Travelogue

Breckenridge was a discovery that we had made two years ago on the return leg of another one of our cross country journeys and one that we vowed to come back to if given the chance. The setting of the village is lovely, with its quaint Victorian Main Street, the Blue River running through the heart of it, and snow-covered peaks rising right from its edge. Also, it has a great personality--kind of like Moab--funky and down to earth. Vail might have been just as pretty, but it was a bit too ritzy and ostentatious for our taste. Breckenridge fit us much better.

Andrew photographing along the Blue River BikewayAlso, unlike Vail, Breckenridge has a campground (the Tiger Run RV Resort), and what a campground it is. It's more like RV land for the rich and famous, with million dollar RVs as far as the eye can see. It was even featured on the Travel Channel as one of the top campgrounds in the county. It definitely was the most beautiful commercial campground we have ever stayed in--although I still do prefer the National Parks. The resort was meticulously maintained. The sites, which were quite spacious, each had a concrete pad surrounded by a manicured lawn, and all of them had views of the snow-capped mountains. Many of the sites were located right along the scenic Blue River. In addition to the nice aesthetics, there were plenty of recreational facilities to entertain guests of all ages. Besides the basketball and tennis courts, there is an incredible 12,000 square foot clubhouse, complete with indoor swimming pool, two hot tubs, game room, TV lounge, and live entertainment on the weekends. It was definitely more like a resort than a campground. In fact, almost all the sites are owned and many of them have more permanent log cabin or chalet type structures on them. One thing we did notice this time though compared to our last visit was that many more of the sites were for sale--probably more than 10% of them. Something must be going on here for so many people to want out. I don't understand it though, because it really is spectacular, and I'm sure that in the winter it's even better being that it is so close to one of the best ski resorts in the country.

Tiger Run neighbors in an AirstreamFortunately, we were able to get one of the last available sites, and it was right on the river. We were pretty exhausted from our mountain biking at Vail and then the ride down from Vail Pass, so the only activity we were up for that evening was a soak in the hot tub.

When we woke up the next morning we decided to book another night at Tiger Run so that we could spend the entire day wandering around Breckenridge. It was Friday, so I was surprised that we were able to get anything for the night, but we did. We just had to move the RV to a different site.

We left the RV at the campground and rode our bikes along the Blue River Bikeway to the village, about 4 miles away. Once in town, we found a place to lock our bikes up and wandered along Main Street browsing in the shops. The boys were in search of a shop we had visited last time that had some really unique rock and reggae t-shirts and other paraphernalia. We weren't sure of the name, but we were sure we would recognize it when we saw it. Sure enough, we found it - The Space Cowboy. The shop felt like a throwback to the 60s. This was my teenage heritage that the kids were mooching in on--Pink Floyd, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and so on and so on. Andrew, especially, is really into classic rock and it's really all he plays. At least it makes picking a radio station to listen to really easy.

Lolo and boys dining at Fatty's PizzeriaThe owner of Space Cowboy recommended Fatty's Pizzeria as a good place for a lunch, and he was right. We always like to avoid the touristy places and eat at a place that the locals like. The pizza was good and the prices were reasonable.

The next new discovery was Bubba Gump's, a gift shop specializing in everything related to Forrest Gump. There was even a bench outside with a sculpted suitcase and box of chocolates on it. If you sat on the bench, you could slip your feet into a large pair of sneakers just like the ones Forrest wore when he just ran and ran and ran. I never realized there was so much merchandising from this movie--there were glasses, mugs, kitchen magnets, bumper stickers, shrimp beanie babies, boxes of chocolate (of course), license plates, BBQ sauce, and on and on. We got off easy with a Run Forrest Run t-shirt.

Lolo and Tommy in the Blue RiverEventually, we found our way back to the lovely riverside park where we had locked our bikes. There were now dozens of people lounging happily on the steps and a few brave souls who had taken off their shoes and were wading in the ankle-deep, frigid water of the Blue River. That looked fun. I finally convinced Tommy to join me in wading out to a copper moose statue standing in the water. It was a lot harder than it looked, and I'm sure I didn't look very graceful slipping and sliding over the slimy rocks to get there. I made Herb take out his camera again to get a picture of us.

What a great place! Breckenridge has definitely earned a place on our list of all-time favorite towns to visit. I'm sure we'll be back again someday.

Description

Breckenridge is located approximately 75 miles west of Denver in one of the premier skiing areas in the country. Most of the surrounding area is part of the Arapaho National Forest. The town itself is located in the beautiful Blue River Valley at the base of the Ten Mile Range of the Rockies.

Before it became a premier ski resort, Breckenridge was a thriving mining camp. In 1859, when word got out that gold was discovered in the Blue River near current day Breckenridge, hundreds of miners flocked here from Denver and set up a mining camp. In an attempt to get their own post office, the miners named their camp after the current Vice President, John C. Breckinridge (note the difference in spelling). Flattery worked and soon they had their own mail service. When the Civil War began, the town of Breckinridge sided with the South. No longer feeling loyalty to the Federal Government, they changed the spelling of the town to Breckenridge.

In many ways, the village, with its crowded bars and restaurants along its funky main street has maintained that frontier feeling. It was also one of the first ski areas in Colorado to allow snowboarding.

Besides the spectacular skiing, Breckenridge is an outdoor lover's paradise in all four seasons with such adventure highlights as:

• Hiking the many trails in the Arapaho National Forest
• Bicycling the paved Blue River Bikeway along the river between Frisco and Breckenridge
• Biking the 20-mile Vail Pass Bikeway over the 10,600 foot pass into Vail
• Sailing and windsurfing in the Dillon Reservoir just north of Breckenridge
• Fishing for trout and salmon in the Dillon Reservoir
• Fishing for trout in the world-class trout waters of the Blue River
• Rafting the Blue River
• Skateboarding in the outdoor, free skateboard park at the recreation center
• Testing your kayak skills in the man-made rapids section of the Blue River near the recreation center

A few miles north of the town of Breckenridge is the Tiger Run RV Resort, one of the premier RV campgrounds in the country. Most of the sites are owned, but there are some sites available for transients. Some of the many amenities include: landscaped sites with patios, a beautiful clubhouse with fireplace, an indoor pool and hot tub, and lake and stream fishing.