Colorado!

July 27th is when we left for Colorado.  We got into Denver and got our rental car all situated, then picked up some dinner at Chick-fil-A on our way to our hotel, about an hour away.  It was so fun just hanging out with my mom!  We went to the store that evening and got some snacks, including ice cream, and shared it that evening while watching HGTV.  Mom tried getting a hold of Dallin but couldn't that evening (Dallin lives in Colorado currently).

Beautiful sunset driving to our hotel!

I had a little bit of a rough night that night since mom was snoring...hehe.  We had to get me some ear plugs the next day.  Dallin called at like 7 am and had forgotten that we were coming to Colorado!  Ha!  Crazy guy.  He was calling because he was having some intense car trouble, a bit self inflicted, and needed some help so mom was assisting him all morning.  We even switched hotels so we'd have enough room for him the next night.  Crazy.  We still made time to go hike the famous flat irons in Boulder which was beautiful!  We did a tough hike to an arch called the Royal Arch.  It was an amazing hike.  We stopped for Panera Bread after the hike but forgot to pick up our cookies so the manager told us on the phone to come back and he'd let us have all the pastries we wanted!  So fun!  So after showering we headed back to Boulder to get our treats, go to Target to pick up some things for Dallin, and walk around the famous Pearl Street Mall.  It would have been more fun if we were hungry probably.

WOW!

Mom and her little chipmunk buddy

Off to Pearl Street Mall...

Tons of weird flavors of soda at a candy shop in Pearl Street Mall

Um...ew

Soda gallery wall

Dallin needed to be picked up that evening from a town about an hour away so we headed out to get him.  We hit heavy rain and crazy hail on our way to him!!  It was super scary and I thought we were going to die.  We got to him safely and he and Jose hopped in the car.  The rest of the trip went a bit downhill from there, but we tried to enjoy it the best we could.

The next morning after getting all packed up and ready we headed out to meet up with Mike, Rachel, Jessica and crew for lunch in Rocky Mountain National Park near where our race was the next day, in Estes park.  Too bad when we tried to get into the car the battery was dead because mom had accidentally left the headlights on all night!  Oops!  We waited for the rental car guy to come jump us and then headed on our way.

Waiting on the curb

Selfie with Jose (and Dallin)

We made it and stopped for lunch in the national park!  After lunch we went on a little hike to Alberta falls.  It was a beautiful hike for being so short!  Rarely do short hikes have such a pretty reward!

Love this girl!  And baby!

After the hike we headed to the race expo to pick up our bibs and T-shirts.  The T-shirts were awesome!  We also picked up these weird plastic cup things that we had to carry during the race since it was a "cupless" race.  It actually went pretty well.  It was a fun little expo.  Afterwards we went to dinner at a place called Poppy's for some pizza and salad.  We walked around the little town of Estes Park afterwards just exploring the little shops.  Fun night!  Rachel's sister Sarah was with them with her husband Scott and daughter Kristen.

That night Dallin slept with Uncle Mike and Scott with Jose so mom and I could focus and get our race game face on for the next morning.  We woke up super early, at like 4 am to get ready and get to pick up Jessica by 4:40.  We all wore matching shirts!  Super fun!  After parking we ate some bagels and bananas and then headed to the starting line to get pumped!  The race started at 6 am.  It was a rough start for all of us I think!  I had to go to the bathroom after the first mile (too hydrated) and the altitude really killed us all.  We had a good mile 4-6 ish, then walked a lot from mile 7-11 ish.  We pushed it to the end and had a good finish!  For some reason I was super emotional at the finish.  It had been a rough weekend ha.  It was the most beautiful race I have ever run!  We are planning on doing it again next year because it was so amazing!

Biggest medal ever!

 Races are SO fun.  Can't wait for my next one!  We went to breakfast after with the crew, then showered and hung out with the fam for a while more at a park.  Then walked around downtown some more, then headed out.  We were meeting Dallin's friend Mary Lynn for dinner.  It was a bit of a dramatic dinner but Mary Lynn was super sweet and it was awesome spending time with her!  Afterwards we dropped Dallin and Jose off in Boulder and headed to Aunt Rachel's sister Sarah's house for the night.  We hung out and chatted with Jessica for a while that evening (my nephew Jesse was being born right during this conversation!) and then headed to bed early because we were all pretty exhausted.  We got up super early and headed to the airport at like 3:30 am.  We dropped off the rental car then headed to the airport!  We split up, Mom to SD and me to AZ.  So sad but what an amazing trip!  Can't wait for the race next year! :)  Thanks Jessica and parents for making the trek as well!