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| Our next destination would be Fort Collins, Colorado....which would be a 428 mile trek for us. Let me assure you---after the wet and cold trip from Oklahoma to Kansas the day before---we were hoping and praying for better conditions! What normally would have taken us four hours became an over SEVEN HOUR storm adventure! A new day had dawned and we were excited to see the sun, and to hop on the Harley and head west! We said our good-byes and headed out....beautiful weather!! |
Highway 24 was our path for most of the trip west through Kansas. If you have never traveled through the western end of Kansas...it is a whole lot of open territory and wind!! Soon we had gained an hour when we hit Mountain Standard Time and the border....
...well, yeah...this is what happens when you miss the Colorful Colorado sign...there is a tree and another sign that designates I-70 as Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail. Interestingly enough, when I researched this, Colorado made a memorial to WWII pilots, bombardiers, navigators and ground crew who were African-Americans...
Tuskegee Airmen are shown at a briefing session in Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress; LC-DIG ppmsca-13259.
I just love learning this kind of historical information...and if I hadn't accidentally taken this picture instead of the Colorful Colorado sign as I had intended to--I never would have noticed this. These airmen played a vital part in WWII. I always appreciate the service of veterans and soldiers, and kudos to Colorado for designating this highway to honor a special unit!
We continued on without a hitch and arrived in Fort Collins in time for dinner out with my classmate and good friend, Lynette Creech and her family. They took us to an amazing restaurant in Old Town Fort Collins named The MainLine Ale House. I had my first Moscow Mule drink that is served in a copper mug (the copper is supposed to keep you from tasting the alcohol). The food was oh so delicious and filling....especially the Donut Holes that were the size of a giant meatball!! They tasted like a warm, yummy coffee cake and when you dipped them into the coffee-flavored ice cream....WOW! Such great food and delicious company for a night out on the town!
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| Lynette and I with our Moscow Mules |
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| Amazing Blackened Salmon Sandwich |
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| Brown Paper Bag Donut Holes with Coffee Ice Cream--Yum!!! |
Our plan for the next day was that Terry would go car shopping with his son, Derek, and "the girls" (Lynette, her daughter Madie, and me) were going to hike around Horsetooth Mountain and Reservoir. Lynette's husband, Roman, decided that he wanted to join us on our hike. They are so lucky that this is almost in their backyard, and it was a short drive from their house...and just so beautiful! The first picture of the blog shows the view from Horsetooth. We decided to hike to the falls, which would be about half a mile there (downhill most of the way---so you know what the trip back was going be like!). It was a perfect day for hiking...
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| Photo bomb time! Hi Lynette! |
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| Roman IS in the picture...see if you can find him! |
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| Enough energy at the end of the hike to plank....crazy!!! |
And just to be clear here....that water that we stood in was COLD!! It was such a gorgeous place to hike though. If you get to Fort Collins, you need to drive around Horsetooth, and hike it if you dare!
The mountain is easily distinguishable by the large rock formation on its summit known as Horsetooth Rock. The formation is a prominent landmark of the nearby city of Fort Collins and often used as a symbol of that city, appearing in the official city seal. The name comes from its distinctive appearance.(Wikipedia)
Next time I go....I want to hike to the top of Horsetooth! Hiking is great exercise and you are surrounded by beauty created by God! What else could a person need?
Well....maybe a person needs to take a tour of the New Belgium Brewery!!! Another MUST if you visit Fort Collins!! What a cool place!! As a kid, I remember touring the Coors Brewery....but the New Belgium is truly amazing!! So many cool ideas incorporated into this employee-owned, environmental conscious business. It is the third largest craft brewery in the US. I am so glad that I am "of age" to visit a place like this!
We had to wait for a bit to get our names on the list for the 90 minute FREE tour....so what else do you do....sample the products!! New Belgium has a full bar and also an outside sitting area, with food trucks available if you are hungry. Roman got us signed up for a tour.
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| A drawing for the 1554 brew |
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| Cool signs were everywhere! |
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| Display for their new brew Snapshot! So cool! |
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| Notice that Oklahoma is not a state they ship to....bummer! |
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| An employee working at the brewery. |
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| Fermenters. |
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| Each fermenter had a unique mosaic around the edge of it.... |
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| A taste from each type of beer they brew. |
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| Yes that is a rock climbing wall inside the brewery for the employees. |
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| The beer travels in those tubes above to the storage area. |
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| Being put into bottles. |
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| We had a great time! |
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| Oh...did I mention that you could slide down to the bottom floor at the end of the tour?? |
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| Weeeeeeeee..... |
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Our tour guide was AWESOME!!!
If you are in or near Fort Collins, you really should take this 90 minute tour that is FREE (in case I didn't already mention that it is FREE)! They run every 30 minutes and really is a cool and interesting place! I would work there if they would hire me! (hint, hint) |
Well, our plans were to head out the next morning to make it through Wyoming, Utah, and hopefully get to the border of Nevada!! Stay tuned for the next installment....you never know where we will end up!!
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