A Snowy May in Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs, Colorado is a winter ski resort destination producing more athletes for the Winter Olympics than any other town in North America. However, we didn’t expect to experience the “winter” part of its charm when we left a warm, muggy Central Texas for a four-day adventure.

Dale and I had no plans to ever visit this area of Colorado until we received an invitation from Wyndham Resorts to join them for a special few days enjoying gourmet food, staying in a nice resort and exploring the area. All we had to pay for was transportation costs.

Our drive from the Denver airport was just under four hours. I had decided previously that we would take what appeared to me to be a scenic route, and boy, was it scenic! Mountains, snow, hairpin turns, mountain goats, it was quite the drive. The last hour of the drive, I took over driving so Dale could get some rest. I can now say that I’ve driven in white out conditions and it’s terrifying. The snow was not coming down that hard but the wind was blowing the powdery snow so hard I couldn’t see the road at all. Plus the road was covered in snow. If it weren’t for the tall poles they put on the side of the highway just for this reason, I would probably have went in a ditch.

We arrived late afternoon on a Monday. Once we checked in, we took a drive. The town itself is fairly small and charming – not quite as charming as Breckenridge, Colorado, but it’s nice. Similar to Breckenridge, there is a river that runs through town, the Yampa River. We were there during “mud season” which is the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring, when all the snow is melting and there are less tourists.

That evening we joined our Wyndham hosts and other vacation owners for a gourmet meal at Table 79. It was such a good time. We enjoyed several courses of delicious food and very interesting conversation with our dinner companions. Keith and Jan from Virginia, and Thomas from England kept us entertained with stories of all their adventures. We would repeat the happy scene again the following day at a restaurant called the Aurum, located next to the river. It was so enjoyable.

Each day we visited shops, drove around and went for a short “hike” to Fish Creek Falls. We also rested a lot. Each morning when we would wake up and look out the window it was snowing, so we would just snuggle back down for a little while longer. On Wednesday, we attended the dreaded Wyndham meeting where they try and talk you into buying in to their vacation paradise. It is a really great organization, but we declined, just as we have done during the previous four meetings we’ve had with them. I think they are probably through with us. We have stayed with Wyndham in Napa, Anaheim, Arkansas, and Virginia and have no complaints.

On Thursday morning we packed up and drove back to Denver to catch our late afternoon flight to Austin. As soon as we exited the baggage claim area and felt the heat and humidity, we missed Steamboat Springs! It was a good trip.