Posted by whalerho | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 23-05-2010
When you think of ski areas in Colorado, Vale and Telluride come quickly to mind. But Steamboat Springs is definitely worthy of a stop and Ken and I actually prefer it to the better known ski resorts. Our campground, Stagecoach State Park, was about 20 miles outside of the city of Steamboat. We overlooked a beautiful lake and had views of green rolling hills and snow capped mountains in the distance. Our arrival at the campground was a bit eventful and added to our compilation for the part of our video that sings, “Thanks for the memories, even though they weren’t so great!” Ken usually eases into our assigned spot but this time, ease was not a part of the story. He drove the RV into our spot only to havethe end of our RV sink deeply into a rain soaked hole. We were not just stuck, we were REALLY stuck. The park ranger came by and offered help but Andrew and Ken felt sure that their manly efforts would yield great results. After an hour of such manly efforts, we were still stuck. (The girls and I were of no help and giggled while we videoed the whole thing.) The ranger came by again but this time, he brought a big tractor. He hooked it onto the back of our 30,000 lb. RV and with little manly effort, guided us out of our muddy predicament. Victory!!
Ken and I found a reason to go into the wonderful town of Steamboat almost everyday. The Yampa River runs through the town and the town folk have done a great job of positioning wonderful little eateries along the banks of the river. One evening, Ken and I enjoyed a cocktail while the river rushed by us, often times transporting a kayaker or two. This was the first really warm evening of the spring season and everyone seemed to be in a good mood, including Ken and myself. During another visit to downtown, Ken and I took our bikes and had a greatbike ride down a beautiful long path along the river.
What makes the town of Steamboat great is that real people actually live in the town as opposed to the town owing its existence to tourists and skiers. The downtown was full of older quaint houses with the size of the house increasing as you drove up the mountain and your view widened.
One day, the girls and I did a little shopping in town. Poohnut wore her new shoes (a no-no yet to be learned) so our shopping extravaganza ended early with a soft serve ice cream. Meanwhile, Andrew had his RC truck out and was attracting all the kids in the campground. Andrew connected with one of the boys (Aiden) and he and Andrew hung out the whole weekend, even doing some fishing together.
The downside of this stay was the weather. While the skies were blue and the temps moderate, the wind was fierce, even causing us to pull in the slides to limit the buoying feeling. It’s funny though, as I write this, the wind is a distant memory and the wonderful time we spent there trumps it in spades.
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