Top 10 Things to do Before Leaving Colorado

So, I previously posted we will be relocating to Bend, Oregon in less than a year – 7 months to be exact. It’s extremely surreal. We are so close – planning for this move has been on-going for 1.5 years. We are so incredibly excited (and slightly terrified) we can’t see straight. Starting in April, we’ll be moving some things into the Oregon house and figuring out how our furniture is going to fit. In the meantime, we are purging like crazy as we’d like to leave Colorado a whole lot lighter.

About a year ago, I drafted this post (never published) about 10 things to do before we head out of town. It was resurrected today to see how much we have accomplished or not (noted with an Update).

One could use this information to help plan a trip to this amazing state, there are sooo many great adventures here. There are 7 months left to pack in as much of Colorado as possible. I’ve been here for 20 years, what could possibly be left??

1. Learn to flyfish on one of Colorado’s beautiful rivers. Can’t tell you how many years I have brought this up to friends. Pretty sure they are sick of me talking about it. Update: FINALLY made this happen in the July of this year. So much fun – I now have all the gear needed – waders, boots, poles, reels, lures…you name it – I’ve got it. Now I just need to learn how to do it without assistance….my independence on this front is coming :-).
2. Spend a couple of nights at the luxurious Dunton Hot Springs outside of Telluride, CO. These high-end cabins are nestled in a beautiful alpine valley with loads of out-doorsy things to do. Update: We may have to do this on our way out of town! I’d like to do this in the summer – it’s hands down one of the most beautiful places in Colorado. We ended up doing a 2 week road trip this summer that took a bite out of time for this. This, and the dreaded tragedy called COVID. UGH.
3. Backpack in the Chicago Basin near Durango – hop on the train from Durango to Silverton and get dropped off in the middle of the ride. This one might be a tough one to knock off the list because of timing, but I will damn sure try. Update: Going to try and make this happen in June if the weather permits. So far, we don’t have much snow – not sure if this means we’ll have some fire issues or if snow will extend well into June. Fingers crossed this works out.
4. Ride the Rockies – This is a multi-day road bike ride through some of the most beautiful parts of Colorado – at least 2 days of it. Update: Sean and I did 1 day of this in the middle of one of the worst heatwaves in Colorado. Sean finished 75 miles in a great time – I had to stop at 60 with a double quad cramp – some of the worst paralyzing pain, EVER. A wonderful human named Mark, had to help me off the bike – all I could do was laugh – if I didn’t, tears would’ve been flowing. We decided we did enough, and spent the rest of our vacation in Telluride. One day of this bike ride was just fine. lol.
5. Spend a week in Crested Butte in the fall. We’ve spent weeks in the summer and long weekends in the winter, but never a fall trip. Update: We did it!! It was soooo much fun and stunningly beautiful with all of the fall colors. My soul will always crave Crested Butte.
6. Spend a week in Telluride. Again, we’ve spent long weekends in this amazing town, but never more than 3 nights. Update: We’ll be there for a full week in March and CANNOT wait. The only bummer is that work may get in the way for a few days. It’ll still be amazing to act like locals for a whole week.
7. Attend the Great American Beer Festival – Looks like we’ll have to fly back to town for this one. No in person attendance till 2022. Update: We’ll have to pass on this one, BUT, we are planning on attending the Bend Brewfest. It’ll be a great replacement and we’ll get to know our local and regional hops. Some of our good friends are joining us for the event, so it’ll be a great time.
8. See one of our favorite bands, the Steel Drivers at the Chautaqua Auditorium in Boulder, CO. Some of the best acoustics of any venue I have ever experienced. Update: We made this happen and it was incredible! Maybe we’ll squeeze in one more show before we move. 🙂
9. One last concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater – Green Sky, Blue Grass, tickets purchased! Update: Concert was great! Cannot believe I’m saying this, but I think Red Rocks has run it’s course for me. I’ve seen so many concerts here, think I’m ready for new horizons. We’ll be close to San Francisco, Seattle and Portland so the options won’t suck for sure.
10. Golf the world class River Course in Keystone, CO. Update: We’re going to target June for this one. Keystone is so beautiful in the summer and this course is a must do for golf fanatics.

7 months is going to FLY by. Writing this list makes me awfully sad – there are sooo many great memories of all the things experienced and accomplished in a 20 year period….all the amazing (and sometimes sad) chapters of life that have started and stopped in this great state. I will miss the hell out of the Colorado mountains and the people we won’t see on a regular basis (sniff, sniff). But, the time has come to explore the beautiful Pacific Northwest while we can still physically handle it! It’s a good thing there are direct flights from Redmond to Denver :-).

“It’s not an ending. It’s just the point in the story where you turn the page” ~unknown

…i choose this…

Pam