Courtney and I wanted to check out some new Colorado spot that we hadn't explored before for our Honeymoon.  Somehow, we chose Salida, CO and it was a most Excelent choice.

We arrived at our hotel, the Salida Palace Hotel, on sunday.  Our room was a cute suite with an awesome kingsize bed, a small kitchen adn bathroom.  It had no real view to speak of, but had nice light and plenty of room.  The best part of the hotel was the location, Just downtown, Right in front of "S" mountain.

We walked around town, and were plesently suprised with the many fine dining options and art galleries (Although most had weird hours due to the off season).  Our favorite find of our first night was a cute local market, Ploughboy, where we purchased some local goat cheese and a pie that we enjoyed after dinner at Amica's.  Amica's had good, but not standout pizza, and the beer tasted very fresh (very similar to a fresh-off the line IPA from Avery).

Monday Morning we got up early to ride Cottonwood Pass (Elev: 12,126') from Buena Vista.  This was easily the most beautiful road ride I've ever been on, with the aspens in full bloom and my lovely wife by my side.  After a few pictures at the summit, we returned to downtown Buena vista, which took no time at all to explore (Not much there).  We ate lunch at Mother's and Daughter's Bistro, which had fantastic light lunch fair.  I enjoyed a salmon salad, while courtney had a bowl of curry soup.

We headed back to Salida and checked out a few art galleries that were open.  One of our favorites was the Maveric Potter, where we bought some goods for our home. The owner, Mark Rittmann was extremely nice (as were the owners of all the art shops in Salida) and upon hearing that it was our honeymoon, gave us a nice wedding gift! We at dinner at the Laughing Ladies, which had fantastic food which was both flavorful and had a great portion size (good thing our hotel had a refrigerator!).

Tuesday we did a hike to Hartenstein lake near Mt. Yale.  Upon arrival, we busted out our cheese, apples, and crackers and had a gourmet snack (Complemented by beef jerky).  I fished for a bit, and although I didn't catch anything, I did see some stunning brook trout in the lake. Upon our return we snacked on leftovers and went around to a few more art galleries that were closed the previous day.  We made a purchase for our new home from the Art and Salvage gallery, before heading to the Fritz for tapas. The food was again, outstanding and again, we had plenty to add to our leftover collection back at the hotel.

Wednesday we decided to bike Poncho Pass (9,000'), which was a nice quick ride from our hotel.  We got back, packed up, and stopped by a few more art galleries before hitting the road.  We enjoyed a nice picknick lunch eating duck, lamb, and prosciutto leftovers at kenosha pass.

All and all the, honeymoon was very relaxing.  Most importantly, it was great spending time with Courtney, and we had fun doing everything together.