On Tuesday, October 3, I got on a plane and flew out to Colorado for the first time. I was so excited for a new adventure with an old friend. I got off the plane and could feel the cool air and let me tell you… this Florida girl was in HEAVEN!!! When I got to baggage claim I searched around and found Ashley. She was of course wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. We headed to the car and I had this big goofy grin on my face. I was so happy to be there. Ashley asked me how I was adjusting to the thinness of the air. I said that I didn’t get it. How does the air have a thickness? It made no sense to me… I would later figure it out. Haha. We went to her house and called it a night since I had arrived in the evening.
Wednesday was my first full day in Colorado and it was a jam packed one. We started the day off hiking in Roxborough State Park. It was beautiful. The best part about being in Colorado was that I was able to see Fall beginning to happen. We ended up walking Willow Creek Loop which was a 1.4 mile hike.
Roxborough State Park
Hello. It me. 
Make a wish… 
Ashley. 
I ended up receiving a text from my friend Matt the day before asking if I was in Denver. Mind you… Matt lives in Orlando. He’s now a flight attendant and just happened to be flying into Denver at the same time I was there. What a crazy coincidence. We decided to meet up at Lodo’s Bar & Grill for dinner and drinks. It was this really cool place with a rooftop bar. Once we finished up there we went The Refinery to go get Pickle Shots… Yes. It’s a thing. It tastes like straight up pickle juice. And then we said goodbye to Matt and made our way over to the Pepsi Center.
Orlando Buddies 
Reunited in Denver
We spontaneous ended up buying tickets to go see Matchbox 20 two days prior. We got a really great deal and were in Section Row. They were wonderful last minute seats. I think we got really lucky. Leading up to that day we listened to nothing but Matchbox 20. I didn’t realize how much of a fan I was. I knew a lot more of their songs that I thought I did. It definitely became a trip back to my childhood. They were absolutely incredible live. Rob Thomas is unreal! He was so energetic and was just bouncing all around the stage and his voice never faltered. The production was just as amazing. I could have watched the lights alone. Overall I would have to say 10/10 would recommend.
Thursday came around and we decided it was a good day to just chill. We drove to Boulder and walked Pearl Street Mall. I ended up buying a long sleeve shirt that I absolutely love and I almost didn’t buy. I also got these really awesome postcards. After finding a few things we left and headed home for a while. We ended the night at Living the Dream Brewery it’s Ashley’s favorite. We both had her beer of choice “Guava Mountain Gose”.
A glass of Guava Mountain Gose
Friday was our “Downtown Denver” day. We did a little bit of everything there is to do downtown. We started the day off with a tour of Coors Field. It was only $7. Totally worth it too. They took us to the upper level of the stadium first and we slowly made our way down going though the Concourse Areas, Suite Level, Club Level, Press Level, Visitor’s Clubhouse and the Dugout. We learned all of these fun facts about the stadium and the Rockies. It was really awesome and I’m really glad that we decided to do it. So if you’re ever in Denver and are into sports in general I highly recommend doing it!
Clock tower 
Hanging by the dugout 
Walking into the visitors clubhouse 
Chillin in Club level
Coors Field
We then headed towards the Denver Art Museum. They had a few cool exhibits going on. We didn’t spend much time there. We went straight to the few areas that I had wanted to check out and then continued on.
Once we left there we went to the Denver State Capital and I took my touristy photos on the “One Mile Above Sea Level” step. I thought that was really cool. We walked over to the 16th Street Mall where we walked all the way up it. We stopped at Tokyo Joe’s for lunch which was wonderful. And then we made our way back home to get some rest after a full day.
Denver State Capital 
One Mile Above Sea Level
Saturday came around and we went graffiti hunting. We made our way over to the RiNo Art District. We drove around a bit and saw a few pieces along the walls but you really gotta look to find the good stuff. We ended up finding this really awesome alleyway that spanned across several blocks that was just full of color and artwork. It was incredible!
@vyalone 
@Atomiko 
After we made our way around the district it was time for lunch. We went to the ORIGINAL Chipotle. It was this tiny little Chipotle on the corner and there were about 8 seats in there. And if you know me… you know I LOVE Chipotle. I was so excited and it did not disappoint!
We called it a day and went home to watch the Ohio State Game. Ashley’s family are huge Ohio State fans so it was fun to watch it with them. And it was a Buckeye’s win so that’s always a plus. After the game we went to Halfpenny Brewing Company. It was a really neat spot and I could definitely see myself going there again. We actually went there to meet up with my friend Rachel who I hadn’t seen in about 6 years so that was really awesome.
Halbpfenning Hefeweizen 
Rachel & I 
Details at HalfPenny
Sunday was our Colorado Springs day. We went over to Garden of the Gods which was incredible. There’s just something about those rocks that leaves me so in awe. There were quite a few people who were climbing them which the thought of even doing that terrifies me.
