I have always said that I could live in Colorado.  Ironically, I had never been to Colorado. So when it came time to planning our 10 year anniversary trip, we opted for the Colorado mountains instead of our typical tropical destination.

We wanted hiking, good food, beautiful scenery, and just a tad of relaxation.

Hiking – The hiking and the beautiful scenery were pretty much one in the same, granted we did see some amazing views when we weren’t hiking.  We took a total of five hikes, all quite different in nature.

Hike 1 – Maroon Bells (11 miles outside Aspen)
Once we decided we were going to Colorado, Maroon Bells became a must visit.  We opted to visit Colorado on one of the busiest fall weekends of the year.  While the bus lines to get to Maroon Bells were longer than normal, the lines moved pretty quickly and we started our hike through the bells at about 9:30 a.m.  It was simply amazing.   We experienced amazing views and had a great time hiking for three hours.

Hike 2 – Hunter Creek Trail (Aspen)
Our original plan was to hike Hanging Lake trail in Glenwood Canyon; however, it was closed for construction so the concierge recommended a trail in Aspen.  We started our hike around 8:30 and Justin and I first thought it would be a relatively easy hike based on how it started out.  The hike kept getting better and better.  There were not many people on the trail on our hike up and a few times we questioned if we were going the right direction.  When we arrived at the observation deck, I was in disbelief.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but certainly not to see the entire city of Aspen.

Hike 3 – Grizzly Creek Trail (Glenwood Canyon)
This was another hike that we did as an alternative after not being able to get into the parking lot (it was full) of Hanging Lake.  We hiked along a creek for 45 minutes each way.

Hike 4 – Palmer Trail in Garden of Gods Park (Colorado Springs)
We started our hike at about 8:50.  While this was relatively the same time we started or prior hikes, the temperatures in Colorado Springs were much warmer than Aspen.  For two hours, we were hiking among red mountains.  To arrive at this destination (Siamese Twins) was amazing.

Hike 5 – Manitou Springs Incline (Manitou Springs – 8 miles outside Colorado Springs)
As if our morning hike wasn’t enough, Justin and I challenged ourself to hike the Manitou Springs Incline, 2500 stairs to the mountain summit.  We paced ourselves and took breaks frequently, monitoring our heart rates the whole time for some HITT training. We had just reached the lower summit, about 2100 stairs, when the skies looked like they were about to open up.  We made the hard decision to take the trail down from the lower summit instead of reaching the upper summit.  It was a tough decision because while physically it was challenging, we know we absolutely could have finished and would have had it not been about to storm. The 400 additional steps and the trail down were estimated to take an additional hour (two more hours) had we chosen to continue.  And while we had been prepared with our raincoats and emergency gear for every other one of our hikes, Justin chose to take his raincoat our of his camelback earlier that morning. The hike took us a total of two hours.

With each hike, I had fun taking selfies.

With each hike, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. Seriously we hiked on average three hours a day.  The hikes were challenging but we felt good during and after our hikes.  Justin remarked that he is in the best shape of his life and I would probably venture to say the same for myself.

Each hike was uniquely different, yet each beautiful and scenic. We spent more money than we would like to admit on hiking gear prior to the trip (back packs, hiking shoes, hiking shirt, hiking pants, Patagonia jacket, socks, gloves), but we don’t regret a single purchase.  We had the right gear and ALL of it will come in useful for our future hikes, which we plan on doing many.  Perhaps they won’t be at the same elevation, but we are going to take advantage of the hiking closer to home.  Speaking of elevation, we acclimated pretty well after the initial day we arrived. The day we arrived we drove the three hour drive from Denver to Aspen via Independence Pass, a road that is so dangerous it is only open about half the year.  I felt my stomach drop at times during the 20 mile “scary” strip and couldn’t look at the views.  We got out at the Independence Pass overlook sign and about 100 steps out of the car later, the altitude got me and I had to sit before returning to the car.  Fortunately, we hydrated well, took it easy physically the day we arrived; I refrained from alcohol that night at dinner and adjusted to the altitude by the following day.

