Extended Layover Adventures: Denver!

As a follow-up to my most recent post, I thought I'd give y'all a peek into the awesomeness of the extended layover with a (very) late post about my trip to Denver this summer.

First of all, DENVER IS AWESOME.  It's located smack-dab in the middle of the USA which makes it pretty darn convenient to fly into from anywhere in the lower 48.  It's the hub of Frontier Airlines and Continental routes through there as well.  

Image from: http://www.denver-den.airports-guides.com/den_airport_maps.html

I took a 54 hour extended layover there on my way home to NOLA from visiting my parents in Oregon.  Since the majority of Frontier flights route through Denver, it was pretty easy for me to find a cheap 1-way ticket that allowed me spend the weekend at no extra cost in the Mile High City.  I stayed with my friend Drew, who I've known since I was 4, which made the entire trip even cheaper!

We spent my first day just enjoying everything that Denver has to offer.  Even without a car, it's easy to get around the city because of the widespread implementation of the B-Cycle, reasonably-priced rental bicycles with hubs all throughout the city.  We biked to the capitol building and got fresh brewed coffee at Thump (as an Oregonian, I was born and bred to be a coffee snob but the brews at Thump deserve an A+).

Thump!

Me at the Capitol Building

As one of the fastest growing cities in the US, Denver has quite a few growing scenes - the foodie scene, music scene, and micro-brew scene are a few.  That night, we went to a free block party / concert that was put on by a local brewery.

The next day, I checked an item off my bucket list: we visited Rocky Mountain National Park!

After living in flat (and I mean, FLAT... the highest point in Miami is a garbage dump) places for the last 3 years, I'm now astounded by the natural beauty of any mountain.  However, the beauty of the Rockies in the summer blew my mind.  Not to mention that the thin air makes the sky look extra blue!

Look at that sky!!!

We spent an entire day in the park, driving the windy roads to different view points then getting out and exploring.  At the highest elevation, I started to experience altitude sickness.  It started out as just getting winded and being a little dizzy, but turned into full-on disorientation by the time we reached the summit. As we browsed the gift shop I got separated from my friends... and then couldn't remember what they looked like!  Afraid I wouldn't recognize them, I wandered around and just looked hard at peoples' faces for them to recognize me -- and hoped they were the right people!  After about 10 minutes, this strategy was successful and I was forced to sit for a while and drink water. 

We made it!

At one viewpoint, we saw some of the famed wildlife - a marmot!  It was not friendly and chased us away from its rock.  

Marmot!

#nofilter -- for real the sky is THAT blue.

 After a full day of driving, we stopped for dinner in Longmont, Colorado at Oskar Blues Brewery and enjoyed fried food and some freshly tapped Dale's Pale Ale.   The perfect ending to a great day!

The next day, I took the Super Shuttle to the airport (it's very convenient!) and flew home!  Successful free trip :-)

What's your favorite thing to do in Denver?  Have you been to the Rocky Mountains in the summer?  Did you get altitude sickness?