Going to Colorado

Mary- I live in Colorado. Winter Park is in an area that is a fairly easy drive to all kinds of activities. It's more like an hour into Denver, because you are in the mountains. Yes you are going DOWNHILL, but you have to drive it safely. LOL. Don't know what you want to see, but if it's quilts, you can go to The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden. I haven't been there, but it's suppose to be excellent. Right near by is the corporate home for Primedia. Publishers of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, Quiltmaker, McCall's Quilting and Quick Quilts. They have a gallery that's open to the public. My guild just had one of the editors as a guest speaker last night. She says the gallery is very welcoming to the public. For mountain scenery there's lots to do, including a narrow gauge train in near by Georgetown. It's a neat place to visit, because it's got lots of quaint shops and places to eat. Welcome to Colorado in advance! Gina

I lived in CO and loved it. Would move back out in a heartbeat...

Neat things w/in easy driving distance of Winter Park:

My favorite drive: Take the Falls River Road through Rocky Mt. National Park. From Winter Park, you'll enter RMNP from the west in to Neversummer valley. Drive around Trail Ridge Road (? the paved road) to the east entrance, turn around and head *up* Falls River Road (dirt road). It's one way, up hill. grin Stop at the top and walk up to the little observation area. If it's a clear day, you can see far, far away... Estes Park (at the east entrance) is full of little sh*t shops and the hotel that "The Shining" was based on... Fun to poke around...

The Georgetown Loop railroad right off of I70. Georgetown is a cute little town to poke around in, too...

St. Mary's Glacier. Also right off of I70. You park about a mile away from the glacier and its lake. Neat picnic area at the top, trails to hike around the lake and on to the ice field... And if you can find the "back entrance" out, you'll follow a creek down to the road you parked on, just a little farther to the east. You can walk the road down (may 1/4 mile) back to your car. Lots of wild flowers on the back path...

Take the dirt roads across Vail Pass or from Idaho Springs. If the wild flowers are out, there are huge fields of them, esp. on Vail Pass. Not sure what state they're in because of the awful droughts they've been having up there. If you go to Vail, or west on 70, take the Rt. 6 bypass instead of the tunnel. Great views from Rt. 6...

Check out the old cemetary above Central City. CC used to be a really cool little town to poke around in before they put the casinos in there. Now it's really touristy. But the cemetary is still neat... and they have an opera company that may be on stage while you're there...

In Golden, there's the Coors Brewery and the Golden Train Museum, as well as the quilt museum. We always manage to hit the brewery tour around 2:00 without eating lunch. Cheap dates after taste testing the beer! grin

Lots of other stuff right around there... So much to do, so little time! grin

To keep it on topic - There used to be a quilt shop in Evergreen (?) called the Quilt Cabin or something like that. Not too far off of I70...

Enjoy!!!!

Cappy Edgewater, MD

I have made notes of all the things everyone has recommended. We arrive early afternoon tomorrow so can do a bit of sightseeing. Then we have three whole days to dod whatever I want before heading back to Denver for our return flight late Monday afternoon. I am REALLY happy to know there is a narrow gauge railroad -- I was really hoping to get a ride on one while in CO. I'll keep my eyes open for any quilt related stuff, too -- that's a given -- LOL! DH usually gets out the yellow pages when we are somewhere new and finds all of the LQS and LNS for me. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their WHISKERS! Visit my Photo albums at