I like history, but I don’t love all history. Dinosaurs are cool, but I enjoy human history, even the ancient stuff. Our travel, over the last five years, has been inspired by the books we’re reading. When I write “reading,” it means listening because Ryan and I are addicted to Audible. Ryan devours books because he listens while he builds furniture. I tend to listen to books and the occasional
“Location, location, location,” isn’t that what they say? I’m here to tell you that Palisade is the perfect location for skiing in the morning and wine in the afternoon. Up at 7:30 a.m., we breakfasted in our room at Spoke & Vine Motel in Palisade, Colorado. Lodging here comes with delivery of coffee or tea, yogurt and granola, and a banana. A bonus when getting to the slope for skiing
For longtime followers of HeidiTown, this isn’t new information: Ryan and I like history. A lot. He tends to like the nuts and bolts while I like the overall story. That makes us a good team. Our love of history has inspired road trips to the Dust Bowl area and cattle trails that led us to Dodge City, Kansas, and McCook, Nebraska. Teller County was a good choice for exploration.
22 Years of Love Celebrated in McCook, Nebraska It’s no secret that I have a little soft spot for Nebraska. I didn’t grow up there and didn’t even visit until 2019. However, I’ve been going back every year since. Why? First, despite growing up thousands of miles west of Nebraska, the small towns there remind me of the one where I grew up; a rural, agricultural town, where everyone gave
Surprised by Kansas, Little Jerusalem & A Norman Rockwell Town Part 3: On our last morning in Dodge City, we got up as we did every morning and walked Fritzi at Wright Park. While we paid more than I thought we would, staying at the Holiday Inn Express was worth it. The location is ideal for enjoying downtown on foot, and there’s a water park and a big beautiful park
Some Touristy Stuff, More Tacos, and Whiskey Part 2: Day two started with saving some money. We decided the breakfast at our Holiday Inn Express & Suites looked pretty good. So, we saved money by eating at our hotel, something that’s become more and more important to me on my travels. By the way, there isn’t much to choose from in Dodge City for breakfast. There is an IHOP, but
Tacos, Wrong Turns & Cattle Truck Backups Part 1: We started our Cattle Drive Road Trip on a Thursday morning. If you missed my post on why this road trip happened, read this. We set out with beef jerky, taco-flavored sunflower seeds, Fritzi the dog, and high hopes. Kansas was going to be the tenth state Fritzi had visited and she was very excited. Just kidding. She only cares about
This May, for our anniversary, we took one of our literary-inspired road trips. This one has been on our minds since our Dust Bowl Road Trip in April 2022. That trip was motivated by the two of us reading books about the Dust Bowl like Timothy Egan’s “The Worst Hard Time.” By the time we took that trip, Ryan had begun listening to “Lonesome Dove” on Audible. From our hike
Five years had passed since we were last in Durango, and that’s a long time not to have visited one of my favorite Colorado towns. This month, it was for IN THE GAME, a conference by Downtown Colorado, Inc. I was hosting a Dine Around Session and speaking at the event, so this was a super professional trip for me. Ryan and Fritzi tagged along as it’s a seven-hour drive
For more than twenty years, we had a family cabin outside of Fairplay and some months, we’d go up twice. So, I have driven Highway 285 many times. However, that cabin has been sold for several years, and I am not visiting Southwest Colorado nearly as much as I used to. Therefore, when we drove Hwy 285 on the way to Durango earlier this month, I’d forgotten how lovely this
