So to your surprise, I haven’t finished unpacking. My luggage is still on my floor open with unused items from my quick trip. I guess I am just ready for my next adventure.
So, if you didn’t know my sister and bro in law flew me out to Wyoming to experience Jackson Hole, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone. UHH-AMAZING! I know. But the fun didn’t stop there.. so here’s a plot twist.
Two of my best friends flew out to meet me in Colorado for the weekend! How COOL does that sound?! VERY I would say.
Anyways, even though we had to make the most of the 72 hrs we had in CO, we did everything we wanted to do and more. It was such a fun experience and I can’t wait to do it again! Just remind me to never let them travel by themselves. They almost missed their flight 2 times.
So LET’S GO!
Where we stayed:
So for the first day, we were together, we stayed at Brenda’s friend.
For Monday we stayed at La Quinta, gotta get those travel points.
What we did:
Day 1 Sunday night –
Downtown – Saw the BLUE BEAR know as “I See What You Mean,” peeking through the window. Inspired by a true story.
Larimer Square- I love this street. A famous street that is usually decorated with CO flags, but to my surprise that night they had revamped it to Fall theme. It was perfect.
Dinner
Day 2 Monday-
Early morning wake up call filled with many activities. Miguel had a test to complete so we had to plan very wisely around that.
Garden of the Gods- Astonishing views of rock formations known as “fins”.
Lunch
Boulder – Historic, cute town, and Home of the CO-Boulder Buffalos.
Shopped at Pearl Street
Boulder Falls- Hidden gem
Hiked Rocky National Park
- Bear Lake Trail- Moderate, but at an incline so beware of the elevation gain, overall experience 10/10. The total elevation gain for the hike is 900 ft, with the elevation at Emerald Lake at 10,000 ft above sea level. Elevation gain and altitude gain make it harder to breathe which is why I now understand my struggle.LOL.
- Nymph Lake
- Dream Lake
- Emerald Lake – Dream Come True. I wanted to hike RNP because I wanted to experience the beauty of this lake. On it’s best days it is a beautiful alpine blue color. It is truly magical to be surrounded by such immense and intense beauty. At the very top of the mountain peaks there was some snow but can you just imagine it during winter.
SO, this hike was something else. We were a mess, I was a mess. I digress more later on in another post, but man I am so thankful to have lived this moment. I just couldn’t have made it up there without the encouragement of my friends and the literal push up the mountain from Miguel.
So we made it to the top( bottom of the lake) and it was just beautiful. I don’t even have words. I cried. I soaked the very windy moment in. We had to leave because the sun was setting which meant we only had about 15 mins to make it out of the woods and still have daylight. Well, we made it out of the woods alright but with a flashlight and with lots of prayer and adrenaline. What a night to remember.
Dinner in Estes Park, Colorado at a surprisingly delicious Mexican restaurant. The service and food were delicious. I had a bowl of pozole and a taco.
Then at around 11 pm, we continued our journey to the last leg of our trip with a 3 hr drive up the mountains in Silverthorne, CO. That drive though… it was something else. It was a very long and dark night. We finally made it around 1 am to our hotel and it was lights out!
Day 3 Tuesday-
The early wake-up call went out the window when I realized we were all just exhausted and could use some sleep, however, I did manage to see the sunrise and to go to Starbucks and Walmart before B and Miguel woke up.
We checked out of the hotel and headed to grad breakfast in the most amazing place ever!
For years now I had been dreaming of coming to Vail. I watch the Four Season’s daily Instagram stories and I daydream. Finally, I was able to experience it with my friends.
Breakfast at a cute diner in Vail.
Then we headed to Betty Ford’s Alpine Botanical Garden- the world’s highest botanical garden, at an 8,200 feet altitude in the Rocky Mountains.
They say time flies quickly when you’re having fun, well it certainly does. We wrapped up our short little trip and headed to the airport.
HOME
All in all, Colorado during the fall is absolutely stunning but FRIENDS, if you want to experience a winter wonderland pack your bags and get going!
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