Babies, Maroons, and Aspen

So I haven’t updated in a few days, primarily because the internet access I seemed to have at the beginning of my stay in Colorado has been really sketchy over the last two days. I finally was able to check my email today for the first time since Wednesday. It’s been driving me absolutely CRAZY.

Anyway…I’ve been working hard at the deli. I’ve been so exhausted over the last couple of days because I’ve been working so much and then waking up early to either work or do some other kind of activity. Yesterday evening we spent time with Bryan & Jo’s friends Amy & Ian, their 14 month old son Sam, and Ian’s niece Alanda who, like Ian, is from Australia. It was a great night and good company, but we didn’t get back home until late so I was pretty exhausted. Every discussion seems to be about babies lately, which doesn’t really bother me, but it usually ends up being pretty funny. Jo is pregnant and due September 4^th, Amy just had Sam last august and is due again in early January, and it seems like all of Jo’s other friends are either pregnant or have just had babies. We’re having fun trying to come up with potential baby names for “Steve-o” (Bryan & Jo’s baby who is currently an it).

Today we went to Aspen since I had never been there before. With all the time I’ve spent in the state of Colorado, I really haven’t covered much territory. So we started the day by driving all the way there—which probably took about an hour and a half. We drove over Cottonwood Pass, which is a back dirt road up and down a mountain. It’s amazing how much the terrain changes throughout the state. Here in Edwards it’s very green and forest-y with a lot of taller trees, but then only 15 minutes west it becomes much more desert-y with redder dirt, then 30 minutes later it’s a meadow, and another 15 minutes later its back to the aspen and pine trees like we have here in Edwards. The views in Colorado are absolutely spectacular, and its guaranteed that some of the mountaintops will always have snow—especially the 14ers, which have an elevation of at least 14000 feet.

So, after we got across Cottonwood Pass, we eventually made our way into Aspen where we hiked around Maroon Bells. The Maroon Bells are two 14000’ peaks which are right next to each other. Because Jo is pregnant and we had their dog Salty, we didn’t hike as much as I would have liked, but it was still a really nice day. The weather was a little sketchy too, which made us all a little nervous. Despite the short hike, I took lots of beautiful pictures of the “most photographed peaks in Colorado” and the land around it. (There's also an Ansel Adams photograph of the Maroon Bluffs that's supposedly really famous!)

This is Bryan & Me with Salty at the beginning of the hike.

Here you can see how the weather was a little sketchy for our likings...it's so beautiful though, still.

So just a little tidbit extra, this year, all of Colorado had a HUGE snow season (about 600’’ reported in Aspen), so all the rivers and rapids are HUGE as a result with the snow melting. Rafting is really rough and dangerous this year, and a woman died horseback riding on Friday as a result of falling into Beaver Creek when the horse tripped and both fell into the rapids. Last I heard, the woman’s body has yet to be recovered. It almost goes without saying that I will be avoiding the rapids like the plague this summer.

After hiking around the Bells, we went into Aspen. As Bryan explained to me earlier today, Aspen began as a silver mining town around the 1870s. So, unlike Vail which was initially built to be a resort area, Aspen has many older buildings which are evidence of the town’s much longer history and the ski resort came much later. Aspen is also known for being stomping ground for the rich and famous, which is evidenced by the shops that can be found in town such as Versace and little boutiques that sell simple cotton dresses ON SALE for $398 dollars. Obviously, I didn’t buy anything in town except for some ice cream—which was to die for and definitely worth the $4 cone, especially after the afternoon of hiking. Altogether, today was a gorgeous day and I thoroughly enjoyed extending my travels in Colorado.

With respect to the Maroon Bells and the snow peaks, I’ll quote Coldplay with the minor league version of the Maroon Bells—Violet Hill.

"I took my love down to Violet Hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still"
--Coldplay