are TEN THINGS you must do in life, one of them has to be whitewater rafting in level 4 rapids (there are only 5 levels!) in the Colorado Rockies. It was cold, it was wet and (in a good way) it was as nerve racking as it was, at times, scary. I always felt safe, even during the THRILL momentswhich were numerous, and I would do it all again tomorrow! (http://www.awanderlustadventure.com).

One of the great things about Colorado is the wonderful road system which allows you to drive through the mountain ranges while enjoying the scenic vistas. Rivers, plains and snow capped peaks are just outside your window and literally within reach. We drove up into the Cache la Poudre Canyon and stopped to take in several of the historic sites and natural vistas. Our end destination was the spectacular mountain town of Grand Lake (the largest natural lake in the state), on the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is an odd feeling to travel thousands of feet up a mountain range and then enter a town that has a huge lake. The town could have been the scene of a Norman Rockwell painting and is very ecofriendly and hospitable to tourists. We took a one hour historic boat tour at the Grand Lake Marina. (I highly recommend this tour because you get so much information about the town and its history while you are literally viewing the town from the lake). We lunched at the Stage Coach restaurant and later spent an additional couple of hours on a walking tour of Grand Lake.

Next up was 2 days of horseback riding at Drowsy Water Ranch (http://www.drowsywater.com). For over 70 years, this 600 acre ranch, nestled in its own private mountain valley, has provided visitors from around the world with authentic western vacations. The Drowsy Water Ranch (DWR) homestead lies nestled in aspen trees on both sides of Drowsy Water Creek and is everything you’d expect a ranch to be with barns, stables, corrals, log cabins and ponds amidst unforgettable mountain scenery. Lacking pretense of any sort, DWR is for families who want to relax and ride horses. If you’re more interested in fancy food, massages or tennis, make your reservations at one of Colorado’s 35 other dude ranches. “People are here to be a cowgirl or a cowboy for a week,” said owner Randy Sue Fosha, sitting in the 80-year-old main lodge under the watchful glass eyes of deer and moose trophies. “They are guests in our home.” I stayed in a nice cabin by a creek with a wood burning stove for heat (plus modern amenities like bathroom, refrigerator, electricity etc). The Main Lodge is the daily gathering place for parents and youngsters alike. The door is always open and the coffee pot is always fresh. A warm and friendly environment to kick-back and enjoy card-playing, browsing in the library or just visiting with new friends you will unavoidably make while out on the trail. Randy Sue and her husband, Ken, are focused on one thing — teaching their guests to ride horses. If you have never ridden, they’ll teach you to ride. If you have ridden before, you will love the trails that take you through some of the most scenic parts of the Rocky Mountains and along rivers and trails that will leave you with memories for a lifetime. This doesn’t mean the Foshas don’t pay attention to other amenities- plentiful food and evening entertainment- if you’ve never been to a square dance; get your dancing shoes on. Everyone dances. It’s sort of like Dancing With The… er… cowboys and cowgirls under the Stars. By the end of a week at Drowsy Water, even the greenest greenhorn will feel comfortable in the saddle. n went whitewater rafting in the Poudre Canyon Valley. We first stopped at VERN’s Place for a hearty breakfast. A landmark establishment in Northern Colorado, this restaurant has a 60 year tradition of serving great home-style cuisine for adventurers, fisherman and locals. I would say that if there are TEN THINGS you must do in life, one of them has to be whitewater rafting in level 4 rapids (there are only 5 levels!) in the Colorado Rockies. It was cold, it was wet and (in a good way) it was as nerve racking as it was, at times, scary. I always felt safe, even during the THRILL moments which were numerous, and I would do it all again tomorrow! (http://www.awanderlustadventure.com).

Randy Sue and her husband, Ken, are focused on one thing — teaching their guests to ride horses. If you have never ridden, they’ll teach you to ride. If you have ridden before, you will love the trails that take you through some of the most scenic parts of the Rocky Mountains and along rivers and trails that will leave you with memories for a lifetime. This doesn’t mean the Foshas don’t pay attention to other amenities- plentiful food and evening entertainment- if you’ve never been to a square dance; get your dancing shoes on. Everyone dances. It’s sort of like Dancing With The… er… cowboys and cowgirls under the Stars. By the end of a week at Drowsy Water, even the greenest greenhorn will feel comfortable in the saddle.