Colorado Hiking and Fun Summer 2017, part 1

Danny reminded me I haven't blogged in a while so...here goes our first summer living in CO!

We had an amazing summer with lots of visits from friends and family, hiking and fun with a new K9 family member, and a mountain biking trip. All in all it felt like we got in the "goodness" we were looking for here in CO both with being a vacation destination for people we love, as well as getting to do what we loved! We are very lucky people.

In early June Robin's mom and dad visited. They stayed with us for the weekend and then in Estes Park during the week. Over the weekend, we visited Eldorado Canyon, which has a lovely non-strenuous hike called Fowler Trail which still offers really breathtaking views of the canyons:

During the week, Danny and I worked and mom and Dad enjoyed some time in Estes Park. We headed up to visit on the 13 to celebrate our anniversary and went to 1929 Tavern which was gorgeous and had decent food. Our last night here we visited Colterra near home which had EXCELLENT (if expensive food). 

After mom and dad left our good friends Heather and her husband Brent visited. Heather and Robin have been friends for almost 20 years and were also probably separated at birth in another life, and true to form, Danny and Brent are pretty much brothers from another mother as well, so having them there was like having family here but even better. Just kidding family! We crammed about as much into 5 days as we could.

Hiking near Chataqua

which, given our recent rains, looked more like the english countryside than the Colorado mountains:

Whitewater rafting at clear creek

which helped us learn two things: 1) beginner trips are just fine and incredibly fun for us and we need nothing more challenging than that and 2) never underestimate how cold it can be in the mountains of CO in early summer (we rafted in 47 degree weather). Our Dallasites were thrilled for the cooler temperatures and no one got hypothermia, so all in all the trip was a success and the gear was super cool. 

More Hiking in Eldorado Canyon

We loved Eldorado Canyon so much the first time and Heather and Brent were all in for it, so we decided to undertake something a little more challenging this time, the Eldorado Canyon trail itself. And how. As you can see, the fit among us really were not interested in waiting for anyone.

It was a beautiful hike and definitely clocked in as one of our favorites. The first 1/2 mile was a little crowded but once you got past the people in flip flops (yes) it was awesome.

To prep for our last day's hike we visited the famous Lucille's, a Boulder and Longmont mainstay, and caught a beautiful moment of Heather actually holding up a tree.