Intro into Year of Travel - Starting with Denver

 Happy to see you all here! 

It's about time for an update on my adventures, and good news is there is a packed year of travel ahead! My boyfriend and I will be moving to a new location each month all across the United States. Our goal is to see and experience as much as we can for this next year while I write along the way. Ideally, I will also be publishing agricultural articles with different news outlets during our travels. My stories here will continue to be my accounts of places without the professional editing and publishing.

I'm so excited to share this amazing journey as we being our travels! 

Our first stop was Denver, CO. I arrived to the happening city on March 10th, and quickly dived into activities. 

The first few days I explored the neighborhood, went to the Denver Art Museum, tried multiple coffee shops, walked around downtown Denver, and made new friends. 

All very exciting!

Then...I got extremely sick. I was pretty much in bed for a full week before I could get back to Denver activities. I got lots of kitty cuddles though, thank goodness.

Getting back into the fray, there was mini golf, bagpipes, snow storms, painting, hockey, billiards, and always more coffee spots.

We met up with a couple of Connor's childhood friends for billiards and a high stakes game of mini golf at Puttshack. 

I lost terribly, but in my defense, I cannot stand mini golf.

I can, however, get very into hockey. 

We bought tickets to The Colorado Avalanche game which was super fun! 

Ball Arena was really cool to visit, especially when the team won in classic avalanche style.

For St. Patrick's Day, the bagpipes totally added to the fun holiday experience at the Irish pub Scruffy Murphy's. It was quite the surprise when a whole bagpipe band came marching in!

After the festivities, I relaxed the next few days by painting a 48x60 canvas for a friend. 

My spirit felt so refreshed after making art and enjoying the sun on our patio for a few days.

It also goes without saying, but the restaurant and bar scene was incredible throughout the trip. 

We had all kinds of delicious food and drinks.

I'm only going to list a few, but the list is probably over 30 places long. 

Alma Fonda Fina was my favorite dinner by far.Every item I tasted made me smile and I'm pretty sure I teared up once or twice because of the passion in the dishes and how happy I was getting to taste such incredible food. 

All of the employees added to the special experience as well.

Tony P's was my next favorite spot, and the best pizza I've ever had.

They offer gluten free pizza and vegan cheese which is hard for me to find. Plus the overall ambiance is such a fun time, we loved going there.  

Beacon was the highlight of the bar scene for me with the whimsical tree bar, immersive themed rooms, and a killer DJ. We danced all night and had a blast.

I want to give a special shoutout to the best spirit store I've ever been to as well. Amendment XXI Wine & Spirits was unforgettable with its collection of goods and friendly owner.

She was so fun and helpful during our whole trip whether it was weekly tastings in her shop or AcroYoga classes at a climbing gym.  

We also got the special experience of hiking to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park on a beautiful day. 

I loved the snow capped mountains with all the pines dusted in snow. 

We hiked past Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, and Dream Lake to get to the stunning mountain basin where Emerald Lake is nestled. 

I could've sat and looked at the view for hours.

The whole hike and park are gorgeous, and I'm so happy we got to experience it. 

Side note - we had lunch at The Post at the Stanley Hotel where part of "The Shining" was filmed.

Denver was the perfect place to kick off our traveling year. 

We loved our whole experience from the AirBnB and neighborhood, to the recreational activities, and to all of fun memories we made.