{"id":107960,"date":"2015-11-27T21:44:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-28T04:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/outdoor-hot-spots-draw-visitors-cyclists-on-black-friday\/"},"modified":"2015-11-27T21:44:51","modified_gmt":"2015-11-28T04:44:51","slug":"outdoor-hot-spots-draw-visitors-cyclists-on-black-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/outdoor-hot-spots-draw-visitors-cyclists-on-black-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor hot spots draw visitors, cyclists on Black Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Spencer
Spencer (standing) and Karina Branson of Fort Collins prepare to take a spin at Phil\u2019s World instead of shopping on Black Friday.<\/span>Tobie Baker\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While many Americans battled crowds at bustling big box stores the day after Thanksgiving, a day that commemorates the start of the nation\u2019s holiday shopping season, others sought a more peaceful existence on Black Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve wanted to see Mesa Verde my entire life,\u201d said Steven Syrek of New York City.<\/p>\n

Traveling across the Four Corners after attending a recent martial arts event in Phoenix, Syrek said he was thrilled that he didn\u2019t have to contend with brash customers and cashier lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m perfectly happy that everybody else is at Walmart,\u201d he said moments before leaving the park\u2019s visitor center for Spruce Tree House.<\/p>\n

According to Mesa Verde Park Ranger Marsha Cota, some 500 visitors stopped at the national park east of Cortez on Wednesday. More than 500 had visited the park before 2 p.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanksgiving is usually a busy weekend for us,\u201d Cota said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in town visiting family, plus there\u2019s only so much turkey that you can eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining some half-dozen vehicles parked at nearby Phil\u2019s World on Black Friday, cyclists Karina and Spencer Branson of Fort Collins said there was no better place to be after visiting relatives in the area for Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so lucky to have this opportunity,\u201d said Karina Branson as she aired up her mountain biking tires. \u201cIt sort of rejuvenates your soul being out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also the warmest place in Colorado, right now,\u201d added Spencer Branson.<\/p>\n

Although breezy, temperatures reached the mid-50s Friday afternoon. High temperatures on Saturday are expected to be in the upper 40s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a crime to be indoors shopping today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Also in town visiting family for the holidays, Gary Altsisi of Flagstaff said after his wife decided to go shopping, he too opted to take a spin at Phil\u2019s World. Even with blood trickling off his eyebrow after crashing his mountain bike, Altsisi said the time spent outdoors was greater than any bargain deal he may have found.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the better end of the deal,\u201d said Altsisi.<\/p>\n

tbaker@the-journal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spencer (standing) and Karina Branson of Fort Collins prepare to take a spin at Phil\u2019s World instead of shopping on Black Friday.Tobie Baker\/The Journal While many Americans battled crowds at bustling big box stores the day after Thanksgiving, a day that commemorates the start of the nation\u2019s holiday shopping season, others sought a more peaceful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,13,173,977,976],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-107960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-mesa-verde-national-park","tag-mountain-biking","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107960"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=107960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}