~Saturday, October 31, 2020~
Day 139
Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃👻 The one year that Halloween falls on a Saturday (to us it should always be the last Saturday of every October) and it’s nearly a full moon, the world decides to have a pandemic making things not so ideal. Hopefully the trick-or-treaters are still going out enjoying a little bit of fun.
We had a great day, though it wasn’t too Halloween related. We had plans to hike Greyrock Summit trail (5.5 miles) or Greyrock Meadows Trail (7.4 miles), but that plan quickly came to a halt when we checked the status due to the fires. We found out the Cameron Peak Fire is still burning (smoldering) with many trails in the area still closed either due to fire damage or a potential fire threat. We seem to be really good about finding great Plan B ideas, and decided on hiking to Arthur’s Rock.
And a real plus is when Sadie is able to join in on the fun.
When we got to the Lory State Park, we saw numerous trails to choose from but had read Arthur’s Rock was the one to explore in the park. So we paid our $9.00 day use fee (a common thing in Colorado state parks) and drove out to the very last parking lot (a few miles in) to get to our trailhead. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. What we really liked about this trail was the cardio challenge, but with the recent snow, made it much more interesting, especially coming back down. We had Sadie on leash most of the time until we got to the top. It’s only 1.7 miles up, but the elevation gain is 1,100 feet. Once again, you gotta pay your dues, to see the views. A beautiful, fairly clear day with views of Horsetooth Reservoir and downtown Fort Collins. On the way down, the sun became hidden behind the Horsetooth Mountains which made it a bit more chilly and icy. We gauged that it was o.k. to have Sadie off leash for most of the descent since we were one of the last parties to come down. It’s probably more dangerous to have her on leash anyway when things are steep and icy. We also ran into a few rock climbers on the trail.
Since the drive back to our site was only about 20 minutes, we decided to go back to the trailer to enjoy some yummy appetizers and a glass of wine before heading back out again for our dinner at Ginger and Baker in Fort Collins. Since yesterday was a travel day on my birthday we thought today would be a better day to go out and celebrate. So we made sure Sadie was all good/fed, then headed out. We immediately liked the vibe of downtown Fort Collins and can’t wait to really check out more in the next few days. The restaurant/building reminds me of a Chip and Joanna Gaines type design. Apparently, the building used to be a former Northern Colorado Feeders Supply and has been carefully transformed into this lovely shop/restaurant. If you prefer outdoor dining, they have rooftop seating or a very nice first floor seating area. When you walk in, they have a large, well-appointed gift shop and bakery. We’ll have to really check those out another day. Evidently, they have 2 choices for dining. I had accidentally made our reservation for the Cafe (which is a spot where they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner all day). Oops. We wanted the more fine dining area which is called The Cache. It was no problem changing our dining location. We had so much fun talking about our route and experiences so far over a cocktail, and a delicious appetizer of Tuna Tartare. We split a poached pear spinach salad before our main course arrived. Jeff had beef tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and crayfish. He loved everything…...yes folks, even the brussel sprouts, except for the crayfish which reminded him of tiny shrimp and he is not a shellfish guy. Mine was THE most amazing vegetarian dish I’ve ever had.
When your waiter tells you that he’s a huge carnivor and even he loves it, that sealed the deal. It was 2 pieces of square parmesan polenta with a delectable, roasted concoction of brussel sprouts, potatoes, red peppers, mushrooms and spinach covered in a sherry sauce. To top things off…..pumpkin pie a la mode. On the way home, we tuned into Sirius Radio’s Scream Channel to get in the Halloween spirit.
Ending a perfect Halloween evening, we took advantage of our trial subscription to HULU and watched 2 classics…...Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein. Haven’t seen those in years.