Colorado and New Mexico - Part II ABQ

After our stay in Colorado, we thought it would be fun and easy to hop on a short and cheap flight down to Albuquerque, NM to visit the Bounds Family.  Plus Avery could see a new state she's never been to!

We happened to be visiting during the world renowned Balloon Fiesta...what good luck! We got up really early, bundled up and headed down. It was beautiful to see them light up before the sun rise. There were so many different shapes and designs. Some were advertisements, some were characters and some were just traditional hot air balloons. Avery really enjoyed the balloons and would point to each one and say "balloon, balloon!"



Family Shot Albuquerque Balloon Festival 2011



It's the largest hot air balloon launch in the world, over 700 take off at once!




Avery enjoying the view from Daddy's back

 

Balloons before sun rise

 Avery and Emerson loved playing together with all of the toys at the Bounds house! It was so fun to see how grown up Emerson now is.  We saw her when she was just starting to walk last summer at the beach and about 14 months old.  The Bounds Family also had a recent addition of a baby boy named Weston. We both loved our snuggle time with that adorable baby boy!  What fantastic hosts they were!

We took an afternoon and headed up to Santa Fe, NM.  We had always wanted to see that city and with it being a state capitol it is a potential for relocation in the future.  We found a roof top pizzaria right off of the town square with a outdoor deck.  They served pizza with a blue corn crust so of course we had to try it!

After dinner we got dessert and strolled through the streets to see some of the sights.

Since Colleen is in half marathon training mode, we had to continue long runs while on the trip.  This meant a 12 mile run while in NM.  She found online the Rio Grande Trail and so we set off on an afternoon to run it.  We were dissapointed that it didn't seem to actually offer any views of the Rio Grande...just of the irrigation canal.  After the run we realized that Abq is also at a mile high...no wonder the run felt tough (including no bathrooms or water along the way!)   Apparently Paula Radcliffe does training runs along this trail...we didn't see her though.

The beautiful Sandia Mountains are visable almost anywhere in Abq and Lindsay and Aaron have a great view of them from their backyard!

We decided to do the touristy thing and head up the Sandia Aerial Tramway. It's the longest aerial tramway in the world. It was a really neat ride up in a gondala type car that held about 25 standing passengers. We got some great views up at the top and grabbed a drink and snack at the restaurant High Finance.

Here is the view from the top, of the tram coming back up:

And of course while on our trip we enjoyed lots of Einstein Bagels!  I think we may have eaten there at least once a day.  Boy do we miss our San Diego Einstein..but this helped numb the pain for a little while :-)

Colorado and New Mexico - Part I Colorado

Avery was ready for a trip to see a new state (CO).  We took off on Tuesday for our flight to Denver.  We are amazed how Avery always takes out the safety cards and reads them.  Safety first!

As soon as we landed we went straight downtown to the LoDo neighborhood, and to Wynkoop Brewery for lunch.

We really loved the food and beer there, Avery also enjoyed growing up enough to be able to drink milk from a real cup now, even if it did eventually get a little messy compared to a sippy cup!

We also really loved the LoDo neighborhood.  It contains Union Station (where the Amtrak and light rail lines meet, plus 3 new commuter rail lines under construction), Coors field where the Rockies play, and a great mix of old restored buildings and new high-rises, not to mention the REI flagship store and the Aquarium.

Then after lunch we checked into our hotel we drove around the Washington Park neighborhood to see some beautiful homes.  The neighborhood contains some beautiful old homes that surround the park just a few miles south of downtown.  After that we drove to City Park (where the zoo is) and gave Avery a chance to get out and run around.  She towered over the Denver skyline

And the weather was great with beautiful foliage in the park near the playground



Then we went for a run with the BOB jogging stroller on a trail in City Park called the Mile High Trail.  It is supposedly a 5k loop that follows the exact mile contour at 5,280' above sea level.  However we noticed it had a few ups and downs on the trail so we questioned that a bit!  However the loop at City Park has the best view of the Denver skyline!

