Back to life... back to reality.  It's rough folks, but I can't complain because we had a fabulous time in Colorado.  FABULOUS.

An extremely early flight (6:15 a.m. (full of Dawg fans!)) made for a full day of activity since it was only 7:15 when we arrived.  We met up with our wonderful friends, JJ & Abby, and drove to Vail to stay with our other wonderful friends, Michael & Kelly.
Upon arrival we surveyed the scene & took a lovely little hike.
Did you know that Aspens are one of the largest organisms in the world?
I didn't.

 We ate a lot of good food, of which Trent went as far as to rank daily.  

Agave, Vin, and The French Press were just a few on the list.  I should have taken pictures...mmmmm.

Our second hike wasn't quite as leisurely as the first.
The drive to the trailhead took about 45 minutes on a pretty rough dirt road.
Apparently the rental Hyundai didn't handle the roads as well as Kelly's Subaru :)

Our destination was Piney Lake.

I adore these girls and seriously miss them already.

Kelly & Stanley

 The death march hike almost killed us, but it was so worth the view.  On the way down Abby spotted a moose in the distance.  SO exciting.  Trent & I spent a summer working in Wyoming & never saw one.
You can't really tell, but he's on the other side of the lake....

We watched the big guy for quite awhile before heading out.  The Accent went on it's way ahead of us & as we pulled out I looked back for one last glimpse of the lake.  Look who was heading our way...

I can't began to tell you how amazing this was.  Certainly a highlight of the trip.  

Next stop:  Boulder, CO!  Our hotel, which looked a lot more like a hostel, was very interesting...

Yep, that's a pool, hot tub, and rock climbing wall in the center.  This is the view from outside: 

Heading to the game...

I can't believe no one has called PETA over Ralphie, the CU mascot.

Despite the outcome of the game, our group was able to rally, which is not apparent here...

But it sure is here...

These 3 guys & myself headed to Denver after bidding farewell to the rest of the crew.  We took in the city a bit and then met up with friend that Trent & I haven't seen since our Central America stint, which was 6 years ago!  They recently moved to Colorado from the UK and now have 3 kids... it felt as though we just saw them last month.  I heart them... 

That's it in a nutshell!