Day 5 was spent mostly recuperating from our long travels, enjoying Roosevelt National Forest, and catching up with good friends not seen in months.
The drive on the mountain via CO-119 is stunningly beautiful. The sun hits the clouds just right and creates the perfect ridge silhouette.
The houses and cabins lining Barker Reservoir reflect the perfect combination of Lake Champlain, VT and my favorite camping spots in the forests of California. The beaches beg for visitors. We just may have to stop for a swim next time we pass. This time? We were driving down the mountain to Boulder to meet a couple of our good friends we hadn't seen since October of 2011.
The meeting place of choice? The Walnut Brewery. I've been to a brewery or two in my day, and have come to learn that it is often difficult to find a place with killer brew with equally delicious food. I'm glad to say that this brewery was an exception.
Each of the six types of handcrafted beer are brewed there on site. While I understand some folks might read "six types" and wish for a wider variety, I view it as a brewmaster's opportunity to carefully craft and perfect each one. Each one we had was refreshingly delicious.
T.C. and I split the Classic Mac 'N Chicken, which comes with a Caesar salad. The order was so large that, even halved, was more than I could finish. We give it "3 beards." It was almost perfectly toasted on top, but we would have preferred a little more cheese in the mac. Then again, when do we not want more cheese? Tasty none the less.
It was so great to see Andrew and Luna after such a long time. We all studied as grad students at Penn State and split off to other areas of the country once we finished. Hilarious story after story was told (really, we laughed almost the entire time) and, before we knew it, we had closed the bar. Sorry to Steve, Luna's husband, whom we missed by just four days.
State:
- Colorado
Visits:
- Black Hawk, CO
- Nederland, CO
- Boulder, CO
Route:
- CO-119
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