Golden is where every eccentric person who doesn’t reside in Boulder chooses to live.

-Jane, the Clear Creek History Park’s “Chicken Mom”

I am all about impromptu living and Golden is chock full of it. Visit the Golden Kayak Park on a Wednesday evening in the summer and you will be delighted to witness an unofficial freestyle kayak competition with free schwag and spontaneous tailgate parties.

Drop by Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza at 7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of every month and you’ll see an onslaught of bicyclists congregated for the “Golden Cruise” (all ages are invited).

I have spent a lot of time in Golden but truly fell in love during my family’s recent 24-hour-long staycation. With the gorgeously-appointed Golden Hotel as our basecamp, we delved into many family-friendly activities in this charming enclave that is nestled between two volcanic mesas and against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Our whirlwind trip included:

First Friday Street Fair

Golden’s First Friday has been around for a while and consisted of merchants offering extended hours and special deals the first Friday of each month. But now through October 1st, First Fridays include a lively Street Fair from 5-8 p.m. on Washington Avenue.

My family toured downtown Golden in a free horse-drawn carriage ride pulled by Burt (allegedly the largest horse in Colorado). We bought juicy buffalo burgers from a vendor, danced in the streets to the live band, giggled at the entertaining magician, valued our life too much to attempt the free climbing wall and checked out Golden’s charming stores.

Hands down, the Windy Saddle Café’s cupcake walk was our favorite activity. I love to stumble upon family-friendly places and with their little “Buckaroo” lunches and toy-filled back room, this restaurant epitomizes kid-friendly. At 6:30 p.m., 26 kids participated in their cupcake walk where everyone was eventually a winner.

Unless you were the second-to-last kid like my daughter and casualties almost ensued (see last week’s post for the sordid details).

Clear Creek History Park

If you have elementary-school-aged children, you’ve probably heard of this park dedicated to showcasing how early settlers worked and played in the late 1800s. We were first-timers and my kids loved this recreated mountain ranch complete with gardens, a working blacksmith shop, schoolhouse and chicken coop.

Stroll around for free and peek through the windows of these beautiful old buildings located directly off Clear Creek Trail. Want a fantastic summer diversion for the kids? Take part in scheduled activities such as bee keeping, making old-fashioned toys, woodstove cooking and more. A $5 donation is requested. Check the Web site for the full schedule.

Hands down, visiting the chicken coop was the highlight for my daughter Hadley. The “Chicken Mom” Jane (a.k.a. the chicken’s caretaker) gave her a freshly-minted egg and told her if she kept it warm for 21 days, a little chick would hatch. Hadley had a new mission in life: to become a “Chick Mom.”

Luckily for us, her maternal instinct lasted only two hours when she accidentally cracked the egg.

Heritage Square

Storybook Victorian theme park Heritage Square may be getting old (over 30 years) but playing there never does. We zoomed down the Alpine Slide for the first time, drifted in our swan paddle boats, played miniature golf, browsed in the artisan shops, and rode the rides to our heart’s content.

Or rather our heart’s discontent, which was frequently the case.

Not to be forgotten is the Music Hall and Children’s Theater. The swashbuckling tale of Robin Hood will be playing Saturdays through July 10 and The Frog Prince will make its debut July 17 and run through November 13. Children and adults are $6.

Colorado Railroad Museum

Unlike 99 percent of little boys, I do not consider myself a train aficionado but even I was sufficiently entertained by the 12 acres of narrow and standard gauge locomotives, cars, and 50 thousand rare old photographs, papers and artifacts. The museum itself is a replica of an 1880-style masonry railroad depot and has become a popular venue for birthday parties. The gift shop has over a thousand railroad books, videotapes, posters, prints, jewelry, and other memorabilia. Adults are $8, kids ages 2-16 are $5 and children under 2 are free.

Tip: Plan extra time in the gift shop to play with the Thomas the Trainset or meltdowns may ensue.

