Metro to Mountain Journal

During our summer trip, a few notable events and a few interesting observations ... It's life on the road!

REI Denver

Monday we broke camp and left Estes Park.

Heading south, we were in Denver by 11 and stopped at the flagship REI. It was the first day of a new parking policy for the store. At the entrance to the parking, we had to pick up a ticket before entering the parking area. Previously, the lots had been open to all, but probably the free parking was being used by non-shoppers. Now there is a two hour limit before the store begins charging for parking. The booths were not manned.

We bought a couple of ALITE chairs, a review will come, but so far so good.

Leadville

Heading west, we were on our way to Leadville. We have spent many nights in or near Leadville throughout the years. We were happy to be returning for a short visit. As we drove we wondered what had changed since our last visit, two years ago.

On the surface the town seemed to be unchanged, but on closer inspection - Provin' Grounds, the coffee shop, had changed names and maybe owners. The bookstore was out of business, likewise for the old classic drug store. A few of the other restaurants had come and gone, but that was normal. The outdoor gear store changed names and locations. Now the store is in the old location of Bill's. To us the store seemed smaller than when it was in their other location.

The newest businesses in town seemed to be race oriented. Leadville is the home of the Leadville 100 ultra marathon and the 100 mile mountain bike race. Now, they seem to be sponsoring even more races, a triathlon and another race. There is a race store now in what used to be a bar and when we were there, the lot next to the race store was being used as a race headquarters.

And some things remained the same - the RV Corral was still in business. The showers were $2 extra, but it is still a great place to pitch a tent, and the owner has always been kind and accommodating to us. High Mountain Pies, pizza, was still operating and as good as ever. Tennessee Pass had another new menu. And for Amy, Quincy's was as good as ever, even in a to go box.

Changing Plans

The forecast for the San Juan's was not good, we decided to postpone our visit to another time and instead go early to the Tetons.

F M Light & Sons

From Leadville, we headed north. After passing through Silverthorne, CO, we began seeing signs to F M Light and Sons store in Steamboat Springs. I had never been to Steamboat, but after many advertising signs, I was on the lookout for the F M Light Store. As we drove down the Main Street of Steamboat we saw the store and there was parking in front. After reading advertising signs for miles, the store was smaller than expected. The store did however, have a lot of boots and hats, but we were expecting a BassPro kind of store. However, when we entered the store we saw a young girl standing with her mom, grandma, or ??? The girl was dressed as a cowgirl. She wore a pink hat, vest and skirt and was riding a toy pink, horse broom. She was worth the price of admission, which by the way was free.

Tetons

We made it to the Tetons and set up camp at the usually uncrowded Gros Ventre Campground. Wednesday morning, we found a better campsite and went to Dornans for a pancake breakfast.

Wish you were here.

Happy Changing Plans trails