There are so many things going on in my life right now, but I thought the best way to hop back into blogging is with a Girls' Trip post, since my very first post was also a Girls' Weekend! It was a different group of my sweet friends, but it makes sense to me!
Let me start at the beginning! This whole trip came about when Julie told us (Lindsay and me) about this awesome company called Vacation Races. They set up 5ks and half marathons near national parks! Their motto is "Run Where You Play!" We decided that the Rocky Mountain races would be a perfect way to end the summer/start the new school year and began planning!
When July 28 rolled around, we couldn't wait for our adventure to begin! Below you'll find a little bit of advice and a whole lot of pictures. Enjoy!
When July 28 rolled around, we couldn't wait for our adventure to begin! Below you'll find a little bit of advice and a whole lot of pictures. Enjoy!
Planning
The planning part of this trip was pretty simple! We searched VRBO, AirBNB and other sites and found a reasonably priced condo for a 6 day stay! We booked our flights and rental car through Southwest and our condo almost 7 months in advance, which made it much cheaper than doing so last minute, obvi! We decided to wait until we arrived to plan out our adventures! The 5k and half marathon were set in stone, so we knew we'd want to work our other adventures around the races!
Below is how our week unfolded!
July 28-Arrive, Explore Estes Park, Check In
We flew out of Austin and landed in Denver bright and early on Thursday morning. We couldn't check in to our condo until 3 p.m., we decided to spend the day exploring beautiful Estes Park. If you're from the Central Texas area, Estes Park's downtown area is very similar to Fredericksburg, except the views and scenery compare to nothing I've ever seen in my life. It has lots of little shops with lots of touristy things to buy, which for the three of us, was exactly up our alley.
We spent the day exploring downtown Estes Park and brunched at Claire's. If you know me at all, you know I love a good brunch and this was a good brunch! After brunchin' and moseying around downtown, we checked into Riverwood on Fall River, and it was perfect! We settled into our home away from home for next six days. We had a not so great dinner at the first place we tried, but nonetheless "at least we were together!" :)
July 29-Explore RMNP, sign in for races and 5K
We grabbed breakfast at Cinnamon's Bakery and with a recommendation from the manager at our condo took a drive up Trail Ridge Road, until our 4-cylinder rental car made us too nervous to go up any higher! It was unbelievably beautiful. After meandering around Bear Lake and getting great advice from a couple from Denver, we headed back into town and picked up our bibs for our 5k and Julie's half marathon! Being from Texas and all, I was equally as surprised as you probably are that we were running a 5K in the evening, but when it's in the 80s in July at 6 p.m., of course it makes sense!
Vacation Races is an amazing company! Everything was so organized and went really smoothly! Julie was able to see how the altitude would be for the half in advance; Lindsay was able to run the whole thing, and as for me? Well, I enjoyed the views during my walk/run/walk/run! We all had a great time! We finished the day with dinner at Sweet Basilico and it was delicious!
July 30-Julie's Half Marathon and a Jeep Tour
We woke up bright and early and got Julie off to her half marathon! She did AMAZING and we were so proud! Following the half, we took lots of pictures and went home and napped! That evening, we took it easy and went on a Jeep tour with Green Jeep Tours! This was one of the best experiences of my life. Of course we chose the Photo Safari tour, which took us to all the best picture taking spots! Our tour guide Eric took us up to a little over 12,000 feet. It was almost 4 hours long and completely worth it. We ended the day with dinner at one of my favorite places of the trip to eat, Ed's Cantina!
July 31-Horseback Riding and a rained out hiking attempt that ended up being a wine night
After dinner our first night was a bust, everything we did/ate came with a recommendations from people we met during this adventure. The manager at our condo recommended a horseback riding tour with Cowpoke Corner Corral. So, at 9 a.m., we headed out on our tour with a sweet, 18 year old guide, named Gabby! I had a super stubborn horse named GG, but I loved him through it. ;) It only took me hundreds of kicks and plenty of words of affirmation to keep him moving. After horseback riding, we naturally wanted BBQ, so we stopped for lunch at Smokin' Dave's and it did not disappoint. We decided to spend the afternoon hiking, but the weather did not cooperate, so we drank wine and had a frozen pizza instead.
August 1-Hiking and Bachelorette
We decided to spend the morning hiking to Alberta Falls in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We parked and shuttled up to Bear Lake. We decide once we were to the falls to have lunch there. It was beautiful and the perfect morning hike. After coming back down from Alberta Falls, we decided to take the hike to Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes. This hike was remarkable. So many times, we were blown away by the beauty as we ascended higher and higher up the trail. We had a very special moment on the way back down, finished the hike and made our way back in to town. After hiking almost 7 miles, we decided to stay in, eat lasagna and watch JoJo break Robby's heart.
