Colorado 2014

This year my school district had a short Fall Break at the first of October, so we decided to take a trip out west to Colorado. Even though we would miss him terribly, we left Will with Grandma and Grandpa. We new that he wasn't quite ready for this vacation and would be much happier being spoiled by grandparents.

We flew from Chattanooga to Denver, and Riley was so excited. I have no idea why I let her have some of my coffee.

I had packed meticulously for Riley, and naturally I forgot to pack the jacket I bought just for this trip. On the first day, our first stop was to buy a new jacket for me. We then drove to Garden of the Gods, where we had the best time. We spent the entire day hiking around all of the rock formations. Riley thought David was the absolute best rock climber ever. I had to show off my "flatlander" skills.

Our next stop was to Pike's Peak, where it was SO COLD! We were expecting it to be cold, but we were not expecting all of the snow. In true Riley form, she made a friend on the train ride with a little girl about her age. We weren't able to go all the way to the top, but we did get to get out of the train and play in the snow.

Our next stop was to Vail, which absolutely took our breath away. It was such a beautiful town. The trip there from Colorado Springs was long, and by the time we got to the hotel we were planning to stay in, we were tired and grumpy. Unfortunately, the hotel was full, and we had to look for somewhere else to stay. David stopped at the Ritz Carlton and got us an amazing hotel room. It was certainly worth the wait.

We spent our last days exploring the town of Vail. On our way home we were snowed in for a little while, because the pass was closed. I can think of much worse places to be snowed in than Vail, though.