Sister time in Steamboat Springs

Visit a ski resort in the summer? Why not, there is a lot to do and see any season in Colorado! For the first time in our lives, my two sisters and I took a vacation together, just the three of us. Christine initiated the planning to celebrate turning 40.  I was excited to see them both again, be in Colorado, and explore a new area.  Travel to Denver was uneventful and after a quick visit with Christof, my brother-in-law, and my two nieces, the three of us headed up to Steamboat Springs, a 3 hour drive from the Denver area.  With traffic it took us a bit longer but was still daylight when we arrived.  We checked into our condo at the Rockies, very nearby the ski resort on the mountain.  After reviewing our weekend digs, we headed downtown to grab something to eat and see the sites.  We all decided on Mexican and enjoyed a delicious meal at The Cantina downtown sitting at a table on the sidewalk.  The drive up had been quite rainy and stormy but thankfully the storms had passed and we had very pleasant weather during the evening to walk up and down the main street checking out souvenirs and local flavor.  We walked over to see the Yampa river and could hear the excitement growing at a nearby Rodeo. As it grew dark we headed back to the condo to get some sleep before an early morning trip down to Bald Eagle Lake for our first ever Hot Air Balloon Festival!

 Saturday morning we left the condo just after 6 am to head over to the Hot Air Balloons.  There was a free shuttle from a parking lot nearby.  We were then greeted by a local Civil Air Patrol group that were helping with unloading the shuttles and patrolling the area.  My oldest son and husband had served in the CAP years ago and was nice to see some in action.  We arrived just as the ceremonies began.  Two balloons were fully inflated, one representing America and the second, Colorado. The National Anthem was sung and then the balloons lifted off.  As the morning progressed many more balloons were inflated and took off, filling the skies. Some returned back, some skidded over Bald Eagle Lake, adjacent to the event, and others took off further away. I had two favorite balloons, although they were all very pretty.  Smokey the Bear's balloon, and character, were at the event to celebrate 70 years of promoting forest fire prevention.  My other favorite was called Western Spirit and it is one of 12 operational balloons today that is hand painted.  We spent several hours at the event enjoying all the balloons and beautiful morning down in Yampa Valley.

Western Spirit

The Smokey the Bear Hot Air Balloon made a special appearance!

 As the event closed up for the day, at only 10 in the morning, we decided to head over to a local farmer's market in downtown Springboat.  There we enjoyed locally prepared jams, jewelry and purchased some souvenirs.  They even had a van parked nearby selling Buffalo meat.  Next we headed back to the condo for a quick lunch before going up to the ski resort for a gondola ride.

America's Balloon over Bald Eagle Lake

The Steamboat Ski resort is a beautiful place, really wish I could return to see it in the winter as well! It was very clean, had a small creek running through with Adirondack chairs along side to sit and relax in. The gondola ticket was good for all day, as many trips as you wanted. We wanted to head up before any possible storms.  The lift also brought up mountain bikes as there is an extensive mountain biking trail system up and down the mountain.  The views were beautiful from the ride up and the weather was still really nice.  Once at the top we took a small hike over to some vistas as well as through some of the aspen laden woods.  It was nice to get a small hike in and enjoy some of the wild flowers and look down upon the village of Steamboat Springs. The weather held out and we were able to do another ride up and down the mountain. On our second trip we enjoyed sitting out on the sundeck of the lodge.  They were setting up the place for a wedding, so beautiful! What a wonderful place for a wedding ceremony!

View looking down on the village of Steamboat Springs through some of the Aspen

      Upon returning from our final gondola trip we headed out to do some more hiking, and we headed over the find Fish Creek Falls.  Along the way we "accidentally" found the historic barn in Steamboat that is found in many advertising posters and postcards for over 40 years.  I had wanted to find the barn ever since seeing a photo of it at the farmer's market. My sisters kept teasing me about wanting to see some silly barn and then we were shocked to find it just along the main road as we were driving.  I of course had to take pictures!

