Colorado

Emmy and I flew out to Denver to check out Carly's new digs. Covid-19 was just starting to be a thing and even though it's been two weeks since returning home it feels like this trip was a lifetime ago. I will remember this trip for being a stark juxtaposition between the anxiety and fear of our country closing down and going into quarantine and the sheer beauty of our surroundings and the rare opportunity to ground myself. Carly and Emmy were amazing travel mates and I would highly recommend going into the woods with these fine people as the correct mental preparation for a global pandemic. 

We social distanced after this photo was taken. We also brought out own airplane bottles of vodka to enjoy. 

Forest Room 5 is probably my favorite bar of all time and we went straight there for arrival cocktails.

You can drink in a teepee

You can drink around a fire. 

You can drink in this cave room with teddy bears.

I love mini golf. I'm terrible at it. Urban Putt is difficult to explain and it's the best mini golf OF ALL TIME. https://www.urbanputt.com/location/denver/ 

Here's the entrance to our little cabin "The Tea House" on Lookout Mountain. It was perfect and adorable. We were able to watch movies, drink vodka sodas and super enjoy the hot tub. We also had a little fox friend and a million turkeys that were not our friends to watch on the property. 

A highlight of the trip for me was visiting Indian Hot Springs. It was everything I wanted from a hot spring. The main pool was indoor surrounded by tropical plants. We also had access to the more private cave pools below, which were incredibly hot and creepy and awesome.  

We had access to some really beautiful hiking near our cabin on Lookout Mountain. The views were outstanding, even if we did sometimes get ever so slightly lost. Listen; why aren't all trails a loop?

There was no shortage of excellent food, drink, coffee and pastries. Shout out to my new favorite restaurant Sassafrass (https://www.sassafrasamericaneatery.com/), the smoked meat at Vintage Moose and EVERYTHING inside the Ivywild School (http://ivywildschool.com/). We did a lot of top notch cooking at our cabin, too. We are basically chefs. The Frothy Cup was an adorable coffee shop and the weather was warm enough to enjoy sitting outside in the sun. 

And now for a million photos from Garden of the Gods, which does not feel like a place on Earth. It is so much fun to climb all over that park. 

These pictures don't properly capture all of our adventures (they never do). I will never forget this trip and I hope the quarantine ends soon so I can plan the next trip with Emmy and Carly. I love you two. Thanks for all heart to hearts and fun.