I’m back with part 2 of our vacation!
Today I suffered a stomach bug and missed my workout, but I’ll be back at it again tomorrow. After laying around all day with an upset stomach by 8pm I was completely fine and HUNGRY. That Chipotle quesadilla I had for dinner had no chance of survival haha. Back to clean eating and working out tomorrow.
Our last part of our Denver trip was spent exploring Denver, completing an Escape room, viewing Dinosaur fossils and footprints, and climbing up to the top of the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Red Rocks Amphitheater is something that has to be seen in person, it’s absolutely amazing. The giant red rocks make the only “acoustically perfect amphitheater in the world” according to their official website.
Along with being a concert venue, Red Rocks also has an 800 acre park full of trails and nature paths. We only had time to explore the amphitheater but I envy the locals who get to hike the trails and see the sights on the daily. We climbed up the 380 steps to the top of the amphitheater (not an easy feat at an altitude of 6,000 feet!), and I was able to huff and puff my way up there pretty well. Making it to the top in relatively good time (stopping for pictures of course) was a good indicator of just how far I’ve come in my fitness journey. It was not easy, by any means, but I was able to finish. The fact that I even wanted to get my butt off the couch and go hiking up a ton of stairs says something about where I’m at now. If you knew me before you’d know that I was never that girl, the one who like to be outside sweating, in nature. My ideal vacation used to involve air conditioned lounging, unapologetically gorging myself on tons of food, and sleeping. Not that I don’t enjoy those things now, but I finally have the energy to be outside running around and I’m loving it. I didn’t realize how much I miss out on when I’m too tired to get up and explore things. This is a side of myself I’ve never experienced before, I’m a changed person. In fact when thinking back to the last trip we took to New Orleans last summer, we (slowly) walked almost everywhere and I thought I was going to die. Now I was running up stairs, skipping back down, walking like there was no tomorrow, and every day I was ready to do it again. Progress people!
Special thanks to our friend Warren for taking pictures of us like our own personal paparazzi.
One of the things I was most excited to do on our trip was hike an actual mountain in Rocky Mountain Nation park, unfortunately that didn’t happen. The day we scheduled to make the 2 hour drive to the park ended up being the coldest day of our trip (it was in low 20’s) and a snow storm warning was in affect. Being the Texans we are, we were not comfortable driving or being out in those conditions (meanwhile I witnessed locals wearing sandals, while it was snowing). So we’ve resolved to just make another trip to Colorado sometime preferably in the summer (honestly I’m looking for any excuse to go back). This trip was a milestone for me, just the fact that I wanted to take an outdoorsy active vacation says so much to me. I’m proud of where I’m at and I’m encouraged to continue getting healthier. This trip would not have been possible if I hadn’t started my fitness journey.
Back in the gym tomorrow!
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