Hello from New Mexico! How did I get so behind?! Denver was a grand ol’ adventure not to be missed!

I arrived in the outskirts of Denver on Friday evening, shocked at the site of multi-lane highways and traffic! The mile high city was as daunting as the rest of Colorado had been elevation-wise but not much else seemed too intimidating.

My friend from Oregon, Taryn, and her boyfriend Cody were generous enough to host me for the short time I was in Denver. As it was a Friday night once I made it to their apartment I threw on a dress, curled my hairs, and prepared to go out!

Important note: When going out in a city that you do not know at all, even with terrific guides, you must have an extremely open mindset. Its very different than going out when you have set expectations/an idea of what may come. The uncertainty ends up being half the fun!

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that features karaoke EVERY NIGHT haha! While we did not perform we definitely sang along and critiqued, oh and discussed all the new TV shows. That has become a mini obsession as I travel along.

My current top five new shows:

1. Revenge- I can’t stop wondering what comes next! I am as sucker punched as they probably hoped audiences would be.

2. The Playboy Club- guilty pleasure. Nuff said.

3. Pan Am- Ambitious, there are spies, and I’ve pretty much determined I should’ve been a stewardess back in the day. Get to travel AND look cute, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.

4. The Sing Off- Not actually a new show, but a new season. I can never fail to be impressed by a capella

5. Hart of Dixie- I have not actually watched this show but I have seen the SAME ad for it FIVE BILLION times. There is this one moment when she says y’all in a total fail moment, cracks me up every time.

Part of experiencing America includes pop culture, right?

Back to my real life adventures…

Friday night was just too fun! Drinks, dancing, super cool people—Thanks Taryn! Needless to say we had a bit of a slow start the next day, some might say extremely slow. However, we rallied to the cause of me seeing Denver in the daylight.

Saturday afternoon we wandered around the 16^tth street mall where I got Velma a dreamcatcher, she is looking quite stylish these days. And best of all I got to see Emily!

Emily and I were interns in Scotland together, so many great memories J She lives in Salt Lake City so I hadn’t seen her since our return stateside! Even better we were suppose to meet while I was in Moab but it didn’t work out. Lo and behold she was attending The Great American Beer Festival (which Taryn and I will definitely be volunteering at next year!) in Denver this weekend so our paths were just meant to cross!

Saturday night we stayed in, grabbed a late dinner and watched a couple of movies. This was in part due to the fact that I realized Albuquerque was about a 7 hour drive away from Denver rather than the 4 or 5 hours I had stuck in my head.

Why was it so important to get to Albuquerque? To pick up my new PIC (Partner in Crime) Rachel at the airport. Unfortunately her flight got in at 11:00 am. Not very fun when you do the math.

At about 5:00am on Sunday morning I got a text from Rachel who was at the Portland airport. She had just looked at her ticket and her connecting flight was in Denver.

Hmmmm….Lightbulb!

Luckily, we both had the same idea, just get off the plane! So instead of waiting for me to zoom through Colorado and New Mexico I picked Rachel up in Denver! Her bag went on so we would have to find our way to Albuquerque eventually but for now we could enjoy the trip. Honestly, what are the chances?! It all worked out so well, made us even giddier than giddy.

Now that Rachel was in Colorado we stopped in Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods. After all the rocks I have seen, I have to admit it wasn’t as impressive as the name conveyed and believe it or not we got lost in the park that probably only takes about half and hour to circumference. Strugglessss.

Also in Colorado Springs we made the first of what would become several, brewery stops. This one was called Trinity Brewing.

Tangent: Back in Oregon my best friend Dakota and I decided that since we are beer inclined when it comes to a drink and we love trying new microbrews we were going to take a page out of the wino book and take notes on our tastings. Chuckle if you must but it can be tricky remembering beers you’ve tried let alone what they tasted like! Rachel and I have incorporated that practice into the trip, seeking out local beers as we go. There will be a special beer-centric post coming soon 🙂

From Colorado Spring we turned off onto some of Colorado’s back roads towards Taos, NM where we had decided to spend the night. Some of my favorite scenery has been along these routes, even if it takes a bit longer, its totally worth it.

We reached Taos after sunset and could already tell it was a cool place. First, we celebrated this unexpected stop on the trip with drinks at the Adobe Inn. It had live music and a solid following. Food was needed too though. This led us to Taos Pizza Out Back, so called because, it is “out back” of another business, nicely tucked away from the street.

Always a good sign as “adults” we received crayons and a placemat to color on. We dutifully record our day, with artistic interpretation of course. I tried their Green Chile Soup and Rachel had a very nice salad before we were presented with HUGE slices of specialty pizza. We were both rather adventurous while ordering and although our pizza’s didn’t quite live up to their descriptions the crust was so scrumptious it made up for it.

Full and content we drove a little ways out of town to the Abominable Snowmansion hostel. Quirky and homey they offered dorms, rooms, cabins, or tipis for the night. Can I tell you which we picked?

Tipi! We celebrated with warm clothes, wine, and a deck of cards. So much had happened in just one day! Welcome to the road Rachel!

With love from the road,

Cara

P.S. You can follow Rachel’s blog too!