Colorado with Friends

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"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships" Abraham Lincoln

I felt like I was waiting for months for Annalies and Kristen to come visit. Honestly, since we planned the visit last year, it was months and months! Finally, October 2nd arrived, and I got to greet both of them in the airport. I was so excited for our weekend together 😱

We got to see and do so much together..let's see, where to start? Well, after showing them around our house, we went out to Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison. Dinosaur Ridge Trail is a 1.5mile trail that has hundreds of dinosaur tracks, some dinosaur bones and there's a pretty view of the foothills and Red Rocks (Kristen was excited when I told her that's where Warped Tour played this year). The dinosaur tracks were accidently discovered back in 1937, when street construction was going on. One of the quarry's in the area unearthed the world's first Stegosaurus! We went to the movies tonight and saw "Zombieland" - I thought it was hilarious!! Loved Bill Murray's cameo - I think that might have been my favorite part...hahaha.

The next morning, we drove up to Estes Park to have lunch with one of Kristen and Annalies' friends, Tiffany and her husband, Chris. Estes Park is a super cute tourist town, and we walked around some of their stores. We all got henna tattoos..which I loved! 😊 I saw there was a festival going on in their town square, so we wandered over there for a while. There was a Pow-Wow going on, which was pretty intresting, especially since there was a guy and lady talking about their past, and narrating what the dances meant. It was pretty cool. Next, we drove up into Rocky Mountain NP, since it's elk mating season, and of course, the elk were all around, like always! The males were making their mating calls and butting heads with the other males.

Sunday, we decided to head towards Boulder. There was a small Art Fair/ Flea Market outside on the Hill, so we started there. I talked to a guy who made belt buckles and jewelry out of used skateboards.. they were pretty cool! All of Boulder is nice, but the Hill area especially has some electic shops, so we walked around a bit. There was a cool vintage store, called "Stellar." Kristen had us stop in a used cd/record store, where they probably had every album imaginable. One of my favorite stores, Meow Meow is there, too, so we stopped in, and Annalies and I got the same necklace- this super cute copper owl.
The next place we went to has been on my "To Do" list since I moved out here, and since I never got the chance, I was super excited to go with the girls. Dushanbe Teahouse is a gorgeous building in Boulder. In 1987, the Mayor Dushanbe, Tajikistan, came and visited Boulder. The two cities became sister cities, and the mayor decided to have the teahouse built to celebrate the ties between cities. From 1987 to 1990, over 40 artists created the different parts of the teahouse, like the hand carved and hand painted ceiling, tables, stools, outside ceramic tiles, etc. We had tea inside, and I couldn't help but keep on looking all around, the artwork was so beautiful. After that, we kept within our "tea" theme and headed out to Celestial Seasonings in Boulder. Unfortunately, the tours were cancelled for the afternoon, but since all three of us had already been, it wasn't that big a deal. Their Tea Shop has some cute stuff in it, and I bought my mom most of her birthday gift there (hope you like it, mom!) 😊 For dinner, Annalies really wanted to try a Korean restaurant. She got me hooked on this Korean drama show, "Coffee Prince" and all the food they talked about sounded so foreign..i wanted to check it out, too. We went to a really good restaurant in Arvada. When we walked in, the owners and waitress didn't seem to know what to make of the service dogs, but eventually, we got our own private room so "the dogs didn't scare the customers". ... Annalies and Kristen said a lot of Asian people get confused about the dogs.. Well, at least they were friendly and the service was prompt. The food was delicious too!

Monday morning, before the girls had to go to the airport, I wanted to squeeze one more "tourist-y" attraction - The Butterfly Pavilion. It's a cute place that isn't huge, and you can enjoy in only and hour or two. They have a bug room with some nasty looking tarantulas, cockroaches, and many other gross- looking bugs! Then there is a ocean room, where you could pet a stingray, starfish, and some other sea-life. The main attraction, of course, is the Butterfly Room, where butterflies flitter all around. We stayed and got to see the zooologist let out the newest batches that just broke from their cocoons..it was pretty cool.

The whole weekend was awesome, and I'm glad I got to spend the time with Annalies and Kristen. I'm only upset it wasn't longer!!

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Photos

Kristen and me in front of Fox Theatre
Boulder

Annalies & Kristen in front of Dushanbe Teahouse
with Stitches & Brooklyn

Comments

[Snowhawg]

Very Nice
It's great to see you all had such a nice time!