Let's face it, rainy days in Denver are few and far between. Of course two of those days occured when Matt's parents were in town visiting which also happened to be his birthday weekend.
We started their visit off with a dinner at Carmine's on Penn - probably our favorite restaurant in Denver (well... that might be Fruition, but that's only for very special occasions). Carmine's is a 5 minute walk from our apartment which is also why it is so appealing. We always go overboard on food and let our stomachs do the talking. We opted for the House appetizer - delicious, but I knew I would regret getting partially full on the appetizer. Our entrees included Chicken Montana (Rosemary chicken, gorgonzola pasta with asparagus and sun dried tomatoes) and a spicy sausage pasta. Matt and I get the Chicken Montana every time we go - we just can't resist. The problem with these two dishes is that they each consist of one full pound of pasta! Plus the other meat/cheeses. So Matt and I ate leftovers for a solid week after this dinner!! Seriously amazing though.
Saturday morning it was raining...again. The forecast failed us and we never really saw the sun shining. We originally planned to head to the mountains Saturday but a snowstorm rolled through the high country and we decided to pass. We spent the morning at the Denver Art Museum. What a great museum! The architecture of the building alone could be a museum. We stayed for about 2 hours and were hoping to walk down 16th Street Mall afterwards but the sudden drop in temperature and rainfall caused us to nix that idea. So the next best idea? Bloody Mary's! We ended up at Lucielle's in Wash Park - what do you know, another restaurant 5 minutes from where we live. I'm starting to realize we need to venture out of Wash Park more.. or maybe we just live in the best neighborhood :)
Lucielle's was seriously awesome. We had been there for breakfast before (get there before 930 or expect a long wait!) but never lunch. We got there at 130 and had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. They closed at 2, so the place started to clear out once we sat down. I opted for the bulgur wheat salad, avocado and a bunch of other veggies. It was pretty delicious but I felt guilty that it wasn't traditional Creole food. It did come with a side of homemade cornbread though, amazing. The Bloody's Mary's tasted fabulous as well. Probably the best Bloody's I've had in Denver thus far!
Saturday night consisted of cocktail hour, dinner (stuffed red peppers) and an early night to bed. We were getting up early Sunday to head to the mountains and then to Boulder!
Monday, October 22, 2012
The future Mrs.
I've thought about documenting our engagement weekend for a few weeks now but I wasn't sure if I really wanted it to be public. Although I would love to have it documented for the future, so here it goes!
A last minute business trip came up and I had to head down to Phoenix the week before Labor Day. I wasn't sure if I was going to go Mon-Wed or Wed-Fri but ultimately decided on the beginning half of the week. Thank goodness for this, that really would have impacted my labor day plans :)
I got home Wednesday night and Matt had wine waiting for me and dinner prepped. It was exactly what I needed after a few days out of town. He told me he had a surprise for me that weekend - we were flying to Phoenix and staying at a boutique hotel in Scottsdale for my 25th birthday. I have been begging him to go to Scottsdale (it's a short flight from here and I love AZ) and hike Camelback mountain. I was so excited we were finally doing it! Matt handed me a folder with information on the hotel, a variety of restaurants in the area and our potential hike on Camelback. He had planned this trip months prior; I can't believe he kept a secret for so long.
We flew down Friday night after work. He asked me not to look at my phone (i.e. stay off Facebook). It only took about 1 hour for me to break that promise. Little did I know he was trying to hide me from Facebook since my brother was proposing to his girlfriend that night and he wanted that to be a surprise for later (we didn't realize my brother was proposing that weekend, Matt found out 24 hours prior to this and I had no clue). We got to the hotel around 9pm and went straight to bed since our alarms were set for 4:30 the next morning! We planned on getting up early and heading to Camelback on my birthday morning, hoping to be to the top by sunrise around 6:15. We were dreaming. We pulled up around 5:15 and it was absolutely PACKED. There was not one parking spot remotely close to the mountain so after driving around for a while I got super frustrated and we decided to nix the idea. The sun was rising and I was taking pictures from the side of the road - I didn't want to miss one of the few sunrises I was actually awake for. We found a park a few miles away and we decided to watch the sun rise from there. I didn't know this at the time, but Matt's original plan was to propose on the hike as the sun was rising, so he was scrambling after we couldn't find a parking spot.
We got to the park and Matt was wearing his hiking socks, hiking shorts, a plaid hiking button down shirt, hiking boots and his 28L hiking backpack with a camelback inside. Mind you this is a normal city park... that is flat. And has no hikers. I thought it was so weird he brought the hiking backpack but I didn't want to bring it up, so I just let it go. Never occurred to me a ring could be in there!
After talking on the bench for about 30 minutes and taking pictures of the sunrise, we decided to head out (I was getting antsy and hungry). Of course my clumsy self dropped the camera cap on the ground so I went to pick it up... and saw Matt on his knee when I turned around!
I was absolutely shocked when it happened - I had NO clue it was going to happen at 6:15 in the morning in our hiking outfits. It was the perfect moment. We asked one of the few people in the entire park to take our picture just minutes after it happened.
