Week 58

Day 404

Indianapolis, IN

39.7910° N, 86.1480° W

We just wrapped up our time in Colorado and have continued #CourtmasROADtrip2014 to Indianapolis Indiana.

I have a job at the new Hot Yoga Indy so Tom and I are yogiing it up at the studio for 10 days before we head North to Michigan.

Our family, (for those that don’t know, Tom has 6 brothers and sisters.  1 brother and 1 sister live in the Denver area.) brought us to Colorado.  So I have to say much of the highlights of our time were hanging with the fam, but Colorado is an amazing place! 🙂

I will soon tell you the

8 Gems we discovered in Colorado

But First I need to show off my niece and nephews…

Holly with Byron the Giraffe!

Anyways, obviously our family is pretty awesome but we found some gems in Colorado that make this state stand out on its own.

1. Garden of the Gods

One of the coolest things we did while we were in Colorado was drive down to Colorado Springs to check out Garden of the Gods.

It’s a super easy trek through the park, but the scenery is spectacular!

 2.  Artisan Towns and Gourmet Restaurants 

You may or not know this, but there are actually laws in Boulder that prohibit franchises from operating within the city.

I’m not 100% sure how these laws work, because I definitely noticed a starbucks but I appreciate the pride business owners take in their shops making quite a few towns around Denver amazingly cute with really good, fresh, HEALTHY food!

We really enjoyed Louisville, (and obviously aren’t the only ones since it’s been voted in the top 10 of many “best of lists” including being #1 in Money’s 100 best places to live in the United States in 2011 and 2009) but there are tons of cute little towns a few of our favorite being Manitou Springs, Arvada, Castle Rock, and Boulder.

 3. Amazing Beer and Events that Celebrate it

While my heart is loyal to Seattle I have to admit Colorado has better beer–at least for my palate.

While the entire west coast seems to have an obsession with IPAs, the breweries in Colorado seem to have a much more diverse selection including some great porters, stouts, and Belgians.

In the 3 weeks we were in Denver we hit up Fat Tire’s Tour de Fat and Denver’s Brew at the Zoo.

We didn’t have time to hit up any actual breweries this trip, but from tasting at all the Artisan Restaurants we ate at, I see a trip to Avery in my future! 🙂

4. Sunrises and Sunsets are Spectacular

5. Hikes are a dime a dozen

Trail heads are not hard to find in the Denver area.  In fact the question would really be are you up for a 14’er…meaning summitting one of the 53 14ers in the area.

We didn’t do a 14er ourselves, but we did get out one Saturday to explore the El Dorado trail area with our friends Tessa and Graham.

7. The Wolf and Wildlife Sanctuary

We celebrated Tom’s birthday on September 11th in Colorado and one of the gifts he (we) received from his mom were tickets to visit the Wolf and Wildlife Sanctuary for a feeding.

The sanctuary is located just a bit further west than Garden of the Gods which makes the two a great combo to do in the Colorado Springs area.

7 . Farm to Table Food

Obviously many restaurants in the Denver area like to cook farm to table food, but it very easy to have fresh veggies from organic farms in your home as well.

My sister-in-law is part of a program where she receives fruit, greens, eggs, and micro-greens each week from a local farm.  Every week is different and often you don’t know what you will be getting that week.

While we were in town we received about 6lbs of peaches so this cook turned baker for a day to make peach jam and crisp!

8.  Local Parks

Not only are there tons of local parks and paths to run on, but there is also a local playground in every housing community and some are pretty darn serious ones.

My favorite is just off of the Castle Pines Parkway near Castle Rock.

Check it out!:

That was about all we did in Colorado.  In between adventures, Tom had the best working conditions he’s had in months!

Good WIFI combined with peace and quiet makes Tommy a happy man.

Working on projects with his brother makes him even happier!

and watching Holly “work” next to Tom has me daydreaming about our future 😉

Until next time!  🙂