Tuesday: 120 miles, Elevation tonight 6,775 in Steamboat Springs.
We weren’t in a big hurry today. We weren’t going very far, and didn’t have any special plans for when we get there. I originally had planned to go to Steamboat Springs to 1) see another famous ski resort town, and 2) to go to Strawberry Hot Springs which is a very remote, rustic place. I thought it would be a really fun and authentic hot spring experience. But we found out from talking to local Coloradoites that there is a 2 mile dirt road to get there, and it is steep, curvy, and can be yucky when wet. It is recommended to go in an all wheel drive vehicle. (Of course, it is most popular in the winter when the road is snowy!). Some people said our car would be ok to go there. But – it has been raining, so there would be mud to add to the yuck. So we decided that we wouldn’t put our little Sonny (Sonata) car through that. So, it was a low key day, and Not many pictures today. We took a scenic route, because that is the only way to get to Steamboat Springs!
We did spend about 40 miles on I-70. Wow! It was majestic!
And a seriously expensive portion of freeway! Most of this section was built on the side of a mountain as elevated bridges. And there were tunnels too!
The freeway followed the Colorado river through the mountains. It was so pretty!!
We eventually turned north on Colorado 131, and the scenery became more like dry deserty landscape.
Then lots of farmland.
This was our first glimpse of Steamboat Springs in the distance. It is WAY different than Telluride!! These are more like tall rolling hills, with the town at the base of the hills. Not an extreme valley at all. It was a little bit rainy, and I didn’t get very good pictures. I’ll try to get some tomorrow.
We checked into the Steamboat Mountain Lodge. It is a cute little place, and we were fortunate that our room was ready at 1:00. We ventured into town to find some refreshments. First up was the Mountain Tap Brewery.
After that, we went to the Tap House, which had a better food menu, and craft beers from all over the place. This dark one was called Sad Panda. Sad Kenny said it as really good.
Here is a shot of downtown. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, etc. It is a cute place, and quite a bit larger than Telluride. It is “out-of-the-way” though. Gas prices are about 60 cents higher than other places in Colorado!
Steamboat Springs is not a place that you just happen to be driving past. You have to go out of your way to get here. And why is it called Steamboat Springs?
The name Steamboat Springs is said to have originated in the late 1820’s when three French Trappers, traveling along the Yampa River, heard a “chug chug” sound. Thinking they had reached a major river, one yelled, “a Steamboat, by gar!” Upon further investigation, they discovered the sound came from a natural mineral spring, to be named Steamboat Springs.
It’s hard to describe the area, but it is spread out. Here is Google Earth look. We are the blue dot, so right at the beginning of the greater Steamboat area. This is where all of the newer retail and restaurants are – in the suburbs. The whole Ski Resort area is to the right of us, and you can see all of the ski runs in various colors. At the base of the resort is all of the village and condos and residential area. At the top of the picture is where downtown is, where we had dinner.
Here is a picture from the internet, looking from west to east – looking over downtown toward the mountain. It is a big area!
We didn’t explore this like we did Telluride. It is a lot bigger.
Tomorrow we are headed east – off to explore the Rocky Mountain National Park.