LoneStarRiders Colorado June 2013: Day 13 - Estes Park, CO to Steamboat Springs, CO

As we have friends in Steamboat Springs we wanted to arrive before 5pm so that we could spend some time seeing the city and also enjoy their company. As it would take 5-6 hours including all the stops for pictures, souvenirs and lunch we planned to leave Estes Park no later than 11am.

Before leaving our accomodation for the last two nights, we took some pictures by the big chair ...

We also visited Solitude Cabins which is a resort where we had spent time together with our kids a number of years ago and we wanted to see how it had developed. It looked very similar to what we remembered.

In order to get to Steamboat we had to enter the Rocky Mountain National Park and go up Trail Ridge Road again. We were able to see Big Horn Sheep again as we passed Big Horn Crossing and we enjoyed this beautiful road again.

As we were nearing the top, the wind picked up and we had to ride extra careful. Later on at the visitor centre we met a number of other motorcyclists that commented on the wind and some of them were quite worried how they would make it down the mountain. For us, after the visitor centre we would be going the "right way" and would be protected by the mountain so we had no further issues.

The amount of snow and ice is still very high and bathrooms that had running water were still not working as pipes were frozen so I had to use the porta potty type.

While Paula went shopping, I went exploring.

In this trip we have passed a number of times the Continental Divide, so we decided to stop at Milner Pass and take some pictures.

Then it was all the way down the mountain towards the lakes.

For lunch we stopped at the Grand Lake Lodge. They call themselves "Colorado's front porch" and a "view you won't forget". We agree ...

When we came out, our GSA had gathered a number of friends, all of them of the HD kind. She looked different from all the other ones and I thought about Meredith West's quote "If you want to stand out, don't be different; be outstanding". And she is ... not only different but outstanding !

We were about two hours away from Steamboat Springs and we decided to make it without stopping. The Route 40 gave us a number of diferentes sceneries for us to enjoy.

And we did not expect to see this on the middle of nowhere ... Pro-Life supporters. Were they running just for fun or were they actually marching for their cause ?

The wind picked up again and as we passed Hot Sulphur Srings it kept hammering at us as we made our way to Steamboat Springs.

We arrived at 4:30pm and immediately liked the area. Steamboat Springs with a population of 12,000 is well known for skiing, river sports and cycling. It is very green at this time of the year and the houses are made of dark wood with highly slanted roofs (for the snow) and it reminded us of Austria and Germany.

Our hotel is a small boutique hotel which we liked very much as it has its own very special character.

Scott and Debbie are friends of ours that live in Steamboat Springs and we met with Scott and he drove us around town showing us the ski slopes, the town center and also the river that runs through town and where people do river sports.

We walked on a path next to the river and Scott explained that this river had a number of places where "holes" formed. Holes, or "hydraulics", are formed when water pours over the top of a submerged object, or underwater ledges, causing the surface water to flow back upstream toward the object. Holes can be particularly dangerous—a boater may become stuck under the surface, in the recirculating water—or entertaining play-spots, where paddlers use the holes' features to perform various playboating moves.

As we were speaking about this, three boaters approached the holes and we enjoyed as they did their playboating moves.

Scott then took us to their house and we met Debbie that had been preparing the dinner.

We sat on their porch, enjoyed their company and great conversation and saw the sun descend on the horizon. It was a beautiful moment.

We then moved to the dinner table and enjoyed Debbie's cooking mastery. For dinner we had salmon prepared by Debbie and grilled on the outside grill by Scott, accompanied by asparagus and pilaf rice (rice cooked in a seasoned broth).

For dessert Debbie had an interesting surprise as she had used a mold to keep in shape a combination of graham cracker crust, chocolate mouse, strawberries and whipped cream. In order to separate the mold from the actual dessert she used a blowtorch for a couple of seconds and the pie just popped off.

The meal was very nicely accompanied by an old Chardonnay white wine and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

We finished this very delicious meal in a perfect setting with an expresso and a touch of bourbon. Life felt very good right at that moment !

Before we left we had the opportunity to discuss music and how Portuguese music has developed with African influence and we listened to Lura and Cesária Evora.

We specially love Cesária Evora and her "Sodade" ...