Steamboat Springs, CO

Joined Bob and Cheryl at their timeshare in Steamboat Springs, CO. It was a blast! Although we thought the weather would be chilly, it ended up being in the Mid-60’s to Low-70’s most of the time. It was perfect!

Highlights:

October 15, 2021

Left Phoenix at 8:15 a.m. Temperature was 72-degrees. By the time I got to Flagstaff it was 47-degrees with just a light dusting of snow on the mountains.

Headed to Bluff, Utah today, which is about the halfway point to Steamboat Springs. Bluff is only about 10 miles from the Arizona/Utah line. Driving along 89A N toward Kayenta through the Navajo Reservation it looks kind of like the surface of Mars! There are red rock formations, gray sandy hills and interspersed through it all are a multitude of trailers, shacks, yurts, and pre-fabs that serve as housing on the reservation! Horses and cattle graze all along the way!

Drove through Tuba City, Home of the Navajo Code Talkers. Lots of Red Rock hoodoos!

Stayed at the Canyon Wren Bed and Breakfast! My first time in a B&B! It a beautiful, quaint lodge that overlooks the Bears Ears National Monument. This B&B has three rooms, but there is only one other girl here tonight besides myself. She sent directly to her room, so I have this beautiful lodge to myself! Linda, the host, lives downstairs with her two dogs. There are three sweet kitties that live here as well, but they’re outside cats as she doesn’t advertise as being ‘pet-friently’!

I went for a great walk behind the property along Bears Ears and Comb Ridge. So pretty here! If this is what all B&B’s are like, I may never stay in a hotel again!

October 16, 2021

Left Canyon Wren B&B about 8:45 a.m. The drive was gorgeous! The beautiful red rocks of Moab leaves Sedona’s pale by comparison. I passed the entrance to Arches National Park. I’m really happy I’ve made the decision to leave a couple days early to take time to see it on the way home!

The Poplars are changing and are almost irredescent in the sunlight. It looks like they’re lit from within! I drove mostly along the Colorado River today, so with the infusion of water, everything was really green!

Got to Steamboat Springs about 4:15 p.m. Not bad considering I was stopping along the road the entire way to take photos!! Bob and Cheryl made it about 1/2 hour later. The Sheraton is beautiful! There is a great fireplace in the room; a fireplace downstairs in the lobby, and about six of them out on the outdoor terrace overlooking the ski hills! Can’t wait to explore the town! It looks like so much fun!

We went out for a quick drive through town. Stopped for food and drinks at a little Irish Pub called O’Neills Tavern and Grill. Did a quick run-through of Safeway to get some breakfast-type stuff for the room.

Overall, it seemed like a really long day of driving, but sooooo worth the effort!

October 17, 2021

Spent most of the day walking through the downtown area of Steamboat Springs. Although some of the galleries were closed as this is considered shoulder weason, most of the shops were open! The weather was warm! totally over-dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt as the temps got up to about 70-degrees!

Had lunch in town and then came back to the room. Went downstairs about 7:00 p.m. to sit out on the terrace by the fire with a glass of wine and we split some nachos! Gorgeous night!

Worked on making reservations for Strawberry Hot Springs for Tuesday. It’s supposed to snow that day and it would be beautiful to sit in the Hot Springs during a snowstorm! We’ll probably have to take a shuttle up the hill to the Hot Springs as a 4-wheel drive seems to be necessary!

October 18th, 2021

Today was fun! Left the room about 1-:30 a.m., went into town and had lunch and then rented e-bikes for 3 hours! This so makes me want to get one! We rode about 18 miles on the Yampa Core Trail which ran right behind the bike rental shop! It was so pretty! Rode along the Yampa River and the trail was lined with bright yellow Poplar trees! Stopped to take lots of pictures! Bob was playing with his new GoPro 10 that Cheryl got him for his birthday. Takes awesome photos and videos!

October 19, 2021

Hung out in the room until 2:00 p.m., then the shuttle picked us up to take us to Strawberry Hot Springs! It was about 1/2 hour from the hotel and snowed on and off the entire way up there! The drive up and back was magical…

The water for the Hot Springs comes out of the rocks at 150-degrees. They mix it with river water to cool it off! There are three separate pools. One is really hot…about 106-degrees. The second one was kind of a medium temperature; about 101-degrees, and the third one was REALLY FREAKIN’ COLD! I think this was straight river water!

Just because it was there I jumped in the coldest pool, swam to the other end and then RAN back to the hotter water! It was painful it was so cold, but had to do it! We thought it would be REALLY cold when we finally got out and had to go up to the changing cabin to get dressed, but actually, it wasn’t bad! Maybe the hot water for two hours kept us warm until we got to the cabin!

Such a fun day! Beyond beautiful! Went to Big House Burgers for Dinner. I had a ‘Grilled Pickle Burger’… most inappropriately called the “Tickle My Pickle!” It was really good though!!

October 20, 2021

Drove to Steamboat Lake today to see the color. Really pretty drive, but we’ve probably missed the peak color by about 3 weeks. Stopped at the Marina… small, but pretty!

On the way home we stopped at Fish Creek Falls and hiked in about 1/4 mile to see the falls! It was beautiful! It seemed really chilly by the lake, but was really nice by the time we hiked into the waterfall!

Fresh high alpine water roars down Fish Creek Canyon, spilling over the magnificent 280-ft Fish Creek Falls.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”

-Vincent Van Gogh

Stopped at Taco Cabo for some appetizers for lunch! Going to do Blue Sage Pizza tonight! Headed out for Moab to see Arches National Park in the morning!

Its been so much fun having a chance to spend time with Bob and Cheryl!