​We got up around 7 and packed most of our stuff. We ventured down Main Street in search of some breakfast, which we found at The Crown. I ordered a Jefferson which was a pesto chicken panini that was crazy good. Mandy got a Watson – a bacon, egg, and cheese with avocado on a croissant. She loved it. After breakfast, we walked a couple blocks up to a rental shop so I could pick up skis for the day. Then Mandy dropped me off at a chairlift. I took my first run at 9:30am, and it was all ice. I hated it. I skied across to a different lift, and took another run. The sun had apparently had enough time to soften up the snow and it was perfect. I took run after run in outstanding conditions with no one else. I never saw so much mountain with so few skiers. It was absolutely fantastic. I spent a good deal of the morning on Peak 6 until the wind came on so strongly that I couldn’t see my skis in front of me. I started to make my way back across to Peak 9 to meet up with Mandy for a lunchtime beer. I got a Colette farmhouse ale by Great Divide Brewing that was delicious, and downed it quickly to get back onto the snow. I tried to keep track of each run before lunch, but after, I just went where I felt like going, and it was great. At about 3pm, I finished a run and it suddenly hit me that it had been the last run. I texted Mandy to come bring my slippers because I couldn’t stand another minute of wearing the ski boots. Never call last run before it happens. 

​While Rob was skiing I just wandered around downtown Breckenridge snapping pictures and browsing the cute boutiques. When Rob texted me to meet for a beer I made me way through town back to base 9. Princess Yum-Yum Raspberry Kolsch was on tap. I had already tried this beer in Denver and enjoyed it so I knew it would be a good choice. Rob finished his beer and went back out to the mountain while I sipped mine leisurely. I was somewhat hungry but didn’t want anything on the menu at Coppertop. I decided to walk back to downtown to Crepes a la cart. I ordered the apple strudel crepe and it was so delicious. After my crepe I wandered a little more around town to pass the time. I eventually found myself at the gondola station and rode it up the mountain, taking a few pictures at each stop. Rob texted me in the middle of the ride and said that he was done. Once I arrived back into town I quickly made my way to him (with his slippers) so that he could take off his ski boots.

​We dropped off the rental equipment at Blue River Sports and went back to the hotel. Rob showered in the fitness center so he wouldn’t be stinky from skiing all day. After we organized all of our gear we grabbed an early dinner at C.B. and Potts. It was happy hour so we got an order of nachos to split and Rob got a Cuban sandwich as well. Once we were contented, we got back on the road to make our way to Denver. The ride was pretty uneventful and we made good time getting into the city. We opted to stay with Brian and Emma one more night as they had kindly offered, and we didn’t really feel like setting up the tent again or risking getting stranded somewhere with a dead battery again.

​We woke leisurely this morning. When we were good and ready, and not a moment sooner, we started out of bed. Mandy cooked breakfast for us again, while I cleaned up the cabin and the truck. After breakfast, we made our way back down to the springs again. This time we could see much better. We were in awe at the architecture and landscaping of the entire facility. Even the restrooms are in a gorgeous building. The stonework that comprises and surrounds the pools is beautiful. The springs were mostly vacant, except for a small group of people who seemed to be doing some sort of professional photoshoot. Clothing remains optional for overnight guests, until the springs are open to the public at 10am, so you can imagine the sort of photoshoot. We chatted briefly with the photographer and the models who were all quite friendly. We hopped out around 10 to finish up packing our gear and to check out.

​Once again, Mandy turned the key in the ignition of the Explorer and nothing happened. We were able to get a jump start from the park staff. We went into town to find a coffee shop for coffee (obviously) and to post a couple updates for you all. We also got on the phone with the vehicle’s owner, we think. There’s some sort of weird partnership involved with owning and renting the vehicle, or something. But the point was to reach an agreement with them about reimbursing us for replacing the truck’s battery. We had been hoping to get to more remote places, but its lack of reliability and recovery equipment has us second-guessing if that is a good idea. Under normal circumstances, in our own vehicles, this sort of thing would be a non-issue, but these are not normal circumstances. We found an Advance Auto Parts store and bought a new battery after we’d been paid for the total. I replaced it in the parking lot in short order, and we were good to go. I also tried the recommended troubleshooting procedure in the Yeti Goalzero 400 manual. It just recommends to disconnect the battery terminals, wait 10 seconds, then reassemble. There was no change after this procedure, so we stored it away again, and set out.

​On the road, we made way back to Breckenridge. This time for real. The weather and views were amazing all along the route. We made some photo op pit stops along the way. As we were nearing our destination, we stopped in at the Dillon Ranger Station to inquire about dispersed campsites. The ranger explained that there was nothing available this early in the season within the Dillon district. However, he suggested we call the ranger in the next district south of Breckenridge, and gave us the phone number. We reached out to a ranger there, who provided us with some tips about forest service roads.