Saturday Farmer’s Market

On Saturday morning, we leisurely rolled out of our cushy beds at the Golden Hotel to attend the farmer’s market at 1019 10th Street from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. We gorged on hearty crepes for breakfast, bought fresh focaccia bread for lunch, and strolled around shopping for farm fresh fruit, veggies, flowers, mini-doughnuts, gourmet pastas, salmon and unique hand-crafted gifts.

Burt the Biggest Horse in Colorado was back for free horse-drawn carriage rides. There was also a puppet show, master garden presentations and that climbing wall we still refused to attempt.

But possibly my favorite moments of the entire whirlwind trip were exploring the Clear Creek Trail. My children biked along the verdant greenbelt, often stopping to read interpretive signs and pose with the statues. They slid down the “secret slide” randomly located next to the Washington Avenue Bridge, threw rocks in the river and cheered on the kayakers at the Whitewater Park.

It was a magical morning as we relished each other’s company and ingested the scents and sounds wafting from the market. I marveled as my newbie bikes wove in and out of the heavily-congested bike path, like Frogger hyped up on caffeine. They were often successful.

Sometimes not.

But isn’t that what family vacations to eccentric destinations are all about?

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Take the world’s largest outdoor mineral hot springs pool, add an adventure park built on top of a mountain, sprinkle in the Roaring Fork Valley’s crimson rocks and emerald forests and what do you have?

Glenwood Springs’ matchless Shangri-La.

Conveniently located off I-70 between Vail and Aspen, my family has driven through Glenwood Springs multiple times and often marveled at the tram that appeared to go nowhere. Turns out, the Iron Mountain Tramway soars 4,300 feet up Iron Mountain to a big ol’ somewhere: Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

The 135-acre park features guided tours of Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves, an alpine coaster, 4-dimensional theater, a laser tag arena, a climbing wall, gemstone sluice box mining, bungee trampolines, a simulated Conestoga wagon ride and more. New this year: The Giant Canyon Swing that launches riders over Glenwood Canyon, 1,300 feet above the Colorado River.

A few of my family’s favorite activities included:

Laser Tag

It was raining when we arrived at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park so we introduced our delighted cowboys to an indoor pursuit: laser tag. This new-fangled shoot-out in an old West setting uses the latest in wireless laser tag technology. With every death announcement, “Nice shot,” our vests would vibrate and my children came one step closer to unleashing their pent-up parental aggressions. For my husband and me, it was all about payback for our many sleepless nights.

Family laser tag is a win-win situation for everyone.

4-dimensional ride theater

I can’t say I’ve seen many movies in 3-D so I was unsure of what to expect at Colorado’s only 4-dimensional ride theater. We were given goofy 3-D glasses, and had the option of watching three short films (Haunted Mine Ride, Snow Ride or TurtleVision) whilst sitting in interactive seats that had us yelping and giggling at every turn whenever we were sprayed or jolted.

Prior to watching each film, we received a safety briefing. Ours was from a staffer whose arm was in a cumbersome cast. He claimed it was from longboarding; I suspect he fell out of his magical 4-D chair.

Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves

Glenwood Caverns was named one of “The 10 Great Places to Go Underground” by USA Today. Despite such acclaim, I was hesitant to take my 3 and 5 year old on the 70-minute guided walking tour because any lengthy amount of time in an enclosed space with them is asking for trouble.

Turns out, they loved the tour and my son Bode (the youngest in the group) was given sole control of the hallowed flashlight. Our entertaining guide let our imaginations run wild as he expounded upon formations such as moonmilk, cave clouds, soda straws, cave bacon, stalactites, stalagmites. At one point, he had us stop and listen to the walls of the cave. When we heard nothing, he joked we had just experienced “Hard Rock.”

Evidently, cave tour guides need to have some kind of comic relief.

