What a whirlwind life has been but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just four days after moving into our new home, Chris and I headed out to Colorado to visit some friends and see another part of the country. Most of my travels have been very close to the coast. Except for the 7 day and 3000-mile road trip we took from Florida to Washington, this was the furthest inland I'd ever been. Boy, could I tell. 

What do you mean there’s no massive body of salt water nearby?

Even my three months in Indiana didn’t feel as claustrophobic as Colorado.

My first impressions, minus the surprisingly smooth landing in a notoriously turbulent airport, were downright horrible. Sit for a moment and picture Colorado in your mind. For people who've already been, you don't count. You fly into the Denver airport and...

Wait a minute??? Did they take a wrong turn and land us in Kansas???? I thought they said Colorado had mountains? Unless you drive to the Rocky Mountains, the rest of the place is a flat prairie. I'm talking zero trees and a whole lot of grass. I was shocked. Colorado is off my places to possibly live bucket list now. By the end, I did start to see the beauty of the place but maybe that was due to the large amounts of sun I was getting. 

Colorado can be beautiful, it’s just not for me.

One thing to note, something I'm sure isn't news to most, is that Colorado is dry. Aka... its hell for me. I was sick for the majority of the trip and lived in front of my friends' humidifier. My lungs just opened in that moist air. If you're from a humid state then be prepared. Most of the time it was 10% humidity and I'm still dealing with the affects. Some stores carry little tabletop humidifiers and I suggest, before you even feel the pain, that you buy one and just leave it. 

And in case you all ask, the elevation was well... So I thought I was going to walk out of the airport and pass out. I planned for it, bracing as the doors opened. In truth, I felt fine the first day. I couldn't even tell. For most of the trip, it was that way. Only when we hiked did my heart race and I became short of breath. I think my body took it harder coming back down to sea level.

As a trip, I highly recommend the visit. Maybe plan things directly in the mountains if that is what you're looking for. But there is just so much to do there as you'll see from the extensive list below of top places we saw. There wasn't even time for us to see the caves that our friends bragged about. I guess we'll just have to plan another trip.

Flat Irons Hike

When we talked with our friends about the visit, there were only two things we demanded to do; rocking climbing and hiking. At first, I was a little disappointed that our friends had picked such a short hike. It was supposed to only take 1 hour up and 1 hour down. I'm used to the 8-mile hikes Chris and I take in Washington. Boy, was I happy at the end that it wasn't any longer. This is when the elevation hit me hard. At the end, I wanted to collapse. 

We hit the trail for peaks 1 and 2. It follows a break between the two peaks to come out on top of one. Which peak we ended up on, I have no idea. The trail has steep parts, but it's the rocky footing - you see what I did there - that gives the most problems. Multiple times we were sliding and slipping. And true to form, we even had to do a little rock climbing. I guess our friends thought they could kill two birds with one stone. Don't worry, the stone is worn down from use and it's only 5 hand holds up. The view is breathtaking once you reach the top. We went during the week so we got the added bonus of a very quiet trip. Pack a snack and sit for a while but beware that it can get windy and cold at the top. We're talking over 7,000 feet up once you're all said and done. 

Rock Climbing

Ha.... and they thought we went rock climbing. Nope. 

We decided to stay a little closer to their apartment and go with the EVO Rock + Fitness Gym instead of the one in Boulder. The place was superb. I wish we could pick it up and place it here in Issaquah. Not only was the bouldering section spacious with lots of options, the gym itself had some awesome equipment. Mixed between a Crossfit gym and rock climbing, there was something there for everyone. Make sure to explore since the day pass lets you access everything. We even found some slacklines to occupy part of our time.

Pearl Street

And because every trip must have some sort of shopping, I need to find a bookstore everywhere, our friends took us to Pearl St. in Boulder. An open-air mall style shopping, the place is filled with small and brand name stores. And you guessed it... I found that bookstore. 

    Boulder Bookstore

Three stories tall, the shop is in an antique building. So many sections to my heart's content, I ended up losing my friends to my endless wandering. A girl has got to see everything. They host a lot of events so you never know what goodies you might find. They even have used/sale books throughout the store and yes, I bought a book. That and stickers and pins. 

    Fior Gelato

Bookstore and ice cream... oh my. One of our friends is vegan and she begged us to try her find of the century. She could never steer us wrong. The owners were trained in Italy to create their gelato and my goodness, the chocolate vegan gelato tasted just like icing. I ended up not going here once, but twice. Yes ma'am, I dragged everyone back.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary

The highlight of the whole trip. There are no words that I could use to fully explain the feelings I had getting to visit this amazing haven for so many mistreated animals. I was balling at one point. Not only can I now say I've walked on the longest boardwalk in the world, I've now heard lions in real life. The sound is nothing like you would expect.

Because animals don't view the sky as territory, the owners built a boardwalk so that visitors would not disturb the animals. I actually felt like I was able to get closer because of that - or maybe it was the fact that I had a telephoto lens with me???? Case in point with how close I got to this man in the picture. If you have the time, go. This place is just amazing. And they run it with no government funding, just donations. I do wonder if they're run by a Clemson grad though. If you want to know why, click the link and you'll see. 

Celestial Tea Tour

I said we did a lot. Who likes to sit at home? And kudos to you for sticking with me this long. If it took you a while to get through, it sure took me a while to write. 

Anyways...

Trying to drink more tea in my life, I couldn't say no to a tea tour. Boulder is where Celestial Tea Company started, and it was very cool to see behind the scenes of their own tea packaging plant. Oh the smells. It was a lot of fun. Not only do you get to wear a hair net, and maybe beard net in Chris's case, on the free tour, but there is a tea tasting at the beginning. Then at the end, you can peruse their factory store, and trust me you'll want to. Their tea is way cheaper, so find a way to take some of that goodness back home with you. 

University of Colorado Boulder

Last but not least, the university visit. Our last day and where do we end up but the campus. I love seeing where other kids go to school. I can now boast almost ten campus visits. And per the usual, we did the stadium visit. UF is still the best. Make sure to check out the restaurants around the campus too. We found an awesome Pho place and even a Mexican-Indian fusion restaurant

Love Kait