Happy brutal return to the work week after a three day weekend! I keep reminding myself the positive is that this week will only be 4 days long! But it's always a tough adjustment returning to work after time off!
This past weekend I headed out to Vail, Colorado for a weekend getaway with some friends!
My weekend started early, as I left work to head home, finish packing, and catch my flight out of Cedar Rapids. I arrived in Denver and headed to my friends' gate to meet them!
After their flight arrived, we headed to pick up our rental car where, I kid you not, we waited over an HOUR to get our car. This place was packed full of people getting a car for the long weekend and we had to wait forever!
We finally got our car, picked up some groceries, and then it was time to head to the mountains!
The next morning, we all woke up super early, ate an awesome breakfast of eggs & bacon thanks for our weekend breakfast chef, Madison, then headed off for our hike!
Since I knew we were only going to be in Vail for a short time, I decided we should do a shorter hike, but one that also has a lot of bang for your buck. We drove up to Vail Pass to hike the Shrine Pass trail! This is my 4th year in a row of completing this hike and no matter how many times I see this view, it will always take my breath away!
We started off the hike and it was cold! Madison and Claire come from Dallas and I hail from Iowa, so the 45 degree temperature was an adjustment!
But with no humidity, we definitely weren't complaining!
What hike isn't complete without stopping for multiple pictures?!
Claire and I even gave rock climbing a shot. It wasn't graceful by any means, but we think the picture was worth it!
After a couple hours, we made it to the top!
Just as we were taking off, a man arrived and offered to trade pictures. So we took a bunch of him with the view and he took a bunch of us, so we had more than just our selfies (never in my life did I actually think I'd want a selfie stick as much as I did on this hike!)
The top of this hike might be my favorite place in the whole world. It reminds me of how small and insignificant I am in this great big world that God created. No matter how big or difficult my problems might be, it always reminds me that I'm so lucky and blessed to be given all that I am. God's pretty amazing like that:)
And since I've done this hike four years in a row, I had to put a collage of all my pictures together!
After taking more pictures than I could ever post, we headed down the mountain. Nothing sounded better than burgers and a beer!
We went home, showered, and got ready to head to the village.
Gourmet on the Gore was happening this weekend, so it was packed! But luckily, we got a table at the Red Lion to watch our Hawkeyes beat Miami of Ohio!
We spent the rest of the day walking around before heading home and calling it an early night! Turns out climbing a mountain wipes you out!
The next morning, we got up early and looked outside to see clouds and rain! We hung around the condo for a bit before trekking to the soccer fields to get some exercise in!
It was about 45 degrees and rainy that morning, and I obviously packed the wrong clothing. But it felt great to get a workout in and made our afternoon of splurges even better!
Once we got ready for the day, the sun started shining so we headed down to the Village. After more shopping, a coffee stop, and a trip through the Farmer's Market, we headed to Lionshead to make our way up the Mountain! We bought our tickets to the Gondola and headed up!
The top was cold! There was a huge temperature difference and it was extra windy! So we happily sat down to order some drinks! We sat outside and froze, but our warm drinks made it worthwhile!
After we lost feeling in our fingers, we headed down the mountain and walked home to get ready for dinner!
The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we had to stop for a selfie!
The remaining time in Vail was spent at dinner, after-dinner drinks, sleeping, packing, and brunching!
It was a great trip and I was so excited our friendcation worked out! I love getting to reconnect and spend time with friends!
After we parted ways at their airport to catch our different flights, I got a picture of this little nugget...
A happy, muddy mess!
Kenni had a great weekend at my aunt & uncle's house with my cousin!
So that's my Labor Day weekend! Hope you all had a great weekend too!
xo
j
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