We went back to the hotel and I ran into the reception shouting "We just got engaged!!". I asked the receptionist (who was just finishing the night shift and was a tad grumpy) if we could have mimosas delivered to our room but he informed me the bar didn't open for another 15 minutes, so we had to wait. I guess asking for alcohol at 6:45 in the morning is not normal.
We called our family the rest of the morning then headed to the grocery store to get some champagne and drinks to lounge by the pool. We had the entire pool to ourselves the whole weekend, it was absolutely incredible! Despite the 110 degree weather, it was the best weekend of our lives :)
A last minute business trip came up and I had to head down to Phoenix the week before Labor Day. I wasn't sure if I was going to go Mon-Wed or Wed-Fri but ultimately decided on the beginning half of the week. Thank goodness for this, that really would have impacted my labor day plans :)
I got home Wednesday night and Matt had wine waiting for me and dinner prepped. It was exactly what I needed after a few days out of town. He told me he had a surprise for me that weekend - we were flying to Phoenix and staying at a boutique hotel in Scottsdale for my 25th birthday. I have been begging him to go to Scottsdale (it's a short flight from here and I love AZ) and hike Camelback mountain. I was so excited we were finally doing it! Matt handed me a folder with information on the hotel, a variety of restaurants in the area and our potential hike on Camelback. He had planned this trip months prior; I can't believe he kept a secret for so long.
We flew down Friday night after work. He asked me not to look at my phone (i.e. stay off Facebook). It only took about 1 hour for me to break that promise. Little did I know he was trying to hide me from Facebook since my brother was proposing to his girlfriend that night and he wanted that to be a surprise for later (we didn't realize my brother was proposing that weekend, Matt found out 24 hours prior to this and I had no clue). We got to the hotel around 9pm and went straight to bed since our alarms were set for 4:30 the next morning! We planned on getting up early and heading to Camelback on my birthday morning, hoping to be to the top by sunrise around 6:15. We were dreaming. We pulled up around 5:15 and it was absolutely PACKED. There was not one parking spot remotely close to the mountain so after driving around for a while I got super frustrated and we decided to nix the idea. The sun was rising and I was taking pictures from the side of the road - I didn't want to miss one of the few sunrises I was actually awake for. We found a park a few miles away and we decided to watch the sun rise from there. I didn't know this at the time, but Matt's original plan was to propose on the hike as the sun was rising, so he was scrambling after we couldn't find a parking spot.
Sunrise from the road
We got to the park and Matt was wearing his hiking socks, hiking shorts, a plaid hiking button down shirt, hiking boots and his 28L hiking backpack with a camelback inside. Mind you this is a normal city park... that is flat. And has no hikers. I thought it was so weird he brought the hiking backpack but I didn't want to bring it up, so I just let it go. Never occurred to me a ring could be in there!
After talking on the bench for about 30 minutes and taking pictures of the sunrise, we decided to head out (I was getting antsy and hungry). Of course my clumsy self dropped the camera cap on the ground so I went to pick it up... and saw Matt on his knee when I turned around!
Picture in the park right after we got engaged
I was absolutely shocked when it happened - I had NO clue it was going to happen at 6:15 in the morning in our hiking outfits. It was the perfect moment. We asked one of the few people in the entire park to take our picture just minutes after it happened.
We went back to the hotel and I ran into the reception shouting "We just got engaged!!". I asked the receptionist (who was just finishing the night shift and was a tad grumpy) if we could have mimosas delivered to our room but he informed me the bar didn't open for another 15 minutes, so we had to wait. I guess asking for alcohol at 6:45 in the morning is not normal.
We called our family the rest of the morning then headed to the grocery store to get some champagne and drinks to lounge by the pool. We had the entire pool to ourselves the whole weekend, it was absolutely incredible! Despite the 110 degree weather, it was the best weekend of our lives :)
Pool all to ourselves!
The Hermosa Inn
Before dinner at Lon's
Saturday, October 20, 2012
First 14er: Mt. Bierstadt
We finished our first 14er. And it was awesome.
A 14er is a mountain that exceedds 14,000 feet above sea level. There are 53 14ers in Colorado.
We decided to camp the night before our hike so we could get an early start in the morning. Guanella Pass Campground was only a few miles from the trail head so that seemed like a great option. There are 18 campsites and apparently half of the spots can be reserved in advance and the other half are first come first served. We were really hoping we would make it there early enough to find a spot, but no such luck at 5:30pm on a Friday. It actually was a blessing in disguise because those spots were a bit too close to other campers (although they did have bathrooms...that must be nice). We pulled off the side of the road a few minutes away from the campground and marked our territory.
Our campsite seemed so glamourous - we camped one other time this summer with a group of friends but that was hiking camping, not car camping. Having unlimited blankets, pillows food, etc. was quite the luxury this time!
We thought if we woke up at 5:15 on Saturday morning we would have plenty of time to eat breakfast, pack the car and get to the trail head early. We go to the Guanella Pass Trail Head at 6:45 am and there were already 100+ cars! Apparently people leave Denver around 4 or 5 in the morning to get there bright and early.
