For my last spring break in college, I had the opportunity to travel to Estes Park, Colorado. A group of six friends and I gathered into a seven passenger car and hit the road for a 12 hour drive. I had a lot of fun in Colorado with my friends. I learned lessons of patience, love and gratitude while living with 5 other people and sharing one tiny bathroom. The thing I love about travel is that it forces me out of my comfort zone and helps me lose all expectation. I will recap the trip with photos, and the lessons I learned along the way.
Day 1: Leave for Colorado
We left for Colorado on Sunday, March 15 at 10:30 p.m. We were all so excited to leave for the trip! We were piled into the car and started jamming to music as soon as we left. I knew none of us would get any sleep that night and I was right. We probably all stayed up for about 11 hours.
Day 2: Arrive in Colorado
We arrived in Colorado on March 16 at about 11:30 a.m. We were all so incredibly tired. I think this was the first point we all started to get annoyed with each other. We were very hungry, so we decided to stop at Larkburger in Boulder, Colorado. I got the Amy burger with truffle and parm fries. It was 80 degrees in Boulder and we were all in sweatpants. We stopped at Buffalo Exchange to buy summer clothes because all we brought were sweaters. We set out to Estes Park with full tummies and shorts. Estes Park is about an hour away from Boulder. We began to drive up the mountain to our sweet little cabin. It was so peaceful to look out the window and see the mountainside. Once we got to our cabin, we put our bags in our rooms. There were two rooms and one bathroom. One room had a queen bed and bunk beds and the other had one queen bed. After putting our bags down, we headed to the grocery store to buy food for dinner. For dinner we cooked salmon, asparagus and potatoes.
Day 3: Hiking
Tuesday was St. Patrick’s day. We woke up and Kaitlyn cooked us a delicious Israeli breakfast. We did yoga on the patio surrounded by mountains. It connected us to nature and to each other. We decided to go hiking at Nymph Lake Trail at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Before the hike, we ate at Claire’s On the Park. It was a wonderful .5 mile hike. Unfortunately, the lake was frozen over, but the view was still amazing. That night, Kaitlyn, Emily and I decided to go to town for St. Patrick’s Day. We met some very nice locals that gave us restaurant and hiking suggestions.
Day 4: Hike #2
We woke up late this day and hung out for a while. We went to Nepal’s Indian Cafe and explored town in the daylight. We had a great time together, but had to practice patience as we were walking around. We then decided to hike Gem Lake trail. The hike to Gem Lake was an intense 1.8 mile hike that felt completely vertical. I was sore from this hike. Again, the lake was frozen over, but it was still an amazing view.
Day 5: Leave Colorado
On the last day, we ate our breakfast and packed our things. Justin and I drank coffee on the porch together and chatted about our next adventure. We were sad to leave, but ready to be home.
On the way back to Texas we stopped in Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods. I felt so full of gratitude for my friends that journeyed with me. We got home at about 3 a.m. on Friday morning tired and satisfied. I look forward to my next trip.
stephanietheyogi.com 
Beautifully written! 🙂 I felt as if I were there.
Hehehe you were there! ❤ Thanks for reading it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been there, but I loved Garden of the Gods! Looks like y’all had fun 🙂
Wish you could have been there, Raegan! Next time when we don’t have college schedules.
Good times!