Well, Justin and I had a WONDERFUL time in Boulder and Estes Park, Colorado. (Pictures to come…I promise) This is a travel log…so, if you don’t want to read the whole thing…ATLEAST read the last entry. It’s the funniest.
Day 1, Winfield Kansas: On our way to Colorado, we did a swing through Winfield, KS for a family reunion with Justins family. It was SO awesome. His family is full of musicians…so, the banjo came out, along with the guitars, violin and piano. HOW AWESOME IS THAT??? I loved it.
Night 1 and Day 2, Boulder: From Kansas…we headed to Colorado. We stayed at the Boulder International Hostel…which, by the way, was an interesting experience on its own. It was an old C.U. dorm. I went to the restroom in the morning and was greeted by an Indian woman brushing her teeth in a most INTERESTING way. Justin said that in the mens restroom, he experienced a very similar strange “teeth brushing / tongue cleansing” ritual as well. Are we Americans not on the “up and up” when it comes to mouth hygene or something?
Anyway…Boulder is a really cool town. Very beautiful and very artsy. There is a blocked off road called “Pearl Street”…its like Boulders Time Square. Lots of really cool restaurants, cool art shops, a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream parlor, street musicians, and cool statues and stuff. A neat place to hang out for sure.
That first night, we drove into Denver to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with Pearl Jam. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eddy Vedder has not changed AT ALL. (and no…I don’t know how to spell his last name)
Night 2 and Day 2, Estes Park: We camped out on the 2nd night. SO FUN!!! I haven’t done that in SO long. It was a blast. We woke up to the sunlight and it was beautiful. The mountains up there are just breath taking (literally…the altitude…yikes). And…did you know that “The Stanley” hotel from “the Shining” is in Estes Park? Creepy! But, that’s also where they filmed parts of Dumb and Dumber…so we just HAD to go by there. It was fun.
During the second day, we went on a beautiful hike up the Bear Lake trail with the Harkey family. Let me tell you…Elise is a SUPER MOM!!!!!!!! I just can’t believe the strength, patience, and wonderful “mom skills” that lady has. Kudos to you Elise. You rock! And, ofcourse…the Harkey girls were just delightful…and Brett was lots of fun and ofcourse, snapping pictures.
Night 3 and Day 3, Estes Park and the drive home: We spent our last night in our tent again. Justin just about strangled me…why?...well, see, I snore like a ’76 Barracuda. That’s why. That poor man. I don’t think he slept a wink on our trip. They don’t exactly have an electrical outlet for my sleep apnea machine in the woods…you know? The worst part about our last night…OH…I’m laughing just thinking about it: Ok, Justin was sound asleep (yep…he finally was getting some sleep) but, I was dying of thirst and I had HORRIBLE heartburn. But…I was WAY too scared to walk out of the tent by myself. So?...I woke him up. I’M TERRIBLE…I KNOW!!!!! So, my wonderful man went with me to the car to get some water. He just stood there holding the flashlight while I got in the car. Then?...I shut the door. WHERE ARE THE KEYS???? I start freaking out, like, MAJORLY freaking out and crying. I was like “Oh, no…OH NO…Justin, what are we going to do?...what are we going to do??? I’m so sorry…OH NO!!!...we’re in the woods…What are we going to do????”. He, (about to scream at me), says “honey…check your pockets”. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were in my pocket the WHOLE TIME. Why did I not check there first before freaking out??? OH….that was funny.
The next morning…we had to let our tent dry because it had rained that night, so we kind of got a late start. But, by 9am, we were on the road. We stopped for lunch in Limon Colorado to have some more family time with a part of Justins family that lives in Colorado Springs. It was a lot of fun, but lasted WAY too long. We’re talking 3 hours. But after that…we were back on the road. We hit Wichita Kansas around 8:30…just in time for the AWESOME 4th of July fireworks show going on around us. It was beautiful, and made for a nice drive.
We finally pulled up to our townhouse in Fayetteville around 3am…and I had to be at work by 7:30. Exhaustion is the understatement of the year. I was POOPED!!!!
For those of you still reading…WOW!!! You rock!