​We continued on to and through Breckenridge. We went up to Hoosier Pass on the Continental Divide, and then descended into Fairplay. Just south of Fairplay, as we were told, there are forest service roads that would be open and which we could camp on. Perfect! As we continued on out into the middle of nowhere, we debated if this was a good idea. We considered what might happen if the truck didn’t start. We surveyed the surrounding area, which was wide open plains, and considered the possibility of another night of strong winds. We also estimated the drive time to get into Breckenridge the next morning, and what time we’d have to be up in order to pick up equipment, a lift ticket, and get onto the mountain for first tracks. We turned around in the middle of the dirt road we were on, (which still had another six miles or so to go) and we went back into Breckenridge. We were so torn, but ultimately agreed this was the best option. We found a hotel with room for us for one night on really short notice.

​After we checked in, we walked the short 10 minutes to Main St. to find some dinner. We ended up at Kenosha Steakhouse, at the bar. We got a round of beers and ordered some appetizers. I got Broken Compass Fruit Boot double IPA, and pulled pork mac and cheese. I got the Colorado Cider Glider Cider and a cup of bison chili. Rob got a Smore's stout by Short's Brewing Company which was delicious. We figured we’d get something else for food, but after we’d eaten our orders, we were content. We ordered a night cap; Yellow Snow, and Coco-Nuts, and then went back to our room to sleep.

Not long after we went to sleep, we could hear the roar of distant winds as they raced across the plains and foothills of the Rockies. And then the winds were knocking on our door. We were high up in elevation and on a mostly bald peak. I think being in a tent on top of an SUV makes the wind more noticeable than being on the ground. Neither of us slept, constantly worried our tent might blow away with us in it! Luckily we had that small group of trees to help shield us, but it wasn’t complete protection. At 4:45am, after not sleeping most of the night we decided to pack up and hit the road. We quickly learned that it was also quite chilly outside and by the time we got the tent all packed away we couldn’t feel our hands. We were hoping it would warm up quickly so that we could make breakfast comfortably. We continued our drive towards Estes Park and arrived before the sun.

It was still a little cold to be outside making breakfast but we decided to make some coffee. The Aeropress works great for coffee preparation while trying to pack light. We simply mixed coffee grounds with water and let it sit overnight and then Aeropress it in the morning. Some coffee and trail mix helped kick start our brains into coming up with a plan for the day. We started to head out of town, but first stopped to watch a bunch of elk grazing in someone’s yard downtown.

​​Not far out of Estes Park is the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. We reached the entrance before opening time at 8am, which meant there was no entrance fee! We cruised on into the park and found a spot with a fantastic view to setup and cook breakfast. Mandy set to work cooking a delicious breakfast scramble and I tried to make the included solar panel work to charge the included spare battery. Unfortunately, this endeavor proved fruitless, which was a mistake. After we ate breakfast and cleaned up, we hopped into the Explorer to do more exploring. What a coincidence. Mandy turned the key and nothing happened. So we tore apart the vehicle in search of jumper cables, which were apparently not included. The dead spare battery has a connection for a vehicle battery, which was useless because it was dead and would not charge. I continued to tinker while Mandy flagged down a few passersby to inquire about jumper cables. The third passing vehicle rescued us and got us back on our way again. We made a mental note to be very energy-efficient while the vehicle was off, moving forward.

We had cracked the window open the night before as the apartment tended to run a little warm. At some point in the morning I awoke with a chill and had to close the window. Rob woke up around 7 and watched a show on Netflix while I dozed off to sleep again. Around 7:45, we finally got up and showered and dressed for the hike and then realized it was snowing outside. It looked very cloudy and there was a chance of rain throughout the day. We weren’t sure what this would mean for the hike we had planned. Regardless, we were renting an SUV with a rooftop tent out of Boulder so we were going to be heading that direction anyway and opted to play it by ear. We all agreed to go out for breakfast this morning rather than cooking our own. We went to Snooze, which is a chain but only in a few states. Emma knew the hostess and she graciously gave us a free peanut butter chocolate pancake for the four of us to split. It was so good! I ordered the breakfast tacos with chorizo. Rob got the Havana Dreamin’, which is basically an open-faced Cuban with an egg on top. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, it’s not a true Cuban, but it was quite good!

After breakfast, we made our way to Boulder. We made a quick residential pitstop to pick up our new vehicle at its owner’s house. We continued on following Brian and Emma, now in our own ride; a 2010 Ford Explorer, outfitted with a rooftop tent, a fridge, sink and grill! We all drove to the Flatirons for another hike, this time a real one. It was pretty aggressive terrain, but a fairly short duration (about a mile in and a mile back out) which made it more manageable. The weather started off great, turned to hail momentarily, and then cleared up again all on the way up. The views at the top made it worth it. After soaking them in, we made our way back down in good weather and spirits. We weren’t quite ready to part ways with our gracious hosts, so we all decided to get a round of beers at West Flanders on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder. I got a sour beer which was excellent. Mandy got a gingersnap ale. We all shared a bunch of appetizers and soaked up the afternoon sun. We wandered around Pearl Street some more, until our parking meter was about to expire. At this point, we said our goodbyes and parted ways.
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We hopped in our rig and drove off into the sunset.

