After leaving St. Vrain we headed south and then west on I-70. We have been avoiding interstates for the most part, but man are we glad we took this one. Twisting and turning through mountains, some tunnels through the mountains and the final hour or two were through Glenwood Canyon. It was just beautiful.
 |
| Glenwood Canyon |
Arrived to our site in Glenwood Springs in the late afternoon and it was fine. It's one of those campgrounds where I would say nothin' amazing, nothing terrible. We felt safe and had awesome shade at our site, so we'll take it.
We found out that some sort of national qualifiers for kayaking were going on while we were there. On Monday I took the girls and our bikes on the path through town, and stopped to watch the competition.
Very cool to see all of their tricks and effort that they make to try to stay in the wave.
Hanging Lake...................a hike not too far out of town. Was a tough climb, but definitely worth it. The place felt magical. The falls were very wispy and the shallow water pools that they formed were just beautiful.
 |
Add caption |
 |
| Our hike back down....much easier :) |
Two rivers run through Glenwood Springs, the Colorado and the Roaring Fork and they join together near the center of town. We decided to go rafting and because of the time of year the Colorado was too high and fast for commercial trips so we took the Roaring Forks. Off we went, wetsuits and all.
At first it was a leisurely pace, admiring the beautiful homes along the shore. The pace started to pick and up and the best part was a stretch called "the cemetery". It was a so much fun and the girls were going wild.
After our rafting trip we were tired and hungry so we hit the local brewery at the recommendation of our rafting guide. Apparently she really does like it because we spotted her a few tables away :)
Another thing she recommended was to make the drive up to Aspen. I had it on my list of "maybes" but when she mentioned the chili cook off going on that Friday night, in a town near Aspen, we decided to head out.
After arriving in Aspen we headed off to the John Denver Sanctuary.
It was beautifully done and after strolling around the gardens for a while we sat down and read about him. There were rocks with quotes and some with lyrics. We played some of his tunes on my phone and sang our hearts out:) The girls had never heard of him, but now they're fans.
There was a lady at the visitors center in Aspen who told us that, if the weather holds out, the best thing for us to do was visit Maroon Bells. She made a claim of something along the lines of it being the most photographed place in the US. Not sure if that is accurate, but I did see a lot of photographers out there and it was amazingly beautiful. The drive through the National Forest to get there was a sight in itself. I didn't get a picture and so many times the pictures don't do it justice, but it was a beautiful drive. I feel like I have said that a lot these past two months.
 |
| Trail around Maroon Bells |
 |
| Maroon Bells |
 |
| Lake at Maroon Bells |
After picking Diego up for his post we headed to Snowmass Village for the chili cook off. A few duds in my book, but there was one or two that were SO good. I have never had a chili made with green chili sauce, but that was one of my favs.
 |
| Add caption |
The sky lift was open so we went for a little joy ride.
Very cute ski town.
Concert after the chili. There was actually a festival going on that weekend and this was the kickoff for the whole thing. They called it Free Friday for the Mammoth Festival and one of our favorite bands, The Tedeschi Truck Band, was the headliner on Sunday evening. We have seen them two or three times these past years, thanks to our friends in Haddonfield who are their promoters. We didn't make it this time, but I'm sure it was an awesome show.
No comments:
Post a Comment