Vacation Re-cap Part 1 - Colorado

We flew into Denver, Colorado on Saturday August 12. We flew from Boston with a layover in Dallas. The flight up from Dallas was really neat - I was so looking forward to seeing the Rockies again after 15 years that I looked out the window the whole time.

After a night in Denver and a large trip to Target to stock up on things like a cooler, folding chairs, all our liquids (shampoo, suntan lotion) and a few snacks, we headed off in our large Chevy Tahoe (oh I missed that SUV after the trip was over).

 

Our first stop was Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I knew abut it from watching Extreme Weight Loss. My husband knew about it from seeing shows there. I definitely wanted to check it out before leaving town. I do want to go back someday to run the stairs/seats (and maybe catch a show :) )

 

Then we headed to Breckenridge where my uncle (my dad's younger brother) lives. In hindsight it wasn't the smartest idea to head to 11,000 feet so soon after landing. We originally were going to see friends in Vail and it seemed like the easiest way to get to Moab instead of visiting him in Colorado Springs. But despite the headaches, it was beautiful country.

 

After a night we headed down to Gunnison to visit my cousin (my uncle's daughter)

And then the next day drove to Moab, with a spontaneous (the best kind!) side visit to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (our first of 5 on the trip)

It ended up being a longer drive to get to Moab because there was a lot of construction on the windy river, so 6 times we had to stop for one-way traffic. But finally we go to Utah.