Fort Collins and Estes Park
September 28 – 29, 2016
While I've mentioned that the Ramada Inn where we stayed in Denver was easily the worst place we stayed on the trip, I did fail to mention that they had a pretty good breakfast buffet. So on Wednesday morning we had a good breakfast there before heading for Fort Collins. We had booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express that is near the apartment of my good friend from Davidson days, Ed Shuping. He had us meet him at the Whole Foods, in part because it would be easy for us to find. But also he had had them make me a birthday cake. He had hoped we'd have more time and be there on my birthday, but we celebrated early back at his apartment. He opened a bottle of Dom Perignon and they toasted my big round birthday. Both cake and bubbly were delicious. Then we went out to explore the town.
Thursday morning we went out for a great late breakfast, and after saying our good-byes to Ed, headed off toward Estes Park. My original idea had been for us to make a quick trip to Cheyenne, since I have never been to Wyoming, but both Torrey and Ed said there wasn't really anything to see there, and I would enjoy visiting the national parks there later in my life. (What happened to that idea of not putting things off, vita brevis and all that?) The drive to Estes Park was scenic, but we had a lengthy delay for construction.
We headed south of Estes Park to check into our hotel, The Baldpate Inn. While that sounds like we qualified as customers, we were dubious about the place: no elevator, bathrooms down the hall. We decided to stay after all. I was still the porter, following Torrey's surgery, so I welcomed the help of the young woman at the desk to lug our stuff up the flights of stairs. We still had some daylight left, so we decided to take the scenic road south before returning to the lobby for snacks.
We had a spacious room with four windows, two facing the front of the inn, and the two dormers you see over the porch in the photo of the inn above. The restrooms and bathing facilities were ample, and private once you got to them down a short hall. The key room had keys people had sent them from around the world, including a key to Hitler's desk, supposedly. In the morning they served us a very fancy and delicious breakfast. We did not regret staying there at all. It was a nice break from the blandness of regular motels, good and bad. They were about to close for the season when we were there. The inn was for sale if the owner could find the right buyer. You might want to check to see if it is still on the market.
on to Rocky Mountain National Park ->
<- back to Denver