Time, take it!

Being the passenger through Glenwood Canyon...be still my heart!

In our daily lives, how many times when someone asks, "how are you"? do you respond with one word..."BUSY"!!  

Yea, me too!!  It's actually a piece of my language that I have recently decided to change, because I feel that it puts my head in a place that I don't want it to be!  I mean, I'd rather offer the response that I'm excited to be moving closer to my goals in life!  :-)  If we aren't moving towards something we desire, why are we doing what we are doing?  Do you want to just go through the process of checking off days, hours, a to do list?  

I am the first to admit to getting stuck in a rut of "doing" and must consciously remind myself that certain things can wait, or figure out how to get necessary tasks taken care of efficiently as to free up some time to just be, enjoy the world and people around me.  It's one of the catalysts to my desire to be up in the mountains each weekend!

Last weekend was a time that we did just that, recharged, reconnected, lived without a schedule for 48 hours!  Chris surprised me with an overnight in Glenwood Springs and I was chomping at the bit to go!!

 A spontaneous change in route took us over Loveland Pass which turned out to be well worth any extra miles!!  

We enjoyed 2 days filled with spontaneity and doing things that we love, together, many times with little to no cell reception.  

Our day started with an outstanding lunch in Vail, and while we were eating, we hopped on the All Trails app and found a trail close by that looked right up our alley!  It was nice to stop in Vail since a) Vail has phenomenal beauty to be experienced and b) I was excited to visit trails that were beyond my normal realm of accessibility on my usual weekend jaunts!

After filling up our bellies, we headed out to the trail head with snowshoes in bag (in case) and layered up!  How quickly our layers were shed as we found ourselves on a steady climb with some magnificent temperatures!  Our elevation gain of just under 1500 feet left us stopping a lot to relish in the the visuals, catch our breath and yes, take a few pictures ;-).  

Even with a bad ankle, we made it all the way up the mountain!

The trail was packed snow and we only saw a handful of other people, and a few very friendly pups...pure heaven.

The sparkle of the snow took my breath away when we found our way into this clearing.  The scene was fantastic!

Post hike, our tired legs gladly dropped us into the warm seats of the car and we continued on our trek towards our final destination.  We settled into our room, freshened up and picked a local pub on the map to test out the menu!!  Glenwood Brew Pub won the crap shoot and we found it was significantly larger inside than we had thought it to be!!!  We were thrilled   to have a very patient and accommodating waitress who indulged our super restricted dietary weirdness and we enjoyed one of the all time BEST meals we have had, in a restaurant, in a long time!  

Glenwood Brew Pub gets two thumbs up for outstanding food and accommodating a couple of high maintenance eaters!

Feeling completely satiated, we wrapped up our day by getting into our swim suits and heading over to Iron Mountain Hot springs for some R&R.  Hoping that some of the younger crowd had cleared out after dark, we were pleasantly surprised with an adult setting, a 106 degree pool with my name written all over it, and very chill music faintly playing continuously in the background.  The air was a little on the crispier side which made the night even more heavenly!! 

Iron Mountain Hot Springs....relaxation like none other!

Sunday didn't go QUITE as gloriously smooth as Saturday, but it's all about how you handle a situation and not what happens....right?  After being enticed with a hike that I have been wanting to tackle for almost a year, we headed over to Maroon Bells in Aspen!!  I was GIDDY I tell you, at the thought of what lay ahead!!  Wellllll, all the people who had reviewed the hike in the last few days failed to mention that the road to get to the trail head is not plowed so it's a 6 mile hike... just to start your hike :-)!  That was definitely not happening for Chris and I.  Its safe to say I was highly let down and therefore very disappointed but after assessing a few options, we regrouped and found a little local trail that was next to a hidden ski resort, and enjoyed what we had laid out in front of us!

The end of the road...unless you were ready for a long walk!

This little hidden gem turned out to be gorgeous, with so many aspen trees, many of which were HUGE!  

The weekend left me recharged to say the least.  It was so nice to escape my normal routine and feel the freedom to be spontaneous!  

Half way up ad the layers were being shed! 

If any of you have places that you would recommend for a quick mountain get away with beautiful scenery and hiking, I would completely appreciate a note being left below!!  On our way home we were mentally making a list of places we wanted to get to in the near future and would welcome any experiences you can offer!!