Us with the distinctive Flatirons rock formation that overlooks Boulder
Kristen and Maggie at Rocky Mountain National Park
We stayed with Kristen’s aunt Maggie in Boulder for about 5 days. If you haven’t been to Boulder, go. This place is great – very outdoorsy (you can see famous pro endurance athletes on the street), but with great restaurants and markets and such. I think 70% of the population owns a Subaru with a roof rack (including Maggie). And no joke – we were walking down the street at dusk our first night, and a man sitting outside his house called to us to offer some extra romaine from his garden.
Since Maggie was able to take a few days off, we got to hang out with her every day exploring Boulder and the surrounding area.
Our days were jammed with fun stuff – hiking (Mt. Sanitas, the Flatirons with my second cousin Gary, who, with his girlfriend Judy cooked us breakfast beforehand), riding (with Maggie through Boulder Open Space, one good mountain bike ride at Betasso Preserve, and one not quite as good at Heil Valley Ranch), and sightseeing (Maggie took us up to Rocky Mountain National Park and over to see the National Center for Atmospheric Research).
Also, something very interesting happened. When we were having breakfast with Gary and Judy, somehow Go came up, and it turned out that Gary and Kristen friends in common! He called them immediately, and as it turned out, they were in Denver at the time, so we met up with them for lunch the next day. Small world.
Picture album here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22845041@N08/sets/72157630193228794/
The flatirons are so picturesque. Did you guys make it out to Lyons?
ReplyDeleteSort of. We only did Heil Valley Ranch, which is just south of Lyons. I think the main trail in Lyons is Hall Ranch. The day we were thinking about going, we were a little pressed for time, so we decided to go to Heil in the hopes that it would be similar to Hall, but apparently it's not nearly as good. So, definitely going to hit Hall next time we go through.
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