In my mind, I'm going to Colorado...

I just got home from an amazing girls trip to Denver! This trip came to be by many people working together, and HUGE thanks go to Jackie Barthel, Colin Baxter, my amazing husband, and Jac for being so perfect to travel with. 

 Downtown denver has a river running through it, it has been altered to be "safe" with wading pools, slides for rafts, and mini rapids. It was packed every day as we drove by.

 Our teeny tiny mazda buzzed around >500miles in 3.5 days! We rented a duplex in the burbs we found off of airbnb.com. Good deals there!

 Linger was our favorite restaurant, we visited it twice on our trip. They had strict vegan options, and fish and meat as well. Our server took a little while to take our order, and he apologized in the best way- comp wine!

 Right outside Linger is an ice cream stand that seems more of an experience! The line was 50 people deep from 730-11 on Saturday night. They had tables set up, an old film playing on a screen outside, it felt very european. We were stuffed from our tapas style dinner and dessert, so we didn't get to try it. Gave us some business ideas though!

 Our dessert was passion fruit, green tea and ginger sorbet which was so refreshing and made me miss Hawaii and the fresh passionfruit there.

 EWWWW! I loathe rodents! Jac had no problems sharing her peel with one. EWW!

 We had a hard time deciding which hike to do. CO has endless hikes, trails, parks, etc. We made the drive (~2 hours) to Estes Park and then to Rocky Mountain park. We hiked up Deer Mountain with a 1000 foot gain. It was a 6 mile round trip hike, with breathtaking views along the way and at the top.

 The next day we went for a 6mile walk/run combo through Cherry Creek Reservoir, which was just minutes from our duplex. We ended the workout with a swim in the reservoir and a yummy lunch from whole foods. Guac, hummus, chips and tea. Good meal! Ending a midday warm workout with a swim should be mandatory. It was so refreshing for us both. (The workout was midday because we slept in. We slept in. I slept in!!! UNTIL 830!!! We woke up when we WANTED TO! This felt luxurious! We even went to coffee and DRANK some of it there, sipping and chatting like we did it all the time! [we don't])

 It was like old times, when we were roomies, circa 2003/4/5 when we became sistas! Sharing a room, traveling, doing hair! Ha! We had a blast!!!

 On our way to see James Taylor!! This was the center of the trip and the reason we went to Denver. Everything else was a BONUS! We are kinda excited, but VERY nervous. The night before it rained for about an hour around the same time as the concert.

 Driving to Red Rocks was gorgeous.

 This is a photo of the venue from the side.

 SO EXCITED to see our JT! We have seen him 6/7 times, mostly together. We are groupees, have travelled from concert to concert to see him. I have a shrine in my house with my treasured signatures on a shirt, cd, and ticket, three different times. I had my hopes set for a photo tonight!

 It was sooooo windy up on the mountain. In the distance you can see downtown Denver.

 So just to get to the stage area you need to climb ~10 flights of stairs. Then that leaves you at stage level. If you have seats in the back (or want to check out the view) you gotta climb up at least another 15 flights to get to the lookout.

 Ridiculous views!

 Our view behind us

 Thirteenth row view!

 Lighting up the red rocks!
The show was so good, so good to see him after 4 years. He weathered through the wind, there was no rain. We waited very impatiently at intermission and after the show, but he did not come out and do signatures. He may have been on higher security with the recent events in CO. We got a tip from the backstage guy as to where James would come out after his meet and greet with VIP people. We waited but it was hard to see through the darkened car windows at night. We held our t-shirts and would raise them in the air when a "probable James Car" would drive by. When the gate guard left we figured we should as well. Next time, James!!

 Back at Linger for some more yummies! Watermelon mozzerella salad.

 We even got new 'do's.

 Another glimpse of the city river center. The nearby town Golden had one too.

 Out front of our rental for the weekend.

 Estes Park views.

 Deer Mountain Hike!

 FREEEEE!

 Love!

 We stopped in Boulder after our long hike to have some lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Leaf. It hit the spot and fueled us up for some shopping! Boulder was the place to shop. There was a huge art fair going on with artists from nearby states. There was a great Fair Trade store called Momentum with lots of goodies, of course we both spent our share of extra $ there.

If you want to go somewhere amazing, even for a long weekend (3 full days, 2 nights at a minimum!!, we stayed 4 days 3 nights) check out the Denver area. There are so many little burbs, towns, hikes, etc to explore you will wish you had more time. The flight was 2 hours if you get a direct one, so it is quite quick to get there. I had never seen so many community gardens, and the city planners really include nature and outdoor adventures into the mix. I was surprised and pleased with the diversity and some places had a Berkeley feel to them. I love to travel and go new places and I really feel that that CO is a place where I could live. I don't want to move but it just may be up on the list.