Silverthorne, Colorado, Part 1 | B&W Travel
Our trip to Colorado this year was basically a trifecta.
1). We went for me to attend and experience the epic Creative at Heart Conference, which was life changing and amazing. I can't say enough good things. You should probably go read my blog post about it here!
2). We wanted to see our awesome friends, Mark + Michele again. Michele has become one of my dearest friends in the past few years, and we always have a blast together! Those two crazy kids are so much fun to hang out with for Wes and I both, plus, they off-road and get off the grid every chance possible with their busy photography careers, sooooo that means they know where some pretty unreal spots are in CO!
3). We wanted to see and spend time with Wes's sister Kels again! And I needed to finally meet her new guy, Paul! (He's pretty cool, btw!) And we got to help babysit and play with their too-cute dog, Ivan! It's been forever since I've met a dog I love as much as I love Ivan!
TRIFECTA I TELL YOU.
OH and it was also my birthday week. NBD. ;)
Through all those whopping good times had together, I didn't do the best job taking photos....womp womp. But, I did take some!
We spent the first 3 days in the Denver and Aurora areas so that I could attend that conference! Then on my birthday, Wes and I hit the road for Silverthorne to go spend a few days with Mark and Michele!
As soon as we got there, I found the guest room to be covered in yellow balloons, streamers, messages of happy birthday, and brownies. Told ya Michele has become a dear friend! :)
We spent the afternoon of my birthday exploring a gorgeous aspen tree grove and Michele did some new headshots for me - can't wait to share those! We were also eaten alive by mosquitoes. But, it was all totally worth it. Even if I did count a total of 29 bites. Yikes.
That aspen grove was a dream, but, like I mentioned up above, I failed at taking many photos this trip, and I came home with zero from that spot. What's wrong with me.
Wes snapped one with his iPhone though! Michele and I making our way into the grove! :)
A few weeks before our trip, I had asked if Michele knew of any fields of daisies or white flowers. At the time, she said she didn't....HOWEVER - as you can see below, she totally ended up finding a perfect little patch of wild daisies for me! And after we left the aspen trees, we went here!
You'd never guess this was in a parking lot right by a Whole Foods, would ya? ;) - Lesson to the masses >> Trust a professional photographer. Ha!
This is my fave pic I've ever taken of this awesome lady!! She has the best laugh!
The next day we visited their plane - Yeah, they bought a plane ;) Mark is in the midst of taking the engine completely apart to tinker with and make sure everything is 100% in perfect working order, all before he takes this blue bird to the sky!
Wes helping out with his iPhone skills again!
That evening, we took the bumpiest ride of my entire life to get up to this point - but holy worth it. Haystack Mountain you guys, she's a beauty.
That night, we were all hanging out at Mark and Michele's awesome-middle-of-nowhere-house when Michele went to let the dogs outside... She came back in and announced that you could totally see The Milky Way at the moment. WAIT WHAT!? Never in my life have I ever seen The Milky Way, minus the good old internet, and now I could see it in real life!? SIGN ME UP!
We all went outside and there she was. Just as magical as I dreamed. I hadn't ever tried my hand at taking nighttime/star type photos before, but seeing that The Milky Way was so close I could practically touch it... That night seemed like the PERFECT opportunity to learn how!! And I'm SO glad I did!
In the other direction, you could just see a slight glow from the neighboring town :)
Our last day with M+M was spent on a hike up Elliott's Ridge. The highest I've ever been in my life...ranking at over 11,000 feet! It was a bit of a struggle for me to breathe normally, but just look at those views!
Thanks Michele for making sure I ended up in at least one photo!
Look closely - Mark is throwing a SNOWBALL.. Yep! We found that little patch of snow up there!
Snow on one side, - endless flowers on the other!
......
Don't miss part two of our Colorado trip, here!
And the Creative at Heart Conference in Denver, here!
And if curiosity strikes you, there is also a little movie from our trip, check that out!