My two favorite stops were King’s Row, a gigantic room deep in the earth with the most other-wordly cave I’ve ever seen, and “Exclamation Point,” a cliff-side balcony with panoramic views of the Glenwood Canyon and the Colorado River.

Fort WhereAmI Maze

I’ll admit it: I’m not a maze person because when you’re directionally-challenged, the last thing you need are hundreds of options. But my family loved weaving our way through the labyrinth of twists and turns in this fort-style maze. Instead of just trying to find the exit, there was a fun twist to the challenge: we raced against the clock for fun prizes and had to punch our card at each of the four towers, which offered breathtaking views of Mt. Sopris and the Roaring Fork Valley.

The Canyon Flyer

My kids could not get enough of Park City Mountain Resort’s alpine coaster last winter but at $20 a pop, less was definitely more. At Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, riding Colorado’s only alpine coaster is included in the cost of the day pass so we gave our children unlimited access.

And they took full advantage by repeatedly dragging us down the mountain.

The individual cars on tracks race 3,400 feet through the trees and can carry two visitors in comfort. The great thing about the alpine coaster is you can control your speed over the bumps, waves and hairpin turns. Not that it mattered. Both kids demanded we go full-throttle so I screamed like a girl the entire way down.

Good thing I am one.

Accommodations

Sure, there are plenty of lodging options in Glenwood Springs but why stay anywhere else than the Glenwood Hot Springs’ 107-room flagship? Lodge and pool packages start at $139 per room per night and include a room with two queen-size beds, unlimited swimming and continental breakfast.

Just across the street, the Glenwood Hot Springs is the largest mineral hot springs pool in the world and the two pools measure roughly as long as two city blocks. If that is not impressive enough, the hot springs also has two water slides, inner tubes, diving boards and bubble chairs.

I’ve always envied the people sunning themselves around the pool when I’ve zoomed past on I-70. My family went early-May when it was cold, rainy and the lifeguards were wearing winter jackets.

But it didn’t matter. Instead of being on the outside looking in, we melted our worries away in the 104-degree therapy pool, relishing our time in Glenwood Springs’ quintessential cut of Colorado.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Prices: Day pass for an adult is $39, children are $34. See their Web site for Tram-only rates and information about their various cave tours. Go to www.hotspringspool.com for information on the hot springs and lodging.

Professional photo credit: Visit Glenwood. Crummy iPhone pictures: Yours truly. Special thanks to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and Glenwood Hot Springs for hosting my family.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Aspen has a couple of things working against it: exorbitant prices and a reputation for misbehaving celebrities such as Charlie Sheen and those on VH1’s controversial Secrets of Aspen.

Fortunately, it has even more going for it.

My family visited Snowmass for the first time last weekend. I was eager to try the largest of Aspen Ski Company’s highly acclaimed four resorts but I was also worried I wouldn’t fit in. I don’t own fur and my nails haven’t seen a manicure since those fake nails I wore to my high school graduation.

Turns out, it didn’t matter. I was, after all, at a world-class ski resort.

I just wore gloves the entire time.

The Mountain

If you have kids, there is nothing greater than Snowmass’ 25,000-square-foot Tree House Kid’s Adventure Center. The $17 million facility stands as the first of its kind in the snowsports industry with a host of themed rooms for ages eight weeks and older as well as a climbing gym, teen activities and kids’ retail.

Snowmass is renowned for its ski school and employs hundreds of instructors. We enrolled 3-year-old Bode in the Bears class and 5-year-old Hadley was a Grizzly ($130 for a full day). With only 6 percent of its 3,132 acres classified as “easiest,” Snowmass is an intermediate/advanced mountain. The beginner areas became a war zone as newbies practically battled it out for their place to face-plant. The upper mountain was gloriously devoid of lines and crowds.

My children still had the time of their lives.

Snowmass has prodigious amounts of terrain and snow. But it’s the little things that really set it apart: free hot cider, sunscreen and granola bars atop Elk Camp Meadows. Trail maps conveniently printed on the chairlifts’ safety bar. Free naturalist-guided tours twice a day.

