Aspen, Colorado – Western Elegance

On January 15, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado21 Comments

We’ve been to Aspen a couple of times and have thoroughly enjoyed each occasion. The great thing about Aspen is that it has managed to keep that small town feel despite its popularity. The town is host to several large scale events such as the Winter X Games and the FOOD and WINE Classic, but it has a lot to offer all year round. With four mountains for skiing and snowboarding, it is a winter enthusiasts dream, but like all of the Colorado mountains, it is a perfect destination all year long. Don’t let the rustic exterior fool you, this is a first class destination and it comes with a pretty hefty price tag, but the food and accommodations are all world class.

If you go during the winter and like to ski or snowboard (we ski, the kids all snowboard), you won’t be disappointed. One lift ticket will get you access to Buttermilk, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Aspen Mountain. But, if you’re not into skiing, there are plenty of other things to do, such as snowmobiling, going on a horse-drawn carriage ride, or even going snowshoeing. If nothing else, there is always sitting in front of the fire in the lobby of one of the many lodges, sipping wine, and watching the snow fall gracefully from the sky.

We went during the final weekend of ski season last year to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do any skiing that weekend, but typical to Colorado, we saw everything from blizzard conditions to sun and warmth. Spring and Fall can always be tricky times to visit the Colorado high country, but we find them to be almost the best times to go as the crowds are definitely not as bad and sometimes the hotels offer discounts to try and bring in a few more tourists.

Summer can be as busy as the winter, with everyone wanting to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery that Colorado has to offer. There is plenty of hiking, but there is also fun to be had by going to some of the nearby towns, like Minturn, with their old west history. Horseback riding and rafting are also great activities for those that are a little more adventurous. If you don’t want to pay the high price of lodging in Aspen, you can always go camping in Maroon Bells.

Hiking Trail in the Colorado High Country

Personally, we find Fall to be the perfect time to go into the mountains and we hope to go hiking in Maroon Bells one of these times soon as the Aspen trees there are supposed to be spectacular. Although there is always a chance of an early season snow storm, usually the weather is ideal for getting outside and going hiking and enjoying the incredible colors. The only downside to going during the off-season is that sometimes not all of the stores and restaurants are open as the owners take time off prior to the busy winter season.

The restaurants are some of the best that you can find anywhere. If you enjoy fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere, then Aspen is the place for you. One of the great things about Colorado, and Aspen in particular, is that you can go out in jeans and relatively casual clothes and enjoy a night out at excellent restaurants. The lack of pretense and unnecessary ceremony makes going out to be much more relaxing than other locations. If you’re not a vegetarian, we’d highly recommend getting a steak or some elk while you’re there, it is truly a taste of the west.

If you get the chance, we’d highly recommend visiting Aspen and having an upscale western experience. Whether you go take part in all of the winter sports or are going to enjoy the scenery and go hiking in the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

Shared Travel Memories

On January 11, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips11 Comments

It has been interesting reading the various travel blogs over the past several months since we started our own site. One theme that we’ve seen quite often is talking about how people should try traveling solo and what a great experience it is. First, let us say that we think everyone should travel in whatever capacity that is possible. So, by all means, travel, whether solo, in large groups, small groups, or with a companion. For us, a travel memory that isn’t shared jointly by the two of us, just isn’t the same. We love recanting those “remember when we” moments that we’ve shared throughout the years.

As we said before, we’re not trying to say that those that travel solo aren’t enjoying an incredible experience, based on the posts we’ve seen, they definitely are. And we can certainly see how having the freedom to make impulse decisions, define your own agenda, go as fast or slow as you like are all great benefits, not to mention only having to pay for one. We kind of feel that we have the best of both worlds. We’ve been together so long that we basically travel as though we have a shared thought process. So impulse decisions, agenda, speed, are all things that we agree on and neither of us ever seems to feel like we’re “not getting our way”. On the flip side, when there are travel challenges, we have each other to lean on, support each other, and usually laugh about it since there is often nothing we can do about it (sometimes the laughing comes later though 😉 ).

Travelling is such a great experience, changing the way you view your world and the people who share it with you, that we definitely encourage everyone to travel. We hope that everyone is fortunate enough to one day have a travel companion, friend, spouse, family member, that they get to share those special moments with. Every trip, no matter how monumental or seemingly inconsequential, has the potential to create one of those life altering memories. In fact, many of those memories might be more about the people who you are with than the location that you’re visiting. Having someone to recount that memory with later makes the memory that much sweeter. For now, we’ll just count our blessings and look forward to making as many new shared memories as possible.

Our Fondue Tradition

On January 6, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes9 Comments

When the kids were growing up, we started the tradition to fondue on New Year’s Eve and watch a marathon of movies. We would pick movies that had multiple movies in the series like Harry Potter, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Jason Bourne, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Ocean’s 13, etc. Whatever the movie, it was about being together as a family and eating a meal that was a shared experience.

Our children have all grown up and moved onto their own lives, but we continue to spend our New Year’s Eve eating fondue and watching movies until about an hour before midnight. We do a peanut oil fondue with steak, chicken, mushrooms, and green peppers (we used to do hot dogs when the kids were younger). Then we do our family curry sauce, chutney, and béarnaise sauce for dipping. Although we love a good cheese or chocolate fondue, this is a perfect fondue for creating a hearty meal, especially when needing to offset all of the glasses of wine that lead up to our midnight toast.

Our New Year’s Day tradition is pork and sauerkraut, which is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition that is meant to provide good luck throughout the coming year. It works out really well since it is a slow cooker meal and we are usually moving a little slower after New Year’s Eve. We’ve decided to share with you our curry fondue sauce recipe, which is obviously simple and can be used with other meals besides fondue.

Ingredients

1 cup Mayonnaise
3 tbsp Whole Milk (Skim can be used to lower the fat and calories)
4 – 5 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

Instructions

In a medium size bowl, combine mayonnaise, milk, curry powder, and tabasco sauce. Whisk together and chill for 30 minutes. If it is too thick, simply add a dash more of milk and stir.