The More Barn in Steamboat Spring, CO

After a quick stop at the barn we found our way over the Fish Creek Falls just a few miles from downtown and hiked two small trails, one that took you to see the overall falls and then a steeper trail that led down to the base of the falls.  The trails were not challenging but very beautiful and there were many interpretive signs along the way.  It was somewhat crowded but that didn't take away from the beauty of the place.
     After all that hiking and exploring we had worked up our appetites so went back to the condo to eat leftovers along with the fresh vegetables we bought at the farmer's market.  Then we headed back up to the ski resort to see a night time display of the balloons and watch a mountain side showing of the movie "Up".
Though we had beautiful weather all day the night brought very strong winds which prevented the balloons from being inflated.  It was a little disappointing but would have been terrible had there been any accidents. The Balloon pilot were good sports though and 10 of them came up with their baskets and fuel and lit up the night skies for us. And we still enjoyed the showing of Up until it became too cold.  Didn't take us long to fall asleep!
     On Sunday I woke up early to take a walk around the area, enjoy some prayer time and try to catch some of the balloons taking off at day 2 of the festival. I did enjoy the peaceful morning and beautiful array of balloons taking off a few miles away.  It was such an added bonus to my morning walk to see balloons all over the sky! And also could see balloons from our condo.

The original Steamboat Springs

Art in the Park

Art sample from truebutterflies.com

      A little later, Christine and I headed over to the Art in the Park while Darlene caught up on rest. We found some of the orginal spring that the town was named for and found the reason for the name "steamboat".  Apparehntly when French explorers came upon this area they heard the springs and the sound reminded them of a steamboat. The name stuck.  These springs were 70 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter and smelled awful like sulfur. There are over 9 different springs in Steamboat and they all have different names.  The Art in the Park was overwhelming. I enjoyed all the photo displays from some very talented artists and one artists display of insect art, called Entomology Art.  And we also made a quick stop over to see the Steamboat train depot.
 

About to tube the Yampa

     After lunch we all headed downtown to rent tubes and float down the Yampa! I was the only one to wear a life jacket and brought a camera so of course I dumped over twice. It was cold and the water rushing but did ok.  Christine fell over once and recovered but it was definitely scary for a few moments when you realize the river has more control than you do.  It definitely was a fun and refreshing adventure.  On the way back I asked some boys on our shuttle for their recommended favorite place to visit in Steamboat and they unanimously agreed it was a place called Rocket Fizz and remarked that it had candy that existed back in my day! My sisters and I decided to have a quick bite and drink along the river at Sweet Pea.  Our waiter was sweet but devastated as news had just been shared that his team, Argentina, had just lost to Germany in extra over time for the World Cup.  We browsed a few downtown stores including Rocket Fizz where we all bought some candy! Our next adventure would be to try the Hot Spring in Strawberry Park.

arriving at Strawberry Park Hot Springs

Hot spring at Strawberry Park

The sun setting at Strawberry Park

Enjoying our first hot spring pool

            We drove several miles out of the village to reach Strawberry Park Hotsprings.  I had no idea what to expect and was looking forward to it.  The setting was beautiful surrounded by aspen and all the building were rustic, a tepee was provided as a changing room.  The park had several different areas to soak in, and each one had a very different temperature from so hot it was difficult to sit in at all to freezing cold.  You could see several of the run off hot spring as steam rose above them and snow melt rivers that combined with the springs made for reasonable temperature pools.  After trying several we found one that was just right and enjoyed soaking in for for several hours.  The park is clothing optional after dark and for adults only. I will let my readers use their own thoughts on whether or not we went for clothing optional.  We had to use flashlights to navigate out of the park back to our car and had to be careful not to shine on others! The soak was so nice after a day of floating down the chilly Yampa River.  I would definitely recommend this as a must do if in the Steamboat area.  Close to 10 pm we headed back to town, saw a deer along the way, and were ready for some sleep after a couple of snacks.  

On the train at Adventure Land

      Monday we headed back to Denver to bring Darlene to the airport and then I was able to spend a few extra days in Aurora with Christof and my nieces.  Our first evening we went bowling and I must really benefit from the high altitude because I scored 3 strikes in my first string and 5 in my second string! On Tuesday we enjoyed a day at Adventureland where we did a maze, took a train ride, enjoyed ice cream and rode the alpine slide.  The girls are growing more adventurous and it was fun to hang out with family a little bit longer. I have for years wanted to visit the Columbine memorial but never felt ready, we visited on Tuesday afternoon and I realized I still wasn't ready, it still hits too close to home as a teacher, Mom and aunt to read the memorials but will say it is a beautiful tribute and gave me time to reflect and pray for all those still in mourning.   On Wednesday we spent the majority of the day before I went to the airport at the Denver Museum of Science and 'Nature. The girls never tire of this museum and we visit every year. I must say it's one of my favorite stops as well. I love the Human Body exhibit enjoyed a new movie about hiking in high altitude.

Columbine Memorial in Littleton

Parting shot as I leave Denver...