Rocky Mountain High

View from Megan and Dana's apartment

Amidst my quarter life crisis I made a trek to Denver to visit some friends.  I have been thinking that it would be fun to live in Denver for over a year but I had never actually been there.  I fixed that little problem.  I got fairly lucky getting to Denver considering the crazy snow storm that hit Chicago right as I was leaving.

My first rodeo

Dana, Megan, Kathryn, Me

Once I made it we all met up and went to the Rodeo.  It was my first rodeo and I had no idea what to expect.  I really liked it a lot.  It reminded me of a minor league baseball game except the baseball was switched out with live stock and cowboys.  Some of the entertainment was pretty cool like the synchronized horse riding (1st video).  I also really enjoyed the Bull Riding. (2nd Video)

Megan and Dana loving life and the Griz

After the rodeo we went out to the Giggling Grizzly and then over the the Gin Mill before we finally made it home.  The Grizzly is owned by the same people that own The Riv in East Lansing.  It was just a really fun night.

Drive to Estes

Drive up to Boulder

The next day Dana and myself headed up to Estes Park.  We had a little slow start but we made our way up in to the mountains.  We drove through Boulder which seemed like a really cool city.  I really loved driving through the mountains as Chicago is just a flat city with nothing other than buildings.  Though Chicago has the lake but mountains are pretty sweet too.

Me at Estes Park

Once we made it up near Estes we took some pictures by the sign for Estes Park and then wandered through the town.  Some really cool shops though I think my favorite was the place called "Chicago's Best" that had a sign stating that they were known for Philly Cheese Steaks.

Estes Park

After we wandered through Estes we took a drive up in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The park looked beautiful but unfortunately it started snowing so we really couldn't see out the amazing views that were there.  I will definitely be going back sometime to check out Rocky Mountain again.

Lobby at the Stanley Hotel

When we were getting ready to leave we stopped at The Stanley Hotel and wandered around there for a short bit before we headed back to Denver.

Art at the Art Museum

Court House

Court House

16th Street Mall

Big Blue Bear

The coolest Zamboni at Southwest
Ice Rink 

Union Station

Once we were back in Denver we order pizza from Beaujos Pizza.  Its Colorado style pizza so obviously coming from Chicago I really wanted to check that out.  I really enjoyed dipping the crust in honey and the pizza itself was excellent too.  Dana lead me around downtown so I could take some pictures after we finished dinner.  I really enjoy the smallness yet largeness of Denver at the same time.  After I took some pictures we met up with my friend Kathryn for a drink and just to chill.  Really it was just a great night.

Me and Big Blue Bear

Sunday I went to brunch at a place called Snooze.  I had sweet potatoes, cherry bourbon and a caramelized banana pancake which were all really awesome.  After brunch we drove around and I got to see some more sites in Denver.

Over all it was a city I could see myself living in.  Now I just need to figure my life out but in the mean time I will go start packing for my next trip out to Colorado to go skiing in a week!