I’m taking a little vacation in Steamboat Springs, CO away from my home of Bend, OR and it’s a surprising parallel universe, the more I think about it. Maybe there are many western towns like these two…Boise, Reno, Truckee, Taos, Leavenworth, etc. My friends and I have conspired to compiled a list of similar features and dissimilar, as we wander around.

SHARED FEATURES

River running through it with inner tube rentals and trout fishing

Ski resort and nordic center near town

Plenty of drinking establishments

Pot dispensaries

Inflated real estate prices

Cowboy heritage with a big rodeo mid-summer

Waterfall trail tourist attraction (Bend=Tumalo Creek, Steamboat=Fish Creek)

Good bakery (Bend’s Sparrow bakery ocean rolls are the winners)

Downhill, lift assisted biking

Mountain, e, and cruiser bike rentals

Lakes nearby for boating and stand up paddling

Hippie grocery store that has gone more mainstream in recent years

Music festivals, seemingly, every weekend all summer

Drunk tourist making noise when bars close

Pickleball courts and culture with plenty of retired competitors

UNSHARED FEATURES

Food cart pods (Bend)

Ski jumping hill in town (Steamboat)

Costco (Bend)

Better barber shops (Bend) Although we have a 50/50 split on that because my nephew got a good one

100 year old western wear store (Steamboat) Although Portland Outdoor Store is deeper in terms of hats and boots

Alpine slide and long mountain coaster (Steamboat)