Super Bowls and Back Bowls: Watch the Action at Ski Resorts

Over the Super Bowl’s 47-year history, I’ve viewed the game from all the usual TV venues. I’ve watched it from bars, dorms, homes, motels, hotels, airports and cruise ships. I’ve seen it at a church with fans cheering the team bearing the Christian-most quarterback. I’ve endured parties where women cackled during plays and men wolf-whistled through commercials, especially those featuring Cindy Crawford. In Ixtapa, I missed Janet Jackson’s wardrobe…

Hotels in Winter Park Show Why It’s Colorado’s Favorite

Winter Park Resort is known as “Colorado’s Favorite”.  Located only 67 miles northwest of Denver and 90 miles west of Denver International Airport (DIA), it’s the closest major ski resort to DIA.  Winter Park has the most annual snowfall of any major resort in Colorado and typically receives over 30 feet of snow annually.  During the 2010-2011 ski season, they received 378 inches of the fluffy white stuff! The…

International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge

A shotgun start on Jan. 22, 2013, will signal the start of the annual International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado. Sixteen snow-carving teams from around the world will create works of art from frozen blocks of snow, to be on display from Jan. 27 through Feb. 3, weather permitting. The teams of four hail from such countries as Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden and…

Fruitcake: Love It or Toss It?

Fruitcake has been around for centuries, but nowadays it’s often the butt of many jokes. Some of us still love fruitcake even though we may find it difficult to find in the supermarket. Others would rather toss it instead of eat it, like the Colorado folks who gather for the Great Fruitcake Toss festival in Manitou Springs, Colorado. This Colorado mountain town will host this year’s 18th annual event…

C Lazy U Guest Ranch: Full Winter Fun

The ranch compound lies about a half-mile below. It would take two minutes to drive, but right now no vehicles are allowed on the roadway. This route to the ranch is reserved for us sledders. I center my Flexible Flyer on its snow-packed crown. A ranch hand’s foot chocks the sled while I drop on top, belly down, face forward, legs up. “Ready?” he asks. Away I fly, eyes…

Christmas in the City: Denver’s All Decked Out

Deck the halls… and the city buildings, and the light posts, and every tree near an outlet. Denver goes all out for the holidays, so it’s easy to find a pretty display as you wander through town. However, there are a few that are definitely worth seeking out. The City and County Building, downtown at 14th Avenue and Bannock Street, is a can’t-miss vision. It’s been a decorating tradition…

Olde Golden Christmas: Holiday Traditions and Fun

With its small-town charm, Golden, Colorado, celebrates the quintessential Christmas with festive events during December. From lighting the town to providing a convivial shopping atmosphere, the Olde Golden Christmas offers a variety of opportunities to join in the holiday cheer. One of the highlights is the annual Candlelight Walk along Washington Avenue (Nov. 30 at 6pm), starting at the Foothills Art Center and continuing into historic downtown. The walk…

In Hot Water: Mother Nature’s Hot Springs

No matter the season, slipping into natural hot springs is a relaxing, rejuvenating way to while away the hours. Heated by the planet’s interior, water bubbles up through cracks and fissures, typically gathering a load of minerals along the way. When the water finds its way at the surface, it’s Mother Nature’s hot tub. For all the talk about the lack of water in Colorado, we have an abundance…

Colorado Golden Nuggets: Autumn’s Sweet Spots

We live in a state that proudly proclaims itself to be “Colorful Colorado,” and it certainly is. From purple mountain majesties to amber waves of grain, summers here treat our eye’s color-receptor cones to a good workout. It only gets better in the fall when autumn alchemy transforms leafy hillsides into mother lodes of gold. That’s when the state truly earns its nickname. It’s hard to miss fall brilliance…

University of Colorado Museum of Natural History: 4 Million Artifacts All for Free

Colorado, once inhabited by the stegosaurus and other oversized giants, has proved to be a paleontological jackpot. One place to take a prehistoric journey is, of course, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Another is the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Although not quite as spectacular or large as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Boulder museum…