Hip, Hip, Ouray! (and Telluride and Aspen)

Wanting to get caught up? Read our last Colorado post here.

Another day, another Colorado adventure. I’m turning into Daniel Boone overnight! After Ellie flew back to SF, the rest of my family got to stick around. 

We spent a few days lazing around the cabin, which is never hard to do. I could sit around this fireplace for hours!

We also headed out to the surrounding Rocky Mountain National Park, where we brought out our nature-y side for hikes at Meadow Mountain, Lily Lake, and Emerald Lake. 

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After a few nights (and s’mores) at our cabin, we headed out to a few other Colorado cities, Telluride and Aspen. The whole trip was a blast, from trekking to these new places in the state to the scenic drives in between. 

On the way into Telluride, we stopped in the town of Ouray — known as the “Switzerland of Colorado” — for lunch and made a quick trek up to Cascade Falls. Some of the scenes of the 2010 “True Grit” were filmed here, and it was the perfect southwestern setting to match. The whole town had me itching to buy a pair of cowgirl boots.

We also drove past Ralph Lauren’s 17,000 acre ranch outside Telluride, catching a glimpse of his famous luxurious teepees off in the distance (plus, Oprah has stayed here!).

Tucked away in a canyon, Telluride mixes cozy ski town feel with Victorian charm. Its quaint and isolated downtown was a much-needed break from our bustling summer in KC. 

Dinner that night featured cheese and chocolate fondue in an intimate Swiss restaurant; diners could even see the chef preparing the food from any of the tables! The creamy fondue easily put The Melting Pot to shame.

On the (extremely picturesque) drive to our next stop in Aspen, we spotted a fruit farm on the side of the highway that allowed visitors to pick their own berries.

Needless to say, we came back to the car 45 minutes later with boxes of fresh raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. And yes, I look like the cover of “Blueberries for Sal” in this photo (pictured above).

Once we got to Aspen, we strolled through the downtown shops and did a mini hike around a lake with Pinterest-covetable views of the Maroon Bells.

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I had so much fun experiencing parts of Colorado I had never seen before. I’m still dreaming about the cheese fondue! 😍(And we’ll have to do trips without Ellie more often!)