For spring break this year we decided to take a road trip through parts of Colorado we seldom (if ever) go to. It worked out well for our two year old too as we just potty trained her last month so it was extremely easy to pull over and take out her training potty when she needed to pee. It’s the little joys in life! We were gone for five nights in total and our stops included: one night in Glenwood Springs, one night in Ouray, a quick stop in Telluride, two nights in Cortez which included Mesa Verde and the Four Corners, and one night in Pagosa Springs.
Glenwood Springs: We stayed at The Hotel Glenwood Springs. The kids LOVED it. Their indoor pool has a large blue water slide for kids 48″ and up, and a small water slide shaped like a mountain lion that dumps into the 6″ kiddie pool. We had dinner at the Glenwood Canyon Brewpub. If you’re a beer lover, the Grizzly Creek Raspberry Wheat beer is delicious! It’s brewed with Palisade hops and raspberries. The next day we spent at The Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. A major bonus is that the gondola ride to get to the top of the mountain/amusement park happened to be located in the parking lot of our hotel. There are a few options for day passes for the adventure park. You can pay $19 ($14 for kids) to just ride the gondola to the top and then walk around or eat at their restaurant. Or you can pay $32 ($27 for kids) for a pass to ride the gondola and explore the caves. Lastly you can buy a pass for $47 ($42 for kids) that includes the gondola, the caves, and all of the rides. We bought two of these passes for Vince and Lila but figured it wasn’t worth wasting the money for the rides on Winnie since she was too small/young to ride any of them. Lila and Vince rode the alpine coaster repeatedly and went on Glenwood’s version of the “tower of terror” (they call it the Haunted Mine Drop) which scared the shit out of Lila. She was just tall enough to go on the ride and didn’t know what to expect, so when the floor dropped out and her and Vince plummeted down inside of the dark mountain, she was terrified. Nothing like a little emotional trauma to start off the trip! While Vince and Lila rode rides, I took Winnie to the “fairy caves”. The tour lasted 40 minutes which I thought could be dicey with a freshly potty-trained two year old, but she loved it! At one point in the tour, the tour guide turns off the lights installed into the cave walls so you can see exactly how dark it is and when she turned the lights back on, Winnie kept telling her to “turn the lights off!” She also liked the part where you exit the cave onto “Exclamation Point” – a fenced-in ledge where you overlook Glenwood Canyon. I don’t care for heights but it was a helluva view! After all that excitement, we met up with Vince and Lila, got some lunch at the only restaurant at the park and then watched a five minute 4D Motion ride which was a virtual reality ride where you pretend you’re a snowman snowboarding. The adventure park is pretty great for kids and offers quite a bit to do while still taking in an incredible view!
Ouray: Our next stop on our trip was Ouray which was a three hour drive from Glenwood. We were going to stay in Telluride versus Ouray but I am so glad we went to Ouray! We went to Telluride when Lila was six months old for Vince’s birthday so everyone except Winnie knew what Telluride had to offer. The room selection was pretty piss poor since we waited til right before our trip to book, and even the crappy rooms in Telluride were $650 a night for a motel 6 kind of place. Ouray is just on the other side of the mountain from Telluride but since there isn’t a safe/direct route there, it takes about an hour to get to Telluride from Ouray.
We started our day by attempting to watch ice climbers at Box Canyon Falls. Our kids are early risers so when we arrived, the ice climbers were just arriving and getting their gear on. Even though we didn’t see any of them in action, it’s still impressive to see how daunting their climbs are!
We walked around, shopped, and went to Ouray Brewery for dinner. Now this shit is important people. Back in 2014 Vince, Lila and I went to France and in Nice, I had a salad SO AMAZING I made Vince eat there a second time. I would never do that when we are in another country trying to soak up all the new places to see and things to do. I loved this salad that fucking much. And Ouray Brewing had the closest version of that salad. It’s not a complex salad but it’s delightful as fuck. It has fried goat cheese croquettes, arugula, cherry tomatoes, candied walnuts, seasonal fruit and this one had white balsamic blonde ale gastrique and was served with balsamic vinaigrette on the side. It was so good, you could bitch slap someone and not even feel bad about it.
If you are in Ouray, stop at Mouse’s Chocolates and Coffee. They roast their own coffee and it’s incredible. And Vince’s aunt told us to try a “scrap cookie” and they did not disappoint! They take buttery sugar cookie dough and mix in their scrap chocolate bits. Food is very important to us on vacation if you can’t tell and it’s a small miracle I am not 400 pounds. I did gain a couple after this trip though!
Telluride: The next morning we stopped in Telluride at The Butcher and the Baker for breakfast. I have encountered two types of servers in mountain towns like Telluride. Either they are extremely down to earth and friendly, or they know that you’re transient and they don’t need to win you over with good service for tips since so many tourists are there, so they’re slow and unfriendly . The service here was the latter unfortunately but we made the best of it and enjoyed stretching our legs before getting back in the car. I had a gluten free waffle (I prefer gluten but those hippies only offered GF waffles) and the girls had basic bacon and eggs. Vince had chilaquiles that he enjoyed! They also had a good drink menu as well.
Winnie at The Butcher and the Baker
Cortez/Mesa Verde: We then drove a couple hours to Cortez. I really wanted to see Mesa Verde and Cortez is the closest town with hotel options. To get to the entrance of Mesa Verde wasn’t long at all – about ten minutes! But then once you get to the entrance/visitor center, it’s about an hour drive to the cliff dwellings. I loved seeing Mesa Verde. It’s fascinating to see what people could build using just stones, mortar, and their own two hands. Some of the dwellings date back to 500 AD! I don’t know how they didn’t all plummet to their deaths living in these dwellings so high up in the cavern.
After we went to Mesa Verde, we took a quick jaunt to the Four Corners. It’s only about an hour drive so it was easy to get there. It costs just $5 per person for anyone over the age of five.
The Four Corners was pretty busy when we arrived. People were lined up to pose for pictures so we got in and out fast. I had a brief two seconds between people taking photos to snap the shot above and inadvertently cut out Arizona. But you get the idea. The girls loved all the local vendors that were selling jewelry and dream catchers. Vince bought them both necklace and earring sets as well as hair clips and they were in love with their accessories.
Pagosa Springs: We ended our trip with a stay in Pagosa Springs where we stayed at The Springs Resort and Spa. Pagosa Springs has the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring! In 2011, the “Mother Spring” (where all the small springs stem from) was measured and they got to 1002 feet before they ran out of plumb line! So no one really knows just how deep it goes since there is no plumb line long enough to measure it. They are open year-round, always opening at 7 am and closing either at 11 pm or midnight depending on if you’re there in the winter or summer. It costs adults $28 for the day and children $14, but it’s free if you stay at their hotel so we got in for free. Lockers, towels, reusable water bottles, and bath robes are included with the daily admission fee.
I liked this hotel the most because the rooms were huge with a kitchenette. Their bath products also smell amazing! We arrived a couple hours before our room was ready so we left everything in the car except our suits and hit up the hot springs. We spent a good chunk of the time in the largest hot spring that was 92 degrees and then ended with the “Burg” hot spring which is right next to the San Juan river. It has a sandy bottom and parts of it are 91 degrees and parts are ice cold where it meets with the river water. It’s also extremely shallow so Winnie could stand up easily. After getting a little sun-burned and knowing it was well past Winnie’s nap time, we checked into our room, showered and napped, and then went to Tequila’s for dinner. Nothing special there, it’s just a chain Mexican restaurant, but I do love their cole slaw! Sign me up for anything covered in salt and pepper with vinegar!
