Christmas Across America: Colorado Springs

Christmas in the Rockies

Colorado Springs is one of my favorite places in Colorado. Pikes Peak looms 14,000 feet plus over the city to the west and it's just a couple of reindeer jumps to Santa's Workshop on the road to Garden of the Gods. The Springs is situated in an environment that is perfect for celebrating Christmas. Moiuntain, snow, Santa's Worshop...what more could you ask for?

Folks like Kevin and Linda Pickett utilize their Christmas-y setting in Colorado Springs to it's maximum effect. You see, the Picketts, like many other area residents get into the Christmas Spirit every year, but Kevin and Linda take the season a little more seriously than most other people. Sure they decorate their home for Christmas just like millions of other Americans, with lights, yard displays and other Yuletide gizmos. It's just that the Picketts use over 100,000 lights and a sleigh full of technically enhanced Christmas scenes. It is absolutely out of this world! They have the lights and various animated scenes in their yard sync'd to music play over their very own low power FM radio station!  Click here to access the Picketts' web site and see for yourself. I'm as serious as dandruff, it's nuts! In a good way, of course. Once on their home page, you can click links to a photographic history and evolution of the annual Christmas extravaganza. They even have videos of it as it was featured on the Big 3 TV networks! There are also links to other people in the United States who are what Kevin calls 'light gurus" and the "above average" displays they have put together.

This is one of the best Christmas things I have ever seen. The web site has some of the most incredible content of any such web site in the world. Drop by Kevin and Linda's site, sign their guest book and take some time to really check out the place. You'll thank me later.

Merry Christmas!

Granby, Colorado - You Can See Heaven from Here

See that photo up there^^^? That's what I'm talkin' about ! That is Lake Granby,near Granby, CO, about 85 west of Denver. I have been there and as beautiful as this picture is, it still doesn't do justice to what is shown. In person Lake Granby is even more visually stunning. Imagine that if you can.

At 7935 feet high in the Rockies and home to a touch over 1500 lucky people, Granby is in one of the most scenic locales in the world. The town was founded in 1904 by a  lawyer named Hilyer Granby and was incorporated in 1905.

As you have probably surmised by now, in the summer months there are numerous outdoor activities to take advantage of and some oustanding places to visit while you're in Granby. Just beacause Old Man Winter makes his annual trek through the Rockies, doesn't mean you have to be stranded inside for several months. Au contraire, podnuh. Granby is just a hop, skip and a jump from some of the best snow skiing in the world at Winter Park.

Thanks to Loco Steve on Flickr for the Photo

Loco Steve has this to say about Granby, "At an elevation of 7,935 ft. above sea level, Granby, Colorado offers the Colorado Rocky Mountain experience at a considerably lower price than your typical resort community.

Granby, Colorado has mantained it's proud ranching heritage and its friendly small-town atmosphere, despite seeing the growth of the Colorado tourist industry all around it. You can only keep such a beautiful place a secret for so long."

Well said, Loco.

Stuff to Do

The Granby Chamber of Commerce says that the town is "close to hiking, mountain biking, and boating, rafting, horseback riding, and hunting, as well as gold medal river water and trophy lake fishing." Truer words were never spoken. For trout fishing in the rivers and creeks, use an inline spinner bait such as Panther-Martin, Mepps or Blue Fox, all three are great lures. Throw the spinner bait up stream retrieving it just a hair faster than the current of the water. The fish are facing up stream looking for oncoming morsels of food and this presentation gives you a good chance of literally hitting a trout on the nose. Also look for "eddies", calms areas of water close to moving water. trout like to hide out in the eddies, waiying to ambush any poor critter that looks like lunch.

Food and Lodging

Rustic

I looked up some arbitrary vacation dates on hotels.com and came up with these figures. Staying Granby will cost you a little more, but the price may well be worth it to you. There are some terrific places to eat and stay at in Granby. You'll find a comprehensive list of them at the town's web site.

Lodging in a nearby town such as Fraser, 12 miles from Granby, can save you some money and offers a fantastic drive from one town to the other. 

You can't really go wrong when visiting Granby. It's in such a beautiful area, that anywhere you go and anything you see will surely take your breath away.

Get your FREE Colorado Travel Guide @ this link.