colorado day 1: plane, boulder and the flat irons

We woke up at 3:30 a.m., double checked all of our stuff and headed to the airport. After a long wait in check in, a longer wait in security, a desperation run through concourse D to our gate minutes before they were about to close the doors, and a 2 1/2 hour flight we landed in Denver at 7:28 Mountain time :)

We picked up our rental car and headed straight into Boulder. It was absolutely amazing how far you could see in front of you. Denver is absolutely flat with very few trees to block the view so all you can see are mountains in the distance that just get larger and larger as you drive towards them. We started our day at the farmer's market held every wednesday and saturday. This was actually my first ever farmer's market and I loved it. Piles of flowers, fruit, vegetables, homemade goodies were everywhere. There was one booth of all freshly made breads with the biggest croissants I have ever seen. Both our mouths were watering!

Next we walked down Pearle Street Mall and caught a street performance. I was highly entertained by this guy though he made me so nervous I kept hiding my eyes! We noticed a few others but honestly this guy was the best of the lot.

The whole time we were walking I would catch a glimpse of a GIGANTIC ROCK just past my right shoulder. It didn't take long before we couldn't stand it anymore and we HAD to go check out the Rockies first hand! So after lunch since we still had two hours before we could check into our hotel we drove up to Chautaqua Park where the Flatirons are located. We decided to go ahead a do a little hiking which turned into a 5 mile 'moderate' hike past the flatirons and up to the royal arches which gave you an awesome view of boulder.

After our hike we were exhausted so we drove to our hotel, checked in and collapsed in bed. Somehow we dragged ourselves up long enough to eat dinner, buy contact solution and make it back to our bed and asleep by 8 that night. It had been a L.O.N.G day!