PICKS:
The Coffee Tree in Loveland, CO
Located inside a cozy used bookstore, The Coffee Tree was another great locally owned coffee shop… Why does anyone go to Starbucks?! The staff were super friendly, the wi-fi was free and the local patrons were a colorful bunch. Plus, they have a real live arabica tree right in the shop.
Swetsville Zoo in Timnath, CO
Mr. Swets is a retired farmed who has decided to use his previously practical metal working skills to produce a veritable zoo of enormous, witty creatures. His barnyard has been transformed into a whimsical wonderland of hundreds of engaging “animals”. Each sculpture is made of recycled metal and each has a very specific character conveyed through Mr. Swets’ tremendous talent for creating evocative postures and comical facial expressions on each of his creatures. It is Mr. Swets’ sense of humor and joy that pervades the entire zoo. Each sculpture has its own little joke. It was a utter pleasure to be a part of it. We also had the privelege of meeting the artist while he was putting the finishing touches on the large heart shaped throne he was making for his upcoming 50th wedding anniversary party. This was definitely one of our favorite folk art stops so far on the trip!
PANS:
St. Vrains State Park
Worst campsite ever. Yep, that’s right, worst EVER. It smelled alternately like pit toilet, sulfur-y pond water or cow manure. There were swarms of mosquitos. Day and night, mosquitos everywhere. It was in sight of the highway, a huge gas station and a McDonalds. The garbage dumpster was overflowing with rotting trash. They did have showers, though, which is the only reason we stopped. I say even if you haven’t showered in a week, do not pass go, do not collect $200 and do NOT camp here. I’m sure there’s something better up the road.
Love all the coffee house reviews! Excellent question – why does anyone go to Starbucks (my husband has a funny and rude name for it)?
That jetbike at Swetsville Zoo is so cool..
Hahahaha!
Swetsville has a few other super cool, but hard to photo, spacey vehicles too!
It’s all only funny because it’s true. And I don’t mean to completely diss on Colorado–it’s a heck of a lot closer than New Jersey!
Hey,
How did you get a picture of my belt buckle on the website?
PS and by the way…Abby wins uber Montana dork for all her comments on reasons why Montana is “The Last Best Place” and how Montanans are the best drivers. She should get some kind of award. Maybe a ginormous sparkly belt buckle.
Hahaha, awarded –
http://www.belt-buckle-knife.com/shop/images/w5e.jpg
Oh, Abba…
Any man who makes a heart-shaped throne for his wedding anniversary is a man worth meeting. How incredibly sweet!
Thought of you guys today while we were paddling the Dearborn. You’d love it! The water was perfect, the sky was clear blue, and the scenery couldn’t get beat. I know it won’t work on this road trip, but maybe next summer you can join us on the river.
Hey all,
It’s come to my attention that some of you may not know how to play the videos we post.
All videos have “(video)” in the title so you know which ones they are. There are two ways to play them.
1) If you view the pictures by clicking on the thumbnails within the post, you can click on the flickr icon (blue and pink circles) to take you to the flickr page, which has a video player.
2) Alternatively, you can play videos in the “What we’ve seen” picture/video viewer on the right hand sidebar of our webpage. This player can also be enlarged to full screen.
Sorry for not making it more intuitive. If anyone knows of a wordpress plugin similar to “Flickr Manager” that can play videos from within the lightbox popup, please drop a line.