Now as I am starting to write this, I am in Colorado. I am about midway through the trip, and I wanted to share some highlights. So once this is done, I’ll be back home in Jersey and ready to publish.

Meow Wolf

We took a 6:20am EST flight to Denver airport and landed around 9am MT. Once we landed, grabbed our luggage, and did a little quick change. We then left the airport and went to grab our rental car, a Toyota RAV4. Our first stop was to a diner for breakfast. We then headed into the city to go to Meow Wolf, an immersive art exhibit. This place takes you into a different reality and it was super fun to interact with the space. It was a bit tough to see it all because we went on a Friday in the middle of summer. But, I did manage to get some epic pictures and cool merch.

Boulder

Our first air B&B was n Boulder Colorado. The place had all the simple things we needed to live and cook. We explored the area and went to Lucky’s to grab some food. There was a band outside, all of the produce was fresh, and everyone was very friendly.

Our first hike was to the flat irons the next day and I immediately felt the change in altitude. I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d make it even to the start of this hike because breathing was so difficult. After many breaks, a snack, and some Gatorade, my body started to adjust. There were parts of this hike where we had to climb a flat rock. We had to find the hand holds and foot holds. I have never done anything like this in Jersey. The path to the flat irons just kept on going. Just when I thought we made it to the top there was another path to go down. This hike was extremely challenging. It was one of the first times I truly felt accomplished. Once we got to the top we started climbing some rocks and taking in views. This was also the only hike we’d go on with good weather on this trip. On our way down we met a nice man from Texas who also struggled with the altitude.

Our second day in Boulder brought us to Rocky Mountain National park. This trail was more forested and more beginner friendly. There were many families there with their kids to look at the waterfalls. We had our photo shoot when we reached the falls. After that, we decided to continue onto another trail. This trail added on an extra two miles to get to the lake. As we walked, we started hearing thunder. Nothing seemed to reach us yet though so we continued. We made it to the lake with a plan B to get to the rangers station if it started to rain or storm. The lake was so quiet and a wonderful place to reflect. After a while we heard no thunder and started walking back. As we retraced our steps back to the car, we noticed it had rained on the beginning parts of the trail. We were lucky enough to dodge it.

Denver

Day four we packed up everything and killed some time in Denver before heading to Colorado Springs. We headed to the Museum of Illusions which again caused for great photo opportunities. This museum used trick mirrors, strange angles, and other optical illusions to mess with your mind. One illusion I really enjoyed was this “moving bridge.” Basically this exhibit put you in a tube with a bridge inside of it. The bridge didn’t move and the room didn’t move. There was a screen that moved around the bridge making you feel like the bridge or exit was moving. When I let go of the hand rails I found myself crashing into the fence of the bridge. Another fun illusion they had was in the woman’s bathroom, it was simple but creative. There was a sign on the women’s bathroom saying woman, as is common. Once you entered there was a single stall and two sinks. There was then another door that said ‘women.’ When I opened the door it was a private bathroom within the bathroom. It was such a little thing but blew my mind.

After the museum we walked around the 16th street mall and grabbed a bite at a diner/bar. The city was quiet and it was hot so we didn’t stay long.

Colorado Springs

Once we hit Colorado Springs we checked out the air B&B got settled and then planned out our meals. We did our shopping at Sprouts, which is now my new favorite grocery store.

Day five brought us to Mount Cutler and Mount Muscoco trails. The climb up to Mount Cutler was pretty quick and there was a lot of great climbing opportunities. Off the path was another trail to Mount Muscoco. This trail took us a bit of time to get to the top and had high steps and climbing opportunities. Once we got to the top the views were breath taking. The space was so open the mountains formed a valley almost. I saw for miles! After some pictures we heard the crack of thunder and saw rain in a distance. So we realized we had to run back down. And we did just that. Now I am not the best at going down a mountain. I am very selective and slow with taking my step, but we had to run. During the storm we saw and heard some trees falling, felt a strong gust of wind, and got down poured on. I am not a runner but I was consistently able to jog down this mountain on adrenaline. We managed to get to the car, put on some butt warmers, and aimed to stop at the grocery store. After driving for sometime the sky began to clear and we decided to head to another trail.

