Over Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I took a few days off to go visit some of our very best friends who live out in Colorado. Let’s talk about our fantastic  trip… cool yeah?

Wow. Right? Wow.

We arrived late Thursday evening into Denver. After catching up a few minutes we passed out. I don’t know about you but traveling exhausts me. We woke up early Friday morning to go to my husband’s favorite restaurant, which just so happens to only be located on the West Coast. We hit Snooze AM Eatery hard. I think he ordered 3 meals. I had a Benny Goodman which was a smoked salmon eggs benedict and a Snooze in the City breakfast cocktail. Breakfast cocktails are a thing (I think).

Love me a good Breakfast Cocktail!

After yummy breakfast, Amy and I had a lovely day of shopping. Where I picked up waaaay too much running gear from Run Colorado followed by falling in love with the most amazing pair of sunglasses ever. Then we met with the boys, who were playing golf all day. Afterwards made our way into Denver for drinks at Peaks Lounge followed by dinner at Osteria Marco. I recommend all of these places and things highly. Great Food and Great Drinks.

View from Peaks Lounge

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to go for a hike. When in Colorado, do what the locals do right? So we headed to Castlewood Canyon State Park to go for a hike. Well about 6.5 miles later and a change in elevation of 435 ft. (according to TomTom) we had hiked. It was beautiful and great for all fitness levels. They had easy to difficult trails. We did the moderate trail followed by moderate/difficult followed by difficult then we went back to moderate.

Castlewood Canyon State Park

After our trek, Amy and I went to the pool in her community for a little R & R and the biggest Strawberry Mojitos I’ve ever seen in my life.

Sunday we decided to take on Pike’s Peak. Yep, that Pike’s Peak. But we’re not insane, we took the Cog Train. Before we went to the summit we stopped by Garden of the Gods. It’s this random rock formation/garden. I’m not 100% sure what it is, but it was beautiful.

For scale, look at the tiny people.

Giant boulders/Mars/rock/Thor’s Home?

We made our way to the Cog Train. The rail line is over 100 years old and the top of Pike’s Peak is what inspired the lyrics to America the Beautiful. We had been told a few key pieces of info that came in handy for our expedition. It was snowing at the top. That’s right my light long sleeve with tank was not going to cut it, so we brought jackets with us. At 14,110ft there is less oxygen, so drink water. And lastly, there are amazing donuts so get off the train quickly and get in line then go see the view. Priorities!

Check out these views and the adorable train station!

It’s more formidable than it looks (I hope)

So we made it to the top and with little to no view. However, that’s okay because WE WERE IN A CLOUD. That’s right. A CLOUD! Sorry I’m not sorry but that’s awesome. We were first off the train and went to grab the donuts. Delicious. I don’t know if it was the altitude or the actual donuts but, amazing. Then we went to look outside. Cloud. I stood there awhile and giggled. I’m going to blame the altitude for that. It makes you a little light-headed and well for me kind of loopy.

Ms. RockyMtnPearls and Myself at the summit with Donuts!

While on the peak we took pictures, munched our donuts, drank oodles of water, and shopped in the highest gift shop. We began our descent back down the mountain which was much easier for me than going up (I was a tad nervous). We did notice lots of people falling asleep on the way down (my husband included). Apparently this is due to your body getting less oxygen. It actually puts itself to sleep to preserve resources….

Once back on solid ground, we ran a few errands and headed back to our friends home. We had to go to bed a bit early and prep for the BolderBoulder which we’d be running the following morning.

Have you ever been at an altitude that made you a bit loopy? Can you imagine anything better than baked goods atop a mountain? Have you ever been/live in Colorado? What do you like to do on vacation? What’s your favorite cocktail (I’m always looking to try something new)?