To celebrate our anniversary, Hannah and I spent two nights at a bed & breakfast in Breckenridge, a cute and peaceful mountain town (in the summer, at least - it's a busy ski destination in the winter). We had a really great time, and the mountains are one of our favorite things about Colorado, so it was a nice reminder of how happy we are to be here!
The B&B, called Abbett Placer Inn, was awesome. Delicious breakfasts, iced tea and cookies every afternoon, comfy amenities, and owners who were helpful and attentive without being intrusive. We were just a 3-minute walk from Main St, which is full of fun shops and great restaurants. We loved all the food we tried, which included a pizza joint, a crepe stand, burgers and garlic parmesan truffle fries at a bar, and massive treats from a cookie shop.
One evening we went to Ready, Paint, Fire, an art studio where you can sip wine (or Coke Zero, if you're like someone I know...) while you paint. It was a fun, lighthearted atmosphere, and the owner was very helpful and enthusiastic. Ultimately we ended up with a new serving plate and spoon holder!
We spent most of the next day on an 8-mile hike to Lower Mohawk Lake. It was difficult to find the trail at times due to lingering snow, and we actually almost turned around literally feet from our destination because we thought we were lost! Thank goodness we didn't, because the final destination was beautiful. The lake water was crystal clear. Despite the trail issues, it definitely goes down as one of my favorite hikes we've done here.
Hannah made a great video of our trip, if you haven't already seen it you can check it out here! (We were Geocaching toward the end of the video, in case you wonder why we're seemingly loitering around the weeds of a parking lot.)
Some of our other summer highlights thus far have also centered around the outdoors. One morning in May, we visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, a beautiful park with lots of neat rock formations. I'd been once before during one of our family reunions at a cabin near Woodland Park, but that was about 13 years ago, so it felt like my first visit!
On the 4th of July we biked all the way to Boulder and back - 40 miles round trip! We have been saying ever since we got here we'd bike to Boulder and back some time, and we finally did it. Our turnaround point was Organic Sandwich Company on Pearl Street, which was delicious!
Just last weekend we did our first ever 14er with a couple from our church group. It was an exhausting but amazing experience! We hiked Huron Peak (14,009 feet at the summit), which was 10 miles round-trip and 4000 feet elevation gain. We took a less-common route up, and at times it felt like we were trailblazing, but it was worth it because of the quietness: we literally encountered nobody else until we merged with the common trail just 500 feet from the peak. Our other Colorado hikes have had great views, but this one took the cake because we had a 360-degree view of the vast, majestic mountains - something you can only get on a mountaintop! We also camped out at the trailhead the night before, where we were transfixed by the myriad stars we could never see from our apartment in the city. Definitely gonna be doing more of this while we're living here! (Hannah made a video of this trip, too - check it out here.)
Guess Emma was ravenous after reaching the summit. Except her parents did all the hiking. Hmm...
In June we flew out to Los Angeles for another quick, weekend Disneyland trip with my family. It was, at is always is, a ton of fun! Amazing food, fun rides, and great traditions that remind us of all the fun trips we've made for the last 12-or-so years. One of this year's highlights was experiencing the all-new Pixar Pier, an area of California Adventure that opened the same day we arrived! I'm already excited for our next visit - whenever that ends up being!
Mac & cheese in a sourdough bread bowl. Yes please!!
Other highlights from the last couple months were a Dbacks-Rockies game with our church group, a visit from our friends Kyle & Stephanie, and a visit from Hannah's parents that included a day in Fort Collins, a hike in Golden, and the Coors Brewery Tour.
Hannah and I proudly sported our Dbacks gear! #represent
Another nice hike with a great view of the Flatirons near Boulder
Always a great time with these two. Wish we could see them more often!
