Mountains and Menus - Summer Vacation 2006

Brrrr...53 degrees and windy. And a 48 blood sugar to go with it!
see all photos »

This summer, we're taking our first real vacation in a long time, and we're combining two things that we love - mountains and cooking.  A strange combination you might say?  Well, read on!

With the price of gas these days and a limited amount of time that I wanted to be away from the office (sad, I know), we decided to stick relatively close to home.  My husband, Chap, has never seen the Rocky Mountains in all their glory.  Now that we live less than seven hours away, Rocky Mountain National Park seemed like a good place to start (I think once we get there we'll wonder why we waited three years to go!).  However, living in a small town, we also wanted to experience a little culture on our trip.  A good friend of mine told me about a cooking school in Boulder many years ago, and that always sounded like fun.  I read about it in some magaize not too long ago, and it got me thinking...we still don't have kids, so this is probably the right time to attend a week-long cooking class.

Mountains, tundra and trees, oh my!
see all photos »

So, we're leaving on Sunday, August 6th and spending 2.5 days in Estes Park, Colorado.  That will barely scratch the surface of what is arguably the most beautiful place in the country and a favorite vacation spot growing up.  We'll take the scenic drives and probably find a few easy-to-moderate hikes.  Then, we're going to Boulder, Colorado for 5 days to atted a "cooking vacation" at the Culinary School of the Rockies.  Classes end at 2:30 each day, which gives us plenty of time to spend more time outdoors in the fabulous city and state parks, relax at a coffee shop, check out used bookstores, and experience a little hippie culutre.  Can't wait to go!

It's cool to see snow in July!
see all photos »

Best of all, both places we're staying offer WiFi, so I'll be able to chronicle the trip as we go along!