The Colorado Exodus: Moab and Flagstaff

Pretty much everywhere we went in Colorado, people told us to go to Moab. We only got to be there for a couple of days, but I will definitely be back!! Sam had to work the one full day we were there, but I took the day off and went for a hike. I’m really starting to realize, or possibly remember, that beauty comes in so many different forms. When someone says a place is beautiful, I tend to image trees and water, but this place was breathtaking! The national park I was in is called Arches because of the many natural rock formations displaying such.

 

 

After our day in Moab, we drove straight to Flagstaff, a seven hour trip, where we spent a full week in a beautiful park surrounded by trees. Or, I did. Sam actually had to leave for a few days on a business trip, so we had a fun weekend with a new friend from the interwebs, and then he had to take off. I found a great yoga studio in town that offered many different types of yoga, and I ended up going every day that week. I forgot how much I miss it! I spent the time he was gone in sort of a spiritual retreat, which has begun a journey that I'm not quite ready to share with the general public. I am super excited! 

We spent a day in Sedona after he got back, which is one of my favorite places, and spent the afternoon hiking around Red Rock State Park, which actually looked similar to the pictures above, except we were hiking among trees. So beautiful! We finished the day off with this dinner at Elote that there are barely words for. Started off with a beet juice margarita, and finished off with a smoked duck breast in green chili sauce that was so tender I couldn't tell the meat from the fat! I wish I had a picture of that one, but I always forget to take it before I chow down. :) Sam had some incredible smoked chicken enchiladas, and I took all of the leftover sauces home and made some chicken enchiladas of my own! Not as good as the restaurant, but better than my usual cooking.

Oh, and we went to a super fun electronic show in town - Gramatik and GRiZ. I'm so glad I'm finally learning how to dance! Which leads me to our next great adventure: Lightning in a Bottle! Check it out: www.lightninginabottle.org. We've been heading west all these months to get to this music festival - five days of all day electronic performances. I don't care so much about the music, but I'm REALLY excited about this space called the Temple of Consciousness, where all day they will be having speakers and workshops about all kinds of spiritual topics, as well as things like health and gardening and all kinds of stuff! And yoga all day! And dance-time at night! I'm really excited, and can't wait to tell you all about it. I'll do my best to get Sam to blog about that one as well.

Welp, that is quite enough blogging for one day. Talk to you soon!

The Colorado Saga Continues

BOULDER (MAY 2-4)

Boulder is a tiny college town about 45 minutes from Denver, and most people highly recommended we go there. We had some good experiences, but overall the place was kind of a letdown. Just too small for us, I suppose. A few good notes:  Twisted Pine Brewery was actually pretty decent. They have 5, 10 or 15 sampler trays, and we went with the 10. Most of them were really good, and the Greek Pizza I had was fantastic! Standouts included the Honey Brown and the Razzy Xpress, which was described as a “Raspberry and Espresso Stout Truffle.” Avery Brewing Company is the one everyone we met in Denver told us we had to go to, and they were completely right! There is some seriously crazy good beer here. Everything we had was delicious, but the one we had to buy a bottle of to take home was The Reverend, a Belgian Quadrupel Ale. Seriously people, go find this beer! Atlas Purveyors was a cute little coffee shop with free wifi. I had an amazing veggie burger and roasted beet soup at Salt, which was part of this outdoor mall, where I also found a fantastic toy store that easily rivals Toy Joy in Austin! There are also lots of Tibetan stores that smell like incense and sell Buddha statues and awesome clothes, and street performers every block or so. That evening we stopped by Redstone Meadery for free samples of at least ten different meads, and I realized when I arrived that they make the mead we drink at the Renaissance Festival! We had dinner and another taster round at Mountain Sun Brewery, which made some decent beers and even better food. At about 8:00p, when all the breweries closed, we realized there was absolutely nothing else to do in this little town.

FORT COLLINS (MAY 4-6)

Fort Collins was actually pretty awesome! Another, slightly larger, college town north of Denver. We hit up four more breweries here: Pateros Creek, Equinox, Coopersmith’s and New Belgium. They all had some solid beers, but New Belgium (the guys who make Fat Tire) was the best! They had something like 20 beers on tap that were small batches I’ve never seen in stores. We bought a growler of this one called Cocoa Mole that tasted like Mexican hot chocolate. Oh, man. We later made Cocoa Mole Floats, which seemed like the correct move. I also finally found a bar that I would totally hang out at: The Astoria. They had a beer on tap that was made specially for them by the Pateros Creek brewery that tasted like vanilla! The Forge Publick was also extraordinary… super hidden with amazing beer choices. Seriously.

So the other big event in Fort Collins was that I sliced my finger open really bad while cooking… definitely the worst injury I’ve had in recent memory. This was about three weeks ago, and in retrospect, there definitely should have been stitches involved! It finally sealed up after a couple of weeks, but it’s still super tender, and I can see where there’s going to be a massive scar. Lame!

ESTES PARK (MAY 6-7)

I went to Estes Park once with my family, and it was a gorgeous little town with cute, esoteric shops and an amazing view of the mountains. On the day we went, however, it started drizzling right away, you couldn’t see the mountains, and it was a Sunday so all the shops closed at 6:00p. Whoops! We managed to make lemonade by finally seeing the Avengers, which was SO GROOD!

BRECKENRIDGE (MAY 7-9)

Wow, was this place beautiful! Unfortunately, we arrived during “mud season,” which is in between ski season and the summer tourist season, so almost everything was closed. Oh well! We had the view of the mountains I had hoped for in Estes Park, along with perfect weather. We’ll just have to go back! 