​Well, not quite, but we did spend the waning daylight hours driving along a bunch of canyon highway miles. We didn’t really know where we were going exactly. We just had a rough heading of “towards Estes Park”. We made a few stops along the way to see if a few areas allowed camping. After a few strikes, we found gold? Maybe? We aren’t really sure what the road we turned onto is. It had a few signs, but nothing that said no camping. As we drove up this windy, rugged dirt road, it became clear to us that it is regularly used for target practice, as evidenced by tons of orange clay shards littered about adjacent to the road. We didn’t see anyone as we continued climbing uphill. Eventually, we reached a dead end in a small cluster of trees. We came to be so very thankful for those trees.

We parked in a small circle at the end of the road, where the remains of a previous campfire rested. We setup our tent, which took very little time, and spent the remaining daylight doing some vehicle organization and inventory. It’s quite weird using someone else’s camping equipment! Eventually, we decided to climb up into the tent and do some writing for you all before getting some shut eye. At lights-out, we noted the silence all around us, and the pure darkness.

We woke up in the morning feeling refreshed.  We all got ready and showered and had a nice home-cooked breakfast of pancakes and eggs thanks to Emma and Brian. We didn’t have any specific plans for the day, which is always a treat. A couple ideas thrown around were the Denver Botanical Gardens and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Rob and I have both always wanted to check out Red Rocks so we decided to make our way there. We made a stop at Target to pick up some sunblock to shield ourselves from the surprisingly intense Colorado sun.

​Red Rocks was a very cool venue. Almost cold, too. We parked at the bottom and climbed our way up to the stage area and then all the way to the rear of the venue. It was quite windy at the top and it made getting photos challenging. We did our best to get some good ones and made our way back down to the visitor’s center to use the restrooms and check out more scenery. It’s like everywhere you turn, there’s a new amazing view. It was less windy at the bottom so we seized the opportunity to take more photos. Once we had our fill, we decided it was time to head back towards Denver.

​We were feeling ready for lunch at this point and made our way to Bad Daddy’s Burgers. Apparently this is a chain restaurant but has limited locations. It’s like a national chain, but with only a handful of locations, which is kind of uncommon. I got the Emilio’s chicken sandwich with hand-cut fries. I got a buffalo burger and a custom built salad. All of us agreed that our meals were delicious. But now we were stuffed. So what to do with full bellies? Find more breweries! We decided to check out Epic brewing. We all got a beer and then were pleasantly surprised to find that they were doing a tour very shortly. Of course we joined in and followed them around the shop, because that’s always interesting. We then went to Ratio Brewing Company, which seemed to be much busier. Lastly we drove to Denver Beer Co. There were so many puppies at all of the breweries that it was like heaven. We debated on going bowling after this but all decided that we were feeling pretty lazy so we just headed back to Brian and Emma’s apartment to hangout. We played some cards, shared some laughs, and then called it a night as we were all feeling tired and were wanted to be well rested for a hike the next day.

It's time for another vacation! This time we are Colorado-bound. We arranged for my co-worker Jess to house sit and hang out with Loki for the week. She was also gracious enough to drive us to the airport at 3:15 am. Thanks Jess! 

We got to Logan airport with plenty of time to board our Delta flight to Minneapolis. The flight was rather uneventful. Rob slept for an hour or two and I dozed off for a short period of time. In Minneapolis we each got a breakfast sandwich as it was beginning to feel like a good time to eat. We had a short layover and made it to Denver at 10:15 am local time. We're visiting Rob's cousin, Brian, and his girlfriend, Emma for the first few days and they agreed to pick us up at the airport. Thanks you two! We made our way back to their apartment in Denver and dropped off our things before heading out to explore the city for the day. Our first stop was at La Chiva for lunch where we all got the Lomito sandwich. It was tasty but I think we all agreed that we were expecting better. It was served on a hoagie roll but a different bread option would have improved the sandwich.

After lunch, the four of us made our way down Broadway and found Alternation Brewery to check out. I got the Farmgirl which was an ale aged on mango and jalapeno. I really liked it. It had a strong jalapeno scent but not too much spice. I couldn't really taste the mango but I found the beer overall to be cool and refreshing. I got a Cooper Approved which was an oatmeal stout aged with vanilla beans and cacao nibs. It's quite good, the vanilla is very apparent. We made our way to the back patio to enjoy our beers and a game of cornhole. Rob and Brian were on a team and were strong winners against Emma and Mandy. After the game, we all decided to move on once our beers were done and made our way back to the apartment so we could hop in the car and drive to the zoo.

Just as we were finishing dinner, Emma rejoined our group. We paid our tab and agreed that we were all quite exhausted, even though it was still relatively early. We decided to retire to Brain and Emma's apartment to wind down before bed.