Exploring Steamboat Springs

I've been wanting to visit Steamboat Springs since I moved to Colorado, but life kept getting in the way. Jennefer encouraged me to get up and go this week, and now I finally have some personal experience with that area in the summer time. 

We drove up on Friday, starting this new adventure for us! Jennefer had a medical appointment first, and learned she might need minor heart surgery sometime in the near future. That got her into a bit of a funk before the drive, but we pressed on, regardless. We got her a latte at Safeway to help cheer her up, then realized we needed gas for the car, then realized that noon was long past, and we needed real food, so went back into Safeway to grab some pre-made deli sandwiches, and finally, were on the road. Here's our view, heading toward the mountains.

After checking into our hotel, we headed right back out, in search of dinner, and found some delicious Chicken Street Tacos with corn on the cob, at Salt & Lime Mexican Restaurant in downtown Steamboat Springs. Yum! That helped finish off the day much better than we started it.

We had a pleasant afternoon walk around town, after dinner. This Space Station gas station sign reminded me of the time I worked on the Space Station electrical power system…

Whoa! We saw these gigantic ski jumps across the river, on Howelsen Hill. They look so beat up, that presumably, they are never used any more. But still, they provided us with an impressive view.

We were appropriately welcomed to Steamboat Springs by these fun banners around town. 

We saw this pretty sunset over Yampa Street as we were walking.

I caught a cool angle on this bridge over the Yampa River at sunset. 

Prettier sunset view over Yampa Street after they turned the lights on. 

This  is perhaps my favorite photo from the trip. I climbed down to the edge of the river, to catch this beautiful sunset view over the Yampa river. 

 

We discovered the Fuzziwig's Candy Factory and Ice Cream shop - and had some delicious ice cream for dessert. I was glad to see there's still at least one Fuzziwig's in existence, after the one in SouthGlenn closed awhile ago.

I took Mandy out Saturday morning, to find this Wild West hot air balloon putting on a show just outside the door. 

On the way back in, I noticed the outdoor trash can was over on its side, and its contents were emptied onto the lawn. I'd forgotten to think about bears, hmmm... I was reminded that I need to be more watchful, if she needs to go out at night. It could also have been raccoons or other critters, I suppose. 

 We enjoyed the hotel breakfast buffet - simple pleasures. I always love making myself waffles. Their batter is so delicious, and the waffle machines work so cleverly well. 

We started our Saturday outing with a walk around the soccer fields neighboring the Yampa River and Botanic Park, so that Mandy could get some traveling and sniffing done.

 

We had a very enjoyable Saturday morning visit to the Yampa River Botanic Park, with some Osprey viewing thrown in for fun. There were so many well-designed gardens and beautiful little paths. Sorry that Mandy couldn’t come in, but she was comfortable in the car, on this cool overcast day.

Sunday morning started with a pretty sunrise, followed by several miles of warmish walks along the Yampa river, after our planned hike to Fish Creek Falls was aborted due to overcrowding and no parking. We planned to try again, a whole lot earlier on Monday morning. We enjoyed seeing the Osprey again!