This summer I kicked off a two-week long trip traveling to Colorado, among some other surrounding states.

Denver

June 3, my mom and I arrived in Denver, CO, straight off the plane we got our rental car and headed to the University of Denver (DU). At first seeing the flatness of Denver, I was confused where the mountains were, this didn’t last for long because once you get outside of the airport and heart of Denver the geography starts to open up and it’s more like how you would expect Colorado to look, with the beautiful mountains and big pine trees, though the mountains were still about an hour drive away.

My favorite part from touring DU, was their roof top dining area, that had an outdoor patio with an amazing view of the Rockies. Asides from that the college tour was what I’d call pretty “standard”, touring the campus and learning about the classes and degrees the school has to offer.

Boulder

Following that we began driving to Boulder, arriving the day before my tour of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Prior to the tour we got up early and got breakfast at the Alpine Modern Café, which was just a short bike ride from where we stayed. Although the bike ride from the St. Jullien Hotel was short, something I wasn’t expecting was how out of breath I’d be. People always say the high altitude will affect you and that you have to stay well hydrated, and while I didn’t experience any headaches, this exertion sure tired me out, even being an athletic person.

Boulder is a place that I have been dreaming of visiting, and I have always only heard good things about the place. Needless to say, it met all my expectations of what I dreamed it would be.

The mountains and flatirons create the most perfect backdrop for the campus. The town of Boulder is similar in a sense to the college town of Athens, at the University of Georgia, that friendly community feel. Pearl Street is a must do destination in Boulder, not only is it full of fun, but quaint shops, well known brands, and amazing restaurants.

With the rest of the time in Boulder, we used it to experience what living there would be like, and went to the iconic local places like, The Sink, Chautauqua Park, and biking along the Boulder Creek.

Vail

Next stop, still in Colorado was Vail. It was a two-hour drive through the mountains to get to the Grand Hyatt Hotel, a popular hotel in the winter for ski season, as you can get on and off the chairlifts at the hotel and arrive directly on the slopes. Even though it was summer it was entertaining to see chairlifts running up and down, from the lounge chairs at the hotels pool.

Running through the entirety of Vail is the Gore Creek, which was very relaxing to listen to the roaring water at night, and also very entertaining seeing bikers along the trail and kayakers moving right along the creeks rapid waters. Another fun attraction in Vail is shopping at Lionheads and Vail Village, my favorite shop was Aviator Nation and I also really enjoyed getting to see the beautiful buildings, its considered to have a “charming Bavarian-style alpine villages.”

It just happened to be that the GoPro Games were happening while we were in Vail, June 6-9. Making the shopping village the place to be, because of this it was definitely more crowded but very entertaining to see, expert kayakers, rock climbers, people on slack lines and so much more.

Red Rocks

To close off our time in Colorado was the dreadful two-hour car ride back to the airport. Dreadful because I knew my time in Colorado was over. I couldn’t have not gone to Colorado without going to Red Rocks, so I begged my mom to stop on our way to the airport.

Red Rocks amphitheater is a phenomenon because it is, “the only naturally-occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater in the world,” Stars like Stevie Nicks, The Beatles, and Bruce Springsteen have all preformed there, and my personal favorite, Zach Bryan.

For me going to a concert there would be an absolute dream come true, not only for the music, but the atmosphere and breathtaking view of the red rocks and Denver skyline, but this will have to wait until next time.