Our trip to Colorado | Personal

If you know us at all, then you know Colorado is high up on our favorite places ever. That being said, I had never actually been to Colorado before this trip! Bryce has been dying to take me to Colorado practically since we started dating. 

We had an early morning flight Wednesday and a late flight home Sunday night to make the most of our trip! And oh boy, did we ever. We hit the ground running as soon as we got off the plane. We picked up our rental car (a red Prius-yay for good gas mileage as we were driving everywhere) and headed to Garden of the Gods. The next day was our downtown Denver day. We started the day by watching the USA World Cup game then we visited the REI, went to a brewery and an awesome German restaurant. Friday was the most taxing day of all. We hiked up Bierstadt which has a top elevation of 14,000 feet. To say the air was thin, would be an understatement. We had also only been in Colorado for 2 days so we hadn't really acclimated yet. Our friends were incredibly patient with me. Towards the top, I was taking 5 steps and then stopping. When I got to the ridge (I didn't actually summit) I sat down and cried. Like big hiccuping sobs. It was kinda embarrassing now that I look back. I was so tired plus my head hurt from the altitude. Plus it dawned on me, that we still had the 4 miles down the mountain left to go. All of that hit at once and I sat down and cried, while the boys practically sprinted up the rock scramble to the summit. Also it was really freaking cold up there. It snowed on us while we were up there. Oh and did I mention we got up at 5 to do this hike? I was running on low, if I went any slower I would be going backwards. BUT GUYS I DID IT!!!! We hit a really good pizza place for lunch (anything would have tasted good at that point) and headed home. We drove through Clear Creek Canyon on our way-just gorgeous. We caught up with another friend in Boulder for dinner (did I mention how thankful I am we had a Prius for a rental car-we seriously were EVERYWHERE). The next day we went climbing in Boulder Canyon, still supremely sore from our 8 mile round trip hike the day before. I spent a good deal of the day in our travel hammock (sleeping) from pure exhaustion. This brings us to Sunday, our last day. Our trip went by SO fast! We went to Red Rocks Amphitheater (the amount of stairs almost moved me to tears again), drove up to the top of Look Out Mountain, and then hung around downtown Golden. A quick stop at the new Golden Earth Treks and we were on our way back to the airport. Phew. I'm exhausted just writing about all we did. We had such an amazing time and feel so lucky that we got to see so many friends! Till next time Colorado!