Planning at home base

For me, one of the best parts of traveling is the planning - figuring out where to stay, what to do, how to prioritize our time...and most importantly, where to eat.  I am not so anal that I need an hour-by-hour agenda when I travel, but I DO like having an idea of the not-to-miss things based on our interests.  Speaking of which, I happen to love an action-packed vacation agenda, while Chap (my husband) prefers a relaxing beach vacation.  Balancing the two so that we both get what we want out of a trip can sometimes be a challenge!  Here's what we've come up with so far:

Rocky Mountain National Park (about 2.5 days!)

For me, one of the best parts of traveling is the planning!

• I think we need to hit some of those "must see" attractions in western Kansas along the way that we're too busy to hit on our way to denver, including the giant Van Gogh painting in Goodland and the largest prairie dog
• Staying at Alpine Trail Ridge Inn - a motel in Estes Park.  We're not typically into staying at motels (prefer inns), but this is a family run place right near the entrance to the park.  Comes pretty highly recommended on www.tripadvisor.com but we'll see! 
• We're not so in to the rugged mountaineering (not to mention the fact that I have a stress fracture right now...), so we'll probably take a couple of drives, like Fall River Road, drive down Big Thompson Canyon and up Devil Gulch Road.
• Rent a boat on Estes Lake
• Take a couple of hikes, including Gem Lake and Sprague Lake...probably a few other short ones
• Going to try out a restaurant or two - perhaps Sweet Basilicum or La Chumiere
• If there are any breweries in the vicinity, we'll be there.

Boulder, Colorado ( 5 glorious days)

• Going to a French Skills and Techniques course at Culinary School of the Rockies from 9:30-2:30 every day.  Everyone can't wait until we get back to be benefactors of the experience.
• Staying at Alps Boulder Canyon Inn.  This place looks absolutely FABULOUS, and we plan to be pampered!  2-person tub in the room, gourmet breakfast, etc etc
• In the afternoons, wanting to check out a few places including the tea house, going to see a play during the Shakespeare festival, and going to the outdoor movie theater that is showing Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  While the latter may not seem particularly vaction-y, we love that movie, and it would be fun to watch a movie under the stars.  Our friend's brother works at the French Provencal restaurant, Mateo, so we're definitely checking that out one night.
• Boulder has tons of parks and hiking trails.  We'll probably make most of the happy green space, seeing as how there isn't much green grass where we live!
• May trek up the road to Ft. Collins, the home of Fat Tire brewing Co, which makes one of our favorite beers of all time.  If you live east of the Mississippi, you can't find it where you live.  Evidently, there are a few microbreweries in Boulder as well, so we can't lose in that department!

Well, looking at the list, you probably already think I'm waaaaay too structured, but we'll see what we actually end up doing!  I know it will be totally relaxing and rejuvenating, and we're promising only to spend a limited amount of time on our computers every day (just enough to not regret being away from the office an entire week!)  Looking forward to sharing our adventure with all of you