Jamie and I are pretty equal in our skiing ability with the exception that he likes to hit the terrain park. I recently got hit by a snowboarder at a terrain park as I tried to photograph Jamie.

That is about as much as we have in common as it pertains to terrain parks.

We had only been skiing an hour when Jamie spotted one of Snowmass’ three terrain parks and the coercion began. I resisted until I saw a class of 6-year-olds tackle it. I reluctantly relented.

I guess you could say I gave in to kid pressure.

Snowmass has done it right. Instead of just having suicidal 10-foot jumps and rails, this one was rated “medium,” which, in terrain-park-speak means “Easy Enough-For-a-30-Something-Mom-to-Have-Visions-of-Ski-Cross-Olympic-Grandeur-Without-Killing-Herself.”

On the same note, at the end of his lesson, Bode proclaimed, “I skied FAST like Bode Miller!”

Look for us at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

ACES (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies)

Our first experience in Aspen defied all the town’s stereotypes. ACES (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies) is a non-profit 25-acre preserve that offers educational programs and activities about nature, ecology, and the environment. Or, as my daughter Hadley summarized,

“There were some dead animals and others were alive.”

We joined in as a local elementary school made animals tracks of plaster and my kids touched a python snake. We went for a walk on the Forest Trail along a natural spring that fills Hallan Lake, which is maintained by a family of beavers. Even under a blanket of snow, the wetlands dazzled in winter. We visited two non-releasable birds of prey: a 27-year-old golden eagle and gray-horned owl.

In winter, ACES offers showshoe tours in Aspen, Snowmass and Ashcroft. Summer is king for kids and classes include the Little Naturalist, which focuses on different animals each session. Week-long classes are also offered including Exploring Around (ages 5-6) and Wild Exploration (ages 7-8). The summer schedule will be posted in mid-March at aspennature.org.

Snowmass’ Glorious Food

Snowmass Base Village
The Sweet Life is Snowmass’ sweetheart of family dining. Located in the base village, this is THE must-eat-at restaurant for kids. The first floor is a candy store and ice cream parlor on steroids. The top floor is a 1950s-style diner that is every child’s fantasy.

Don’t miss out on the chicken lollipops, 15 varieties of cupcakes (including root beer float and candied lemonade), fried Oreos, funnel cake fries, and a separate menu of nine different S’mores.

On-Mountain
Skiing and riding works up an appetite and Sam’s Smokehouse satisfies. The new 7,800-square-foot barbecue-style smokehouse has stunning views of Garret’s Peak, Mount Daly and the surrounding backcountry with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Try their pulled pork sandwich, smoked chicken, and barbecue glazed citrus shrimp, topped off by organic apple crisp. Just don’t believe your husband when he says “I’ll only have two bites of dessert” because he will invariably polish it off.

His defense? “They were just really big bites.”

Best Splurge
There is something almost surreal about piling into a snowcat (or a “snowkitty” according to my 3-year-old son) and creeping up a steep mountain slope to a cozy cabin encapsulated by winter’s magical snow globe. Elegant Lynn Britt Cabin gives you that kind of experience. Add that to an ever-changing four-course gourmet meal, Rich (a hilarious guitar-strumming, harmonica-playing entertainer) and you have an unforgettable evening.

Best Off-the-Beaten-Path Restaurant
I am remiss we did not have time to go to Woody Creek Tavern because it came highly recommended from multiple sources. Just six miles from Snowmass, this quirky cowboy dive bar/restaurant boasts the best enchiladas and tamales you will ever taste. Though some superstars are regulars, Woody Creek Tavern prides itself as being “anti-establishmentarianism.”

Whatever the heck that means in a celebrity-kissed town that does a stellar job catering to families.

I’m giving away four ski passes to Snowmass at Mile High Mamas! Be sure to enter.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog