Colorado

Bryan and I took a much needed vacation to Colorado a couple weeks ago. The kids stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Ardy's and did very well (or at least that's what they tell us!) Yes, I did leave my 5 month old baby for 5 days to spend some quality time with my husband! One thing I learned from my parents is you have to make your marriage a priority, even after you have kids. The kids will be outta the house in a mere 18 years, and hopefully Bryan will still be around and we will still know and love each other!

We managed to get Bryan's work to cover most of the expenses of the trip - the time share condo belongs to his company, and he won it in a drawing, the airline tickets were paid for with frequent flier miles from Bryan traveling on business, and we also stayed in a Marriot in downtown Denver with reward points from Bryan's business trips. So, all that was left was renting a car, food, and entertainment.

The getting there and returning was uneventful. I had not flown since the last time Bryan had racked up his miles, and that was before parenthood. I found myself a bit more nervous than usual on plane, realizing there was now a lot more to be lost.

We stayed our first night in Denver and went to Coors Stadium for a Colorado Rockies game. The stadium was so nice! But it was very cold and we were unprepared. We ended up leaving early. I know true fans of the game will suffer through cold and heat in an outdoor stadium, but I think all stadiums should have a retractable roof.

The next day we traveled up to the condo, going through Winter Park. When we have gone in the winter, this town has been packed with skiers, but it was REALLY dead. We had trouble just finding a place that was open for lunch!

On Sunday, we planned to go driving and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, but when we woke up to snow, we decided to just hang out at the condo most of the day. We did go to a hot sulfur springs spa, and that was very relaxing.

Monday we went to RMNP and did some hiking. Much of the park was still closed because of snowy roads, so our exploring was limited. We spent the afternoon shopping in a tourist trap sort of town right outside the park. Again, we were basically the only ones there, but many of the stores were open, and we were told it is a very busy place in the summer. So apparently we traveled during the "offest" season - between winter sports and summer sports! But it was nice to not have to deal with crowds or wait for service at restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, Bryan was excited about trying some interesting new foods. One of the places we had planned to eat at wasn't open, but we did get to try "Rocky Mountain Oysters", I ate elk for the first time, and I think Bryan had wild bore sausage.