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July 26 - July 29, Golden, CO and Cheyenne, WY
First summer in 14 of them that Greece was not on the table for various reasons that none of you care for, so with the little ones away at sleep away camp, the Mrs. and I decided to embark somewhere - where to go?, what to see? The planning started in March, and really all fell into place soon after as you'll soon find out. You've read my talk about my love and passion for live music and how much it enriches my life, well there was a venue that I had yet to visit and decided to look up the calendar of events at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO, just outside of Denver. Decided on The Tedeschi Trucks Band for 2 nights. What a place, what a band. I thought it would be fun to drive around the area, national parks, big cities, maybe some more music in the area. Well, about 1 week later the Outlaw Music Festival was announced and to much delight, Bob and Willie back together on one bill once again and just so happens, the final night of the summer leg of that tour was at The Gorge Amphitheatre about 2 hours east of Seattle 2 weeks later. My mind - scouring, computing, analyzing, processing and finally approving a 2 week road trip! The Mrs. was in and let me plan this thing with not much interference, in fact she didn't really know where we were going at all. 2000 miles of driving from Denver to Seattle and lots of awe inspiring stuff along the way. The bonus in all of this is that my sister and brother in law decided to join us for the first week and that was so special. My sister is a wonderful planner and we got going! There's a great Hank Snow song that Johnny Cash popularized that goes "I've been everywhere, man" and while we didn't get everywhere, we certainly felt like we did. 2 weeks of so much. So much goodness, so many extraordinary sites, peoples, foods, hotels, highways, byways, country roads, back roads. So much history, so much richness, so much struggle and so many beautiful encounters with nature.
I have tried to figure out how to best bring you this experience, and while I have it all etched into my mind, and while everyday brought the above, I will only focus on a few, but I will also break it down over a few posts. With so many stops and so many sleeps, there were some really wonderful night sleeps and some really not wonderful sleeps, attributed mainly to the mattress . I will say this though, even where the mattresses were not up to par, the setting was so remarkable that it didn't matter much. First stop of the journey was in Golden, CO, the site of the Coors brewing company, and about a 15 minute drive from Red Rocks. 2 nights there and then off the Cheyenne, WY to see the Daddy of 'em all! Frontier Days rodeo, a pretty big stop on the pro rodeo circuit. Red Rocks is stunning and so much history, a natural amphitheater surrounded by these stunning rocks and a place like no other. I recommend, no matter what your music tastes are, to get here! I would imagine that the artists who play here feel the same way! Opened in 1941, so many have played there, with a 9500 capacity and at 6500ft elevation, just be careful how many adult beverages you consume. Water is a good friend. What a place, what a band! TTB is a band that if you like music, they are for you, or rather I should say, if you don't like them, not sure you like music. They are the quintessential party band, with smooth guitar, funky blues and tons of soul. They love to feature all of the musicians and are truly a family band. Speaking of family, I feel the rodeo has the same amount of love for each other. They travel together, they play and ride together, at the same time, competing against each other. We were lucky to have great seats and see some amazing championship rides and buckles handed out in bare back, bulls and saddle broncs. Steer wrestling, and calf roping topped it off. I will share a story in a future post about a few of these riders we met, but the commonality between the musicians seems to be that they love what they do and love each other. Ultimate respect for these cowboys and cowgirls and the grind they go through to make a living. Cheyenne is a sleepy town, not much going on championship Sunday night, but lucky to get downtown and explore a bit - speaking of sleepy, enough already. Let's get to it.
SET UP
The Eddy Taproom and Hotel. Left the first few nights with my sister and she found a beauty. In Golden, and a bout a 2 min drive or 10 minute walk from main St. and as mentioned, about a 15 min drive from Red Rocks. Perfect spot to stay. Really great hotel, with a great menu in their lobby restaurant. Arrived Friday midday and checked in to 2 queen beds. Very romantic first night! They have limited King rooms and as I was not a part of this, I was told that is all they had when we booked and if there was a possibility to switch they would, but to no avail. Anyhoo, still a lovely room and let's be honest, your own bed is not so bad considering I sleep with her every other night of the year, oh and for 20 years wedded in October.
In Cheyenne, we rented a house through one of those sites. Just for 1 night. We did good, lovely house and lovely plush mattress and 3 bedrooms although we only needed 2 of them. We stayed in the queen size and while a tough go to from your own queen, still comfy and a goo night's sleep.
MATTRESS
Corsicana Bedding, from the great state of Texas at the Eddy Taproom. Plush and cozy. One of the oldest privately owned manufacturers in the USA and they have several collections, assuming this is part of their hospitality division as I am not overly familiar with them in Canada. Very well finished mattress with some good layers of quilting and fabric. This was manufactured in 2020, so has some good use, but would like to see how it holds up in a few years as I did notice some slight impressions in the tight top finish. Unfortunately, the plush on my mattress did not show through as much as on the Mrs.'s side as I had a different mattress protector. Very stiff and changed the overall feel of it, a shade up the firmness scale, I guess I chose the wrong bed! Overall a nice choice and not disappointed at all.
SLEEP
Solid - About 7 hrs each night after some late nights after the concerts, but still able to have a nice deep sleep with no interuptions. The room was at a well seasoned temperature and the air up there is lovely, so makes for a cool deep sleep. Truth is that when you are on a vacation like this or any, sleep is a bit easier to come by. One of the most asked questions I get is "can you get me the mattress at such and such a hotel?" I can, but keeping in mind that most of us are generally a bit more relaxed to start with. The mattress is important, but so is well being. These factors contribute to great night sleeps.
OVERALL
I mentioned above a once in a lifetime trip, only because I wouldn't go back to all these places, only for the reason that we realize that there is so much more to see in this great world of ours. In talking to so many people, Americans and Canadians and Europeans, there are great adventures that can happen anywhere and while this was mesmerizing at times, I look forward to new parts of the world with similar perspective. The first 3 nights and days were absolutely fabulous and glad I was well rested, as I did the majority of driving and the next day we set out for Jackson, WY for our next leg. Get to Red Rocks for any music or jsut explore the park, it is stunning. Not much in Cheyenne as mentioned, but why not add it to your road trip, as there is much history to be explored. 🐂🎶🎻🎸🐴🏇🗻🌄
GREAT RELATED LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q33Sf_4_eK4 The Mrs's favorite song "Anyhow" and a great look at Red Rocks - this is from summer of 2023 Also, a great overhead drone shot at the end of the first song to get a sense of this magnificent venue!
https://themetdowntown.com/menus/ The only restaurant open in Cheyenne on a Sunday night! Glad it was!
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