Guys, I just went to Colorado Springs and it was SO BEAUTIFUL. I know what you’re thinking, “Alexis, not in a panera?? Not in a pandemonium? You really went during a paramedic?” (tiktok lovers, u feel me rn). And yes, ok? I went. But hear me out, it was super safe and an outdoor-geared trip. So before you decide to hate me for going on a road trip during a pancake, just read this blog post and you’ll find out how virus-friendly it really was.
The whole reason my boyfriend and I wanted to go out of town to begin with is because he FINALLY got some much deserved time off. He works weekend shift and I work during the week so our schedules literally never align. Plus, he only gets two weekends off per year so we have to choose wisely. When he told me he requested the PTO I was like OMG we gotta plan something huge! Not only is it complicated and not the smartest to do big trips right now, I also had my PTO to think about. Since Brandon only works weekends, he only had to take two days of PTO for Saturday and Sunday but he has the rest of the week off because he isn’t scheduled. On the other hand, I have all week days scheduled and end up having to take more days to accommodate vacations. UGh, first world probs but I really wish I had unlimited PTO.
SOOO, we finally decided on doing a simple road trip to Colorado because:
- Driving safer than flying in terms of COVID?
- Not too far away
- Pretty nature views– outdoor excursions offered, so less time inside around others
Where we stayed:
- We decided to stay in an Air BnB. Since we wanted to bring Odie along, we wanted to make sure that we had an easy access to the outdoors for potty breaks and preferably a place where he could bark (he’s just so dang vocal I swear lol).
- We searched for quite a while and booked the place maybe a month out? Dates & places were pretty scarce so I suggest booking as far out as possible.
- We got a place that was right downtown and SO conveniently placed in terms of sights 🙂
- Here’s the link to where we stayed: Air BnB
How we got there:
- Since Brandon and I both have sedan-like cars, we decided to rent an SUV for this trip. We knew we would be doing some mountain driving and potentially rougher terrain driving so this was a must.
- The cheapest way I could rent the car was through the KCI airport. 10/10 would not recommend lol. It was not a smooth process and I should’ve known, but I was enticed by the cheap-o prices.
- When we went to pick the car up, the company that sold it to us was “closed indefinitely” lol. Thx a lot. Luckily another company there was directing all business to them and they had our reservation, but still. I was panicking at the thought of all the money lost lol.
- We only got gas like twice each way, it wasn’t too $$$$.
Road trip essentials (cold weather edition):
- Plenty of water
- Snacks
- Coffee/energy drink
- Dress in layers
- Make sure car has cold weather items- window scraper, gloves, hat, emergency blanket (like if your car dies and you need to stay warm), tire pressure gauge, etc
- Games? We didn’t do this but could be fun
- Podcasts downloaded and queued up baby! I had no reception for 70% of the drive so make sure you download your media 🙂
Summary of our trip:
- Day 1-
- Drive
- Walked around Colorado College Campus (super nice)
- Had Shuga’s for dinner (so good and good pricing)
- Day 2-
- Loyal Coffee Co.
- Denver Biscuit Comp. (SO EFFING GOOD)- also apparently there’s one in KC, woops.
- Garden of the Gods
- Altitude sickness 🙁
- Day 3-
- Urban Egg (very ok)
- Pike’s Peak– we wanted to do more hiking but ended up doing the driving route instead and it was beautiful !!!
- I ordered in Chik-fil-a because Brandon wasn’t feeling well this night, ugh!
- Day 4-
- Major snow and below 0 temps
- Ordered in breakfast
- Snuggled by the space heater
- Spa appt got canceled due to weather, but look how pretty
- Day 5-
- Drive Home
Was our trip as eventful as I planned? Nope. Did I expect -15 degree weather? Also, no. BUT, I got to spend some much needed time away with my boys so I was happy 🙂