August 2-Red Rocks and LODO Denver
The same sweet couple that told us which trails to hike, also assured us that a trip to Red Rocks Amphitheater and Denver was totally feasible. So on Tuesday, that's exactly what we did! We ventured over to Red Rocks first and then spent the rest of the day exploring Denver. On the way back in to Estes Park, we stopped by Elkins Whisky to buy some gifts to take home and ended up staying for a few hours. It just opened on July 4 of this year and the guys running it are awesome!
August 3-Spa and Home
We ended our last day with a spa day. We checked out of our condo and headed over to Elements of Touch before leaving town. It was the perfect way to end such an active trip! After our spa treatments, we headed into Denver to come home!
July 28-Arrive, Explore Estes Park, Check In
We flew out of Austin and landed in Denver bright and early on Thursday morning. We couldn't check in to our condo until 3 p.m., we decided to spend the day exploring beautiful Estes Park. If you're from the Central Texas area, Estes Park's downtown area is very similar to Fredericksburg, except the views and scenery compare to nothing I've ever seen in my life. It has lots of little shops with lots of touristy things to buy, which for the three of us, was exactly up our alley.
We spent the day exploring downtown Estes Park and brunched at Claire's. If you know me at all, you know I love a good brunch and this was a good brunch! After brunchin' and moseying around downtown, we checked into Riverwood on Fall River, and it was perfect! We settled into our home away from home for next six days. We had a not so great dinner at the first place we tried, but nonetheless "at least we were together!" :)
July 29-Explore RMNP, sign in for races and 5K
We grabbed breakfast at Cinnamon's Bakery and with a recommendation from the manager at our condo took a drive up Trail Ridge Road, until our 4-cylinder rental car made us too nervous to go up any higher! It was unbelievably beautiful. After meandering around Bear Lake and getting great advice from a couple from Denver, we headed back into town and picked up our bibs for our 5k and Julie's half marathon! Being from Texas and all, I was equally as surprised as you probably are that we were running a 5K in the evening, but when it's in the 80s in July at 6 p.m., of course it makes sense!
Vacation Races is an amazing company! Everything was so organized and went really smoothly! Julie was able to see how the altitude would be for the half in advance; Lindsay was able to run the whole thing, and as for me? Well, I enjoyed the views during my walk/run/walk/run! We all had a great time! We finished the day with dinner at Sweet Basilico and it was delicious!
July 30-Julie's Half Marathon and a Jeep Tour
We woke up bright and early and got Julie off to her half marathon! She did AMAZING and we were so proud! Following the half, we took lots of pictures and went home and napped! That evening, we took it easy and went on a Jeep tour with Green Jeep Tours! This was one of the best experiences of my life. Of course we chose the Photo Safari tour, which took us to all the best picture taking spots! Our tour guide Eric took us up to a little over 12,000 feet. It was almost 4 hours long and completely worth it. We ended the day with dinner at one of my favorite places of the trip to eat, Ed's Cantina!
Alluvial Fan
Chasm Falls
July 31-Horseback Riding and a rained out hiking attempt that ended up being a wine night
After dinner our first night was a bust, everything we did/ate came with a recommendations from people we met during this adventure. The manager at our condo recommended a horseback riding tour with Cowpoke Corner Corral. So, at 9 a.m., we headed out on our tour with a sweet, 18 year old guide, named Gabby! I had a super stubborn horse named GG, but I loved him through it. ;) It only took me hundreds of kicks and plenty of words of affirmation to keep him moving. After horseback riding, we naturally wanted BBQ, so we stopped for lunch at Smokin' Dave's and it did not disappoint. We decided to spend the afternoon hiking, but the weather did not cooperate, so we drank wine and had a frozen pizza instead.
We decided to spend the morning hiking to Alberta Falls in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We parked and shuttled up to Bear Lake. We decide once we were to the falls to have lunch there. It was beautiful and the perfect morning hike. After coming back down from Alberta Falls, we decided to take the hike to Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes. This hike was remarkable. So many times, we were blown away by the beauty as we ascended higher and higher up the trail. We had a very special moment on the way back down, finished the hike and made our way back in to town. After hiking almost 7 miles, we decided to stay in, eat lasagna and watch JoJo break Robby's heart.
Dream Lake
Emerald Lake
The same sweet couple that told us which trails to hike, also assured us that a trip to Red Rocks Amphitheater and Denver was totally feasible. So on Tuesday, that's exactly what we did! We ventured over to Red Rocks first and then spent the rest of the day exploring Denver. On the way back in to Estes Park, we stopped by Elkins Whisky to buy some gifts to take home and ended up staying for a few hours. It just opened on July 4 of this year and the guys running it are awesome!
Station 26 Brewing in Denver
August 3-Spa and Home
We ended our last day with a spa day. We checked out of our condo and headed over to Elements of Touch before leaving town. It was the perfect way to end such an active trip! After our spa treatments, we headed into Denver to come home!
The following quote sums up this trip perfectly:
"But the most beautiful things in life are not things. They're people, places, memories and pictures. They're feelings and moments, and smiles, and laughter."
-APB
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