Nearby was Garden of the Gods, which is a big and free national park. The park area was crowded but once we hit the trail we were more so on our own. What else is cool about this park is that they offer bike, Segway, and horseback tours. Additionally visitors can climb rocks here in designated areas with proper equipment. Next time I go back I will definitely bring my rock climbing shoes. But the rocks here are unique. They are red in color. Additionally, they have some funky formations due to the weathering of the rocks. It’s really cool and this was another place that I got a bunch of merch.

Day 6 weather was still bad. Therefore, we stayed in. We played a bunch of one on one DnD. Then, we got some Korean Hot Pot!

Pikes Peak

We are now on day seven which brought us 14,115ft high. It took a 30 minute drive for us to get to the entrance of the park. Then, we drove for another 30 minutes up the mountain to reach Devil’s Playground trailhead. The beginning of the hike consisted of some steep inclines and mountain goats! Eventually the trail ‘ended’ and the climbing section began. In front of us was a mountain of boulders to climb all the way to the top of the peak. I managed to make it to the top by climbing and using my newly brought oxygen can. Once at the top we went to the bathroom, brought some merch, and took some photos. We also got donuts which are suppose to taste different because of the altitude. It tasted normal to me. In the distance we spotted a storm forming earlier than expected. I am telling you that the weather app lied to us this entire trip. We decided that we have enough time to get to the bottom of the boulders and can hitch hike the way back to the car if needed. We were fooled again. We were maybe a quarter of the way down the climbing section. Suddenly, we heard a huge clap of thunder and saw a streak of lightning in the distance. If that wasn’t enough, it then started hailing down on us which hurt my poor little hands. We were both just trying to survive at this point. I was just sliding down rocks I felt nothing other than the adrenaline to survive. There was hail pounding against my head, back, and hands. We kept low on the trail to avoid getting struck by lightening and dying.

We managed to make it to the bottom. The had storm passed, so we dried off, talked about what we just survived, and continued the hike. As we hiked back we took some more photos and the adrenaline came down. The wear and tear my body went through began to hit. I was so excited when I saw the goats still at the beginning of the trail.

Once at the car we headed back down the mountain. Midway down they have rangers checking the heat of your breaks because the roads are so steep. When we got out of the park, we returned to the air B&B. We took a shower and prepared to go out to dinner. We decided to get Ethiopian food. It did of course down pour again. We shared the veggie platter to eat. After we went back to our place and headed into the hot tub to close the day.

Great Sand Dunes

This was our last full day in Colorado and we spent the morning chilling out, watching tv, and playing DnD. We then made sandwiches and packed snacks for the three hour drive to the sand dunes. The drive brought a lot of rain. We were very unsure how this hike would happen. When we got to the sand dunes, at around 6p.m., the sky opened up! We parked by the trail head, use the restroom , and got bitten up by bugs. We then started the hike and let me tell you it was a short hike but so difficult. Walking up mountains of sand on a steep incline is not easy. I had to take a break almost every minute. But we eventually made it to the top of the Great Sand Dune and the view was stunning! I can easily say it was the most beautiful view I have ever seen.

We were not the only ones there to watch the sunset. We were joined at the top of the tune with two groups of men and a photographer. This photographer was amazing enough to take our picture and share some other photos with us. He is actually an admin on the facebook group Colorful Colorado Collective. The sunset made the dunes look like a painting. Once the sun went down it got cold very fast.

It was dark and cold. We hung around a bit to see the changing colors and outlines of the mountains. At around 9p.m. we headed back to the car. We slid down the sand and stumbled in the dark. We got back to the car and emptied our shoes of sand. We got bit by more bugs who lived in the bushes and not in the dunes, thank goodness. We then strived to stay awake for the three hour drive back.

Jersey Time

Day nine was our day to head back to New Jersey. We got up and did all of our last minute packing. We headed out and stopped at the same dinner for breakfast that we stopped at when we arrived. By the time it we were done it was time to drop off the car and head to the airport. We were early, so after getting through security we walked around and got snacks for the flight. We boarded at 3p.m. MT and landed 9p.m. EST. My mom picked us up and brought us back to my apartment for some homemade lobster rolls and lobster bisque.

It was a beautiful and adventurous trip, but I am glad to be back and united with my kitty cats.