Colorado 2018 Part 1

Quick Trip to Colorado

We left our house Tuesday evening to get a head start on our Fourth of July quick trip to Colorado. Drove six hours incident free to the Holiday Inn Express in Colby, KS. Ate dinner across the parking lot at Arby’s. There are few food choices in Colby.

The Holiday Inn Express is a decent hotel, it’s pricey at $150.00/night. That’s as much or more than I pay to stay at Hilton properties while traveling for work.  The a/c was a little loud but not rattling. The hot water was slow getting to the shower but just fine once it made it and the water pressure was pretty good. The towels were decent but not like normal HIE towels. They seemed a little thinner than usual.

Here is the view out our window on Wednesday morning. Yep, that’s Kansas.

We hit the road early but not too early on Independence Day. We want to get to Idaho Springs about lunch time. No problems on the drive West on I-70, first stop Limon, CO for gas and the souvenir place. All things being equal, if you’re heading Westbound through Limon and need to make a stop for gas or a restroom, get off the interstate at HWY 24 and not Main Street. There are several better options at the HWY 24 exit than Main St. We stop at Main St. because Vicki has to go through the souvenir place and it’s the first restroom after a rather long stretch of highway.

Next stop Idaho Springs and BeauJo’s. We always plan to stop here for lunch when heading up to the mountains. It’s a great stopping point to grab a pizza and a glass of beer when heading up to the mountains. I had a Pick Axe IPA from Tommy Knocker’s and we split a Mother Lode Prairie Pie for lunch. Probably not the healthiest option for lunch but it was a very tasty option. Love the beer in a Mason Jar!

Frisco

Stopped to watch a band playing in Idaho Springs for awhile and then headed up to Frisco. Checked into the Holiday Inn and for the second of four times staying here I had to go to the front desk and ask if there were possibly any different rooms available. First time was a beautiful view of a wall and this time was the smallest room possible and a view of a wall and the parking lot. I don’t ask for much, but being a Platinum Member with IHG you’d think they’d not give us the crappiest room that they had available. Yeah, I know, first world problems. A quick and polite conversation with the front desk and the manager and we were moved to a decent room with a decent view.

Normal Holiday Inn amenities, shower and towels. However, just a note that the Floor 4 ice maker wasn’t working. This seems to be the case at most motels anymore. If there are ice makers, half of them don’t work. This is not just a problem with IHG.

Here is a view from our room after we were switched.

After checking in we headed to the Island Grill at the Frisco Bay Marina for Happy Hour. We each had a Rum Runner that didn’t taste quite as good as we remember. Don’t get me wrong it was still good. There are lots of people and dogs everywhere getting ready for the Independence Day celebration going on this evening. However, because of the dry conditions and the forest fires across the state there will be no fireworks this evening.

Went to the Uptown On Main, which used to be The Boatyard. That kind of threw us for a loop but it is still a nice place and I grabbed a great local IPA (from Outer Range). Great service and looks like it would be a great place for dinner. We will add it to our to do list next time we’re in Frisco.

We had dinner at The Club House. Had a pretty decent margarita, there is a taqueria here, billiards and indoor golf. There’s a lot going on here and I’m not really sure that it all gels together. I had pretty decent Mojo Chicken tacos and the chips and salsa was pretty good. Restrooms are out of the restaurant and down the hall a ways, that’s kind of odd but not a deal breaker.

That’s it for the night, back to the hotel to rest up for a hike tomorrow.