September 2014 Here we come

By Arden Foster on September 20th, 2013

I haven’t made any blog entries for a while as my next trip to paradise (aka Rainbow Trout Ranch) seemed so far away, but now that we have the flights all booked up for next fall (my American is improving, I remembered not to say ‘autumn’) it seems closer. Yes, September 2014, Here we come!

The exciting thing is that now I can start planning out journeys to and from the ranch. I have written before about out love of hot springs, and although we LOVED Avalanche Ranch (where we stayed in 2012), the proximity of so many bears meant my poor husband (aka ‘the man who hates horses’ – though if you look at photographs of him with his beloved Spruce and Riata you would have to say that’s a misnomer) was too afraid to go to the springs at night, which was one of the main reasons we had gone. I had had a romantic image of us sitting alone beneath the stars with steam rising from the warm waters, but in reality I was sitting beneath the stars on my own! Next time I thought, we need to go somewhere a bit more mainstream, where the bears keep away. So I have been looking online and I have come across Mount Princeton (www.mtprinceton.com)

This is very handily located, near Salida, which is en route from Denver airport (if you take the scenic route). In the photo there is quite a high fence, but having seen how quickly bears can climb, I’m not sure that is any protection! However, it is quite a big resort and I would imagine there is enough noise to keep the bears away…….

We are also planning a couple of days in Denver on the way home, as we did that last time and really enjoyed the mile high city. We hired the equivalent of London’s ‘Boris Bikes’ and cycled to the Cherry Creek mall (http://denver.bcycle.com/) . The route was incredibly scenic for the middle of a city, and the shopping was great. We had a job to fit everything ino the baskets for our return trip.

What a good job the shopping bags weren’t quite as big as this one.

So, remember to make your trip to the ranch part of the fun. Colorado has so much to offer. Just don’t take any time away from the ranch though, after all everything is just window dressing. The ranch is always the highlight.

I haven’t made any blog entries for a while as my next trip to paradise (aka Rainbow Trout Ranch) seemed so far away, but now that we have the flights all booked up for next fall (my American is improving, I remembered not to say ‘autumn’) it seems closer. Yes, September 2014, Here we come!

The exciting thing is that now I can start planning out journeys to and from the ranch. I have written before about out love of hot springs, and although we LOVED Avalanche Ranch (where we stayed in 2012), the proximity of so many bears meant my poor husband (aka ‘the man who hates horses’ – though if you look at photographs of him with his beloved Spruce and Riata you would have to say that’s a misnomer) was too afraid to go to the springs at night, which was one of the main reasons we had gone. I had had a romantic image of us sitting alone beneath the stars with steam rising from the warm waters, but in reality I was sitting beneath the stars on my own! Next time I thought, we need to go somewhere a bit more mainstream, where the bears keep away. So I have been looking online and I have come across Mount Princeton (www.mtprinceton.com)

This is very handily located, near Salida, which is en route from Denver airport (if you take the scenic route). In the photo there is quite a high fence, but having seen how quickly bears can climb, I’m not sure that is any protection! However, it is quite a big resort and I would imagine there is enough noise to keep the bears away…….

We are also planning a couple of days in Denver on the way home, as we did that last time and really enjoyed the mile high city. We hired the equivalent of London’s ‘Boris Bikes’ and cycled to the Cherry Creek mall (http://denver.bcycle.com/) . The route was incredibly scenic for the middle of a city, and the shopping was great. We had a job to fit everything ino the baskets for our return trip.

What a good job the shopping bags weren’t quite as big as this one.

So, remember to make your trip to the ranch part of the fun. Colorado has so much to offer. Just don’t take any time away from the ranch though, after all everything is just window dressing. The ranch is always the highlight.