In the mountain town of Bailey, Colorado lies an unassuming white building just one turn off the main highway. On its side in big, bold, black letters reads “Sasquatch Outpost”. Inside is a fantastic little gift shop with everything Sasquatch and Bigfoot you can imagine, and a museum dedicated to the cryptid itself. I heard about this place when watching a Bigfoot documentary (yes, I admit to watching these types of shows) and knew I had to go there. So, for my 28th birthday I loaded up with my brother and friend and we drove up to the mountains to visit this fascinating place. After the drive up through the Rocky Mountains you are happy to find there is free parking out front of the building. Once you step out of your car you are greeted by the crisp mountain air, surrounded by evergreen forest, and the quaint little town of Bailey. Once inside the Outpost they have fashioned the gift shop like a forest with faux trees and other décor, it even smells like a forest too. From Bigfoot Legos to coffee mugs, signs, magnets, sweaters, books, and so much more, it feels like a bigfoot lovers dream. Bring your love, or skepticism, of bigfoot and your stories and you will feel right at home here. For a small fee you can enter the museum and continue this dive into the elusive sasquatch. The museum is very well done, I was fully expecting a very low-budget, hokey, uncomfortable experience and they blew me right out of the water. It’s a high-quality and thought-out museum. Walking you through the timeline of bigfoot for European settlers, Native American tales, evidence, and stories from some rather credible sources. They have a map of Colorado and pins of sightings or other evidence of the bigfoot in-state. Ending with a perfect photo op and a chance for you to vote on how real you think the Bigfoot is. Then you lead back to the gift shop. I have always been completely fascinated by all things supernatural, cryptid, and unexplained so I left the same as I entered, anything is possible. And supported this place with a few pieces of Bigfoot memorabilia to grace my home. My friend left the same skeptic she came as. She’s Scully and I’m Mulder. But we all had a great afternoon with memories and a unique experience. Can you say you’ve been to a Bigfoot museum? Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic or anywhere in-between you can have a fun time at the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, Colorado. If you live in Colorado and are looking for in-state places to go add this one to your list! And if you are traveling to Colorado in the future, see if you can squeeze this in, it’s fun, affordable for everyone, and family friendly. This could also be a great visit if you are looking for Halloween destinations. Much Love, Jessica PS: If you are looking for other Halloween destinations, check out my other blog post on The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park
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I didn’t know there was a Dinosaur National Monument until I drove through Dinosaur, Colorado on my way to Utah to do my check-in dive. My obsession with Dinosaurs kicked into full gear and I knew I needed to go. The following summer I finally made it to the land of Dinosaurs, and it did not disappoint! It’s not a huge park like Rocky Mountain National Park or Yellowstone, but it still has a lot to offer. Dinosaur National Monument has a bit of everything. It has camping, rafting, swimming, hiking, dinosaur fossils, petroglyphs, a museum, and more. We stayed in the on-site campground. It’s what is called dry-camping, which means no facilities at each camp site, such as water, sewer, or electricity. The bathrooms do have running water, but no shower facilities. If you have a camper you would need to fill your tanks and empty them at the dump station and run a generator or solar for power. We stayed in a tent, made use of their nearby water spikets, the public bathroom, and just lounged in the Green River at the end of every day. The campground had lots of trees, a good amount of space and privacy between each camp site, and friendly staff. We went in the middle of summer so it was extremely hot. Bring as much water as you can, I used a camel back and two water bottles on every hike. You’ll either want shorts, tank tops, and a ton of sunscreen, or very light and breathable long sleeves and pants to protect you from the sun without overheating you. Don’t forget a hat! We lived in baseball caps the entire time we were there. We also took water breaks under trees or behind large rock faces. There is a museum in the Park as well as fossil hikes and petroglyph hikes. It isn’t far from Dinosaur, Colorado and Vernal, Utah where there are grocery stores, more museums, restaurants and just civilization things. We elected to visit the museums before we did a lot of hiking. Since we knew we wouldn’t have access to a shower for about a week, we didn’t want our lovely odors to disturb the other visitors. However, towards the end we went to the King Tut & Dinosaur Café (yes, this is a real place and it was pretty good too!) in Vernal, Utah. The poor waitress stood quite far away from our table, we felt bad for her poor nose. We ended every day with a dip in the Green River, which runs right beside the campground. It was the perfect temperature and the perfect place to watch the sun set. Then we would then walk back to camp, hang our clothes to dry, and start up a campfire to cook dinner on. If you’re looking for a fun summer camping spot to explore, I would highly recommend Dinosaur National Monument. With paleontology, archaeology, natural science and history museums, hiking, biking, rafting, fishing, swimming, horseback riding, stargazing, and more, this is the perfect place to go. Since