Ok, since it’s been so long, and there’s so much to talk about, I’m going to break this up into a few separate blog posts. Up next: MOAB! With pictures!

The Great Sand Dunes

I misplaced the cable needed to get my photos off my camera, so I’ve been putting off talking about the Great Sand Dunes, but the time has come! There’s actually not a ton to say, so much as pictures to look at, and don't forget you can click on the pictures to see larger versions. 

The water in this first picture created a barrier between the car and climbing on the sand dunes, which was unacceptable...

So, we ended up playing this game of hopping from one dry-ish spot to the next to get across. It was much more difficult than it sounds! It probably took us 30 minutes and lots of backtracking and figuring out alternate routes, all with the goal of not soaking our feet in the cold weather. It was so much fun! On the way back we ended up losing the game, finally having to splash through a puddle to get across. Sand Dunes: 1, Us: 0.

We started climbing the dunes, with a vague idea that it would be cool to get to the top, but it didn't seem feasible. It turned out not to be too difficult to get to the highest peak we could see, and when we got to the top we discovered that all the dunes we could see were just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. We climbed up one edge, but the dunes went on for miles beyond that! It was incredible!

We’ve officially left Colorado, having most recently gone through Boulder, Fort Collins, Estes Park, Breckenridge, and Moab, UT, all of which I still intend to blog about. Today we’re heading to Flagstaff before Sam has to take off for a three-day business trip on Sunday. Yay Flagstaff!

Denver Reviews

RESTAURANTS AND COFFEE

Zengo

We went here for a happy hour, which I’ve decided is the best way to sample expensive food. Fantastic and creative sushi rolls, adequate ceviche (although too sweet for my taste), and the stand out: Crispy Peking Duck. This dish was comprised of small rounds of thinly sliced daikon radish to use as a tortilla, a pile of duck confit, a “curried apple salad,” which was apple sliced into matchsticks and seasoned, and an orange coriander sauce. Seriously, it was one of the better things I’ve ever eaten. The service and ambiance are also stellar.

Root Down

Another happy hour spot, with decent cocktails and excellent food. We had the duck confit slider and this edamame hummus that was delicious. 

 

Row 14 Bistro and Wine Bar

We showed up here late after a Nuggets game, and they didn’t have the first three wines I asked for. I understand having a rotating wine list, but at least cross them off when you run out. They more than redeemed themselves, however, with the Duck Confit Tacos on the late-night menu. They were simply incredible.

Charcoal Restaurant

Part of our self-declared Foodie Day! Chicken romesco and bacon-wrapped dates, which were to die for! Also had the Peirano Estate Chardonnay, which was described as “lemon meringue pie and vanilla.” Be still my heart! 

Freshcraft

I’m not sure whether to put this with restaurants or bars, because it’s definitely both, but we went there for dinner so I can vouch for the food. Besides the ridiculous basket of fried things that Sam ordered, which is pretty difficult to mess up, I had to order the Schnitzel, which consisted of a fried pork chop with sour kraut and small cubes of potatoes, smothered in a mustard cream sauce with capers. I could seriously eat that every day! I also tried a saison, which is a style of Belgian beer, which was great. I’m learning, however, that most saisons are much lighter and boring than the one I had at Freshcraft, so I’m starting to steer clear.

Rooster and Moon Coffee Pub

There are a ton of coffee shops in Denver, yet this is the one I keep coming back to. You can get coffee, snacks or alcohol any time of day, which makes for an easy transition into Happy Hour. :) Lots of space for laptops and really nice bartenders. This would definitely be my spot if I lived in Denver. Much better than the other highly-rated spot, Crema, which is apparently too cool even for me. And I'm pretty cool.

BREWERIES AND BARS

Great Divide Brewing Co.

After trying out nine breweries in Denver, this one is by far my favorite. It has that yummy brewery smell when you walk in, and every beer sounds like it’s going to be amazing, and almost all of them were. (If I didn’t think it was amazing, it was probably an IPA, but I certainly can’t hold that against them.) They make what is possibly my new favorite beer – the Claymore Scotch Ale, but the Collette (saison) and Yeti (porter, with variations such as Belgian-style and chocolate) are really remarkable as well.

Breckenridge Brewery and BBQ

I was the very most excited to go to this brewery, as the Vanilla Porter has been my favorite beer for the last couple of years. The Porter was so much better fresh and on tap, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with any of their other beers. They’re ribs, however, were to die for! So it makes the list.

Coors Brewery

I don’t drink Coors, but I was interested in seeing a large-scale brewery, and the self-guided audio tour did not disappoint. You also get three free samples at the end, and they were probably 8 oz. each, which is a fair amount of free beer. I didn’t know Coors made Killians Irish Red, which I do like, and I’ve always been a fan of Blue Moon, so I guess they’re not so bad.

Strange Brewing Co.

Great crowd, great bartenders, great beer. Definitely check this one out!

Pints Pub

This is where I started to recognize a pattern: I really love Scotch ales! They’re dark and malty, but not as heavy as porters and stouts. Pints makes a great one, as well as their E.S.B. and brown ale, but what was really impressive was the Scotch and whiskey collection… 16 pages of options! Really awesome bartender as well, and we were able to use a half-off ScoutMob promotion.

Cheeky Monk (not a brewery)

An entire bar that serves exclusively Belgian beers!! Not only that, but they had La Chouffe, our favorite beer in Amsterdam, ON TAP! We walked in right at last call, and they had no problem chatting with us while we finished our beers, probably 15 min. after closing. The one downside is they are incredibly expensive… it might would have to be a once-a-month kind of place.