A Quick Trip To Denver...

Ken and I decided at the last minute to road trip to Colorado over Labor Day Weekend.  The main plan in mind was to hike Pikes Peak - post to follow.  Denver is just under nine hours from our house.  We left Thursday evening and drove to Colby, KS. 

Ken and I had never been to Western Kansas before and enjoyed seeing all of the small towns.  My only regret is that we did not see the largest ball of twine.  We did see windmills and tumbleweeds blowing in the wind.  It does not take much to excite us!

We arrived in Denver Friday around noon.  We went downtown, visited, REI, and went to the 16th Street Mall.  Of course we stopped and had some gelato at Gelato Amore.  I think it may have been the best gelato I have ever had.  We finished the night with dinner at Keg Steakhouse.  I am disappointed that I did not take any photos of downtown or of us on our first day.  I think I was a little tired.

One Saturday, I woke up and ran a quick six miles and we were out the door and headed to Estes Park.  We have always wanted to see Estes Park, but were a little afraid of it being super touristy with it being Labor Day weekend.  We stopped in Lyons, CO on our way for bagels and lattes at a super cute place called the Barking Dog Cafe. 

Our first stop in Estes Park was the Rocky Mountain National Park.  I had one thing in mind, see an Elk.

I just about jumped out of the moving car when I saw this guy!  There were several elk eating, but I focused on this guy because he was the only one with horns.  Yeah, I know, they are really antlers.  I prefer to call them horns.  After we saw the elk, Ken said I was perked up like a kid.  It was worth the $20 admission into the park just to see and hear the elk!

The views are beautiful inside the park.

After driving around the park, we ventured into downtown Estes Park.  A few reminders of why we do not have children were noted.  :)  Needless to say, it was like a zoo.  We walked around, had lunch, and enjoyed our day together.  I did a little shopping when we got back to our apartment and then Ken and I had enjoyed our dinner.  Ken was excited to treat the upcoming hike like a marathon, he had to carb load!  We went to bed at 8:00 so that we could be all chipper for our 2:30 am wake up call for Pikes Peak.  Such party animals I know!