it isn’t one of the huge national parks it isn’t as crowded with tourists. There were times when we were out hiking that we didn’t see or hear any sounds of humanity or civilization for the entire hike, save for a plane that may fly overhead. I’ve been dying to go back ever since I left. Here is a link to their site so you can plan your visit! https://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm Much Love, Jess For October 31st’s Halloween celebration this year I decided to stay in Estes Park, Colorado. My first choice was Salem, MA buuut I decided to book the trip too last minute and there weren’t any hotels or AirBnB’s available in the area. Sad and disappointed I was forced to nix that plan and come up with something different. It dawned on me that I live less than an hour from the infamous Stanley Hotel, yes the one that inspired Stephen King to write the Shining, and I had never been inside before. I booked a room for Halloween Night and all my sorrows were gone! The Stanley is on the expensive side, I paid about $250 a night, but it is a historic hotel with a lot of history and conveniently placed close to town and all the major attractions of Estes Park, Colorado. Not far from Rocky Mountain National Park, a mere 5 minute drive to downtown, and the hotel itself having several attractions, I would certainly recommend it. The Stanley has a historic tour and a ghost tour, a restaurant, a café, a bar, in-house performances, two mazes on the front lawn, and more. The Stanley Hotel’s main building opened in 1909 but is in great condition, mixing its history with the modern necessities of your everyday hotel needs. I stayed in a single Queen room. It had a large closet, a dresser, a bathroom with all the amenities (the shower was certainly made for shorter people however), free cable and Wi-Fi, a Keurig and complementary coffee. I found the room to be very nice and spacious and exactly what I needed. I was only one person, more than 1 or even 2 would feel a bit crowded. For instance, you wouldn’t have space for a roll-away bed in that size room. I found the room and the hotel to be absolutely beautiful, charming, historic and would gladly stay there again! I took The Stanley’s Ghost Tour and found it to be a wonderful mixture of history and spooks. The ghosts at The Stanley are friendly and not malicious or creepy, just quirky, playful, and unique. We were shown the infamous room 217 that Stephen King stayed in, as well as given a tour of one of the larger rooms in The Stanley. This tour would be fine for kids or adults, there are only so many spaces available each night so be sure to book your tickets in advance. What else is there to do in Estes Park for Halloween? Well, all the downtown shops stay open until 5pm so you can browse and shop the day away! There are also lots of candy shops, restaurants, café’s and more. In the Old Church Shops there is a fantastic coffee shop called Raven’s Roast and I simply adore this place! It has a lovely atmosphere and aesthetic that you don’t want to miss! I went there twice while in Estes Park, the second time I sat on the couch and read while drinking my latte and was happy as could be. At 5pm on Halloween night all the shops on main street close down and Halloween begins! All the shops put out bowls of candy and decorations as people and animals come dressed for trick-or-treating. People of all ages are encouraged to participate and to get in on the treats. Several times the shop owners insisted that we take some candy. And at least one candy shop was handing out caramel apples! Afterwards you could grab some dinner, catch a show at the Stanley, or get a drink at a local bar or pub. It’s a great family-friendly place to spend Halloween! Review and Tips for Estes on Halloween?
I hope you get a chance to see Estes Park, Colorado someday! Better yet, try to visit during Halloween to have a fun and memorable experience at this unexpected but noteworthy Halloween destination. Much Love, Jess In this post I’m going to talk about Cuchara, Colorado and The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. I took this trip in May of 2019 with 2 friends, but this trip had just about every set-back that the travel gods could throw at it. However, we preserved, made some major adjustments and detours and made it to Cuchara! We planned to take two cars down (as one member of the group was staying longer than the other two then coming back with their S.O.), stay in the dry camping area off Urraca Road in our tent with our dogs, then spend a few days in the National Park, in the surrounding area, and maybe shoot down to Cuchara for a day. This, however, is not what happened. We made it about an hour south when one of the cars gave out. As it was a holiday weekend, most of the mechanics shops were closed. We managed to limp the car back to a nearby city and (luckily) spend the night with one of the trekkers mom’s. We tossed all but the bare bones of our gear and managed to fit all of our gear, food, 3 people and 2 dogs into 1 car and then proceeded to go to our camping location. Upon arrival the wind was a constant 7ish MPH with 10-15 MPH gusts. No matter how hard we tried, we could not manage to set up our tent as it was a large multi-person tent that simply acted as a sail in the wind. After 2+ hours of trying we admitted defeat, the wind claiming its victory as it continued to batter us in mockery. The member that was staying in Cuchara was able to contact their AirBnB host, who was luckily available, and let us extend our stay. So, we packed the CR-V once again and drove another couple of hours south to Cuchara. We spent one night in the Cuchara Inn and the remaining time in an AirBnB. From there things finally smoothed out. Tips and reviews from this trip?
