Colorado

We were excited to get to Colorado for a few reasons... the main one being that the timeshare we were going to relax in for a few nights was located in Avon. We spent a few days lounging, drinking wine, reading, and watching the Golden Girls - which in my opinion is one of the best shows ever made. We headed into downtown Vail which is an upscale resort community (Harrison Ford has a house there) where we browsed the shops and strolled along the cobblestone streets. Hungry for a snack we decided to grab some baked brie and pints of Erdinger at one of the many German restaurants located in the town. The brie was outstanding! Perfectly crispy crust that came with fruit, freshly baked bread and linden-berry jam.

After our relaxing hiatus in Avon we decided to go to Denver where we found the city to be rather dirty and lacking in culture. The entire city of Denver had a really strange vibe to it which we didn't really care for. The saving grace of Denver was the Tattered Cover Bookstore which offered three floors of comfy chairs and stacks upon stacks of books in sections ranging from politics to sustainability to best sellers.

Boulder was a cute and fun town despite the snow we encountered while we were there! Walking with our hands in our pockets and keeping our heads down from the wind we battled the first snow of the season. We stopped in Leaf (a vegetarian restaurant) located near the outdoor pedestrian mall for some soup and sandwiches. The cream of cauliflower soup was very tasty as well as my tempeh rueben.

Earlier in the day we drove up a steep and winding hill surrounded by thick tall grass to a mesa located shortly outside of downtown where the National Center for Atmospheric Research (or NCAR for short) resides. The grass was frozen into hundreds if not thousands of sandy colored icicles which looked odd but beautiful against the Adobe styled building. The building was created by famed architect I.M. Pei more famously known for his controversial glass pyramid addition to the Louvre.

At NCAR we learned about  global warming, creation of tornados, and the atmospheres effects on our entire planet. The center is also a functioning research center which is home to some of the most brilliant scientists of our day. Daily tours last about an hour and are free to the public.

Colorado is home to the snow topped Rocky Mountains and  the pristine Colorado River. We found Colorado to be an absolutely gorgeous state, with most cities being robust in hiking, vegetarian friendly, but a little on the chilly side. Because of the inclimate weather we encountered I did not get to take many pictures of Colorado
but you can view our set here.