Colorado Trip 2023

Hey! Today I am going to be telling you all about my recent trip to Colorado!

We (My dad, mom, sister and me) flew to Colorado on May 25th 2023. As soon as we landed we went straight to pick up our rental car, which was a Cadillac. After we picked the car up we drove to our hotel (Element Hotel), on the way to the hotel we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for food. At this point we were all super tired from the flight and everything so we scarfed down the food and than headed for our destination, the hotel. After we got to the hotel it was just shower, change clothes and head to bed.

The next day, May 26th, 2023 we had a very late start to our day. We only were ready, and awake at around 8ish. We started with breakfast at the hotel and then all of us clamored into the car and headed to our first stop. WALGREENS. lol. We stopped at Walgreens for snacks for the long trip ahead of us. We were going to be doing a lot of driving. Next stop of the day, was Rocky Mountain National Park. The only problem was that it was 2 hours away. Those 2 hours were relatively smooth, other than the occasional ear popping, it was a mostly scenic ride. After we got to the visitor center, we went inside and talked to one of the Park Rangers about which hikes we could do that day. The Rangers told us a number of different hikes that we could do. So we got back into the car, (lol again) and drove to the entrance of the national park. As soon as we entered the park, we lost all cellular signal. Which was good (so that we could be with nature lol) but also had its down sides like getting lost (because of no maps). So it was like back in the 80’s where we had to follow a paper map. We got lost. Well not exactly lost, but we thought we were on route to a trailhead but we passed it and didn’t realize that it was passed. So we kept driving (cliffside) on a LONG road, by the time we realized it we had been driving about one hour. So we stopped at a scenic point, which also turned out to be a trailhead (sorta). At the trailhead is where we realized that we were lost and that we passed where we wanted to go. So we decided we would just go on the SHORT hike that were at, there was so much snow! The trail was called the Tundra Trailhead. It was very fun hiking in snow (sorta hiking). After that we headed back into the car and continued the cliffside drive for another 10 minutes, we stopped at many different places along the way. Then, we decided we were also exhausted (it was about 1ish) so we turned back and drove another one hour to exit the national park. During the drive back it started snowing and raining at the same time so that made the drive back tenser (especially for me). Once we made it to the exit we headed to eat at a restaurant called “Bird and Jim, Colorado Cuisine.” The food there was ok, I had a mushroom burger, but um I didn’t realize there was mushrooms in it. So I was sorta gagging the entire time, lol. After then we headed to the local supermarket to buy some more food for the trip. Then my parents wanted some coffee so we also stopped at a coffee shop. Then finally we headed to our cabin where we would be staying the night. We stayed there till about 5:00 to 5:30, and just chilled in bed. Afterward we left for dinner, which was at an Nepali Restaurant. The food was honestly terrible, the only thing that was pretty good was the naan. Then after dinner we walked around town for 10 minutes or so, till we headed back home to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be another day of adventures.

The next day, May 27th, (Saturday), We started our day bright and early. Waking up at 5am, and leaving the house at 5:50. The Rocky Mountain’s National Park was about a 10 minute drive from our cabin and we reached at around 6. Learning from yesterdays mistakes, we took the right road today. Heading to the trailhead we saw a lot of elks. The first hike we did was about half a mile or so and it was around a lake (bear lake) . The entire hike was in snow, and we stopped a lot of times to take lots of pictures. I had a lot of fun throughout the hike, the only thing that was kind-of annoying was that I kept slipping on the ice. After then hike we went on another half a mile hike TO a lake this time. The hike there was cliffside for most of the time which was a bit nerve-racking, but it was a lot of fun. It was truly peaceful and I had SO SO SO much fun. After both of the hikes we got back into the car and drove the SAME route we did yesterday except today we went a lot farther and got to see even more scenic places. At this point it was about 10-11. So we decided to head out of the park and to our next stop. GLENWOOD SPRINGS. The only thing, it was a 3-4 hour drive to Glenwood Springs and our hotel. The drive like last time was relatively smooth and nice, except for the occasional ear popping. The drive was SUPER scenic. After we reached we went straight to the hotel room (it was about3-4) and we relaxed there till about 5. Then we went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant which had AMAZING food. I loved it soooo much. We wanted to go to an adventure park in Glenwood Springs but it was closed so we went to the city instead and hung out there for a bit, and got ice cream. By this time we were all SUPER tired but after we got back to the hotel we watched some shark tank before going to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day!

The next day, May 28th (Sunday), we woke up at our own pace and headed to BlueBird cafe from breakfast. At BlueBird cafe we had bagel sandwiches which were not that good. Then we all hopped into the car preparing from another 3-4 hour drive to our next stop. BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON NATIONAL PARK. As soon as we got there we went straight to the visitor center to see which hikes we could do. (It was about 11-12 by the time we reached). On the way to Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park we had stopped to pick up subway for lunch which we ate at the visitor center. After lunch we started driving though the park, we stopped at many different scenic view points. To get to the view points we had to do a very short hike to get to the point. At this point we all were very exhausted from the heat, so after stopped a few more times we decided to just drive a bit more around everywhere. Then we decided to head back to our hotel, which was not a chain hotel just a small hotel. This hotel had the hands down WEIRDEST carpet I have ever seen in a hotel. One of the carpets had fishes swimming and green background, while our room had a BRIGHT purple carpet (just weird). We chilled at the hotel for a few hours and watched shark tank. Than at around 6ish we went out for dinner at taco bell (lol), we decided that we would pick up the food and then go back to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison so that could do some star gazing. The stargazing was SO SO SO much fun, at the stargazing sight we met a girl (from Philly I think) who told us so much about stars and everything. AT around 10 we headed back to the hotel for some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a VERY long day of driving.

The next day, aka, the LAST DAY, we woke at about 5, because we had a LONG drive back to Denver. Denver was where our flight was going to be at. We had breakfast at the hotel and then jumped into the car for a VERY long five (ish) hour drive!. During the drive there was a lot of scenic views and amazing sights. At about the 3 hours mark we stopped at the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE for a bit so that my parents could get coffee. Then we got back into the car prepared for the ear popping ride through the mountain’s. FINALLY after another painfully exhausting (especially for my dad who was driving) we reached our first destination LUNCH. For lunch we stopped at a mediterranean restaurant, I think it was called Cava. The food there was REALLY REALLY good. Afterwards we decided to go the outlet mall and we shopped at adidas. I got so so so many clothes (which I needed) . Then we headed to airport to fly back to Chicago!

THAT concludes my trip to Colorado! Thank you for reading! Have a good day.