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Monte Vista is for the birds!
The Sandhill Crane Festival is held in Monte Vista in the middle of March. Sandhill Cranes pass through the San Luis Valley each year - they start showing up in late February and hang around until late March or early April. There are wildlife preservation areas dedicated to growing the grain that will support them on the rest of their flight up north to breeding grounds in Idaho.
These critters are about four feet tall and have wings that span 6 feet! The flock in this area can reach as many as 20,000 birds.
The festival organizers provide bus tours (for a donation) and there are craft vendors and artists who display their goods at the festival.
This is an easy day trip from Colorado Springs, but you will have a better view of the birds if you go stay overnight and get up early to observe the birds - bring binoculars and your telephoto lens to get good photos. |
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Pueblo Chii & Frijole Festival |
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 You gotta like it hot!
The Pueblo Chili & Frijole Festival is held the 3d or 4th weekend in September - we check with the Chamber of Commerce each year to determine the exact dates.
It is held in the River Walk area and is quite easy to find. This is one of our best half day getaways! We like to go down early in the day and walk through all the vendors - anything related to a chili can be found here! The Pueblo chili has become one of our favorites - it's a bit like a Big Jim and is the locally grown product that has received gourmet acclaim.
Several of the local farms have their booths set up and you can get chilies one at a time or by the bushel. We like to pick up about a half bushel of the roasted chilies, which we separate into individual freezer bags and store for use throughout the year.
The freshly harvested pinto beans are also terrific - they have better teture and flavor than the ones you typically buy in your grocery. We do the same thing - buy a big bag and then separate them into freezer bags so we can grab a bag off the shelf and dump it into a pot whenever we have a cravin' for beans (of course, we flavor the pot with some of the Pueblo chili).
It's quite challenging to eat your way through the vendors - chocolate covered chilies, chili poppers, calabacitas ... they're all delicious! |
Mike the Headless Chicken Festival |
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 This one's a no-brainer!
The "Mike the Headless Chicken" Festival is held in Fruita (near Grand Junction) each year in the mid-May timeframe.
Back in 1945 a farmer in Fruita picked out a chicken for dinner. He whacked away with the axe and left the chicken flopping around, as they tend to do after their head is removed. When he came back the chicken (without a head) was walking around as if nothing had happened.
It turns out that enough of the brain stem was left that all the chicken's functions were still working! The rooster became famous and toured as a sideshow attraction for 18 months. Unfortunately, Mike's esophagus became congested one night and he choked to death.
The Fruita festival celebrates the little town's most famous citizen - food and craft vendors, a fun run, and chicken dance contest are part of the venue.
Getting to the festival is as memorable as the event. This is close to Colorado National Monument, Gateway, and the Grand Mesa.
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Have a Friend for Lunch Ride |
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Back in the late 1800's a fellow named Alferd Packer miscalculated the difficulty of making it through the Colorado Mountains in the Winter.
Running a bit short of food, Alferd nibbled on six of his traveling companions in the vicinity of Lake City, Colorado. After being convicted of being a cannibal, he was released and spent his latter days hanging around the train station in Denver. The University of Colorado's cafeteria is nicknamed the Packer Grill. Trey Parker, creator of South Fork, has made a musical entitled "Cannibal, The Musical" very loosely documenting Packer's story - it's hillarious!
Again, a great place to ride - through Gunnison (if you time it right they will be having a collector car show in the park) and on to Lake City, where we like to stay at the Moose Lodge where Chef Bruno puts out a fine dining fare every evening (the rack of lamb is great!).
From Lake City the ride is past the Packer massacre site through Slumgullion Pass, on to South Fork (where the Lumberjack Cafe has some of the best pie in Colorado), then back through Poncha Pass, Salida, and home through the twisty Arkansas River Canyon.
This is an easy two day ride and there's lots of scenery - makes a great Color ride in late September or early October. |
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This is a really fun thing we've attended five times. It is held the weekend just after Labor Day in September - good online site at http://www.meekersheepdog.com/.
We're not sheepdog people, but we're doggy people and this is an great place to travel to and a fun event at which to spend a relaxed day just sitting around watching the competion and the half-time entertainment is just that.
Getting there is half the fun - great place to ride - up through Berthoud and Rabbit Ears Passes, through the very touristy Steamboat Springs, to Craig and then down to Meeker. We usually stay in Rifle or Craig overnight and spend Saturday and Sunday watching the semifinals and finals. This is bit of a street fair atmosphere - lots of vendors set up next to the trial area and anything related to a sheep is on sale (sheep-ka-bobs, for example). Plan on staying until the finish Sunday about 4:30 - the dogs seem to get better and better as the day goes on. One of the special things about this International trial (Border Collies are there from the UK, Africa, New Zealand) is the sheep are absolutely wild at the start of the trials - they've been up on the plateau all summer and have just been brought down for the trial and shearing. They don't really want to be herded, and the dogs have their paws full trying to get them to go through the gates, into pens, and being separated from each other based on whistle commands from the handlers. Bring your own folding chairs, sunscreen and rain gear - anything goes at this event!
In the evening there are more events in the town of Meeker and there is a pancake breakfast in the morning.
Coming back is as much fun as getting there. We like to make a bit of a swing back through Rifle and do Independence Pass on the way back.
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