August 2020: we drove 3 days from our temporary home in Louisiana, to Colorado. Several days in an Airbnb.com apartment in Breckenridge and then a time-share in Winter Park. This photo is at the of the Breckenridge chairlift, for a hike and a pic-nic at 11,355 ft. with views of the Rocky Mountains and Breckenridge down below.
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Caviar at 11,355 feet.
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An Eifel Tower made out of bicycle wheels on Main Street, Breckenridge.
On the way to Colorado, we spent a night in Amarillo, TX and visited the Cadillac Ranch.
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Outside the Cadillac Ranch, a Trump Trailer selling masks, flags, car stickers. I am sure that Trump won Amarillo.
Arriving at our first Colorado destination. From the 11,539 ft. Hoosier Pass on the Continental divide, it's just a few miles down to "Breck", as the locals call Breckenridge. Click for an even larger image.
Near our apartment in Breckenridge. Beautiful gardens. Breckenridge has 55 frost free days, in a year, so gardeners have to work fast.
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the summertime "Breck" chairlift.
Masks compulsory.
From our base in Brackenridge we made a number of trips. This was at Arapahoe Basin. They had an open-air restaurant. In winter, in this highest ski resort, people ski above the tree line.
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Arapahoe Basin.
Little flowers at 12,000 feet have to grow fast. Click on the photo to see a larger one.
Soon after our summer trip to Arapahoe Basin, with small mountain flowers blooming, I got an e-mail from the ski resort that it was already snowing. Click to see a larger photo.
We also took a side trip to upscale Vail (parking $50) and another chairlift to the top of the mountain. No restaurant, but another pic-nic. Click for an even larger image.
Vail. A ski trail of moderate difficulty(blue), "Sober Englishman" leads, among others, to a (black), difficult "Drunken Frenchman" trail.
And, back home in Breckenridge, they closed the main street and gave it over to restaurants to open every night. How nice. Covid-19 measures.
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Loveland Pass used to be the only way into the mountains, often closed by snow, until they opened the Eisenhower Tunnel in 1973, that is open 24/7/365 (almost). But it was summertime, so we drove over the spectacular pass. Behind Lorraine, smoke from forest fires. Click to see a larger image.
Loveland Pass. Click to see a larger image.
From there, we had lunch in Georgetown, an old Colorado mining town. I managed, on my first visit here, in 1976, to get a $10 parking ticket here, for parking on the wrong side of the street.
Georgetown, "Hotel de Paris". A Frenchman opened it during the gold mining boom, charged $2 a night for luxury bedrooms (!!!) and more for dinners with French wines. We took a tour.
From Breckenridge, we also went to Leadville, a n old mining town.
Leadville had two Opera Houses in its day. One of them just behind us on a wide Main Street.
We did not play golf, but apparently it is "America's Highest" Golf course!
After Breckenridge, we moved to a time-share in Winter Park, Colorado, with yet another ski resort. The clouds were sometimes full of mountain fire's smoke and once this rainbow, photo taken from our balcony. Click to see a larger image.
In Winter Park, they had a splendid Indian restaurant, managed by a family from Mexico! We went twice. Click to see a larger photo.
Near Winter Park, a trailer with a shop selling deer heads and lamps. Expensive!
On Grand Lake, Colorado, an old hippy was making money making portraits of tourist. Of course, we are not tourist, but so what ?
This was the resulting image. We first negotiated the price down and then gave him a tip. Click to see a larger image.
We had to go to Grand Lake twice, because the boat rentals were completely booked up. But we did get one. On our trip around the lake we rescued a capsized tourist from Oklahoma, who was floundering in the middle of the lake. Click for an even larger image.
Grand Lake, at well over 8,000 ft., has splendid views of the Rocky Mountains. I was repeating my boat ride here from 1976. Click to see a larger image.
... after the boat ride, it was good-bye to Colorado. A lunch with a friend in Denver, a dinner on the Riverwalk in Pueblo and back home to Louisiana.
