Denver Here We Come!

I do not recommend 2020! It’s a dumpster fire. We’ve had to cancel three vacations – Branson, the Pacific Northwest and Key West.

We had always planned to drive to Colorado to see Erin compete in a 1/2 Ironman triathlon. Of course, because of COVID19, that was canceled but the mountains were still calling so we hopped in the car with Erin and Jason in the backseat and headed south on 35. All we really wanted was to enjoy the fresh mountain air and hike. We figured we could safely social distance in the Rocky Mountains.

I’ll start by saying 13+ hours is a loooong time to drive in one day despite naps, podcasts, activity books (yes we are 5 years old!) and the Initials Game. Let me get this out of the way and say I’m not a fan of Nebraska. It’s flat, there’s nothing to see and it’s boring! The most exciting thing in the entire state is the world’s largest time capsule. Look at the pictures – you be the judge. It makes Iowa look like paradise.

We dropped Jason and Erin off with friends. Don’t worry we’ll pick them up again in a few days. Purely by accident we booked a hotel for the night in Old Town. Who knew it was such a cute area of Denver? They blocked off an entire section of town so restaurants could use the street for outdoor dining. They strung up lights all around and made creative signs to remind everyone to wear masks and social distance. They even allowed you to buy adult beverages to-go.

A quick walk to Old Town for coffee in the morning and it was back in the car. The next destination was Aspen where we would be spending the next 4 nights. Since I wasn’t driving I’ll say I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. The views were spectacular! We stopped for lunch in Breckenridge. Again they blocked of Main Street to allow restaurants to expand their outdoor dining.

When we arrived in Aspen about 4 hours later, we explored the town until the rain chased us indoors. Luckily our airbnb is a condo with enough room to spread out and a kitchen for cooking. In Minnesota the 800 sq feet would sell for ~$100,000 in downtown St Paul. In Aspen it is currently on the market for $1.66 million! I am not kidding.

Tomorrow it’s time to start hiking…