Denver, CO: Boulder with a Bite

After a long weekend of adventures in Boulder, we were very excited to make it to Denver for some good old fashion relaxing and catching up with old friends. We were surprised (but very happy) with the close proximity of the two cities – only about 40 minutes apart. Our hope for a somewhat relaxed visit was soon diminished once we realized how much the city has to offer. Denver was described to us as ‘Boulder with a bite’ in the sense that it was much more urban, had greater diversity of people and culture, and was all-in-all busier. That type of environment appealed to us as young, nonprofit urbanites.

On our first night, we enjoyed food from a local Denver food truck and a combo jazz and Latin live performance thanks to City Jazz. Despite the constantly changing weather, the band played on and the audience kept their spirits up – very reminiscent of Chicago’s weather.

We spent Monday being full blown tourists, walking around the city with our map and all. The highlights of the day were a microbrewery tour of Great Divide (Denver is known for it's microbreweries) – who knew watching beer brew could be so fascinating?--and dancing in the park with giant sculptures. 

Hope it was OK to play Carol of the Bells in downtown Denver in June!

Dancing Sisters

Enjoying our afternoon of beer sampling and touring

And we loved watching the Blackhawks WIN the Stanley Cup with our longtime (since 1996!) friend and wonderful host, Audrey. Thank you so much Audrey for hosting us, we had a great time exploring the city with you and are so thankful for your hospitality. Here’s to another 15+ years of friendship!

Also, we randomly stumbled upon the Denver IU sports bar. Theresa was thrilled to be among fellow Hoosier fans!

 

Boulder, CO: Detour turned Weekend Adventure

 Listening to advice from friends and family, we decided to make a small detour to Boulder, CO. As luck would have it, the annual Boulder Couch Crash (an event sponsored through CouchSurfing) just happened to be that same weekend. What was supposed to be just a pit stop before Denver, we found ourselves enjoying Boulder so much that our short detour soon turned into an entire weekend adventure. The crew behind Boulder Couch Crash organized an entire weekend of festivities that offered unique looks at the Boulder community. Mountain hikes, bar parties, pancake breakfasts, and a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory is just a glimpse of our time in Boulder. Thank you so much to the Boulder Couch Crash for arranging such an amazing weekend and welcoming us to your city, we had a weekend to remember!

  

We loved our afternoon hiking outside of the city

We saw REAL LIFE PRAIRIE DOGS one afternoon

New friends and costumes = the best of times

Seessters

Taking a tour and enjoying free tea samples from Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory

(fun fact: all tea is made from the same plant--green tea is from steamed leaves, black tea is from crushed leaves, and white tea is from baby leaves)

What a great place Boulder is!

Way to go Boulder!

Being good old fashion tourists

Burgers and beer at Rubens

Our Couch Crashing Family for the weekend - Thanks Daniel for hosting us!

South Dakota: The Surprisingly Beautiful State

We spent over 11 hours total driving through South Dakota and were consistently amazed by the beautiful (and vastly different) scenery. We encountered everything from grassy prairies to the rocky Badlands to hilly forests. What a beautiful state! Claire and I both agreed it would be worth vacationing here in the future.

We took many a pitstop in South Dakota during our drives. Some highlights include seeing waterfalls in Souix Falls, visiting the Corn Palace, and other random stops along the way!

We HAD to stop in Wall, South Dakota to see Wall Drug. The Wall Drug Store opened in 1931 and survived the Depression by offering free ice water and 5 cent coffee to travelers. It’s most famous for its ridiculous marketing campaign of having billboard signs for hundreds of miles along the road. A bit cheesy (America at its finest), but worth the stop.

We don't really know how this relates to anything about Wall Drug

 We were excited for our first of several bouts of camping. What started off as a pleasant evening, however, turned a bit gusty….

Claire freaked out a bit....

On not quite enough sleep, we trekked over to the Badlands National Park. WOW! Though most people simply drive through, we decided to hike a deserted trail for the afternoon. 

Then popped over to Mount Rushmore before settling into Custer State Park for another night of camping. Some stove-cooked food, a hearty bonfire (yup, we used to be Girl Scouts!), a bit of thunderstorms, and a scenic hike around Lake Sylvan summed up our time in South Dakota.

Until next time, South Dakota!

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: The Quiet City

We had a great couple days in the Twin Cities. Minnesotans love the summer weather so we spent a lot of time outside—riding bikes along the Mississippi River, visiting waterfalls, and enjoying all the lakes. (fun fact: Minnesota has 14,000 lakes!). We were surprised with how quiet the Twin Cities are. Everything and everyone seemed so calm for being in a big city.

Minnehaha Falls

Overlooking the Mississippi River

We also toured the artsy parts of the city including the Guthrie Theater and Sculpture Gardens. We’ve been hearing that Minnesotans are strong supporters of these arts initiatives and very civically engaged. Sounds like a great fit for people like us!

Spoon Bridge & Cherry

Walking on the Endless Bridge at the Guthrie Theatre

Sir Tyrone Guthrie himself

Thanks to our great friends, Alex & Rob, the Leroe Family, and Kristina for hosting and entertaining us! We had an excellent time!

Pitstop: Wisconsin Dells

We couldn’t drive through Wisconsin without stopping in our childhood vacation spot, the Wisconsin Dells. Like true Wisconsin folk, we ate cheese and drank beer. Gotta love the Dells!

The Departure

Monday morning we said goodbye to our family and said hello to two months on the road! After months of discussing and dreaming and planning—this trip has finally come to fruition! Thanks to everyone who has helped us in the planning—from suggesting places to visit to opening up their homes. Special shout-out goes to Jenna Roberts for creating this blog! Let’s hit the road!

Have you ever packed a car for two months? It's not easy!

Greta the GPS, our new best friend

Hitting the road!


And finally, our roadtrip anthem:

And we're off!

Tomorrow morning we finally take off for 8 weeks on the road! Car is packed to the brim, the tank is full, and we are SUPER EXCITED to start our trip around the country! We will be posting photos from our travels all summer, so stay tuned.