When we left Breckenridge, Colorado we kept heading west on I70 and went through Glenwood Canyon to our next stop, Glenwood Canyon Resort. It was a beautiful drive through the Rockies during the peak leaf peeping season. The Colorado River ran along the highway and if you look closely at the picture, on the other side of the river, are railroad tracks. We did see one Amtrak train traveling along those tracks while we were driving. Pretty incredible if you think about how difficult it must have been to not only build this road but also lay that entire track.
Glenwood Canyon Resort is right off of the highway, so it is easy access, however you really don’t hear the road that much, especially at nighttime. You’re nestled in between the canyon walls and the Colorado River, and yes, those train tracks are still there across the way.
We did hear a couple trains that night but it wasn’t as bad as some places we’ve been. That being said, there are some RV sites along the river itself, so those would be much louder I’m sure. The sites along the river however are not big rig friendly. So we were on the upper tier.
The resort has quite a few activities from white water rafting to zip lining. Or if you feel up to exploring the area, Glenwood Springs, Colorado is the next exit up the highway and this little historic small town was voted as America’s Most Fun Town among other accolades.
Known for it’s Hot Springs, Caves and Caverns and many other outdoor activities, you’ll have no chance of getting bored. Now this being said, we did not explore the town at all. We were only in town for one night and our goal for this trip was to take our tow vehicle and drive into Aspen and explore what that town has to offer.
Driving into Aspen was close to an hour trip however, it was a gorgeous drive through cute little towns and beautiful fall colors everywhere.
While Aspen is probably most well known for being a ski town and a place where you can spot celebrities (we did not see any by the way), it does have some nice shops, restaurants and many other outdoor activities to keep you busy the rest of the year.
Unlike Breckenridge where the shopping is more for us, Aspen’s shopping is very high end. With Prada to Gucci to many various art galleries and fur stores. I can see why celebrities like it here. You should have seen all the private jets at the small little Aspen airport. Makes you wonder who was in town.
We had lunch, sitting outside of course, enjoying the scenery and our friends. Wandered around the streets a little bit and soaked in the atmosphere and just enjoyed the day. Aspen has some wonderful old architecture mixed in with some modern day buildings. Pretty interesting.
What else is interesting is Aspen has quite a few sculptures around the area. We found this bear in the central park area. Upon closer inspection of this over 6 foot bear, we realized he was made up entirely of nails.
A Close Up of The Nails That Make Up The Bear Sculpture
Very inventive. I must say, people in Colorado seem to really like their sculptures. We have found them all over from small towns to large it doesn’t matter.
We enjoyed our day with our friends exploring some of what Aspen and the surrounding area had to offer. It was one of those perfect weather days where you just have to be outside.
When we got back to the resort we had a lovely stroll along the river and enjoyed the crisp evening air and clear skies. We ran into one of our neighbors in the campground and they had said that there was a black bear spotted crossing the highway headed towards this direction.
We took that as our queue that our stroll was over and it was time to head inside as the only bears I care to run into are the kind made out of old rusty nails.
On our next time through we’ll have to make more time to spend in this area and do more exploring. That’s the nice thing about shorter trips. You can figure out what you’d like to go back to and what you’d can do without. Aspen is one of those towns that I’m glad we went to but I really don’t need to go back there. Glenwood Springs on the other hand we’ll make an effort to come back to.
You absolutely MUST go back to Glenwood Springs. The hot springs pool is fabulous and therapeutic. Spent my honeymoon there in December. So fun being in a swimming pool with the snow falling and the lifeguards in their parkas, hats and gloves. haha Fun little town too. Well worth the trip back.
BY THE WAY your blogs are excellent. Love living vicariously through you. Hope to be full timing in about 3 years.
It’s wonderful to hear how much you are enjoying your travels and see all the US has to offer if we would just take the time to see. Someday we would like to do what your doing. Bucket List is Alaska for sure. Your river picture with the rock formation was pretty neat. Looked like a big potato on top.Ha!Ha! I must be hungry.
Absolutely agree with Michelle’s comment r.e. Glenwood Springs. The hot springs are amazingly relaxing … we’ve made several trips there over the years and it’s always a wonderful experience.
We are a trip to Glenwood Springs area next year. Thank you for the information on the RV Park! BTW…Glenwood Springs is also where Doc Holiday died….just in case you are a Tombstone fan!
This year or next, make sure to take your dingy to Marble, Co! Marble for the Lincoln Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and more came from there.
Thanks for the suggestion Mark. There are so many more places and things to do that are going on our ever growing Colorado list for next time. We will definitely have to spend quite a while there next time. Which, lets face it, would not be so hard. It’s a beautiful state and we really enjoyed our time there.
We were just in Marble & loved the little town! And a must not miss is the Slow Groovin’ BBQ–a little joynt with the best BBQ’d brisket & ribs & roasted corn! They sell their rubs & we’ve already used some & loved it. Also, the other company town near there is Redstone that has a fabulous General Store featuring local artists work. And driving back to our RV park in Carbondale, there is a beautiful waterfall-Hayes Creek Falls. We loved this area! We stayed at the Carbondale/Crystal River KOA & site #10 is the best river site–the only drawback is there is no sewer hookup but they have a honeywagon that will come by with 24 hours notice. Our only complaint is that they didn’t come on the day we requested, although they said they did! We know they did not!
Thanks Jeanne. Sounds lovely and our list is now even longer for places to come back to.