Chris and Ashley visit Colorado!

Our good friends, Chris and Ashley Sellers, flew from North Carolina to Colorado on Thursday, Febraury, 23rd, and staid for a long weekend, leaving Monday evening. It was a wonderful time being able to experience Colorado through other people's eyes as this was their first trip to Colorado and their first time in the Rocky Mountains.

On Friday we were up and at it, taking our guests to a Denver favorite for breakfast, Sam's Number 3, a restaurant featured on Dives, Diners, and Drive Ins. At Sam's everything is doused in green chili, which is a distinct characteristic of south western cuisine. After stuffing ourselves silly we drove down to Colorado Springs and took a four mile hike through the Garden of the Gods. This is a gorgeous area with all the red rock formations and views of the mountains, including the infamous Pikes Peak.

That night we made Dives, Diners, and Drive Ins a theme of the day by taking them to another restaurant that was featured on the show, this time a Boulder favorite named The Sink.

On Saturday we were once again up and out the door early, this time heading all the way up into the mountains. On our way we stopped for doughnuts, a must of any trip Chris and Ashley take!

On the frozen lake at Georgetown

Our final destination of the day was the ski town of Breckenridge and mine and Katy's favorite place in the mountains. On the way we stopped to walk on the frozen lake at Georgetown, and we also made several other detours to show off some of the insanely small, rustic, and quaint mountain towns of Colorado.

Once we made it to Breckenridge we ate a packed lunch and then headed to the Nordic Center so Chris and Ashley could get their first taste of Cross Country Skiing. While Chris, Ashley, and Katy went skiing I took the dogs hiking. I really wanted to go with the group, but have been having lots of knee pain and decided it probably was not smart. After three hours of hitting the trails (and that is meant both literally and figuratively) everyone was worn out and ready to call it a day.

Before leaving Breckenridge we all went and road the Gondola, an enclosed ski lift that provides free transportation to several of the slopes, and even though we were not skiing, it is still a cool ride that provides some great scenery! After our little trip on the Gondola, we headed back down the Mountain and into downtown Denver. We went to Larimer Square and to the 16th street mall where we ate at a place called Tokyo Joe's, a Japanese chain found only in Denver and the surrounding suburbs. 

When we got home we started a fire and roasted s'mores before calling it a day and hitting the sack.

On Sunday we slept in and then headed to Golden to tour the Coors Brewing factory. This took much of the day and we spent the evening eating pizza and once again roasting s'mores. Monday morning Katy and I cooked breakfast and then I had to head to work. Chris and Ashley's flight was not until the evening so Katy took them to the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder where they enjoyed doing some shopping and grabbing a bite to eat at a local crepe restaurant.

It was a wonderful trip and meant so much to Katy and myself to have them out here, and while we are enjoying our time in Colorado, spending time with two of our best friends has definitely gotten us excited for this summer when we move back to North Carolina!