From Wyoming, we spent a little bit of time in Steamboat Springs. This was a cute little ski resort town that would be a relaxing place to hang out in during summer, and we found a cafe that we really liked. My good friend from college, Miranda, was there for the night, so we hung out with her, went to a bar, and had a brief taste of ski-bum in summer life. We ended up sleeping in a pull-off somewhere in the heart of Colorado.
I drove to Boulder the next day and was massively intimidated by the traffic in the mountains around Denver. Somehow I took zero photos of Boulder or of Steamboat Springs, but I absolutely adored Boulder–it isn’t somewhere I can see myself living, but it’s set amongst some absolutely stunning mountains and we walked down a main street that was cut off from cars. And there was a dispensary, of course!
From there, we drove up to Estes, outside of Rocky Mountain National Park, to stay with Miranda. I daresay I can take a lot of credit for her applying to work out there, so I was really happy to see her in that element, and it was so much fun to hang out with her and catch up.
This also allowed us some time to really hike up in the mountains! We didn’t do anything super strenuous, but I definitely got very puffed very quickly! I’m writing this way too late, but we’re pretty sure that it was Lily Mountain that the pretty views here are from.
This was one of my favourite parts of the trip, and it was really hard to say goodbye to Miranda again.