Vail, CO in the Summer

by Cheri
(Loveland, CO)

This summer we decided to try a vacation in a ski resort and we chose Vail, CO. Having access to a time share trade made it all the more enticing. The spacious one-bedroom, two-bath was right on Gore Creek. Even though it was built in the 80's, it has been well maintained and managed. They have updated the carpets, the furniture, the televisions and the mattresses. A hot tub was only a few feet from our unit. In addition, they have free wireless Internet which I definitely used.

They have a contract with a local workout facility that is very posh. So we worked out two days during the week at that facility and in addition we hiked some wonderful trails with beautiful waterfalls or lakes.

Since summer is "off season", we were able to eat at some wonderful restaurants that offered 50% off on all entrees. There was also a Farmer's Market on Sunday, a free town concert featuring The Whalers on Tuesday night, and Thursday morning we had a free tour of the Betty Ford Gardens, which is the world's highest altitude botanical garden.

It was an amazingly wonderful trip. On the morning we left, we stopped at a local Farmer's Market in Minturn just a few miles west of Vail for some fresh produce to take home.

In the past we have always done our hiking on summer vacations out of state, but this summer we decided to stay here and hike in Colorado. We are investigating vacations in a warmer climate during the winter when the weather is frightful.