What's There to do in Wray, CO??

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WARNING:  THIS IS AN OVERLY LONG POST DUE TO LOTS OF PICTURES.  But if you like to look at other people's homes... you'll like it!  And for typos and misspellings... please just ignore them.  I must post this today before it ends up being another 6 weeks...

Okay... this post is way OVERDUE!  I start the post out with "Last week..." but actually it has been more like 7 weeks ago!  Egads...

Last week Dan the Man took his Country Chicken Girl on an outing to a ranching seminar in Wray, Colorado.  The seminar was okay, in my opinion, but I lost interest by the afternoon session and had a hard time sitting in the hard folding chair looking interested and being attentive for the next 3 hours.  Dan the Man enjoyed it, although it was more of a teaser for a "school" on ranch management.

Since Wray is 3.5 hours from here we decided to go down the night before and spend the night in Wray.  Wray, population around 2000, only has a couple hotels so Dan the Man went completely out of his norm and made reservations for us to stay at a B&B.  I was completely flabbergasted! 

I've never been to Wray, Colorado as I asked my friends on Facebook if there was anything I should know about Wray before we went. I got lots of useful information:

There is not much there and it is a boring drive? :)
Don't blink!
It's better than Yuma CO.
There is no Wray, CO? I've never heard of it.
Really small town. High school is hard to find. The way out sucks too. Never lost anything in wray that I miss enough to go back for.
There's not much there. If I remember right there is a very cool bed and breakfast.
John used to deliver bread to Wray...and Yuma...and the big city of Otis when we lived in Akron CO. I always thought Wray was a nice little town.

Wow, not much promise there as to a memorable trip...  I was encouraged by the comment about the B&B but when I asked this friend if it was the same B&B that we were staying at, he couldn't remember the name of the B&B he had stayed at.

Oh well, we were on an adventure and I was going to make the best of it no matter what the destination held for us.  I gathered all my necessary traveling gear: bottled water, camera, kindle, laptop, smart phone and all the cords and accessories that all these gadgets require.  Oh my gosh... I can remember when I was a kid and the only thing I ever took on a trip was my pillow or a stuffed animal and a paperback book.  Did I seriously need all this for a 3.5 hour drive?  You bet your bottom dollar!  I LOVE today's technology!!!

I entered our destination into my smart phone and we hit the highway around 3:30 pm after all the chores were done.  Skyler was left to hold down the fort and to do the chores on the following day.

It was a beautiful afternoon with heavy precipitation in the air. Not enough moisture for drizzle or snow, but just enough to add a beautiful haze to the landscape.  When traveling with Dan the Man the only stops you get to take are for bathroom breaks and to get fuel.  No scenic picture taking.  I believe I am getting quite good at hanging my camera out the window and taking pictures.   

 Bluff in the distance with sunflower stocks in the foreground.

 About 10 miles from our house.

 Wind Turbines near Kimball NE

 Wind Turbines near Kimball NE

So that was some of the scenery on the way down to Wray, that is before it got dark.  Once it got dark, I put down my camera and picked up my Kindle.  I LOVE my Kindle.  Best invention ever.  Thank you to my boys who got it for me for my birthday.

My mind soon started thinking about eating.  Because of the "raving" reviews of Wray that I received on Facebook, I was a little concerned what we would eat for dinner.  There is nothing that I hate more than traveling out of town on an adventure and then having to eat at a chain-restaurant or fast-food joint.  Do I hear an "amen" out there??  So I got my smart phone (which I love just as much as my Kindle, if not more) and spoke into it "restaurants in Wray Colorado."  How cool is that?!?  That you can talk into your phone and get information on what you seek?  Oh My Gosh!  What will they think of next?

Anyway, I really wasn't expecting much to come up.  This was a little town in the middle of no where.  I got 7 results.  Hmmm... the first one on the list was the 4th & Main Downtown Grille.  I went to their website via my smart phone and checked it out.  I read the entire menu to Dan the Man as he drove and we decided that it sounded like a good place to eat.  I typed the address into smarty pants (my phone) and it gave us directions on exactly how to get there.  And since we already had read the menu, we had an idea of what we wanted to order.

