The library in the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs is the stuff of dreams. Chris LeBlanc photo

I’ll take my hotel room with a side of Western art and the coziest library on the planet, thank you very much.

Last week, I flew to Colorado to pick up a new campervan and drive it back to Texas. I didn’t rough it all the way home, though. I stopped for a night at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, a posh, stately old five-star resort where I spent a long time ogling Western art and drooling over the first library with a rolling ladder that I’ve ever actually stepped foot inside.

First, that library. It’s the stuff of dreams, with tiny reading alcoves, a proper reading table, and floor to ceiling books. I climbed the ladder, rolled it around, and checked out the books stacked on the highest shelves. All I needed was a glass of bourbon to sip, but if I’d indulged in that, I might never have left.

Chris LeBlanc relaxes in a corner of the Pourtales Library at the Broadmoor. Pam LeBlanc photo

Named the Pourtales Library, after a Prussian count who came to America and helped bring the Broadmoor Dairy Farm back to life, the library was once a ladies’ sitting room. But real ladies (me!) don’t just sit around, so a longtime Broadmoor guest donated the books and the hotel converted the space into something that grabs hold and won’t let go. Hotel guests are invited to borrow books, bring them back to their rooms, and return them on the honor system. The shelves are filled with classics, best sellers and children’s books, and the little room is always open.

Then there’s the art.

“Indian Telegraph” by John Mix Stanley. Pam LeBlanc photo

Those who know me know of my obsession with the glamourized version of the Old West. When I walked into the lobby of the Broadmoor, not knowing it’s home to a fabulous collection of originals and reproductions from the Anschutz Collection at Denver’s American Museum of Western Art, I nearly tossed my cowgirl hat up in the air. In all, more than 300 paintings are on display at the Broadmoor.

Philip Anschutz, just the third owner of the hotel, which opened in 1918, is a well-known collector of art. Walk through the main lobby and you’ll find a Frederic Remington sculpture of a cowboy on a horse around one corner and an Albert Bierstadt painting around the next. (The collection includes Bierstadt’s “Oregon Trail, one of only two night paintings in the collection.)

“Buffalo Hunt” by Charles Russell. Photo by Pam LeBlanc

“The Last Arrow” by Thomas Moran. Photo by Pam LeBlanc

My favorites? A Charles Russell painting called “Buffalo Hunt,” a William Tylee Ranney painting titled “Trapper’s Last Shot,” a John Mix Stanley painting called “Indian Telegraph,” and a landscape of Zion Valley by Thomas Moran.

If you’re passing anywhere near Colorado Springs, stop and take a look.

We picked up our new campervan from Wayfarer Vans in Colorado Springs and are taking the long way home. Pam LeBlanc photo

Four days ago, Chris and I flew to Colorado to pick up our new campervan, which we’ve named Vincent VanGo.

We’ve been taking the long way home, getting comfortable with our new adventure rig and exploring a bit of Colorado and New Mexico along the way.

We’re in Red River at the moment, holed up in our campervan while clumps of snowflakes the size of Ritz crackers fall from the sky.

I’ve been getting lots of questions from readers. Here are 10 things to know about our new campervan:

It’s cozy in here! Chris LeBlanc photo

1. We bought our Ford Transit for $52,000 from Phil Long Ford in Colorado Springs. Options on the all-wheel drive van include an eco-boost engine, blind spot monitoring, backup camera, all-season tires, dual swiveling seats, and an 8-inch display with Apple CarPlay.
2. We spent another $15,000 customizing it. Wayfarer Vans in Colorado Springs equipped it with cabinets and a side window, a full-size bed and a kitchen space with a sink. We added a vent fan, a small refrigerator, a lithium battery pack, an extra storage box and a heater.
3. We don’t have a built-in bathroom. That’s what the woods are for. We’ve got a Luggable Loo – basically a bucket with a toilet seat attached – for emergencies. No, there’s not a shower or air conditioning either.
4. For the last month, we’ve been shipping accessories like tent-themed sheets, a single-burner stove, pots and cookware, plates, cups, pillows, and smoke and CO2 detectors, to my sister’s house in Denver. After we picked up our van, we drove two hours in a driving snowstorm to get to her house and load up our goodies.
5. We’ve been staying at both RV Parks and campgrounds on our way home. We’re outdoor types, and foresee spending most of our time at state and national parks as well as US Forest Service land, where we’ll “boondock” beneath the trees in the wilderness. RV parks aren’t really our cup of tea, but we stayed at the super swanky Angel Fire RV Resort, where we did laundry and took showers, one night, and appreciated it greatly. It’s nice to toss in a night of relative luxury when you’re “roughing it.”
6. I’m 5’8” and Chris is 5’10”. I fit comfortably in our bed, which runs crosswise to the length of the van. Chris has to position himself just right to make his toes fit. He wishes it was a little wider.
7. One of my favorite things is to open up the van’s rear doors and enjoy the view while lying in bed. Pine trees and mountains are way better than parking lots.
8. Vincent VanGo is tall. It takes a while to get used to it. I’m terrified we’re going to forget and drive into a garage and smash the roof in. So far so good.
9. Chris is a good mobile chef. He’s been cooking eggs and bagels for breakfast and easy-to-prepare meals like sausage and beans for dinner. I sip wine while he works.
10. Campervans are freeing! We don’t have to stick to a pre-planned schedule. We just now made the impromptu decision to head to Palo Duro Canyon tomorrow night.

Chris cooking eggs and bagels for breakfast. Pam LeBlanc photo

I like tilting the bed up so I can work on my computer. Chris LeBlanc photo

The King’s Chef Diner in Colorado Springs makes the best green chile on the planet. But it’s hot! That’s owner Gary Geiser out front. Pam LeBlanc photo

Part of the fun of exploring new places is checking out funky little joints for food – and I’m not talking about gourmet dinners at fancy hotels, although that’s a nice splurge.

Our Austin friend Tony Fryer steered us toward a place called the King’s Chef Diner, an unassuming little purple castle at 110 East Costilla Street in Colorado Springs. The diner opened in 1956, and today its purple turrets lure in hungry visitors who like giant servings of greasy spoon fare.

Gary Geiser, who bought the place in 1997, was manning the counter when we wandered in yesterday. The place is tiny inside, with six or eight bar stools along a curved counter. (Indoor seating is closed during Covid, so we sat outside at a table on the sidewalk.)

Chris LeBlanc orders from the counter at the King’s Chef Diner in Colorado Springs on April 21, 2021. Pam LeBlanc photo

Geiser told us that the Valentine Company, which built modular diners around the country back in the 1950s, built this one. It’s one of eight still in existence today – and the only one Valentine ever custom built to resemble a castle.

It’s been painted purple since Geiser bought it in 1997, but before that it did turns coated in shades of pink and in the 1970s red, white and blue.

We ordered the homemade green chile, for which the place is known. It’s made with chiles grown on a 5-acre plot down the highway near Pueblo.

Let me tell you that this year’s chiles are hot. The chile arrived with a giant flour tortilla, cut in half and rolled. That helped temper the heat that built on my tongue like a slow-burning jar of Sterno, but it was so good I pressed on through the sting.

Geiser, who stood outside and chatted with us for 20 minutes as we ate, gave us a jar of chile as a gift to take home with us. You can also buy the chile at King Sooper grocery store here in Colorado, or online through Amazon.

Geiser says the diner gets lots of regulars, and joked that coming here for food is like riding a moped – you don’t really want anyone to know you’re doing it. People sneak over on the down low, he says.

But it’s great. Stop by. Order the green chile, and wait for the burn.

It’s worth it.