Estes Park, Colorado in Fall
Dave and Jen are getting married on Saturday August 20th, 2005 in Estes Park Colorado. The ceremony will take place at 3:00pm at Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Estes Park. The reception after is at Mary's Lake Lodge in Estes Park at 4pm. There will be hors d'oeuvres followed by dinner at the lodge.
If you are coming for only the wedding/reception, you should be able to find a flight that arrives on or before noon on Saturday and make the drive directly to Estes Park in plenty of time for the wedding. You will probably have to stay over Saturday night and fly out Sunday. Ideally you could stay in Estes Park, but you may want to consider Denver, Longmont, or Fort Collins if you have an early flight the next day.
For those attending the rehearsal dinner, we are holding it at the Twin Owls Steakhouse at Black Canyon Inn. The Inn is right next to the church. We haven't set an exact time yet, but it will take place Friday evening.
St Bartholomew's Episcopal Church
880 Macgregor Avenue
Estes Park, CO 80517
(970) 586-4504
Marys Lake Lodge
2625 Marys Lake Road
Estes Park, CO 80517
(970) 586-5958
Twin Owls Steakhouse:
800 MacGregor Avenue
Estes Park CO 80517
970-586-9344
David Gladfelter and Jennifer Rogers
208 Cheops Ct.
Fort Collins, CO 80525
(970) 223-6737
David's Cell: (970) 443-2977
Jen Cell: (970) 215-8333
You can find information on the wedding gift registries here.
Binoculars are fun for the wildlife and scenery. It is very dry at 7500 feet, so be prepared to drink a lot of water. For clothes, while it will likely be in the 90's in Fort Collins, it will be much cooler (60s-70s) in the mountains, so guests will probably want to have a jacket handy in case they get cold.
This is a semi formal afternoon wedding in Colorado, so attire should be church-appropriate but not black-tie formal. Translated, that means coats and ties are encouraged for the guys and ladies will be in nice dresses or skirts/slacks. Remember to bring a jacket or wrap in the likely case of light rain or mountain breezes! We have a professional photographer who will fully document the wedding, but he will permit non-professional snapshots, so you may bring your personal camera for a snapshot or two during the reception if you want (the church permits only non-flash photography during the ceremony.)
Estes Park is a town in the mountains of the northern Front Range in Colorado. It is about an hour north of Denver and about an hour west of Loveland, Colorado. It is accessible directly from I-25, the main north-south route of Colorado's front range, from state highway US-34, which is exit 257B from I-25. If you are coming from Denver or the Denver International Airport that may not be your quickest, best route into Estes Park.
I-25's first major exit to Fort Collins is at Harmony road, exit 265. The Courtyard Marriot and a couple of other hotels are on the left about 3 miles in and just before Lemay Ave. Taking Lemay north a mile will take you to Horsetooth Rd., a left on which will take you to the main Marriot, a mile down on your left just before College Ave/US-287. College is the main north-south road in Fort Collins.
For those with some extra time, here are some websites that describe the areas and the different activities and sites available in this part of Colorado
There are rental cars available at reasonable rates from DIA (about $35/day after taxes), check out budget.com, for example. There is little public transportation on the front range so you will either need to pre-arrange pick-up with family/friends, use the shuttle service, or rent a car.
If you are planning to stay at the Marriot or the Courtyard Marriot in Fort Collins you may save a little money by using Shamrock Airport Expresss They have hourly shuttles to/from several Fort Collins locations (including both of those hotels) and DIA. Their rates are $24.00/person each way ($8.00 children) with drivers accepting tips. There will be the main bus for the freeway portion of the drive as well as a circulating shuttle for the limited number of in-town destinations. Door-to-door is available for an extra fee. Expect about a 1.5- to 2-hour commute each way.
Estes Park is very beautiful and typically has an excellent temperature range in August, being at 7500+ feet above sea-level. If you plan on coming in primarily for the day of the wedding Jen and Dave recommend you stay in Estes Park rather than in Fort Collins. You could easily find something to do (Rocky Mountain National Park, etc) if you wanted to stay for the whole weekend there. You should reserve your room earlier rather than later, as August is prime tourist season in Estes. Sadly, the leaves do not begin to change until late September, but the area is beautiful year-round.
The site of the reception is a quaint, historic lodge with a few rooms available. According to the website, studios can be had for $129/night and suites are $169/night (plus $20/night for a view.) We've seen the Suites and Studios, which are maintained and owned by the lodge, and they're very nice, with the lakeside ones having excellent views. We talked with the staff there and as of May 23rd there are Studios, Suites and Condos (which typically sleep 4 and are furnished by their private owners) available. A limited number of the available rooms are handicap-accessible.
| Marys Lake Lodge |
| 2625 Marys Lake Road Estes Park, CO 80517 (970) 586-5958 Toll Free: 877-442-6279 |
The YMCA? Are you kidding? Well, as it turns out, the nicest Y in the US is in Estes Park and it stacks up well against other lodging available in town. Lodges are available on a nightly basis for $56/night. They have a number of 2-bedroom cabins for $75-150/night, most are a 2-night minimum, according to their reservation website (make sure to use at least a two night stay when entering your information or no rates will come up.) If you've got a big group of 4 or more people or can coordinate to share with someone else, you can get a pretty good deal per person at the YMCA.
The Black Canyon Inn (which has the Twin Owls Steakhouse on its grounds) has ane bedroom condo rental, $165.00/night, 3 night stay required. You can call last-minute and see if there are 2 nights (a back-to-back) available if you're adventurous. Very nice condos with kitchens and living rooms, great for a longer stay. Here are their website and location.
| Black Canyon Inn |
| 800 MacGregor Ave Estes Park, CO 80517 (970) 586-8113 |
A good budget deal is the Fort Collins Motel 6. It's about 15 minutes from Dave and Jen's house with quick access to Old Town Fort Collins and it's right off I-25. As of May 23rd, you can book it at the Motel 6 website for $47.49/night.
| Fort Collins Motel 6 |
| 3900 E MULBERRY ST I-25 EXIT #269-B, WEST 1/4 MILE FORT COLLINS, CO, USA, 80524 970-482-6466 |
Another budget deal is the Fort Collins Day's Inn. It's very close to the Motel 6. As of May 23rd, its rate is $50/night.
| Days Inn Fort Collins |
|
3625 EAST MULBERRY/I-25 FT COLLINS CO 80524 (970) 221-5490 |
There are several Fort Collins Marriot Hotels (this one plus the Courtyard and Residence Inn.) The main Marriot is on Horsetooth road, about a 5 minute drive from Dave and Jen's place. Some attendants have already reserved rooms here and we're looking into a discount reserved block, we'll update this page before June. The rate as of May 23rd is $99/night.
| Fort Collins Marriot |
|
350 East Horsetooth Rd. Fort Collins, CO 80525 970-226-5200 |
If these pages didn't answer your questions or created new ones, please give Dave or Jen a ring or an e-mail..
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