colorado

Our trip to Colorado was too short but most definitely sweet. It's the first time Aziz and I flew together. Despite the fact that we're both a bit fearful of flying, Aziz really kept his cool and kept me calm after three landing attempts that did not go so well on the way into Denver. It was also an opportunity to visit one of his childhood best friends, Lauren, who joined us for part of the adventure.

Our first full day was spent between various cities and doing plenty of different fun activities. We spent the morning visiting the Air and Space museum in Denver. We then decided to drive out to Boulder to explore UCB as well as the lovely downtown area. We ended the day by visiting the Red Rocks Amphitheater - a must on my to do list. We happened to visit the theater while a high school graduation was taking place. Fortunately we were still allowed in and got to see this iconic venue. Although we were both quite tired because our plane had landed near midnight the night before, it was that hike that really did us in. We spent that evening cooking in our little Airbnb and we decided the watch The Shining. We chose this film specifically as our itinerary for the next day was to drive up into the mountains and stay at the Stanley Hotel which famously was Stephen King's source of inspiration.

On our way to Rocky Mountain National Park, we picked up Lauren who guided us up the winding roads which led to the hotel. Since we got there too early to check in, we decided to explore the national park a bit. It was truly crazy because when we started our hike at the foothills of the mountains, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. However, as we drove further up into the mountains, the climate changed drastically and by the time we reached the top, it was actually snowing profusely.

After checking in to the hotel, we took a walk in the little town nearby and found a charming restaurant where we got some dinner. The rest of that evening was a complete blur. As a group, we decided to stay up as late as possible and do a little ghost hunting. The place is famous for paranormal activity and we were convinced we would find something. And oh boy, didn't we.. I won't go into every detail of that evening as this post would be way too long. Maybe someday I will do a little video recap.

Anyway, after finally turning in past 4:00am, we had to be up before 11:00am to check out of our room. Fortunately there was a little cafe in the hotel lobby where we were able to load up on caffeine before making the drive back to Fort Collins to drop Lauren off, then back to Denver where we would spend the night before boarding our flight back home the next morning.

It was a wonderful trip to remember and has only made me that much more excited to take on new trips and adventures in the future.

- D