It’s always a bit of a surprise raising the bedroom shutters to see what sight awaits us in the morning. When Lisette raised the shutters, we were greeted by the sight of blindingly white snow that had fallen overnight!
The Stanley Hotel from The Shining Movie
Shivering as we got ready, we checked out of the campground (only 7 minutes past check out time–we’re getting more efficient!) and went to the iconic and historic Stanley Hotel, famous for being the setting for the movie The Shining, based on Stephen King’s horror novel and starring Jack Nicholson. It’s also the setting for the comedy Dumb & Dumber, with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
As soon as we drove up the hill to the hotel, we recognized the classic white building with the red roofs. The Stanley Hotel is still a functioning hotel today, and conducts regular tours for visitors daily. We skipped the tour, but walked around the grounds, checking out the classical lobby, wandering through the infamous maze (well, Lisette walked through it and managed to get out alive)! One of the other popular attractions is the Colorado Cherry Company store on the bottom floor, which sells all sorts of drinks, cakes, pies and sweets, including cherry pie, of course. We bought a bag of chocolate covered cherries and loved them so much that we actually returned later in the day to get some more (try the red velvet chocolate flavor!), as well as cherry jam (also delicious and will soon be finished at the rate we’re eating it with yogurt and crumpets for breakfast).
Flurries in the Rocky Mountains
We’ve made it a point to prioritize going to the Visitor Center when we first arrive at our destinations, as being in an RV and having a dog travel with us mean that we often get a lot of handy tips! In this part of the Rocky Mountains, many of the roads and trails are still closed for the season, which only gave us a few options of where to hike. We drove first to Bear Lake Trailhead, which was a beautiful and picturesque drive through snow capped trees and mountains. However, once we got there it started to snow fairly heavily, making it less desirable for us to get out and walk through it (yes, we were cold)! We also learned a new weather term to add to “haboob” (the type of dust storm we got caught in while in New Mexico). In Colorado, Lisette learned about and experienced “flurries”, small swirling masses of snow caused by gusts of wind. When we arrived at the second trailhead recommendation, it was initially fine, but as soon as we finished lunch, it started snowing there too, and rather heavily! All the cars that were in the area soon left, and we figured it was our cue to also go after a quick tour outside.
Birch Ruins
A short hike up from downtown Estes Park is the Birch Ruins. In 1903, Albert Birch, the editor of the Denver Post, started spending his summers in Estes Park. He quickly fell in love with the area's stunning scenery and its convenient location near Denver and Fort Collins, so he hired a local stone mason to build a cozy little bungalow on a rocky outcrop right in the heart of town.
Unfortunately, the bungalow was destroyed by fire in 1907. No one knows what caused it, but the only remnants of his retreat were the sturdy stone walls and fireplace, which are still standing today. Birch later built a smaller cabin at the base of the hill, where he continued to spend his summers until the 1980s. That cabin is still around, and in the early 2000s, the Town of Estes Park took over the site, now called the Knoll-Willows Open Space. Today, it's a public park to explore the ruins of Birch’s old hideaway and check out the same incredible views he once had enjoyed.
Black Hawk – One of Three Colorado Casino Towns
So far on this trip, we’ve spent quite a few nights sleeping in casino parking lots (check out our posts in Nevada and Arizona), and we learned that nearby Black Hawk is one of the 3 casino towns in Denver. Despite having a population of 127 (making it the smallest town in Colorado) Black Hawk has 18 casinos, with almost 1,000 slot machines, amid other table games, restaurants, bars, and facilities. Black Hawk flourished during the gold mining boom in the last 19th century, and then steadily declined until the 1990s, when many historic buildings were revived for casino gambling. As you drive into town, the buildings instantly give off a classic Wild West vibe, like something straight out of an old Western movie. Bright neon signs light up the street, proudly displaying names of casinos that keep with the theme—casinos like Horseshoe, Lady Luck, The Wild Card Saloon, and others.
It was tough to find a parking spot as unlike the casinos that we’ve been to previously, parking is all enclosed, and our RV was taller than the height clearance to get in. Fortunately, we found a spot where there were already a couple of vans and an RV parked, up the road from the Ameristar Casino at Black Hawk. Dinner was a late (well for us–we eat these days around 7pm, and it was now 9pm) meal of ramen at JINYA Ramen Bar inside the Ameristar, which was pretty good and included vegan options. Funnily enough, the casino was pretty busy for a weeknight–the restaurant was right next door to some table games, where a low partition allowed us to see a bunch of folks playing Baccarat.
Michael hung out at the casino to watch a basketball game, while Lisette turned in to do some work back in the RV. The nights are cold in Colorado, but lady luck is on our side to have a working furnace to warm us up in the evenings as we sleep!
Route Map
