Destination: Mountains

This year my mom, sister, and I decided to do a girls-only vacation. I was kind of sad to leave Miles behind, but it was really fun to hang out with just my sister and my mom-- two people I rarely get a chance to see. We spent a couple of days laying around at the pool, shopping, and exploring Denver, However, Colorado is one state we visited a lot growing up. We've done a lot of the usual touristy things in the area, so we added a few day trips to our trip and went to Boulder, Mt. Evans, Estes Park, and Cimarron, NM.

 Pictures: 1. It was weird flying out of Knoxville and not seeing skyscrapers and miles of suburb! 2. Buffalo Burgers in Estes Park 3-5. The Stanley Hotel or better known as the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. 6. A whole store for rocks. 7. A beautiful Catholic church that sits on a huge rock outside of Estes Park. 8-15. Views from Idaho Springs and Mt. Evans (a 14er!). It was beautiful and cold! We even saw a little snow fall. 16. Boulder's farmer's marker. Not as good as Knoxville's 17-18. Celestial Seasonings tour in Boulder. The tour guide took a huge group into a room of tea and asked who doesn't like this smell, I was the only one who said no. Despite trying a half dozen different types of teas, I still do no like it. Nope, not even a little. 19. The new Voodoo Doughnuts in Denver. We chowed down on some of their more infamous types. 20. A cat in a stroller. Makes my cat lady ways not seem so bad, huh? 21. Drinks and burgers at Cherry Cricket before heading to a wine and painting class. 21-25. Philmont Scout Ranch was my family's summer vacation place while I was growing up. My sister worked there for a few years and my dad has been teaching summer courses for years. This was my first trip back in 10 years and I loved seeing it again even for just a few hours.