Aspen and a Gondola ride

After leaving Mesa Verde, we headed north to Aspen/Snowmass. We thought the drive would take about 4 hours, which would be a lot after driving 3 hours to Mesa Verde, but something we could handle. We headed up Highway 550, a part of the state we had never been on, and it was beautiful. It was almost all mountain driving along the way, which made the 4 hour trip more like 6 1/2 hours. It was a LONG day and we were wiped out by the time we got to Snowmass for the night around midnight. Scott was so great and drove the whole way. I think he decided that was the better option than letting me mountain drive, because I am MUCH slower on the mountain roads. We debated stopping sooner than Snowmass, but already had a hotel lined up, so we kept going. I don't know how he did it!

We got to the hotel, promptly went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to head out to Aspen. We walked around Aspen for a little while to see how the other side lives. : ) I had never been. It is a nice little town, but not some place you could go to often or live without money. In the winter, lift tickets are $100+. And, while we were there we had to stop for gas and it was $4.59/gallon...we really needed gas. We went for a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, had some lunch up there and listened to a band playing at the peak. Carter did great and looked all around while we were on our way to the top.

We stayed for about half the day in Aspen and then headed home from our extended week long vacation. We were all so ready to be home. We went home via Independence Pass, which was gorgeous and something we definitely need to do in the fall, to I-70. We hit traffic that added to the driving time on the way home so, by the time we got close, we were all ready to be out of the car, including Carter. It was a great day...except for the traffic, which is usually the case on I-70.