Flight was a breeze and we landed early! But TSA in Mke took my water bottle because there was like an inch of water in it. They also searched my bag and made me go back through the metal detector twice…

Made it to Denver and picked up the rental car- line was long but it went quick! Now on our way to our Airbnb in a Breckinridge, 1.5 hour drive.

Got to our Airbnb, it’s totally cute here. \240left to go walk around Main Street, about a 10 minute walk from our place. We stopped to get tacos, hadnt eaten since breakfast so we were starving and forgot to take a picture. The place looked like a cuter, smaller version of Belair and it was good!

We ended our dinner with tequila… Laughing because of the size difference. Last time Simon ordered liquor on the rocks they also gave him an entire glass of it..

Then we walked around but all of the stores seem to close around 6. There was a cookie shop open so of course I got one… hot chocolate flavored😋

Almost stopped for a drink at a totally cute bar with fireplaces outside on the main road but decided not to because we were tired. Came back to the airbnb and went to check out the hot tub but again we were too tired to hangout there tonight- \240just wanted to get home and figure out what our plan is today. Decided we’re gonna do a few small (1-4mi) hikes around Breck today and get groceries.

Blue Lake

Started the day going to the grocery store to get stuff for lunch and breakfast for the next few days. Came back and ate breakfast, neither of us felt great because of the elevation. Drank nuun tablets and decided to just do a couple of hikes. So we took a scenic 20 min drive to Blue Lake, where we hiked 1 mile down to the lake.

Top of blue lake

Then we decided to hike to the top of blue lake, abour 3.5 miles there and back. 500 feet of elevation gain all at once!

I didn’t take a picture but one half of the lake’s mountains were snowy and the other half were grassy like the ones in the background here. Decided I like the way snowy mountains look more.

Waterfall at the top of Blue Lake

Colorado’s drinking water in this water fall! Hard to get a good pic but it was huge and went all the way down to the lake.

Then drove back to the cabin for lunch, chips/salsa and turkey sandwhiches, and obviously lots of water.

Then walked to the Visitor’s center and walked 20 minutes to Snwoflake Trail head, where we hiked Sawmill Reservoir, which was only 1.5 miles and marked “easy” but the elevation gain snuck up on us again. Anyways, it was pretty and we got to see the Breckinridge ski area and see the slope maps.

Stellar’s Jay

Walked around town after our hike and I got a \240beanie and Simon got a new tshirt. Everything is so expensive here…. the first hat I liked was $50😬.

Walked back to the cabin and took a nap. Tried to figure out a wine tasting or hot spring to go to around 5 but all of the springs are 1.5+ hours away, so we’re gonna do that earlier on a different day. Decided to make dinner at home, on our way back from the grocery store now

Sunset on the way to the grocery store!

The lighting in here sucks

Simon was grilling the burgers and a fox came to our porch to say hello… very close.

Bad pics because it’s dark out already!

On our drive to Aspen

decided to drive to Aspen today (about 1.5 hours) for some hiking and to check out the town. I drove and we took the mountain road (called Independence pass) and I had white knuckles the last 30 miles. Very narrow roads with cliffs! Simon kept offering to drive but I wanted to face my fears!

Twin Lakes

Stopped at twin lakes on our drive up, super pretty and the warmest water we’ve felt so far!

We made it!

The 5th highest mountain in CO is shown here… I think it was around 14500 feet!

Short (3.5 mi) hike in Aspen but with almost a 1,000 foot elevation gain in the first half! I kept having to stop because I was short on breath.. finally used my inhaler and kept going! It was almost 75 degrees in Aspen and the sun was out! Very pretty 360 views from the top. Alltrails app marked this trail as “moderate” but I thought it was difficult… Simon disagrees. Whatever.

Walked to town and found the cheapest stop for lunch around… burritos! Sat by the ski lifts in town to eat and then walked around town some more.Decided we like Breckinridge more, Aspen seems a bit expensive and a little hoity-toity. Decided it was probably time to leave since we had to drive back and didn’t want to take Independence Pass in the dark… so took the longer route on the freeway back. Now almost back to the cabin.

