Colorado: Boulder, Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park

At the end of our stay in Texas we dropped off the car at Austin airport and boarded a flight to Denver, Colorado to begin the second leg of our roadtrip. We started off with a night in Denver to explore Colorado's capital city. We enjoyed the 'Mile High City' (nicknamed so because it sits exactly 1 mile high) with its chic cafes, compact centre and warm sunny weather (thankfully a lot more comfortable than Texas!).

Denver is also home to the impressive Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre which is set between 400-feet high red sandstone rocks.
It seats 9,000 people.
The exterior of the futuristic Denver Art Museum....
... features some weird sculptures.

Capitol building in Denver.

After a quiet day strolling in Denver, we drove north towards MC's new favourite town, Boulder. Home to the University of Colorado, it's filled with students, cool shops and cafes and surrounded by pretty scenery.
We took a walk in Boulder and hiked up to Mt Sanitas which overlooks the town.
Us on Mt Sanitas.
Pretty fall colour lines the creek that runs through Boulder. In summer you can go tubing down the stream but we were a little late for that and the water level was too low.
John towers over his restaurant.
We spent two nights enjoying Boulder and then headed up to the eastern entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park. This is Bear Lake inside the Park, small but very pretty.
The bird hijacked my photo!
Bear Lake.
Stupid jumping but gorgeous scenery!

Stellers Jay.

Jay posing in the mountains.
Cute chipmunks.
Snowball fight!
Reflections on Grand Lake at the western entrance of the park.
Grand Lake.
Shadow Mountain lake.
Pretty snowcapped Rockies.
Scenic spot along the Colorado river.
After a great day travelling through the Rocky Mountains we stayed the night in Grand Lake and headed west to Utah the next morning. There were some brilliant views along this drive which followed the Colorado river and its canyons. We passed through the posh ski resort towns like Vail, unfortunately not enough snow for John to get his skis out just yet.
Train puffing alongside the Colorado river.

It was a pity to leave Colorado with its laidback towns and beautiful scenery, but Utah and several more National Parks await!