Colorado!

This weekend, Brad & I went to Colorado.  It was a dual purpose trip: visiting my cousin and close friend Leah, and celebrating our one-year anniversary.  It was a busy and fun trip.

What more do you need for a flight?  Handsome husband, coffee, warm cookies, Twilight series.... :)

 

We flew into Denver Friday afternoon, then to Boulder where Leah lives, and finally Leah, Ben, Brad and I drove another three hours to a cabin in Buena Vista where we were spending the weekend.  The cabin had a beautiful view of the mountains! 

A small pond near our cabin...

The road to our cabin in Buena Vista-  what views! :)

Saturday we went white-water rafting!  It was my first time and I loved it!  I think next time I’d like to go again and might be ready for something even tougher.  Saturday night we relaxed by visiting some Hot Springs in Cottonwood.  It was so nice to relax our tired muscles.

Sunday morning Brad and Ben went mountain biking, which Brad loved.  Then we all went hiking.  It was really tough!  We hiked a little over three miles uphill (about two and a half hours) to a lake (from about 9,500 feet high to 11,500 high).  Brad and I had trouble catching our breath due to the high altitude.  But we made it and the lake was beautiful.  The hike down was much easier and only took about 1.5 hours, but was rainy.

Cousins!!!

Sunday night we drove back to Boulder where Ben & Leah live.  We had some homemade pizzas and relaxed with a movie.  Then Monday Ben had to work, so Leah, Brad and I went shopping on Pearl Street, this cute street with tons of little shops and nice restaurants in Boulder.  We also did a little hike through the flat iron mountains.  Ben met us for lunch, then we went back to their condo and laid out by their pool before our flight.

And Cooper helping us unpack... :)

We had a few issues throughout the trip.  Brad accidentally left his credit card at the Hot Springs so it’s now canceled and he’s getting a new one.  On the way back, our flight was changed from 7:05 pm to 7:50 pm, then finally to 12:37 am.  Yikes!  By the time we got home it was 4:30am and we both had to work the next morning.  We got a quick two hour nap then headed in.  Needless to say, I got a HUGE coffee on the way and a nap after summer school.

And in case you're curious, the traditional first anniversary gift is "paper" which is a tough one.  But we were able to think outside the box and got some neat gifts for each other.  Brad got me some great new books (one's a first edition!) and I got him a new board game.  We tried to keep it simple since the trip was really our gift to ourselves!