Coaldale, Colorado was the next stop on the journey of the Silver Baguette. Coaldale is located in a beautiful area of Colorado along the Arkansas River. There is not a lot in Coaldale outside of some campgrounds, a post office, an art studio, and the river. What it lacks in amenities, it more than makes up for in great scenery though. We chose Coaldale because it looked like it was about halfway between Salida and Canon City when we looked at a map. We took advantage of the location to enjoy some downtime and explore the area.
The campground we stayed at was great. It was right on the Arkansas River; but, unfortunately, the rafting companies had already packed it up for the winter. The campground staff were super friendly and the office had hundreds of DVDs we could borrow for free. It was fun for the kids to watch movies every night while winding down. It was such a nice place that we decided to just relax and enjoy a day of not doing nothing (at least how we define that) our first day there.
We decided to take a road trip within a road trip and tour some mountain towns since whitewater rafting was out of the equation. We drove a couple hours up to Breckenridge and Frisco and absolutely fell in love with this area. Breckenridge was a great little ski town, even when it’s 70 degrees with no snow in sight. Frisco is about 15 minutes from Breckenridge and is on a large reservoir. There are sailboats moored at a marina right in town. Skiing, sailing, mountains – this place seemed perfect for us. We instantly started talking about what it would be like to live there. The feeling of permanency that came along with those thoughts ended up freaking me out and discouraging me a bit.
The problem with the “perfect” town of Frisco was that it was super expensive. I guess I should have expected that being that it was a gorgeous mountain town. It got me thinking about what the heck I am going to do when we get done with this trip. All kinds of questions ran through my head. Will I be able to get a good job when we are done? Will I be able to maintain our old lifestyle with that job? How could we ever afford to live in such a cool place if I can’t get right back on the financial ladder where I jumped off? Is this trip the right move?!? It got me really anxious.
I knew this all required sacrifice but discussions and worries like that make this all feel real – real quick. I know part of that feeling is because the last couple years at work shook my confidence. Three years ago, I would have known with 100% certainty that I would be successful no matter what I decided to do or try. I still don’t regret taking this year to do this after thinking about though. One of the things I hoped this trip would do for me was regaining that confidence and certainty of purpose. I know we will figure it out but, hey, it’s me and I worry. We may just not be living in Frisco.
On that same mini road trip we also checked out Leadville and Salida. Both of these are smaller mountain towns. Leadville is an old mining town way up in the mountains. Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the United States at 10,151 feet. It still had that old mountain town charm of being a bit rough around the edges. From what I understand, Salida used to be a little rough around the edges as well but has started to take off in recent years. Someone told us that people now referred to Salida as the “new Boulder” when we were in the San Luis Valley. Real estate prices are starting to reflect that. Either way, Salida seems like a great little town with cool shops and restaurants and lots of mountain biking right outside of downtown. Sounds pretty good to me.
We had decided to go to Royal Gorge outside of Canon City to do the typical touristy things like walk on the Royal Gorge Bridge and ride the gondolas. As we drove up to the gorge, we saw signs for hiking and biking trails right outside of the park. When we got to Royal Gorge, it felt pretty touristy. Worst, it would cost us roughly $100 to be able to walk across the bridge that spans the gorge. The gondolas were closed due to high winds, so they offered to knock $2 off the price of our tickets. Wow! The bridge looked cool and I bet it is awesome looking down 900 feet to the Arkansas River from the center of it. But, we all decided the free trails right outside of the pay to play park were more our speed.
We pulled the bikes off of the rack and and went mountain biking at the Royal Gorge. What a great choice! We rode the Overlook Loop trail that has numerous awesome views of the gorge (and bridge) and then the Twisted Cistern trail through the desert terrain. We had to dodge cacti and rocks along the trails. It was so much fun being back in the saddle of a mountain bike. Twisted Cistern was mostly a downhill run so I offered to ride back up the road and get the truck when we were done. The wind was howling and almost blew me off the bike. It hurts riding up a steep hill with a 40 mph headwind, but that’s part of what makes these days so fun (at least for me). It turns out that a nonprofit started by a Virginia friend’s brother-in-law built the trails we were riding on. Nice work!
Our last day in Coaldale, we homeschooled, played music, did laundry, cleaned, and packed for our upcoming trip back to VIrginia. We are headed back to my old hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. There, we will celebrate the life of our sweet four year old cousin, Rowan, who recently passed away from Leukemia. I have written about her several other times in this blog. She was an incredible little girl who was full of life and we will miss her and her incredible smile. It will be great to get to put our arms around her family, our family.
Hi Jamison family! Your adventures look amazing. I am trying, somewhat unsuccessfully not to be a little jealous. Jared, I don’t know the whole story of your work situation and what shook your confidence but I know you’ll find it. Keep living your dream with your family, that’s what is really important.