Our hike started at 11,669 feet, only 2,850 vertical feet to go! The sun was rising behind the mountains and since the whole hike is facing west, it was beautiful.
About ten minutes into the hike, we passed a small lake where two moose were bathing! Great start to a morning. The first 1/3 of the hike (about 1.5 miles) was relatively flat (although I didn't think so at the time). Once you reach about 12,500 feet you see the Sawtooth and the valley below it. Stunning views, but at this point the remainder of the trail becomes quite rocky and steep.
We were finally a few hundred feet from the summit, but it was so cold we had to get our wind breakers out. We already had on fleeces, gloves, and hats. Probably around 45 degrees with strong winds (it was August).
The last part to the summit is basically straight up, climbing large boulders. It was a bit of a challenge, especially at that elevation but the adrenaline definitely kicks in! You're so close to the top; it's an exciting feeling. The hike up took about 2.5-3 hours, with several stops along the way.
We finally made it to the top of Mt. Bierstadt. 14,060 feet! We enjoyed our PBJ lunch (it as 9:30 in the morning but felt like it was 3pm) and started our journey back down the mountain. I was surprised how difficult the climb down was; it took us about 2 hours to get down!
Ouzel Falls - Rocky Mountain National Park
Earlier this summer we hiked Ouzel Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. We got up early and took our time enjoying our coffee and eating breakfast. I regret that. We got to the Wild Basin Trailhead at 9am and we had to park 1 mile away because the main parking lot was already full. The first few (or 6) months we lived out here we didn't realize you had to actually wake up early to go to the mountains. Sleeping in used to be 11am, now it is 8am! If you are heading to the mountains, you should be out of Denver by 7:30 (at the latest) to beat the traffic!
Once you pass the Wild Basin Ranger Station ($20 fee to enter the National Park, $40 for an annual pass), there are a few parking lots along the dirt road to the trail head. There are bathrooms and a water fountain. The trail starts and less than 10 minutes in is the first sight of the river/waterfalls. It's beautiful and refreshing; great way to start the morning.
The trail weaved around the river and stopped along smaller falls along the way.
Finally we reached the top and it was beautiful. Perfect place to eat our PB&J's that we packed. It felt good to get a little wet from the water splashing and sit in the shade for a bit.
The hike is 2.7 miles one way, but since we parked in the lot further away, it was more like 3.7 miles one way (although the first mile was flat).
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Herman Lake Hike
Yesterday morning we drove about 60 minutes West of Denver to the Herman Gulch Trail head. You take I-70 and get off at exit 218, a few miles before the tunnel. You can see the trail head from the exit ramp, just a few hundred feet away. This has some pros and cons: pro that it is so easily accessible and you've probably passed it a hundred times without realizing it was there. The biggest con is that it can get rather crowded and the first few minutes of the hike are full of noise from the interstate.
The trail head has bathrooms and plenty of parking, but don't let that fool you. Make sure to get there early in the summer months. We arrived at 8:15 on Saturday morning and there were about 3 dozen cars already there. A perk of getting there early: minimal hikers at the end of the hike at Herman Lake.
The guys decided to jump in the lake (just to say they did ?) but I opted out of this terrible idea. They only lasted about 5 seconds, once the picture was taken, to jump out. The air was about 60 degrees but I'm betting the water was in the 40s! Beautiful hike, great for out of towners visiting the area.
The trail head has bathrooms and plenty of parking, but don't let that fool you. Make sure to get there early in the summer months. We arrived at 8:15 on Saturday morning and there were about 3 dozen cars already there. A perk of getting there early: minimal hikers at the end of the hike at Herman Lake.
The hike starts out in the forest on a wide, rocky trail. It steadily increases and after the first mile, opens into a meadow.
You know you're close to the lake when you see the sign for the fork in the road. You can continue 5 miles to Jones Pass or hike another 15 minutes West to Herman Lake. Pettingell Peak(13,553') and Hagar Mountain (13,195') are both visible from this point.
The guys decided to jump in the lake (just to say they did ?) but I opted out of this terrible idea. They only lasted about 5 seconds, once the picture was taken, to jump out. The air was about 60 degrees but I'm betting the water was in the 40s! Beautiful hike, great for out of towners visiting the area.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
mohawk lake
Before Matt moved out here, he came to visit in October 2011 for his birthday weekend. There was already snow in the mountains but it was in the mid 60s so we thought a hike in the Rockies was the best way to start our Colorado adventures!
Mohawk Lake Trail is just a few miles past Breckenridge. There are about 30 parking spots at the end of Spruce Creek Road where the trail starts. The first half is through the trees as you approach the tree line. There is a beautiful lake that makes a great place to grab a drink of water and take in the scenery.
Continental Falls are about 2 miles up, can't miss that. Look for the rusty cable on the ground from old miners. As you continue to climb you will reach Lower Mohawk and Upper Mohawk lakes.
mohawk lake trailhead map