Sweet Willie
Sep 8, 01, 7:27 pm
Started off by flying UA # 263, Got upgraded (always a good start to a trip), Departed ontime, 5:10pm. Had the ribs w/Charlie Robinson's BBQ sauce (great dish for airline food!). Landed Denver 4 minutes early! Used UA certs for "free" car from Avis. Was upgraded to a Cadillac from a mid-size (trip is great so far!). Traffic through Denver was heavy, but flowing nicely.
Once in the mountains, Wow what a different story. Interstate 70 was at standstill a few times. Very heavy traffic going into the Rockies. Luckily, we exited at Route 9 South towards Breckenridge.
Stayed at the Tiger Run RV Campground and Chalets. I know sounds like a weird combination and it is. The rental chalets are right in the middle of this campground.
They are small yet nicely furnished w/fireplace, TV, and best of all very cheap. Going rate was $70 per night. We had a $30 cleaning surcharge due to only staying one night.
Tiger Run is North of Breckenridge by about 5 miles, just off 9. Phone # 970.453.9690.
Woke up next morning and ate at our favorite breakfast place in Breckenridge, The Blue Moose Café. Breakfast burritos are awesome, so is the French toast.
Drove back North to 70 and headed West to first exit which was 91 South. Took 91 South, hooked up w/ 24 South going through Leadville. In Leadville you will find the National Mining Hall of Fame Museum at 120 W. 9th Street. Very neat/worthwhile.
For great views of Fremont Pass and Mt Elbert, one can take the CO and Southern train, which runs Memorial day through Oct. see http://www.leadville-train.com We thought we did not have enough time, so we did not take the train. Friends tell us it is a beautiful and adventuresome ride.
Continued driving South on 24. Headed West on 82 towards Aspen. 82 crosses Independence Pass. 82 is also a very precipitous road, sometimes w/no guardrails or going from two lanes to a single lane. The pullouts for scenery are tremendous. Used to take the wagons 10 - 25 hours to cross the pass, took us 35 minutes if we had drove straight over.
Arrived Aspen around 12 noon. Ate at the Hickory House BBQ. While not the best I've had (best IMO are the Carolinas and Texas), it was still a very good que. Although the sauce is produced in Lake Zurich, IL!!
Checked into the Inn at Aspen, which is on the Western side of Aspen, outside of town. It is not near anything within walking distance. It does have a decent size outdoor (year-round I believe) pool and Jacuzzi. It is also right at the base of some slopes w/a chairlift. I personally like to be w/in walking distance to town and thought this Inns location and cost were not a good value.
Drove back into town to shop. My wife mandated this. We were not really impressed w/Aspen. Our thoughts were it was just like any other upscale small town USA, but w/mountains. We really expected more items that had "Aspen" flavor, but did not find any. Drove back to Inn at Aspen to get freshened up for the evening.
Started our evening at the Hotel Jerome built in the 1880's, the J-Bar at the hotel is an OLD OLD wooden bar w/15' tall tined ceilings. A good place for starter drinks.
The proceeded across the street to Vinh Vinh restaurant http://www.vinhvinh.com/ a
Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant w/the focus on Vietnamese cuisine. Started out w/the Shrimp Spring Rolls (not fried) and the Shrimp/pork dumplings, both very good. I had the sesame crusted salmon (not really crusted, but sprinkled w/sesame seeds) which was OK. Wife had the 5 spice duck that was tremendous.
Walked up to the St. Regis hotel. THIS IS THE PLACE TO STAY IN ASPEN! Had scotches and martinis while a jazz pianist played. There was also a wedding going on, w/groomsmen in cowboy hats, good fun to watch. It was almost a full moon and a great sleeping temp (50 degrees) so we left the patio door to our room open and slept soundly.
Next morning continued on 82 West to where it hooks into 70. Took 70 East to Vail. Rode the gondola up and rode bikes down the slopes for a few hours. Lots of fun, but very scary even on the green courses. The first time last year, it took us 2 hours to get down the slopes. This time we were whipping down in less than 30 minutes (at least we thought we were "whipping").
Continued on 70 East to Copper Mountain, which is just off the interstate. Grabbed some deli sandwiches and took the free chairlift ride up the mountain. Up top there are picnic tables to eat at. We would have walked down, but pressed for time, we rode down on the lift.
Continued East on 70 to 74 South, which we took into Evergreen. In Evergreen we both received 1 ˝ hour massages w/some foot reflexology thrown in from Sequoia Wellness Spa. Cost for 1 ˝ hours was $95. More info on the spa can be found at http://www.sequoiaspaholistic.com/
Ate at a local pub in Evergreen and drove on a road out of Evergreen headed to Morrison for our date at Red Rocks Amphitheater http://www.redrocksonline.com/ to see James Taylor in concert. For those who do not know, Red Rocks is an open-air venue built among some beautiful cliffs. You can see a picture of this if you click on the website address above. Venue was great, moon was full and Taylor was still able to put on a good show. Some friends of ours from Boulder had driven down w/some friends of theirs, so they were able to drive back to their house in Boulder in our car.
Early Monday morning, my buddy and I played 9 holes at the Omni Interlocken golf course. Very beautiful course and as a result, pricey ($50 for 9).
Got back mid morning to their house. Grabbed some more deli sandwiches and headed up into the mountains for some hiking. We hiked about 1 ˝ hours along a beautiful stream and had our sandwiches. Hike out took slightly longer, but always seems to go faster on the way out. Our friends then took us on a drive through the foothills outside of Boulder on the gravel backroads, just breathtaking. We then went back and showered up.