We ate in this part of the restaurant.

I borrowed this picture from their website.

We drove right to the restaurant and were delighted with what we had found!  Check out their website to see pictures and the menu.  I don't want to go into that much detail with you or this blog will go on forever.  We both decided on the "Build it Pasta" dish.  Both entrees were fabulous, but I liked Dan the Man's a little better than mine.  I think I would have liked mine better with the alfredo sauce.  The garlic cream sauce was just a little too "light" for me.  I like a think heavy sauce most times.

I had pasta with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, capers, shrimp and garlic cream sauce.

Dan the Man had Blacked Steak with roasted pepper cream sauce.

And for dessert...  Turtle Cheesecake.  yummmmmmm!

Now this was heavenly!!!

After dinner, we headed to the B&B.  It was only a block or two from the restaurant.

Wait, halt... before we go any further...  the following pictures are not of the best quality.  I apologize.  The B&B is so much prettier in person.  The colors they chose to paint the individuals rooms are magnificent!  I literally drooled at the opening of each door into each room.

Now, I must tell you that this is not your normal B&B where the host lives at the B&B.  The host does not live at this B&B.  They live off-site and have an Inn Keeper who checks people in and also prepares the meals and cleans the rooms.  The Inn Keeper does not live at the B&B either.  Unfortunately for us, the Inn Keeper had a school function to attend and wasn't at the house to greet us when we checked in.  They left a key in the door to our room so we let ourselves in.  We found out later that Karen, the Inn Keeper, was celebrating her son's achievement at school.  He was receiving his award for getting student of the quarter (or it might have been semester, now I can't remember) but regardless, what a great reward!  I forgave her for not greeting us when we checked in.

Anyway, I am telling you this because the set-up of this B&B is not your normal, or what I would call your normal set-up for a B&B.  This B&B has no living room... So if you are looking for a B&B that resembles a home, this one doesn't quite do it.  It is comprised of several rooms, a dining room and a breakfast nook along with a kitchen.  So there is nowhere to relax in a "living room" sort of room.  But don't let that deter you from staying here.  I just want you to know so you are not disappointed and you know what to expect.

So Dan the Man and I let ourselves into our room, which was on the first floor and were greeted with such a warm inviting space.  Oh my and the colors that were used in the room were some of my favorite colors!  These are the colors I have used in my studio and our guest bedroom.

Awww, they left the light on for us!

Cute little Christmas tree on the night stand.

Comfy bed!

The room is a little small, so it was hard to photograph it all, but on the wall opposite of bed,

there was a nice flatscreen tv mounted on the wall.  Also wi-fi was available, no extra charge.

And between the bedroom and bathroom was a nice walk-through closet.

On to the bathroom...

Adorable clawfoot bath tub!

Nice tile and pedestal sink!

After we got acquainted with our room, we took a look around the first floor.

Breakfast nook.

Dan the Man looking through an antique picture viewer thingy.

Beautiful Christmas tree lighting the dining room.

Dining room table.

After we snooped around the first floor, I talked Dan the Man into going for a walk.

I was so stuffed after dinner and really needed the exercise.

It wasn't necessarily cold outside, but there sure was a lot of moisture in the air.

Nice inviting welcome with the wreath on the door and the light shining in the hallway.

Beautiful nativity scene in the front yard!

We walked around the neighborhood for about 30 minutes.

It was quite and still.  A sleepy little American town.

A couple of beautiful homes that really caught my eye.

I should have taken a picture of them, but that would have made this post even longer!

I will not forget the night because of the weather,

the cold, crisp feeling of the precipitation in the air...

the glow of the street lights...

the magical view into the homes who had their Christmas trees displayed in their front windows...

the ice crystals that were forming on the tree and floating in the air...

taking a walk with my man Dan in the middle of the night in an unknown town...

it was just special.

We worked our way back to the B&B and were welcomed with the warmness of the house when we opened the door.  Our room was toasty warm and we settled into bed.

