Comment on 2 weeks, 11 national parks, 3,350 miles: Savor the Southwest on the Grand Circle road trip

The time has arrived to build your summer schedule around the jazz festivals returning to the mountains. How fortunate are we to have so much natural beauty intersecting with so many people obsessed with bringing you excellent music at altitude? Boney James will perform at this summer’s Winter Park Jazz Festival.

“Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” It’s a basic concept (and one that probably shouldn’t need a bathroom-sign reminder). But at Kawa Ni, a flashy, cozy Japanese-style izakaya that opened last November, washing your hands is just the beginning. Kawa Ni is among the first – and only – restaurants in Denver with a pair of bidet toilets, one in the women’s restroom and one in the men’s.

Adventurous travelers seeking beauty and budget thrills should look no further than Guatemala: a friendly country that remains largely unexplored by many Americans, but can be reached in as little as six hours from Denver. A question I fielded several times before my late February trip: Why Guatemala? My partner and I have made a habit of planning at least one international trip each year.

As most Coloradans know, the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” were inspired by a trek to the summit of Pikes Peak via prairie wagon in 1893. But when Katharine Lee Bates penned a poem called “Pikes Peak,” which became an American anthem after it was set to music in 1910, she could scarcely have imagined the great mountain becoming a trash heap. Outdoor recreation advocates fear that’s precisely what is happening to the majestic 14,107-foot peak that soars above Colorado Springs, along with the surrounding Pike National Forest. “We’re trashing America’s Mountain,” says Susan Davies, executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition of the Pikes Peak region. The Broadmoor Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

We had expected that seeing a total solar eclipse in the path of totality would be the highlight of our trip. In hindsight, it was also the perfect excuse to be together, three generations on a simple road trip through five states. On April 6, three of us set out from Lakewood — me, my 23-year-old son Ryan and 85-year-old mother, Mary — toward Oklahoma, near the Texas and Arkansas borders.

Eight Colorado hotels won the new Michelin Keys on Wednesday, according to the Michelin Key hotel guide. Each of these Colorado hotels received one Michelin Key. Three of the winning hotels are in Denver — the Clayton Hotel and Members Club, Four Seasons Denver and the Crawford Hotel. Three hotels in Aspen — Hotel Jerome, part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, the Little Nell and Mollie Aspen — and two in Vail — Four Seasons Vail and Sonnenalp Hotel — were also awarded the distinction. “Michelin is a prestigious organization and being one of only eight hotels in Colorado to receive a Key is a great honor,” Thierry Kennel, Four Seasons Hotel Denver regional vice president and general manager, said. According to Michelin, hotels with One Michelin Key offer a very special stay.