Kristin: Stepping Out of the Box

By Kristin of Because I Said So

My husband usually likes to spend vacation on a beach somewhere relaxing to the sound of the waves. For my birthday he decided to accompany me on my yearly trip to Colorado for some light hiking and for the annual Bolder Boulder 10k.

While the beach offers softly crashing waves it doesn’t compare to the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado. For my husband’s first visit the weather could not have been worse.

It rained at some point every day and was cloudy the entire time. We did not bother going to Pike’s Peak because it would have been pointless, all that would have been visible would have been clouds. However, the beauty in the gently rolling hillside the quaint housing and the occasional glimpse of snow capped covered mountains has my husband eager for next year’s trip.

We traveled to Bear Lake (9475 elevation) in hopes of completing a four mile hike. Instead we were met with at least five inches of snow which impeded our trek because we did not have snow shoes. At one point we were actually walking in the lake without realizing we had ventured off the trail.

We got up close and personal with some Elk and later enjoyed Elk and Buffalo burgers in the town of Estes. Some other sights included a visit to red top hotel which, is where Stephen King’s Shining was filmed. Later we headed to Denver for a vendor festival they were having before a torrential downpour forced everyone inside for cover.

I participated in the Bolder Boulder 10k race this year and had set a goal for myself of 1:25 (to see if I met this goal stay tuned for Jason Johnson’s post to learn my results). The race was incredible 50,000 people show up each year for the race and for the culmination in the elite runner’s race at the end of the day. The men’s elite runner finished in a mere 27 minutes! The Memorial Day celebration at CU was great 6 parachuteers floated in and at the very end of the national anthem three fighter jets flew over just in time to beat the storms.

Our trip was great. I had a secret agenda in this year’s trip I wanted to introduce my husband to a different way of living in hopes that he will want to start a new life in Colorado. He enjoyed himself immensely but I don’t think it was enough to sway him, YET.