We had a great time in Western CO. As I said when I was leaving, it was seriously against my better judgement to abandon ship and go on a completely frivilous trip when the house was a mess and things were so out of order, but I enjoyed it very much.
We left around 5 on Friday night and made it to Glenwood Springs (about a 3 hour drive) without incident, save a crappy dinner at Pizz.a Hut (NEVER AGAIN). The cheap hotel was perfectly fine. Unfortunately, Tabby was a bit out of sorts all night and no one (except possibly my sister) got a good night's sleep. After the free breakfast we journeyed 2 hours to Paonia to Delicious Orchards and picked way too many peaches. And also some nectarines and apples.
I'd never been to Paonia before and it's a cute teeeny town. The guy who runs the orchard recommended a great little cafe that served a very small menu (like 10 items). The setting was picturesque and the food lived up to its surroundings.
After lunch we went back to our hotel and changed to go to the pool. The pool was every bit as amazing as I remembered. Huge with the perfect water temperature, all thanks to geothermal heat. Tabby was less impressed though. I'm not sure if we'd worn her out or not fed her enough or what was up, but she was a bit cranky and wanted to walk around the edge of the pool (and slip and fall if possible). The only time she really seemed to enjoy being in the pool was when Matt and Kelly and I were throwing her in a triangle and letting her splash down on the catch (sounds dangerous when I write it, but she was fine, honest!).
But the pool didn't last as long as we might've liked. And after much driving around and debating, we settled on Dos Hombres for dinner. We'd never been there and knew nothing about it, but Mexican is generally a pretty safe bet in Colorado, so we risked it and it turned out to be really great.
Another (much better) night at the hotel, a drive home in the morning and that was it. Except the processing of peaches. What do you do with 40+ pounds of peaches? More on that later.