After what felt like an interminable week we threw our suitcases in the car, went to pick up Kaila’s sister, and headed to the airport. For a late night flight to Denver. An hour delay later and we landed in Colorado around 11pm. We still had to drive out to Idaho Springs where we would be staying for the weekend. Kaila’s parents were kind enough to stay up and wait for us to get to the cabin so we could pick bedrooms.

Friday morning we woke filled with excitement. We were in Colorado! After breakfast with the family we drove out to Georgetown to visit the courthouse. The clerks were very helpful; giving us ideas for flower shops and commenting on the weather. There was predicted snow for the entire weekend. When we got back to Idaho Springs we had to make a grocery run for dinner. Kirk’s family was all suppose to arrive around dinner time and we had plans of cooking for everyone. After unloading groceries and browsing around the cabin again in daylight we went exploring on a trail that the property owners had been constructing.

After exploring the trail and relaxing for a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat and check out the town. The road to Idaho Springs is definitely more scenic in the daylight. We found a fantastic local brewery with some tasty food options and an even tastier beer selection. If you’re driving through Colorado on I-70, check out Tommyknocker Brewery; they even have crowlers! On the way back to our car we just had to stop at a quaint looking shop. We unexpectedly left with two candles, a bath bomb, and bird wine charms.

Back at the cabin we decided to get a head start on dinner, accompanied by The Greatest Showman soundtrack of course. Once Kirk’s family arrived we began to grill chicken and veggies. The food turned out great and the quinoa salad we prepared earlier was definitely a hit.

Saturday we got to sleep in (thankfully!) but were equally excited to go hiking. We drove down CO-103 and stopped at Echo Lake Park for a brief walk around the lake. Then we headed to Chief Mountain but stopped at Juniper Pass on the way.

The Chief Mountain trailhead was on the side of the road so of course we missed it. After parking on the shoulder we headed up. It started off kind of foggy and definitely looked like we could get rained (or snowed) on. All along the trail there were patches of fresh snow. Once we started hiking the clouds became less frequent and the snow had begun melting. We passed a couple of groups coming down who said that the clouds had started breaking and you could see Mount Evans. When we reached the top the clouds had broken and there were wonderful views in every direction.

While we were enjoying lunch at the top Kaila’s family showed up. After finishing chatting and eating we headed down and immediately started seeing clouds roll in. It started raining (snowing? sleeting?) on us about halfway down and we both took our rain jackets out. The trek down took us about half as long as we were back at the car by 2:30pm. This left us plenty of time to get back to town, pick up a bottle of wine for tomorrow, shower and then head to Denver to meet Kirk’s friends for dinner. We ate at a vegetarian only restaurant downtown with entrees that tasted exactly like meat. Kaila had the chicken parmesan and Kirk had the pastrami sandwich. They also had $2 house beer so we each partook in a couple.

We got back to the cabin around 7pm and caught up with Kirk’s family, but only for a bit before it was off to an early bedtime for us!