MARCH 13-16, 2020 | FORT COLLINS, CO | A long awaited AU girls reunion in Colorado. Ironically the same weekend a pandemic started. Doh!
We had planned this weekend many moons ago and were visiting Colorado because Elizabeth is due with baby #2 in May. And then the week we were supposed to go the coronavirus appeared. We were talking every day and decided to keep with our plans. We were going to be isolated once we arrived so we just had to get through the airport. Ha.
I drove to Raleigh on Thursday morning to drop the twins with my parents for the weekend. And then I headed over to Campbell’s for the night as our flight was at 6am Friday morning. I got to see her really cute house, meet Pippa and Potter, and catch up over wine and packing. The next day dawned very early but we made it to the airport with many antibacterial gels in hand, clorox wipes, and keeping at the social distancing. We made it through security and stayed away from everyone til we boarded the plane. Wiping down literally everything, we settled into our seats for the 3hour flight. Luckily when we landed both Cara and Wynsor landed too so we were able to take an Uber all together to Elizabeth’s house.
Her house was so nice!! A little ranch style and they had just redone the kitchen. We had a quick breakfast and hung out while Elizabeth went and grabbed the rental car. We were headed to Fort Collins (about an hour North of Denver) for the weekend. After a quick lunch stop at Chickfila, we were on our way!
Fort Collins is so cute! Normally a college town, but since a pandemic had just been declared… no one was in town. ha. Our Airbnb was a fun little condo literally just down the street from New Belgium brewery and very close to downtown. Ironically we tried to visit New Belgium but it had just closed due to coronavirus (cue crying from me haha). So we found another brewery that served primarily sours, Crooked Stave, on the main drag. There were lots of tasting beers, snacking on popcorn, and starting our catchup. And it started to snow!!
Since we weren’t sure how the rest of the weekend was going to go we decided to do a little stock up on booze to get us through. 🙂 We picked up mountain pizza for dinner so good! and settled in for the night with lots of games and drinks.
On our second day in town, Wynsor and I were up early to go for a run. We were staying just off the Poudre Trail – so decided to get some miles in. First running at altitude is hard on the lungs, but second the views were amazing! It had snowed the night before so it was like a winter wonderland along the river with mountains in the background.
5 miles later and after showers and breakfast for everybody we decided to venture into town for some lunch and exploring. We had brunch/lunch at Coopersmith’s. Delicious pizza and flights of tasty beer! We were the only ones there for most of the time… I think the servers were really glad to see us. Afterwards we walked down their main street, visited some of the kitchey shops, before settling in Nuance Chocolate shop. Chocolate tastings, sipping chocolate, and truffles galore. IT WAS SO GOOD. Then it got crowded so we opted to head next door to the cheese shop. Campbell asked the guy to make us a yummy cheese plate not knowing how long that would take haha. The rest of us ventured out for more shops before settling at Equinox brewing. Another flight of beers, and then Campbell finally joined us! Our final stop of the day was to Ginger and Baker. Such a cute place!! A little shop, bakery classroom, wine bar, and finally a restaurant. We had rolled up for their happy hour – so lots of apps and cheap yummy drinks. We headed back to our condo afterwards for an evening of snacks, booze, and games. 🙂
Sunday arrived and a 5K run for Wynsor and me. No snowy views this time but still nice despite the lungs burning. We decided to take it easy for the day, and so were lazy with snacks, and hanging out. Lots of games, a trail walk mid-afternoon, enjoying the rest of the day on the deck. Elizabeth made a tasty surf and turf dinner, before we played some final games and tried to make a bigger dent in the remainder of our booze supply.
On Monday we were up early early to get packed up, tidy the condo, and hit the road to the airport. Everyone but me was flying out this morning. So many hugs (little did we know these would be the last once we’d give for awhile) and safe flights! Then Elizabeth and I headed back to her house. I got to hang out with Lilia and Jason for the afternoon and then ended up switching my flight to a 4:30pm as we were afraid domestic flights might get grounded. UGH. So no fun evening but what a wonderful trip.
It may have not been the smartest as for timing, but we were smart about our surroundings and distanced ourselves from others. Plus all the anti-bac and chlorox wipes. So glad we ended up going as this was the last trip I’ll get to take for a long time. LOVE THESE LADIES!!!
chasing every adventure 