Colorado Crazy

We recently returned from our trip to Colorado with mixed emotions; mixed because, while there is no place like home, Colorado was awesome and a beautiful place to visit and we really didn't want to leave. This was an important milestone for our little Sophia too because not only was this her first official vacation but it was also her first official road trip. We originally planned to fly to Colorado but decided against it after the horrific thoughts of Sophia having a "Sophia" tantrum and disturbing a plan full of folks who want nothing more but a safe and QUIET plan ride to their destination.

We, of course, thought the perfect solution would be to drive because that way if Sophia decided to take one of her special tantrum trips, no one would have to experience it but us. What a wonderful surprise to find that our daughter is the ultimate road dawggg; she embraced the 16 hour ride there (with an overnighter in party town, North Platte, Nebraska...that's me being really sarcastic). Of course with a little help from a few of her favorite toys and a mobile DVD player that was constantly playing some of her cartoon favorites, Sophia was a joy throughout the duration of the trip. The drive was somewhat tortuous but doable. We drove I-80 all the way into Colorado, passing through Iowa and Nebraska. Not the most scenic of states but Iowa was somewhat fascinating with its abundance of wind farms. Giant wind turbines engulfed us as we drove through Iowa...ominous but fascinating. We did not encounter many in Illinois and none in Nebraska but Iowa was crawling with these massive structures; it was like something right off of the Sci-Fi network...very surreal.

We stayed overnight in North Platte, Nebraska (yawnnnnn), I wish we'd stayed in Omaha; driving through Omaha was like driving through Chicago, very lively. We stayed in a Quality Inn right off of the interstate and shared a room with a bunch of these huge beetles that just happened to infest North Platte during the time of our visit.

Once we got into Colorado, the view slowly changed and we desperately anticipated a glimpse of the glorious mountains that we'd heard so much about. Suddenly, far away in the distance, they slowly came into view and the closer we got to Denver, the larger they became...the view was breathtaking. As we drove into the Denver area, we instantly noticed the differences in this city compared to that of Chicago. The first thing we noticed was, of course, the elevation but something else that hit us pretty quickly was the cleanliness of the city...everything was soooo clean. Tom and I found ourselves looking for imperfections just so we could say "see...they have nasty folks living here too." Our hotel was located just outside of Denver in the suburb of Littleton and what a beautiful suburb it was...beautiful land, beautiful homes, booming businesses and lots of new construction...commercial and residential. Denver may have a smaller real estate market than Chicago but it is definitely is working to change that fast.

We had a wonderful time spending time with family (considering we were there primarily for my family reunion) and a great time sightseeing, driving into the awww-inspiring mountains and visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park. We took Sophia to visit Denver's Zoo which was beautiful. We stayed at a wonderful hotel ***** (Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows) that offered excellent service and fulfilled all of our needs.

So, Colorado was definitely a great vacation spot and one which I hope to return to again one day. We did not see half of the state and look forward to visiting those areas we missed. This state has such a rich history and you need more than a week to visit all of its historic landmarks and embrace its natural beauty. We can't wait to go back.