The next morning we headed straight out for Rocky Mountain National Park, about an hour north of Denver near the town of Estes Park.  Wow what a great park!  We hiked up some trails and drove on Trail Ridge Road (which goes over 12,000').  The foliage really added the beauty of the park.  We stopped at some alpine lakes while hiking, our first stop was Bear Lake

Then next was Nymph Lake

Then next was Dream Lake

The trail also passed some unbelievable views

And crossed neat streams, looked like either a shot of a beer commercial or a Bob Ross painting:

Thanks to Colleen's sharp eyes we were able to quickly spot some elk in the park in time for Jim to snap a picture of them

It was also neat that park had road and trails that went above the tree line

(We were lucky the weather was so good that day, the following day the park saw a foot of snow and Trail Ridge Road closed for the season!)

One the way back to Denver we stopped for lunch in Estes Park and Avery learned how much she loves spicy salsa!

We hit the playground in town for a little bit before heading back down the mountain.

We stopped in Boulder on the way back, at the Avery Brewing Company.  We've enjoyed the beer here in North Carolina so we knew we had to stop there so Avery could see her namesake Brewery!

We even bought an Avery Brewery toddler shirt for her, but it is still too big so once she grows into it we'll take a picture of her in it!

The next day we went to Red Rocks park, where the famous outdoor theater is and where beautiful rock formations exist, including the entrance to the park

We hiked around the beautiful rock formations

But man it was windy that day!

And we were wowed by the people exercising up all the rows of seats in the amphitheater!

We ate lunch at the restaurant there, and then headed up high into the mountains into much different weather!

We first went to the Mt Evans auto road, which is the highest road in North America at over 14,000'.  However it had just closed for the season just four days earlier.  We really wanted to see the incredible views and wildlife but I guess we'll have to do that on another trip.  We were able to get up to 11,000 at least to see Echo Lake from the shoulder of the road as snow started coming down.

We then went to hike to St Mary's Glacier, but again we were hampered by the first snow of the season in the mountains.  At the trail head, a very windy sleet/snow mix started pounding us, stinging our face.  So we immediately got back into the car before Avery got even more upset!  Were disappointed though because the pictures online look like a short 1 mile hike to a beautiful lake and then a glacier that one can hike on.

So we drove over to Breckenridge

We walked around downtown a bit and Avery loved all the mom-and-pop toy stores

Here she is on a toddler trampoline at one of the stores

Then we went to the Breckenridge Brewery for a tasty dinner and fresh brewed beer

The next day we stayed in town to see some more of the city.  We had lunch at LoDo's Bar and Grill and had a nice lunch on the deck overlooking the ballpark.

Then we went for a ride on the Platte River Trolley which runs along the river between stops at the REI flagship store, the Aquarium, the Children's Museum, the football stadium.  They give a bit of history along the route too.

Then we went into the Denver Aquarium where the bar and restaurant allowed you to site right up against some fish.  Avery at first enjoyed seeing the fish up close

And an up-close view of the tiger exhibit there.  The tigers are swimming tigers, who unfortunately weren't in the mood at that time to swim but the view up close was neat.  (Avery pointed and said "kitty").

There is also a neat glass tube where you can walk under the fish, and a big shark swam right over us!

There is also a cool restaurant and bar there where you eat right up against the glass of one of the large aquarium tanks with huge fish swimming by your table.  We did think it was ironic though, that fish was on the menu.  You could be eating fish looking right up against the fish swimming by!
After the aquarium, Avery was ready for a nap so we went for a jog along the Platte River Trail while she slept.  It was a nice trail along and over the river adjacent to downtown.

The next day we woke up to a big change in weather in Denver, from 70s and sunny to 30s and snow falling, they even had to de-ice our plane as we prepared to depart to Albuquerque.  We had a great time in CO but it was time to move onto to our next stop!

Because we are temporarily in a hotel while our house is being repaired from water damage due to a pipe burst on this trip (we'll have a blog about that eventually), we have been slow to get these blogs up.  We'll have a post about the New Mexico second half of our trip in a few days, hopefully!