Thank you for reading and for sticking around through the crazy long hiatus! Hope this review was helpful. Add any tips or experiences you’ve had at Cuchara, Colorado or The Great Sand Dunes National Park below! Much Love, Jess Happy 18th Birthday to my youngest brother! He absolutely loves wolves, but in order to pet, visit or interact with wolves most places require you to be 18, well since the 15th was his 18th birthday you better believe we took him to go see some wolves. Colorado has a few options for visiting wolves, most of them are in the Colorado Springs area, however, we ultimately decided to go with Colorado Wolf Adventures and boy did they deliver! They take you on about a mile long, easy hike through the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The entire time you get to walk, pet, pose, and generally interact with the wolves. In total it was about an hour we got to spend with 2 wolves, Spirit and Ghost. Pure bred wolves (I believe, however, I could be wrong) are not allowed to interact with the public in such an atmosphere, so these wolves were 95% and 99% pure respectively. However, they carried every other wolf trait, general temperament, looks, and instincts. We avoided other people and especially dogs, however other hikers found the wolves fascinating and often didn't stray too far from our group so they too could see the wolves. Included is a photographer who gave us over 300 pictures of our family with the wolves at the end of the trip, no wait time on the pictures. They are high quality and really capture the time we spent with them. They begin by letting you know the wolves temperaments, their personalities, how to walk them and work with them, introduce you to the wolves and then you're off. The volunteers are very knowledgeable about wolves in general as well as the ones you are walking. There wasn't a question I had that they didn't have an answer to. They give you facts about how to take care of them and what their facilities are like. Wolves are a pack animal and need to be housed in a minimum of pairs, if not more. They need to live outside, with a 6 foot tall fence as well as 3 feet of fence below ground, and require 5-7 pounds of fresh meat a day per wolf. They are very intelligent and can escape any other enclosure, they also get bored and will destroy any home they are kept in, they cannot be potty trained or taught any of the usual tricks (sit, stay, shake). They are very smart and know what you want, they simply don't care to do what you say. They are not domesticated, a dog lives to please, they have spent thousands of years around humans and we thus have created a bond. This is not something a wolf possesses. These wolves have been around humans since they were born so they are as safe as you can be, however you do need to keep in mind they are not dogs and they demand a level of respect. If you know this and can keep this in mind while interacting with them, you will have no problems whatsoever. They were perfectly happy to let us pet them, walk them, sit with them, etc., we simply respected their boundaries. Spirit is a total love bug and adores belly rubs and ice apparently, we found ice on the trail and he was extremely happy to eat it. Ghost was the talkative one and would howl for us if we all howled with him. We all had a chance to walk one of the wolves, my parents and one brother walked Spirit, while my other brother and I walked Ghost. They made sure to take group shots as well as individual shots and action shots of us walking them, like I said, we received at least 300 pictures at the end of the hike. This was an absolutely wonderful experience, it's not every day you get to pet a wolf, let alone walk them or get your picture taken with them. The wolves are happy to go for a walk, just like any canine, and you can really feel the love and knowledge for the wolves by the staff. We had a fantastic time and would certainly recommend this adventure to anyone who has an interest or love for wolves! It helps support this rescue as well as further education about wolves and their importance to the ecosystem, and their need for proper care when kept in captivity. Make sure you check out Colorado Wolf Adventures, tell your friends, and next time you plan to go to the Garden of the Gods, make a reservation to walk with the wolves, you won't regret it! www.coloradowolfadventures.com Much Love, Jess (PS: The photos in this post are mine) |
AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
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