Rocky Mountain High

Hi everyone! We're just finishing up seven weeks here in colorful Colorado - and what a seven weeks it has been!

Our Airbnb for this leg of the trip was in Denver - at a great location just southwest of downtown. After staying in the large house outside of town in Portland, our smaller Denver Airbnb was a reminder of what urban living is like. It was only two streets away from a major thoroughfare lined with businesses, in what was clearly a heavily Asian and Hispanic area. It was an easy 15-20 minute drive on city streets to central Denver points of interest like the Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Zoo, and Meow Wolf's Convergence Station (a kind of immersive art exhibit). It was almost as easy (20-30 minutes) to get out to Red Rocks Amphitheatre and into the mountains beyond. We enjoyed two concerts at the famous Red Rocks - the Colorado Symphony with Danny Elfman, and a Beatles tribute band called 1964 The Tribute. During the week we filled our schedules with bar trivia nights, a dumpling making class, and more other enjoyable activities than I can remember.

Colorado Symphony w/ Danny Elfman @ Red Rocks

1964 The Tribute @ Red Rocks

Meow Wolf's Convergence Station

We also had a few connections in Denver to see! One of my best friends and her husband moved there from Michigan a few years ago, and I also had two former Luke Lamp Co. coworkers turned friends living there with their spouses and families. It was wonderful spending time with all of them over dinner and drinks on various occasions. My sister and her fiancé also visited for a few days, as part of their own cross-country road trip from New York City to Los Angeles and back (I guess the Frey family is on the move this summer!). It was wonderful to see them, and we all were even able to connect with my cousin for dinner one night - he was in town on vacation too.

 Unlikely Denver dinner!

We didn't just stay in Denver though. On the first weekend, we spent a day driving out to Breckenridge and back (our first experience in the Rocky Mountains!) Later in August, we went on a mini trip (1 night) to the Aspen area in order to see more of Colorado's scenery - and specifically visit the famous Maroon Bells. The Maroon Bells were absolutely stunning - the prettiest sight of many we saw in Colorado. On the way there, Corinne and I visited a great disc golf course at Cross Creek Ranch - way up in the mountains on a dirt road. Despite playing in a steady light rain that day, I really enjoyed the remote and rugged setting. We also got to experience driving in Glenwood Canyon (the final section of the originally planned interstate highway system to be completed) and over Independence Pass (at 12,095 feet - well over two miles! - above sea level).

Maroon Bells

Maroon Bells

Cross Creek DGC

Independence Pass

For another 1-night trip in early September, we traveled to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked a fantastic 4 mile trail where we got to see four different alpine lakes - Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, and Bear Lake. We drove the entire Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest paved "through" (not dead-end) road in North America - peaking at 12,183 feet above sea level. In Estes Park, we toured the creepy Stanley Hotel - famous as the inspiration for The Shining, and still a fully functioning hotel as well!

Dream Lake

Bear Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park

Trail Ridge Road

In other news, I'm pretty sure I was born to play disc golf in the mountains. During our time here I was able to play about 20 different courses - with about 2/3 of those in the mountains. Along with Cross Creek mentioned above, the highlight was definitely a pocket of 10 courses located southwest of Denver near US-285. Every single one of those courses in that area was - at minimum - a fun play with some beautiful views. Two of them - BuckSnort and Beaver Ranch - were among the best courses I have ever played. The combination of unique and challenging holes, plus incredible mountain scenery that both these courses offered will be hard to beat anywhere. Not since our Iceland trip last year have I played a more memorable course than BuckSnort.

BuckSnort DGC

BuckSnort DGC

Beaver Ranch DGC

Overall, Denver and Colorado were everything we had hoped they would be and more. As Corinne mentioned in our post about Portland, we loved Portland and the first leg of our trip - but all of those places felt relatively familiar. We were hoping Colorado would feel new and different - and it delivered. Having the amenities of a big city combined with the convenience of getting into the mountains is amazing, and we're hoping that it will feel just as easy to access the mountains from Seattle. Seven weeks was enough to get a good taste of what Colorado has to offer, but we definitely could have stayed longer and soaked it in even more. We missed being near large bodies of water, but other than that Colorado impressed. It is somewhere that we'll return to in the future.

For now, we packed up our things, scooped up our kitties, and departed for Albuquerque. Along the way, we detoured to Alamosa, CO which is the closest major town to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We weren't really sure what to expect from a dune field in the middle of the mountains, but it ended up far exceeding our expectations. We rented a sand sled and got to experience the thrill of sliding down one of the smaller dunes. We also drove the main road through the park and completed a short hike up to a view of the dunes from afar.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

After one more day in Alamosa, it's off to Albuquerque on Tuesday. We're excited for the next leg of our adventure, and its headliner activity - the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!