Road trip through Colorado and Utah

Dear followers,

On Friday, August 23, 2024, we finally set off for our much-anticipated summer vacation. With great excitement, we made our way to the airport to fly to Denver. Three hours later, we arrived. However, before our actual road trip started on Monday, we spent the weekend exploring Denver. We took a free walking tour, visited the botanical garden, and did a bit of shopping. On Sunday, we drove to St. Mary's Glacier (3300m). After hiking for 40 minutes uphill from the parking lot, it quickly became clear that the ascent was worth it. It was truly beautiful up there!

On Monday, we visited the Denver amphitheater with the famous Red Rocks and strolled through Boulder. Then it was time to head to the airport, as a flight from Frankfurt was landing in the afternoon. With it came Ronja, Steffen, and Levi. After they were greeted with a large welcome sign, we picked up our rental car and drove the first two hours to our accommodation in Manitou Springs. There, it was first about settling in and letting the three recover from jet lag.

The next days were filled with highlight after highlight: We drove through the Garden of the Gods, enjoyed the view from Pikes Peak at over 4000m altitude, visited a gold mine, checked out a few hot springs, and explored Mesa Verde National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Colorado National Monument, and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Every day had a new highlight to see, which made it hard for us to decide retrospectively which national park was the most beautiful. Each national park was completely unique in terms of nature and attractions.

However, we did all share one absolute highlight: When we leisurely returned from breakfast to our room on Monday morning to pack our things for the day, there was actually a huge deer right in the meadow in front of our accommodation, complete with a herd! Of course, we took some photos of this before we went to explore the Rocky Mountains. Throughout the day, we saw some more deer, but none were as large as the one in the morning.

After nine fantastic days in Colorado and Utah, our vacation was already coming to an end. Last Tuesday, we flew back to Pittsburgh. This time, however, not alone, as Steffen, Ronja, and Levi flew back with us and stayed a few more days with us in Pittsburgh. While Julian had to work again on Wednesday, I did my best to give them nice city tours over the next few days. In the evenings, we watched a baseball game with Julian, played Wizard, and grilled on our terrace.

On Saturday, it was finally time to say goodbye. The three of them continued their USA vacation to Washington and New York, while we returned to our normal daily routine. Julian went back to work as usual, while I helped out at the botanical garden in Pittsburgh.

However, the normal routine does not last long, as my mom is coming to visit us today. We are planning a few excursions, and at the end of next week, we will head to New York together! We are very excited!

Finally, once again: Thank you to Ronja, Steffen, and Levi for taking the long flight to come visit us. We truly enjoyed ourselves and had a great vacation with you!

We will see you next year when we visit you in Lübeck!