Colorado Trip: Day 4...

On Saturday we loaded up and made our way to Estes Park to meet up with our friend Renee and her family.  We had not seen them in two years or so, so it was so nice to get together.  Renee moved to the area a little over a year ago, so it was nice to hang out with a local.

Our first stop was Rocky Mountain National Park.

Longs Peak from inside RMNP.  I would have loved to have hiked up the thing, but I am not sure anyone else was in agreement.

We had decided to take a short hike to Cub Lake.  I took a lot of pictures and below are some of my favorites.

Ken and our crew stopping to take in the view.

Ken's new thing is to try to take pictures of everyone behind him while he is hiking.  

Unfortunately for him, they usually look like this:

Bless his heart.

As we got closer to the like, we realized that this area was part of a fire the year prior.  It was sad and really cool at the same time to be able to see.

The lake was really pretty with lily pads everywhere.  I searched all over for a frog on one of the lily pads, but never found one.

I did spot these ducks though!

Even with everything that the fire destroyed, these pretty flowers were growing.

There is a 99% chance that I am looking for frogs out on the lake.

Our crew relaxing by the lake

With my favorite guy, who for the record has since shaved off his beard.

The view of the lake going down the other side of the trail

It was unbelievable to see the damage the fire had done.

Our group

There I am standing next to Ken in all my 4'10 glory

You had to know that a picture of Ken and his signature pose would appear at some point, right?

I could not believe all of the charred trees.

Hanging out at the pools at the bottom of the mountain

On our way out of the park, we saw this guy.

After our hiking adventure, we went into downtown Estes and did a little shopping.  My favorite part of the day was when Ken and I were joking with an elderly lady at one of the shops.  She looked at us and told us that she can only imagine the fun the two of us have together.  It was so sweet.  

After shopping and dinner, we went back to Renee's to hang out by the fire.  I ended up making a new friend that probably misses me so much.

Me and Tiny Tim

We had such a wonderful day!

Colorado Trip: Day 3...

We woke up and made our way to Denver for the day.

We went by REI and both agreed that when the REI opens up down the street from us, it is bound to be a disappointment after visiting the one in Denver!

We had a little lunch and made our way around to a few different breweries.

Our first stop was Prost Brewing where Ken was shocked to learn that I knew that Prost means cheers in German.  Come on Ken, it is called internet surfing for vacation planning!

After Prost, we went to Great Divide which was our favorite.

Ken loved the yeti!  We liked a few of there beers here too.

One of my samples

We had a blast hanging out there!

After we left Great Divide, it started raining.  We decided to make our way into a bar to wait for it to clear off before going to the Rockies game.  It turned out to be happy hour which was bad news for us.

Just having a beer

And a little wine

Then the silliness started...

I am a girl scout

Surprise!

We were clearly having fun...

He went that way!

Be serious for a minute

Super serious with a little bit of a smirk

I came back from the bathroom and found this nice little selfie on the camera.

The rain cleared off and we made our way to the stadium.

Outside Coors Field

We bought tickets to hit and pitch with some of the games.  The pitch was coming at us at 65 mph.  I have not hit something that fast since I was 18!

Ken taking a swing

Talk about bringing back memories!

In the pitching part, there was a prize if you could guess the speed of your six pitch.  I am not one to brag, but guess who won a prize???

Oh yeah!

We had such a fun day together!

Colorado Trip: Day 2...

We woke up on Thursday and decided to go play a little disc golf in Boulder.

This is slightly a different view than the course we play in Kansas.

Ken had a few birdies and I had a few pars.

There were prairie dogs all over the park.  I was so excited to see a prairie dog!

After we played disc golf, we went to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Lucile's.

We discovered this place on our last visit to Colorado and it is definitely a must on each trip from now on.

They have the largest and best biscuits ever.  I am ashamed to admit that I could not eat the entire thing.  I did have a yummy omelet that I had to eat too!

After breakfast we made our way to the Indian Peaks Wilderness area for a little hiking.  I took a ton of pictures.  Below are some of my favorites.

Ken hiking along

I think he is actually grateful that for once, I am not making him go to the top of the mountain in front of us.

We made it to the lake and were a little disappointed.  The rangers had been draining it or something, because there was hardly in water in it and there were tarps set up along a section.

It was a gorgeous afternoon for a hike!

We hiked to Lake Isabelle

Apparently mountains are common on the trail head.  I was secretly hoping to see one, but was sort of afraid that Ken would decide to leave me for the mountain lion.  

After our hike, we relaxed for a while and then decided to go to one of the many breweries for a little tasting.

We went to Wild Woods Brewery.  All of their beers have a flavor of camping.  My favorite was the Smores Stout.

We ended the night with sushi, ice cream, and walking around downtown Boulder.

Me, trying hard not to smile.  Ken says I always have the same cheesy smile in all my pictures, so I flashed him my serious look.  Ha!

Colorado Trip: Day 1...

Ken and I just returned from a quick trip to Colorado.  We relaxed, hiked, shopped, and spent a little time with friends.  It was a great trip.

We decided to stay in Boulder this year for a change of scenery.  Boulder is well, a different city.  We really did enjoy it!

Ken cruising down 70.

My favorite part about the drive is getting to see the giant windmills.

These things are huge.

We stopped for gas in a small town in Western Kansas and saw this shady little motel.  

When we arrived in Boulder, we walked around for a while, had a few drinks and called it an early night.

Pearl Street in downtown Boulder