I can remember waking to the smell of COFFEE!!
WOW, that was super nice!  I never get to wake up to the smell of coffee, especially since I am the first person up no matter where we are.  I could also hear someone in the kitchen busily preparing breakfast.  That is also a sound that I have not heard since I was a kid and living at home.  What a wonderful sound, dishes, pots and pans rattling in the kitchen while someone is preparing breakfast.  I laid there in bed and just thought that this was the BEST part of staying at a B&B.  How awesome is it that someone is preparing ME breakfast while I lie here in bed.  Ahhhhh, I could get use to this.

Dan and I got showered and dressed and headed over to the dining room for breakfast.  Karen, the Inn Keeper was there already waiting on two other guests.  To tell you the truth we didn't even know if any other guest were in the house or not.  Over in the breakfast nook, coffee and juice awaited us.  We helped ourselves and then joined the other two guest at the dining room table.

Karen asked us what we wanted to eat for breakfast.  Our choices were biscuits and gravy or eggs and a blueberry muffin.  I had the biscuits and gravy, Dan had the later.  I was a little disappointed that we were not having a gourmet breakfast with stuffed blueberry french toast, spinach and mushroom quiche or frittata, sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, donuts, muffins, fruit, etc... but really...  I was still so full from dinner, what we were served was just right.  We chit-chatted with the other guest and found out that they were traveling separately, both had jobs that brought them to Wray and the surrounds area on a regular basis and they always stay at the B&B.  They ate and then left and went off to their work.

After they left, we had a little time to talk with Karen.  That's when we found out about her son's achievement at school.  Karen then offered to show us the whole house if we were interested and had time.  Of course I wanted to see all the rooms and we had time, so we got the grand tour!  She even let me take pictures of all the rooms!

Well, let me backup a bit and tell you about their website in case you decide to check it out.  The website shows pictures of "hotel looking" rooms and this totally puzzled me.  When I asked Karen about it, she said she had no idea why those pictures would be there.  She was not the one who set up the website.  I told her I thought it was too bad that those pictures were on there, because they really misrepresented the house.  I also told her, that if I got some good shots, they were more than welcome to use them.  Since that was soooo long ago, Karen probably thinks I didn't ever do a post on the B&B!

Here is their website:
Doc's Bed & Breakfast, Wray, Colorado

So to finally wrap up this post... Here are pictures of the B&B.  I fully recommend it!  And for all of you who had your doubts about Wray, Colorado...  shame, shame on you!  There is at least one beautiful place to stay and one great restaurant!

Cute archway leading into the bedroom area of this room.

We'll call it room #1.

All the rooms had their own little Christmas trees.

Such a nice touch!

Nice little desk area.

What you see as you first enter room #1.

Bedroom area to the right.

Bathroom for #1, hard to get a good picture of it.

Room #2, black & white & red!  With zebra stripes.

I loved this room.  Actually I loved them all!

I liked how each one was so different.  A decor to please any one's palate!

#2 bathroom, again hard to photograph.

Room #3, kind of like the "honeymoon suite."

This room has a private deck off of it with a hot tub outside.
I didn't get a good picture of the deck with hot tub.

Oh la, la bathroom with his and her's fluffy soft bathrobes for the hot tub!

Room #4

Beautiful bed, no?

Room #5

I really liked this room, very bright and sunny!

The kitchen where Karen prepares the breakfast.

It was right next to our room.

If you want to sleep in, I would suggest that you ask for a room that is not next to the kitchen.

We had to get up anyway, so it was not a problem for us.

Dan the Man settling the bill with Karen the Inn Keeper.

Screened in back porch which would be lovely in the summer time!

A game of checkers or chess with a tall glass of iced tea?

Part of the dining room.

Coffee Bar like in the breakfast nook room.

This is where we got our coffee and juice.

Seating in the breakfast nook if you'd rather eat in here.

We didn't want to be anti-social, so we joined the other guest in the dining room.

Still in the breakfast nook...

Dining room table and Christmas tree in dining room.

Cute old typewriter with a little letter from the owners.

Nice touch.

I notice those little things...

Dan the Man... not so much!

View in the morning.

THE END.

PS...  We will definitely be back if we ever find ourselves in your neighborhood again!

I just won't be able to decide which room to stay in because I loved them all!