Yellow

Today we got up early (meh, but necessary) and hit the road for the first of the 2014 Fall Drives!

First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season!  Woo Hoo!

We headed North West, about two hours past Ft. Collins, to a town called Walden.  The drive there wound through a different part of the Rocky Mountains than we've seen before.  I always think September is too early to catch the leaves turning, but in Colorado, it's the perfect time.  The Aspens turn a golden yellow and in a couple of weeks, all the leaves will be gone.

There's just something about a road trip.  The bunny and all the responsibilities left at home, we can talk and catch up in a way that never happens during the chaotic week.  When I'm exploring a whole new (to us!) part of the state, I'm not thinking about grading papers (or writing papers!) or doing homework or doing laundry or vacuuming or preparing for the week.

I'm just thinking about fall.

We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Walden, and sat outside for a couple of hours drinking wine (ahem, me) and just taking it all in.  There's about a 5,000 ft elevation gain on the drive, so we were over 10,000 feet eating lunch, and LET ME TELL YOU the alcohol goes a long way up there.  I was like, this is some strong wine!  And G was like, I think it's the altitude. 

All you guys at sea level?  I can drink you under the table.  (Jesus is so proud of me right now.  I'm not a raging - or any other kind of - alcoholic.  I just sound like one on the blog.)

Apparently the mountain passes and high-level plains we drove through are popular spots for viewing moose, especially this time of year.  We didn't see any, though, because we passed through in the middle of the day.  Next year, we're going to time the drive so we'll pass through at dusk and hopefully they'll be out and about...

We hit a little traffic on the way home and have been catching up on college football scores (and grading papers - holy crap it's time consuming) ever since.  Not a bad Saturday.

Lucy is taking it easy after a grueling day of laying around doing nothing.  Here's hoping you're taking it easy, too!