First Stop…Colorado

The firs day our road trip began was the last day we shared in our cute studio apartment near downtown Colorado Springs. Cody and I shared so many memories together there and it was so bittersweet to leave. But it was time to set out on our road trip that we had been planning for the last year. Our first stop was in Walsenburg at my friend Graeme’s property which if you have watched our Youtube videos you probably didn’t know because we started the videos in Ouray. The reason I didn’t record our night in Walsenburg was because we were literally freaking out the first night. We were in. complete disbelief that we left all of our stuff, our home, our jobs to set out on a long camping venture. It was rainy and stormy the first night which left us feeling like we had made a mistake. We also kept hearing noises outside and it was making us super nervous. We had literally told everyone that we were doing this road trip and were having some doubts that we were gonna be able to handle this. BUT we also had a really awesome, honest conversation with each other which I felt like we hadn’t had in a while and it was really beautiful. There is no other person in the world I would’ve rather shared this experience with than Cody, my best friend. We sat in the subaru and watched as the sun went down and coudn’t work up the nerve to set up the tent on top of the car so we decided to unfomfortably sleep in the front seats with our 2 little pups.

The next morning was sunny and bright and we both felt a little more optimsitc about our upcoming tavels. We did yoga, journaled, made breakfast with my friend Stacey’s fresh eggs. I started to chuckle when I realized the sounds we were hearing the night before were cows walking around the property. There was a really sweet couple staying a few yards away from us that came up and chatted with us for a while. They were building out a school bus for them and their family! So cool! After that we walked the dogs around the area and then made our way to Ouray Colorado, The Switzerland of America. You have to take the Million Dollar Highway to get there which is one of the most breathaking drives I have ever been on. We were headed to a spot that we had camped at before. I found it on a app called Boondocking. Its never very busy and the camp spots are nicely spaced out. We stayed in the same spot we did last time we went because it had a beautiful view of this pointy little mountain and it was right by the river. So so beautiful and I couldn’t recommend it more. Ouray has a handful of fun things to do like hot springs, trails for bikes and off road vehicles, and tons of hikes. We decided to hike around the area we were staying at which was called Brown Mountain. If you can find directions to it on your map then you will find the spots to camp as well. We did a nice hike and enjoyed the incredible views of the snow peaked mountains. I think all together it is a 12 mile hike but we didn’t do the whole thing. I imagine the views only get better and better as you climb up though. Afterwards, we headed back to our camp spot and Cody made some food for us. We were using our Coleman Grill to cook on which was extremely efficient. I recommend the propane version and not the gas! Just because its less messy and personally we found easier to use. And then we just relaxed, played some games, and read for the rest of the night. I was working on my Maui vlog at the time too which was keeping me busy but for the most part it was a pretty easy going lifestyle. When the sun started to set we could get our Tepui Tent ready. We would have to make sure we had everything up there to assure that we didn’t have to keep climbing in and out of the tent. Bear spray, pillows, blankets, dog leashes, flash light, car keys, playings cards, knife, and maybe an extra sweatshirt in case it got cold. I added a little small mattress topper to the tent as well just to make it a tad more comfy. The tent had tiny little side pockets to keep everything in as well which I found very convenient. There was a moon roof that we could unzip in the tent as well and look at the stars at night. That was hands down my favorite part of it all. I hadn’t seen so many stars in such a long time, it was such a blessing!

The next morning we went to go look around this old town that was in the campground called Ironton. It was built in 1883 and had a population of about 100-200 people depending on the season. It was basically used for mining silver but in 1893 they repealed the Sherman Act which made the price in silver go down from $1.50 to .50 cents. After that a lot of people moved out of the area. We read that they are now trying to reverse all the damages from mining to help preserve the area which was really great to hear. There were a bunch of old buildings there so it was pretty neat to explore. After we did that we went for a little hike near Corkscrew Gulch which was a lovely way to continue the day. When we got back to the campground we played chess, bananagrams, and rummy and just enjoyed another relaxing last evening at the spot. Tomorrow we were headed to Telluride to do a hike and then from there to Utah. Ouray was pretty chilly so we were excited to go somewhere a little warmer.

That next morning we packed up everything, stopped in town to get some more food and water and then headed to Telluride for a hike. I was pretty tired cause I was getting used to sleeping in the tent still so we did a pretty easy hike called the Telluride River Trail. It was cool because we got to see some great views but also got to experience the town of Telluride as well. Really cool spot, I definitely look forward to going back and experiencing more of it. I’ve heard they hold a ton of festivals there at all different times of the year so I’m definitely going to have to keep an eye out for one that peaks my interest.

After we were done in Telluride we headed off to our first night in Utah! I’ll share more about that experience later on this week but until then thanks for reading! For a closer look at our travels check out my Colorado roadtrip video here! Until next time, happy trails!