Saturday, July 19, 2014

Canyons and Some Hard Cider


July 7 

We woke up this morning to Megan’s Dog Pluto saying Hi. It was welcomed as we love dogs. Lindsay took us to her favorite breakfast spot called Delicious Orchards. The name is spot on. We were told that before we leave we have to try Paonia’s cherries and cider. Straight from the grower, we purchased both and loved them. The cider came in a large glass bottle called a “growler”. Of course Mat had to buy one.  After breakfast we piled into Megan’s car and took a drive to Black Canyon. The first of our many canyons to see on this trip.  It was unbelievable and we were practically the only people there to see it. Back in Paonia Megan prepared a wonderful meal at her kitchen for us while we updated our blog.  Lindsay and Megan were great hosts and we are happy we stopped in. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING LADIES!  We said our goodbyes and headed for the Colorado National Monument to catch this canyon at sunset.  We got there a little bit too late for the perfect light but got a couple of good pictures still.  From here we had a 6 hour drive to Zion in the dark and boy was it ever DARK! We crossed state lines into Utah to find the interstate was barely lit the whole way. It made for some scary driving but we made it.  3am and we were able to get into Zion without having to pay at the front gate. We parked in the visitor parking and set up our bed for a much needed 3 hour sleep. 


Hey Pluto

Deliciousness

Hard Cider



Hey guy

Hey Lindsay and Zebra thing

Black Canyon










Friday, July 18, 2014

And away we go...


July 6

This morning was slightly bitter sweet. As we leave Colorado with the end of one adventure we start another. Our drive through the Rockies was pretty amazing. We had many stops along the way including Lookout Mountain in Golden that had an incredible view of downtown and the surrounding area, a stop on the top of one of the many peaks to purchase some jerky from a tiny vendor with one amazing dog named Zappa (after Frank Zappa) and a quick bite in Aspen. We made it into Paonia around dinner time. What’s in Paonia you may ask yourself? Well, a good friend of Daniela's, Lindsay from Toronto just moved there for the summer and we thought it would be awesome to stop by her little town on our way to Cali. We were graciously offered a property to stay on. Megan is a super cool chick and owner of North Fork Food Co., a locally sourced catering company. If you haven’t heard of what’s she’s doing out there you should seriously check her out http://www.nofofood.com/.  Lindsay took us for a (short) walk through the town where we ended the night at Revolution Brewery, a local craft brewery with good humans, great beer and AMAZING bratwurst. Great way to end the night. 

Happy breaky 
Mat posing 
Lookout Mountain
Great white Buffalo! Great white Buffalo!

The Rockies!
Elk Jerky!

Zappa
What a view

Like a rock.....ohhhh like a rock.
Don't jump!
Cuuuuute

Faces in the rocks


Aspen bound!
Lunch in Aspen


Deer
Hiiiiiii


P Hill!

Beer ---> That way

Rev Brewery

What, me worry?

Mmmm bratwurst



Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Mmmmm Beer


July 5



We woke up early to drive to Golden, CO and lined up for almost 2 hours to get into the Coors brewery tour. It was FREE and included 3 free samples at the end. It was worth the wait!  The tour was great and at the end Mat had to buy some of the local beer(Colorado Native – only sold in Colorado).  From there we went straight to the World of Beer and Big Smoke restaurant to have some burgers and Dutch beer while we watched the Dutch beat Costa Rica in penalty kicks.  With our tummies full and spirits high, we went back to Laura and Craig’s to park and get our bikes out.  We wanted to do another brewery tour at a local craft brewer called The Great Divide. We didn’t make it in time for the tour but we were able to do some taste testing. We tried everything on the menu so Daniela got to try her first oatmeal stout.  To complete our long day of activities we took a stroll through the 16th Street Mall (an outdoor pedestrian mall). It was a nice night out so we tried some hats on at a hat shop and had some starbucks.  On our ride home we stopped at the Denver Art Museum where there were some outdoor sculptures that we could experience.

Coors Brewery





Love free samples!


Big Smoke Burger!

Tasty treat!

Biggest Burger EVER

Beer anyone?

Watching the Dutch kick some Costa Rican butt!


Great Divide Brewing sampler


Mat getting creative

Fake posing on bridge



Union Station!




Denver Art Gallery!