4th of July in Denver

I usually try to travel and visit a friend over the 4th of July holiday. Last year I was on Cape Cod, in 2017 I was in Wisconsin, 2016 in Seattle, and 2015 in Michigan. So when my sorority sister recently moved to Denver, I knew I wanted to visit. I had only been to Colorado once before, and that was to Four Corners, so that barely counts. I was excited to see more of the state.

Day 1

Yes, I have a patriotic unicorn shirt. Duh.

I landed in Denver on the 4th of July, and we spent most of the day at my friend's home preparing for her holiday BBQ with her husband's family. Of course we had SO much food, and guests were in the house from 4:30 until very late in the evening. Along with eating, we also played beer pong (my skills are very rusty) and watched fireworks. The fireworks were happening very close to the house, so that was convenient to just step outside to see them. It was cool seeing them sparkle over the mountains. But what was even better was that a thunder storm was rolling in at the same time, so nature was competing with her own lightning fireworks. It was so cool! But once it started to rain we came back inside and eventually headed to bed. Definitely a fun way to celebrate Independence Day!

Day 2

The next day we went on a hike in Eldorado Canyon. We had to get back to the house early in the afternoon for a furniture delivery, so we didn't hike for too long. But we hiked for about two hours, just over four miles. I could tell that the altitude affected me a little bit, but it wasn't too bad. We saw so many wildflowers, and we saw some cool wildlife like a Western Tanager and the Sandia Hairstreak butterfly. Here are some photos:

These little plants were everywhere. The leaves looked like little coins.

I was surprised by the variety of wildflowers in the area. Later I learned that Eldorado Canyon is known for its biodiversity.

After lunch, Alexandra and I sunbathed for an hour, which was glorious. Then we cleaned ourselves up and headed to Pearl Street in Boulder. There were a lot of cute shops (I spent $50 on greeting cards at Bliss alone), and it was fun seeing the historical statues sprinkled throughout the area. Here are some pics:

It was warm and sunny while we were shopping, but as we were driving to Yak & Yeti for dinner, an enormous hail storm hit us! I felt like were inside of a tornado! We did make it to the restaurant safely, but we lingered a little longer than we normally might have just to make sure the storm was gone before driving again. We ended the night watching Holmes & Watson, although I fell asleep about 30 minutes in. It had been such a long day: I was exhausted!

This isn't my friend's car, but we did see some hail damage!

Day 3

Image found here

We needed a more relaxed day, so we started off by seeing a matinee of Yesterday. I thought it was a really cute, funny movie, and if you like the Beatles, then this is a must-see. I wonder what Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr think of it!

Meghan gave an amazing distillery tour!

"Cabana Boy" cocktail

After relaxing and having lunch at home, we dressed up a little bit and did a tasting at Stranahan's, a whiskey distillery in Denver. This was the most thorough distillery tour I've ever been on. Meghan, our tour guide, did an amazing job, making the tour both fun and informative. And the whiskey wasn't bad, either! I especially liked their original single malt, which has a caramel, banana aroma and a coffee finish. Yum! We then enjoyed cocktails while playing Bananagrams before heading to La Loma for dinner. Colorado is known for its green chili sauce, and this place did not disappoint!

Day 4

For my last day, I wanted to go on another hike. So we went to the Flatirons, which is a pretty cool group of rock formations that look like, well, the flat part of an iron. The hike started with a consistent ascent through a meadow, and then we really started climbing through the trees and even were on all-fours through rock scrambles. So this was a legit hike! We had a beautiful day for our outdoor adventure, and the views were breathtaking. We also saw (and heard!) a very angry chipmunk; she was probably protecting her babies nearby. I definitely earned the Voodoo Doughnut I ate for breakfast!

We saw lots of thistles.

These rocks seemed a bit precarious. There was no net around them!

Pretty big dandelion-like puffs!

Since I had to leave that evening, the rest of the afternoon was spent just hanging out at home. We sunbathed some more, and after taking a shower and packing up my things, it was time to go. But what a fun trip: you can't beat a vacation where every day you get to eat BBQ food, play with an adorable puppy, and watch Wimbledon. Woot!

Look at this Shuba Inu baby!