Food – Food was by far better in Aspen than Colorado Springs.  I read a lot of restaurant reviews on tripadvisor prior to and during our trip so that didn’t really come as a surprise.  Justin and I cleaned up well each evening before dinner; yet for some reason I did not take any pictures in the evenings of us dining. Aspen had a ton of excellent food choices so making the decision about which one to go to was hard!

Wild Fig (Aspen) We had reservations at Element 47; however, after walking into the restaurant which was an enclosed space in an upscale hotel, we decided it wasn’t the right spot for us.  We had passed by Wild Fig a few times and the menu was calling our name. We ate outside and enjoyed a delicious meal.

The White House Tavern (Aspen) This was actually Justin’s selection.  It was the number one rated restaurant on tripadvisor and while it looked good, we only had so many times to eat.  I was going to pass this restaurant up until a coworker of Justin’s recommended it as the best chicken sandwich one of his friends had ever eaten.  When we arrived back in the town of Aspen Friday from our Maroon Bells hike, we put our name on the wait list and ate a late lunch.  This is the chicken sandwich….it didn’t disappoint.  My salad was excellent too, although I would have preferred grilled chicken in it instead of pulled chicken, much of which was dark meat.  An excellent meal though.

Meat and Cheese (Aspen)Meat and Cheese was another restaurant that we had walked by several times.  It was small, quaint, and the menu was right up our alley.  We ate outside and enjoyed a delicious dinner our second night.

The Limelight Hotel (Aspen)

This hotel was nice…great spot in the city, great service, and an excellent breakfast included as part of the rate.  Since breakfast was included and quite delicious, we ate a big yummy healthy breakfast each morning before setting off to hike.  The rate…the rate was insane and Justin and I chose to go all out with the nicest room since it was our anniversary.  We typically don’t and while having the fireplace was nice as well as the separate toilet, the truth is we aren’t in the room that much when we go on vacation and the best room was not worth the additional $600 in total that we could have saved.  This is especially true for a hotel that is in the city…we need to remind ourselves for future that the smaller room in a nice hotel is our preference.  Oh yeah, the bed was very comfortable and Justin and I got about eight hours sleep each night, even waking up around 6:15 a.m.

Clearly this hotel has the word resort in it, but I’m not sure I truly thought about what that entailed.  Our room was enormous with a walk in closet bigger than our closet at home.  Our balcony had a beautiful view of the mountains.  The amenities were great and we took advantage of going to the hotel gym (three short workouts) and sitting by the infinity pool. While our room was great and the price tag far cheaper than the price tag of The Limelight Hotel, the truth still remains that we don’t need the best room.  We are out and about most our time on vacation and really spend so little time in our room.  Oh yeah, the bed at this hotel was also was very comfortable and Justin and I got about eight hours sleep each night, even waking up by 7:00 a.m.  The comfortable king beds at both hotels had Justin and I re-visit the discussion of getting a king bed and new bedding for our bedroom.  The verdict is still out though.

Glad we drove this way, but probably a one time thing in my opinion.  The rest of the drive in from Denver to Aspen was truly just as amazing, and not as frightening!  The time spent in the car from Denver to Aspen and Glenwoood Canyon to Colorado Springs was truly breathtaking,

We stopped in the Aspen Art Museum, a free muesuem Friday night prior to dinner.  It was small so we were able to explore the whole thing in less than 45 minutes.  Justin enjoys art much more than I do; however, I like to go knowing he appreciates it.

It was really a great vacation and I feel so blessed that I can finally say I have been to Colorado.  This vacation was different than our normal tropical vacation and Justin and I loved every minute of hiking and exploring and our beautiful surroundings.  We did miss the girls and talked about them a lot!  A LOT as to the point of whether we wanted to add one more to our family!  This thought has occurred many times before and this trip was our final yes or no.  While it was a difficult decision, we decided our family is great as is and to take advantage of them being older with no more strollers, diapers to change, or babies to carry.  With that, I have already been looking at possible vacation spots for our family.  I want to explore the world…..now just need to come up with a game plan to make that happen!