happy 3rd anniversary cv!

it's been a big year with a baby + a house.  

but the important things haven't changed much.  

memorial day weekend.

charlie and i spent the weekend in glenwood springs.

we left friday night and came back monday.

there's a ton of touristy things to do in glenwood, although the only one we did was the cave tour.

the rest of the time we spend walking and hiking.

our hotel backed to a trail that hiked up a mountain and a path that wandered along the colorado river. it was perfect.

i think both of us were a little disappointed we weren't going back to telluride this year, but the less than three hour trip was so much nicer than a 6+ hour car ride especially since we both worked full days on friday.

charlie had been wanting to go to the adventure park which is where the cave tours are.

so saturday, after a morning walk, we took the gondola up to the park. honestly, it's a great place if you have kids but if you don't, aside from the cave tours, there's not much to do.

first cave tour.

and the second cave tour.

after the caves we left the park and took the dogs for a hike before dinner.

charlie, the dogs, and his favorite mountain, mt. sopris.

on sunday, the plan was to do a hike in no name and then head to aspen for lunch. we missed the exit for no name and the next place we could pull off was the exit for hanging lake, which we were planning on hiking monday. since we were there, and there were parking spaces we decided just to hike hanging lake. i think charlie was a little skeptical about this hike but after it was over he said it was one of his favorite views in colorado. i knew the view at the top would be beautiful but the views of the canyon were just as pretty.

hiking up.

hanging lake.

and sprouting rock.

definitely worth the mile hike. although, if you go, leave early because it gets really crowded!

also, dogs aren't allowed so we had to leave ours in the car. luckily, it was a pretty windy day so they were fine but i ran into a few people after the hike who had dogs and were leaving once they found out they couldn't bring them.

after hanging lake we went to aspen for lunch.

i'd never been to aspen and was actually surprised at how cute it was. still sort of weird to see prada and gucci and burberry stores in a mountain town. we ate lunch outside with the dogs and then wandered around town before heading back to glenwood for another hike.

it was so nice to get away for the weekend and just spend some time together.

i'm thinking we might have to plan some weekends away for the fourth and labor day.

two years.

wow. sometimes i can't believe we've been married two years.

i'm hoping time slows down a bit and really looking forward to the next year.

i'm sure it'll be full of firsts but i can't think of anyone i'd rather spend it with.

and the rest of the telluride pictures ...

no joke we took like 400 pictures in 4 days.

i'll spare you 375 of them.

here's a few of the random ones that i could turn into several more posts. but i won't.

we went hiking again on sunday.

we did the judd wiebe trail from town and then wandered into mount sneffels wilderness area for a few hours.

our original plan was to hike mt. sneffels (a 14er) but the most recent trip report for it was for a few days before we were there. the mountain had recently gotten about 30 inches of snow and some guys did a pretty technical climb up and backcountry skied down.

since we have none of that gear (and because i'm scared of avalanches) we decided to stay below 11,000 feet.

the aspens were trying hard to grow some leaves.

dogs are awesome.

sweet mountains.

us.

1.5 million switchbacks.

note to self: make sure to eat breakfast when hiking for 6 hours. especially when dinner the night before consists of chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.

haha ... this picture makes me laugh.

the dogs were so hot that any time they found snow they immediately laid down in it.

about 2 seconds after this picture was taken dunkin went sliding down the snow pile.

"dinner"

one very sleepy puppy napping in front of the fire.

bridal veil falls, telluride

i love hiking.

this is no secret.

hiking in telluride was amazing. mostly because of the views.

we hiked saturday and sunday. and when i say hike i mean we spent about 6 hours wandering the trails both days. aside from a minor (ok, really painful) sunburn on sunday we had a great time.

the hike we did on saturday was bridal veil falls. you basically drive through town, continue a mile are forced to stop because you run into the mountains. i had looked up this hike before we went and wanted to do it because i wanted to see the waterfall. there were actually a few waterfalls along the way, and although the hike climbed the whole way it was pretty easy. in fact charlie complained that it was too easy, but the views were worth it. our plan was to hike past the falls to silver lake but because there was so much snow and the river we needed to cross was so high we turned around about a mile past the falls.

bridal veil falls from the "parking lot"

looking back at the town.

mist from the falls.

it was pretty much raining around this turn.

rainbow. so cool.

hydro power plant. so cool.

the trail turned into a stream from all the snow melt.

after the falls. it got pretty!

it's official, telluride is my favorite place.

must return immediately.

even charlie said we had to come back to ski and for our anniversary.

maybe we'll just make it a bi-yearly thing: christmas and our anniversary.

i'm sure our family would understand if we told them we made a commitment to telluride for the holidays.

reasons why i love telluride:

1. it's super dog friendly.

2. it's nestled in the mountains.

3. organic food, cloth napkins & no paper plates = the good kind of crunchy.

4. you can walk around with your socks like this and fit right in.

5. their free public transportation system is a gondola

ps. dogs are allowed.

6. great food: smugglers pub, brown dog brewery, and some no name lunch place that was amazing

7. you can lay by the pool when it's 60 degrees outside.

8. 360 degree views of the mountains.

9. hiking and skiing. that is all.

10. they host cool events like the mountain film festival and bluegrass festival.

road trip!

holy crap, telluride was amazing.

the drive was beautiful, if i haven't said it before, i love colorado.

our hotel was awesome, the town was so cute and exactly how i imagined it.

the hiking had some of the best views i've ever seen.

oh, and spending 4 days with just my husband and dogs was definitely the highlight.

i came home early from work friday, packed up the car, turned off my phone for the weekend, and we hit the road.

we took the "scenic" route down to telluride aka not i-70 and it was so worth it.

it was twisty and turny through the mountains and valleys and didn't take us any extra time.

if you're road tripping from denver to southwest colorado it's definitely worth the views.

small town, usa

reservoir.

recently i've been loving prairie grass and clouds.

part of the reason i want to spend a weekend in wyoming.

almost there ... hello, san juans!

another random town.

the valleys were beautiful!

and probably my favorite:

there were so many random ranches and farms along the way.

i know this sounds crazy but i had almost as much fun in the car as i did in telluride.

we used to take road trips to see family all the time when we lived back east.

i'd make us mix cds, and we'd stop at wawa for soda and a sub.

there was no wawa, but i did make us a playlist (of course telluride made an appearance) and pack us some snacks.

one year.

happy 1 year anniversary!

last year was a whirlwind of pictures, people, music, vows, and dresses.

my favorite part was when we got to the hotel, sat down, had a bottle of champagne, and realized that we were married.

"you don't have to be perfect to belong in this place. you don't have to have all the answers, or always know the right thing to say. you can climb the highest mountain if you want. or quietly imagine that you might, someday. you can take chances, or take safety nets, make miracles or make mistakes. you don't have to be composed at all hours to be strong here. you don't have to be bold or certain or be brave. you don't have to have all the answers here. or even know who you want to be. just take my hand, and rest your heart, and stay awhile with me."

~ashley rice.

pretty much sums it up. love you.