Allen's cousin, Kristie, got married last weekend in Colorado. Allen and I joined his parents and brother and flew out there for the wedding. We got there a few days early, so we had time to do some sightseeing and touring around the beautiful state of Colorado. We had such a wonderful time and hope to be able to visit again!
Day 1:
As soon as we left the airport, the first thing I noticed were the beautiful mountains. No words or even pictures can do them justice. They were simply, amazing!
The first thing we did after landing was find a place for lunch (I was starving!) Bryan suggested we go to Avery Brewing Company..so that's exactly what we did.
The food was delicious! I don't like beer, but everyone else sampled a few different beers and said they were great too! Bryan got the first points for a good idea!
After lunch, we headed to the house where we were going to be staying. They were still cleaning it, so we headed back out to kill some time. Bryan wanted to go to Colorado University.. so that's where we went! The first thing we did was head to the football stadium, but it was locked, so we walked around campus a little and then headed to the bookstore, where we had too much fun!
 |
| Go Buffs! |
When we came out of the bookstore we looked over the mountains and saw smoke. Lightning had hit the mountain and started a wild fire. Thankfully, the fire wasn't too close, but we could see smoke over the mountains every day we were there.
After going to the university, we did a quick grocery store run and then headed back to the house where I crashed from exhaustion. Here is the gorgeous view from our back porch:
When I woke up from my nap, I got ready and then we headed to Kristie and Keith's house for dinner with the soon to be newlyweds and their parents. It was the first time Allen and I had seen them since our wedding.. so it was great to catch up!
Day 2:
The next morning we woke up bright and early (which was pretty easy, thanks to the time change!) and headed up the mountain to go whitewater rafting. There were some pretty awesome views on the drive up:
We had a great time rafting. We did pretty well until our last rapid. As we were going into the rapid, our raft went up on a rock and the guide told us all to move to the back of the raft - so we did. Well the raft started tipping and I was hanging on by a thread. I knew there was no way, I was going to stay in so eventually, I just let go. I fell in to the 48 degree water (Burrr!) Next thing I know, Bryan had fallen out too.. and then Jeff. I learned later, that Jeff didn't actually fall out... the guide threw him out! Allen and Amy stayed in and were sitting happy and dry!
After changing clothes and warming up we went to the Buffalo Restaurant and Bar for lunch. Everyone tried (and enjoyed) buffalo burgers.. except me - I stuck with my usual - chicken! :)
At lunch Jeff was telling me about the continental divide and how he thought we were pretty close. I've never been on the other side of the continental divide, so we decided to drive to it. Well it wasn't as close as we thought (Just ask Bryan, Allen, or Amy). But we did get to see some neat things on our drive. We saw a big horn sheep on the side of the road and then stopped at an overlook to get some pictures and Allen found a chipmunk friend.
 |
| The other side of the continental divide :) |
After another afternoon nap, we headed to Nederland (home of the frozen dead guy - google it!) to have dinner at the house Keith's family was renting. The house overlooked a lake and once again, the views were just amazing!
Day 3:
On Thursday, we headed to Denver to watch the Colorado Rockies play the Washington Nationals at Coors Field.
We got there a little early to find Allen some Rockie's apparel and then went to Breckenridge Brewery.
Once we got to the stadium, we headed to our seats. Around the stadium, they have a row of purple seats that are one mile above sea level. So of course we had to get our picture in the "mile high club" :)
We stayed for nine innings, but the game was tied and went into extra innings. We had plans to meet some of the family for dinner, so we left... but were glad to hear the Rockie's won in the 11th!
We had dinner in downtown Boulder with some of the family who were in town and then walked around downtown where we saw a pretty cool show by the " zip code man" (you can google him too!) People would give him their zip codes and he could tell them what town they were from, he even knew zip codes in other countries! He put on a very entertaining show.
Day 4:
Friday was a relaxing day. We didn't have anything planned, so we just stayed around the house. Allen and I hiked up the mountain behind the house and then Jeff, Amy, and Bryan joined us and we walked through the park where we saw bunny rabbits, prairie dogs, hang gliders.. all just a few feet from where we were staying!
That night we went to Kristie and Keith's rehearsal dinner! I didn't take very many pictures, but I did get one of Allen and Bill in their matching red Polo's!
Day 5:
Saturday, morning Amy and I went to a brunch to celebrate Kristie and her big day! That afternoon, we all went to the Mountain Sun brewery for lunch and then headed back to the house to get ready for the wedding.The wedding was on a ranch and was absolutely gorgeous!
We had such a wonderful week in Colorado and we were sad to see it end. It was great to spend some time with family and to be able to explore the beautiful state of Colorado!