Left ourselves 2 ˝ hours to get to the airport for UA # 266 departing at 7:05pm. Again were upgraded, chicken fajitas were great. Landed at 10:30pm and were home in bed by 11:30pm. All in all a great Labor Day weekend.
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-09-2001).]
Once in the mountains, Wow what a different story. Interstate 70 was at standstill a few times. Very heavy traffic going into the Rockies. Luckily, we exited at Route 9 South towards Breckenridge.
Stayed at the Tiger Run RV Campground and Chalets. I know sounds like a weird combination and it is. The rental chalets are right in the middle of this campground.
They are small yet nicely furnished w/fireplace, TV, and best of all very cheap. Going rate was $70 per night. We had a $30 cleaning surcharge due to only staying one night.
Tiger Run is North of Breckenridge by about 5 miles, just off 9. Phone # 970.453.9690.
Woke up next morning and ate at our favorite breakfast place in Breckenridge, The Blue Moose Café. Breakfast burritos are awesome, so is the French toast.
Drove back North to 70 and headed West to first exit which was 91 South. Took 91 South, hooked up w/ 24 South going through Leadville. In Leadville you will find the National Mining Hall of Fame Museum at 120 W. 9th Street. Very neat/worthwhile.
For great views of Fremont Pass and Mt Elbert, one can take the CO and Southern train, which runs Memorial day through Oct. see http://www.leadville-train.com We thought we did not have enough time, so we did not take the train. Friends tell us it is a beautiful and adventuresome ride.
Continued driving South on 24. Headed West on 82 towards Aspen. 82 crosses Independence Pass. 82 is also a very precipitous road, sometimes w/no guardrails or going from two lanes to a single lane. The pullouts for scenery are tremendous. Used to take the wagons 10 - 25 hours to cross the pass, took us 35 minutes if we had drove straight over.
Arrived Aspen around 12 noon. Ate at the Hickory House BBQ. While not the best I've had (best IMO are the Carolinas and Texas), it was still a very good que. Although the sauce is produced in Lake Zurich, IL!!
Checked into the Inn at Aspen, which is on the Western side of Aspen, outside of town. It is not near anything within walking distance. It does have a decent size outdoor (year-round I believe) pool and Jacuzzi. It is also right at the base of some slopes w/a chairlift. I personally like to be w/in walking distance to town and thought this Inns location and cost were not a good value.
Drove back into town to shop. My wife mandated this. We were not really impressed w/Aspen. Our thoughts were it was just like any other upscale small town USA, but w/mountains. We really expected more items that had "Aspen" flavor, but did not find any. Drove back to Inn at Aspen to get freshened up for the evening.
Started our evening at the Hotel Jerome built in the 1880's, the J-Bar at the hotel is an OLD OLD wooden bar w/15' tall tined ceilings. A good place for starter drinks.
The proceeded across the street to Vinh Vinh restaurant http://www.vinhvinh.com/ a
Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant w/the focus on Vietnamese cuisine. Started out w/the Shrimp Spring Rolls (not fried) and the Shrimp/pork dumplings, both very good. I had the sesame crusted salmon (not really crusted, but sprinkled w/sesame seeds) which was OK. Wife had the 5 spice duck that was tremendous.
Walked up to the St. Regis hotel. THIS IS THE PLACE TO STAY IN ASPEN! Had scotches and martinis while a jazz pianist played. There was also a wedding going on, w/groomsmen in cowboy hats, good fun to watch. It was almost a full moon and a great sleeping temp (50 degrees) so we left the patio door to our room open and slept soundly.
Next morning continued on 82 West to where it hooks into 70. Took 70 East to Vail. Rode the gondola up and rode bikes down the slopes for a few hours. Lots of fun, but very scary even on the green courses. The first time last year, it took us 2 hours to get down the slopes. This time we were whipping down in less than 30 minutes (at least we thought we were "whipping").
Continued on 70 East to Copper Mountain, which is just off the interstate. Grabbed some deli sandwiches and took the free chairlift ride up the mountain. Up top there are picnic tables to eat at. We would have walked down, but pressed for time, we rode down on the lift.
Continued East on 70 to 74 South, which we took into Evergreen. In Evergreen we both received 1 ˝ hour massages w/some foot reflexology thrown in from Sequoia Wellness Spa. Cost for 1 ˝ hours was $95. More info on the spa can be found at http://www.sequoiaspaholistic.com/
Ate at a local pub in Evergreen and drove on a road out of Evergreen headed to Morrison for our date at Red Rocks Amphitheater http://www.redrocksonline.com/ to see James Taylor in concert. For those who do not know, Red Rocks is an open-air venue built among some beautiful cliffs. You can see a picture of this if you click on the website address above. Venue was great, moon was full and Taylor was still able to put on a good show. Some friends of ours from Boulder had driven down w/some friends of theirs, so they were able to drive back to their house in Boulder in our car.
Early Monday morning, my buddy and I played 9 holes at the Omni Interlocken golf course. Very beautiful course and as a result, pricey ($50 for 9).
Got back mid morning to their house. Grabbed some more deli sandwiches and headed up into the mountains for some hiking. We hiked about 1 ˝ hours along a beautiful stream and had our sandwiches. Hike out took slightly longer, but always seems to go faster on the way out. Our friends then took us on a drive through the foothills outside of Boulder on the gravel backroads, just breathtaking. We then went back and showered up.
Left ourselves 2 ˝ hours to get to the airport for UA # 266 departing at 7:05pm. Again were upgraded, chicken fajitas were great. Landed at 10:30pm and were home in bed by 11:30pm. All in all a great Labor Day weekend.
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-09-2001).]