Colorado SSR

Ok, we are fast approaching the big September event, however we would like to start up a more “local” and more regular get together – call it a “Colorado Rendezvous” every month or so, weather permitting. Here’s the plan – every month, we will select a great place to eat somewhere in Colorado, set a date and time – say, a Saturday afternoon, and everyone meet there to eat and socialize. The restaurant doesn’t have to be in the metro areas – but it can be. We’re thinking anywhere in Colorado; Front Range, Western Slope, North or South, and part of the fun is the drive to get there.

Please post your comments and suggestions on rendezvous points – we’ll get the first one going in October. Let’s have some fun!

We’ve finalized plans for the farewell breakfast on Sunday. We will meet at 9 am at Ed’s Cantina, 362 E. Elkhorn Ave. There is plenty of parking around the restaurant, with separate lots across the street. Ed’s is also within walking distance from The Stanley Hotel. Meal prices are in the $7-$10 dollar range.

For those of you who would like to stay in Estes on Saturday rather than cruise Rocky Mountain National Park, the Estes Park Film Festival is happening in Estes Park the same weekend. The Park Theatre will be hosting films Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; with a filmmakers panel Saturday at 10am and an awards gala Sunday evening at the Lake Shore Lodge. The Stanley Hotel is hosting the EPFF Suspense and Horror Film Showcase in the Hotel Concert Hall at 2pm on Sunday, 9/16. Check the Festival website for film descriptions, times, and event info.

There is also the Fine Arts and Fine Crafts Show in Bond Park in the Center of Downtown Estes Park from 9 am to 5 pm. The 33rd annual juried show includes work selected as the best of all entries. Wearable art, sculpture, photography, jewelry, folk art, glass, wood, leather, metal, ceramics, oil, pencil drawings and watercolor paintings. (From the Estes Park Events Calendar)

We’ve had a question about the dress code for dinner on Saturday night. Plan on “Colorado Casual,” which consists of pants/jeans, a jacket and closed-toe shoes. We anticipate that many of you will be coming directly from Grand Lake and may not have a chance to get back to your hotel. Please be comfortable and enjoy! We’ll be dining outside, so you’ll definitely want a jacket or pull-over handy. Mountain evenings can be chilly once the sun goes down and the wind comes down off the mountains.

Colorado weather can be hard to predict, especially in the fall. You can expect the weather to be cool in the morning and evenings and moderately warm during the day. The first mountain snowfall usually happens in October, but a light dusting of snow at night is possible if temperatures dip. Coloradans have perfected the fine art of layering to deal with the weather comfortably. This usually consists of a short-sleeved shirt under a jacket or a fleece pull-over to be prepared for any weather.

For those of you coming from much lower altitudes, you’ll want to drink lots of water and take it easy if needed to prevent altitude sickness. Normally, most people acclimate within a couple of days, but it’s important to keep an eye on how you feel.

The days are passing quick and we’ll see you all soon!

Ok, the registration deadline has come and gone. Here are the statistics for the event and it’s participants:
58 Participants
31 SSRs

By state:
7 SSRs from Texas
5 SSRs from Arizona, Colorado and Kansas
4 SSRs from California
3 SSRs from Utah
2 SSRs from Oklahoma

By Color:
Redline Red holds the lead with 8 SSRs attending
Slingshot Yellow comes in second with 5 SSRs attending
Smokin’ Asphalt is third overall with 4 SSRs attending
Ricochet Silver, Pacific Blue and the Custom Paint SSRs are fourth with 3 each
The Two Tones and Ultra Violet SSRs have 2 each attending
Only one Aqua Blur will be there – the rarest of the rare SSRs for our event. Of course, Focks has an Aqua Blur, but he’s counted in the Custom Paint category.

By Hotel:
The Stanley Hotel: 16 Registrations
The Rodeway Inn: 4 Registrations
The Holiday Inn: 4 Registrations
Best Western, Comfort Inn, Streamside Lodges, and the Aspen Lodge – one each
All the rest are either local, undecided, or didn’t say.

Friday’s dinner with the local Estes Park car club will be at The Other Side restaurant on 900 Moraine Ave in Estes Park. We will be gathering there around 5:30-5:45, and dinner is at 6pm.

So far we have 58 Fanatics expressing interest in the event along with the attendees from the car club, and the restaurant will be closing their coffee shop to accommodate all of us for dinner. At this time we will simply be ordering off of the menu, although Craig (our Estes Park coordinator) is talking to the restaurant about maybe offering a buffet. Either way, the dinner is paid by individual check.

Today, the Denver Post featured a great article on one tank trips within 250 miles of Denver, featuring great places to eat, stay and visit. The full article can be found at http://www.denverpost.com/travel/ci_6587075. Some of these destinations may be fun to visit on your way to or from the rally.

Estes Park was one of the destinations listed as well as many great cities within a few hours drive of the rally. Some of my favorites listed were:

The Royal Gorge in Canon City – this is a great stop for those of you coming from the south, headed northbound on I-25. The gorge’s breathtaking scenery will not disappoint you. There is also a train ride through the gorge, which I have not had a chance to ride, but is definately on my travel to-do list.

Central City and Blackhawk - this is one of the side trips we’ll feature in our rally information packet. Both cities are fun to visit whether you are interested in gambling or not.

Georgetown is a short trip outside of Denver on I-70 West. I have fun memories of our family riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad, enjoying a great afternoon lunch in the Rocky Mountain sunshine and helping John pick out a rather dashing hat at unique clothing store located in the historic bank building downtown.

Hopefully, these destinations and this article will give you some more great Colorado travel ideas. Enjoy!

All but two rally participants have elected to do the local cruise on Friday night, so Lori and I will be joining the cruise as well. I’ve notified our cruise contact and he’s looking for a venue to fit all of us as well as his club – I’ll post that information as soon as he provides the details. The general rule of thumb is everyone meets at about 5:45 – 6:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the venue and has dinner as a group – checks are handled separately. We then take a cruise through Estes Park. It ought to be a lot of fun!

If you arrive later than that time in Estes Park – just give me a call (I’ll send everyone an email with my contact information in a few days) and I’ll arrange for you to get your packet. Better yet – if you’re just a little late, join up with us at the cruise!

We’re quickly approaching the event date – it’s less than 6 weeks away! With that in mind, I will be closing registration for the event on August 25th, and I’d like to request all registration payments be submitted no later than September 1st so we can finalize our arrangements with the Aspen Lodge for the barbecue. If you would like to register after the August 25th deadline, please contact me (just use the Contact Us link) to arrange the registration.

Yes, once again, I’ve done a cosmetic update of the site. This time, it’s much more “personalized” to the SSR, and not as generic as the last theme I used. Additionally, the last theme I used looked great on the PC and in Firefox on the Mac, but Safari wouldn’t cooperate with the horizontal menus at the top, so it always looked a little “off.” Ah, the joys of website design.

Well, the menus (or “Pages”) are now located in the sidebar to the left – they haven’t gone anywhere, so if you need to register for the Estes Park event you can still do so.

This current design is based on a WordPress theme called “Painted Desert” from a talented developer at www.imjtk.com. If you’re in need of a WordPress theme for your blog, I recommend checking his site out.