Denver Trip

Now that I've recovered somewhat from our road trip I figured I would do a quick post about our last minute mini vacay as a family.  I've been feeling the "itch" to just get away from ABQ for a while now.  When Billy came to me saying he didn't have school on Monday (President's Day) and it was his 4 day weekend, he wanted to get out of town for a bit, I was 100% ready to go.  Luckily, where we live, it doesn't take a full days drive to cross over the state border (unlike Texas).  Denver was our first choice.  Plus we would be able to see some friends we hadn't seen in quite some time.  I wasn't remotely worried about traveling with a baby, as long as I was prepared.  Sophie did amazingly on the trip.  Slept, "talked", and only fussed when she was hungry or needed a new diaper.

We had a later start then I wanted but it was hard to wake up on my first alarm.  We finally hit the road around 9am, Sunday, and arrived at our first hotel a little after 5pm in Denver.  I say our first since we were too scared to stay finding out how bad they enforce their pit bull ban.  In hindsight, I do remember hearing about their atrocious ban on a very family friendly dog, but it just never occurred to me while planning for the trip.  The front desk was nice enough to let us transfer our stay north of the city.  It actually turned out to be a better fit since it had plenty of space for her to roam and use for her business.

Now that we are all situated in our room we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday:  Even though we had a late start, I don't think Billy and I got as much rest as we liked.  I think we both woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Or maybe it was me lol.  After some grub and finally a cup of coffee I think we were ready to conquer the day.  We wanted to go up Mount Evans, but then I read some more about the trip and found out it's only open during the summer time.  Plan B was to go to the aquarium.  It turned out to be a great outing even though it was pretty packed thanks to a holiday.  I think Sophia enjoyed looking at all the pretty fishes.  I know Billy enjoyed showing them to her :)

After the aquarium it was nap time for ALL.  After a long nap for Sophia and a short one for me, we decided to check out downtown Denver.  It is such a pretty city, at least the parts we went to.  We wanted to go somewhere for shopping.  Even though the only shopping we did was at Ross (looking for gloves yet they were sold out; we did score some sunglasses) and Walgreen's, we really enjoyed strolling through the 16th St. Mall.  I loved how the lights were all lit up, the wide sidewalks, and the overall atmosphere.  We will definitely have to go back when it's warmer and enjoy some of the local restaurants.  As we were walking, Billy found out that some of his high school/ Lubbock friends were meeting just a few blocks down.  We spent a couple hours catching up, meeting each other (for me at least), and showing off our delightful lil girl.  She did really well considering it was way past her bed time.   We said our goodbyes and finally made it to our hotel around 10:30.

Tuesday:  We made plans to meet up in Fort Collins to meet up with our old San Diego roomies.  We met them for lunch and they got to meet Sophia for the first time.  I can't wait for them to have their own lil one, when the time comes :)  Cat showed us around, CSU campus, the town, and Horse Tooth Reservoir.  We then relaxed at their apartment before heading back to the Denver area to meet up with another friend.  It was nice to just relax and catch up with Cat.

We met up with Jeff, a high school friend of Billy's.  He was kind enough to take us out to his favorite taco shop.  Really good baja style tacos that Billy and I have been missing since moving to NM.  We then hung out at his place, played a little Mario Kart, and watched his dog and Sadie just have a ball.  I was thankful Sadie and Marty got along perfectly since I knew she was getting all her energy out before the long drive back home.

Excited for the trip!

looking toward Santa Fe

passing by AF Academy in Colorado Springs

enjoying some playtime in bed

cold but ready to see some fish

Love this one :)

so cute :)

Cat and I, Horse Tooth Reservoir 

Billy and I

Sadie enjoyed some outdoor time

We finally hit the road back to ABQ around 9:30 that night.  Since Billy usually stays up all night the night before he works, we figured we would drive then.  I had a hard time catching some z's, especially when we were driving through some snow after we reach Raton.  We were fortunate that not that many cars were driving at that time (around 2am).  We made it to our house around 5:30am, Wednesday, and we were in our comfy beds by 6.  It was a lazy, pj day for Sophie and I and I actually napped when she napped.

Overall, it was a great trip and much needed.  Billy mentioned that the next 4 day weekend he gets we will make another trip somewhere and I'm totally game for it :)