Planning on showering and then going stargazing at a nearby mountain… will keep you updated!

Now on our way to another trail, decided not to stop back at cabin for lunch and just eating trail mix and a Celsius for now. Feeling much better in the elevation!

Now headed to dinner at the Breckinridge Distillery. I guess one of their chefs has a James Beard nomination!

First course

We started with the gem salad with homemade sourdough croutons, garlic parm dressing, and freshly shaved parm! Sooo good- hit the spot.

Everything is shareable, so we split the mac and cheese made out of korean rice cakes instead of “traditional” noodles, gruyere (my fave)!, leek fondue, breadcrumbs, and freshly shaved parm reggiano! Super good and different than your normal mac. For sides I got the mushrooms, sautéed in garlic butter, parsley, and with more parm- you can see the butter at the bottom of the dish… there was probably at least 4 ounces of it. Simon got the duck fat red potatoes with some sauce on top- had no idea what it was but it was good!

Ended dinner with a tasting of bourbon… ew. I was gonna get dessert but was soo full… \240they had homemade chocolate chip cookies with local milk on the side… yum and very tempting.

Now on the way back to the cabin to pack up to leave \240tomorrow and maybe go walk around town afterwards.

The rocks we climbed all the way up

Then went to the grocery store in Steamboat because the next place we’re staying encouraged us to get groceries before getting to Granby. Steamboat grocery store for the win! Wayyy cheaper than the one in Breck.

Got Qdoba for a quick dinner… our options were that or Taco Bell. Now about 10 min away from Sun Outdoor- our next cabin stay!

Planning on doing RMNP on Monday, not sure about tomorrow- we want to watch the Packer game but don’t know where/we’d like to get up early to do some hiking before the game starts. \240

Also planning on doing hot springs while in Granby- there’s a place that has them in a cave!

Dinner last night was steaks, Caesar salad, and instant mashed potatoes! Honestly pretty good!

Early wake up today to go to RMNP. Reservations are no longer necessary as of today… but the main road going throughout is now closed. Boo. All of the hikes we chose were on the opposite side of the park, making them a 1.5-2 hour drive away because of the closure. We found new ones to do closer to us. First, we did Cascade Falls, 6.9 miles and super pretty!

Then we went to eat lunch (sandwiches we packed) by the mountains. Our next hike was to Shipler’s Cabins, 4.8 miles round trip. I didn’t take any pics- it was difficult, hot, and super sunny…. and the cabins were not very cool.

Then we went to Coyote Valley and did a short 2 mile hike to end. It was super pretty with great 360 views of the valley!

Saw some elk on the way out of the park- we were hoping to see a moose but it didn’t happen.

Our steps today…. and almost 15 miles! Looked back in my Health app history \240and these beat my steps in Glacier as well as Olympic!

Stopped in Grand Lake on the way back to find a sweatshirt for myself. All of the shops are closed for the off season though. Totally cute town with much more to do than Granby though!

Now at the cabin and just ate dinner- forgot to take a picture because we were starving! Salmon burgers, salad, and chips and guacamole. Trying to finish the food we have left before we leave for Denver tomorrow!

Deciding on whether or not to do the Hot springs tonight… we’re both exhausted but they sound fun. Will update!

We were gonna go on a hike, but kind of over it- feel like we did so much hiking these past 6 days! Headed to the hotel in Denver, supposed to be 40 min away but with rush hour it took about 1.5 hours!

Got a car wash on the way because of the bugs on our windshield… are you supposed to do that before you return a rental car!? We weren’t sure so did it anyways.

Got to the hotel and Simon organized our stuff for tomorrow while I finished up homework for the week. There are no restaurants around here besides Outback, Applebees, and Texas Roadhouse… hm. But we saw a commercial (because we were watching cable TV last night!) for applebee’s “dollaritas”- $1 margs! We walked over and got an appetizer sampler to split- gross… but we weren’t that hungry so it was fine. Got 3 margs each and an app for $21!!!

Now back at the hotel and just hanging for the night- felt like we should do something because it’s our last night of vacay but there’s nothing around our hotel in walking distance/i’m content just hanging for the last night!

Bye bye colorado!!!!😢