Lyons, CO

We inched closer with a night in Lyons, CO. Since we actually arrived one night early and Estes Park was full, we decided to stay in Lyons so we could also explore Boulder a little, too. Lyons is about halfway between Boulder and Estes Park. Little did we know that this small town has a lot to offer. The town is surrounded by three “open space” ranches offering mountain biking and hiking. Temperatures were too hot during the day for us to take advantage of these trails, though. But we heard they are great. Our campsite in Meadows Park was a block to town, two blocks to Oskar Blues Microbrewery, and was nestled on three sides by the St Vrain River – which is popular for tubing the rapids.
It was a perfect day for tubing – hot and sunny. The drawback was the river temp was a chilly 54 degrees. But we braved it anyway. We had to purchase tubes (no rentals available in town). But because you could start on one side of the park, loop around, take out at the other end of the horseshoe, then just walk across the parking lot and start all over it was easy to do multiple trips. Almost like an amusement ride. Sadly, Andy got dumped out of his tube several times, with the first time on the very first drop. Once your head gets wet in that 54 degree water, it is awfully hard to warm up again. But what a hoot. Rapids, drops, rocks to bump over or bump you out, downed trees to catch you. We did two rides before Andy started to feel the onset of hypothermia. The poor boy has no body fat. Unlike me, who decided to go for a third run. This gave Andy the opportunity to take some pictures.
Downtown Lyons was cute with several little shops and restaurants. Of course we tried the Brewery, and the Classic Pinball Gameroom. All pinball games. One was made in 1961 and another rarity was a game called Joust where two players play each other (only 402 were ever made). Just for the record, I won.