Ever since our first visit to Telluride last year for our first wedding anniversary, we knew we'd be back again. After finding the perfect Airbnb, we decided to return for our second anniversary! There's a reason (or 20) we keep coming back here. First, the scenery. It goes without saying (I'll let the pictures do the talking) that Telluride is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Second, the vibe. This place is the epitome of cool. From chatting with locals on the gondola to running into celebrities like Connie Britton and Chris Stapleton to Winslow wearing himself out chasing the ski patrol dog around the top of a mountain while the sky turns from pastels to offensively bright oranges and pinks - this is the kind of stuff that only happens in Telluride. Best of all, for a long, 4-day weekend in an exclusive ski town, our trip was relatively cheap: We spent less than $800 on everything. While this may not be everybody's idea of cheap, we've chosen to forgo gifts for birthdays, Christmas, and anniversaries and instead spend that money on trips. When you consider that we're spending nothing (or very little) on gifts for each other throughout the year, you can see why this is doable (breaks down to less than $400/person). This has been one of the best decisions we've made as a married couple and I can't wait to carry on this tradition. So how did we do it? Here's how we spent less than $800 on a 4-day, 3-night trip (including transportation, accommodations, food and activities): Accommodations: $550 for 3 nights ($225/person) Obviously a large majority of our expenses for this trip went to lodging but our first night was easy on the wallet - we spent $0! On Friday night, we decided to drive to Cortez and sleep in our car in a Wal-Mart parking lot so that we could get up to Telluride earlier than originally planned on Saturday. Aside from that first night, we still spent less money this year than we did last year and get this: we had an entire house to ourselves! During peak season, Telluride hotel rooms average close to $500/night! In the summer, an "economy" hotel room is closer to $250/night and that's about what we spent last year to stay at Mountainside Inn. While sufficient and pet-friendly (a must for us), we wanted to see if we could get something more this year. Enter Airbnb. After taxes and fees, we ended up spending less to stay in a one-bedroom house than a hotel room. Overall our experience with our house was great. We were close to everything, had our own parking spot, and were able to do ALL the laundry (for free). Food: $200 (7 meals = ~$15 per meal/person) Our next largest expenditure was food. $200 fed the two of us for seven meals (2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners). When you break it down that's just $15 per meal/person which is very reasonable. We also grabbed coffee twice (outside of our meals) and a growler of beer and those amounts were factored in here as well so it was actually even less than $15 per meal! There are some great restaurants in Telluride! We particularly love Village Table (get tapas to share!), Brown Dog Pizza (can you say leftovers!?), and Baked (DONUTS!). Transportation: $45 We've been really impressed and happy with our gas mileage on the highway in the Forester and averaged 38 mpg on this trip so we only had to fill up before leaving Flagstaff and once again in Cortez on the way home just to be safe. During our time in Telluride, we walked everywhere or took the gondola. Telluride is a super pedestrian town and I just love that you can get anywhere you want to go by foot. Activities: $0 The best part about Telluride is that there are so many free things to do that beyond lodging, food, and transportation, you really don't have to spend any money at all! We stayed entertained by walking around downtown, riding the free dog-friendly gondola, hiking, and taking photos. This year, we chose to hike Break Creek Falls and it was incredible! The scenic 5 mile hike to the falls was definitely worth the complete and utter exhaustion we felt afterwards. Another favorite free activity is to take the gondola up to San Sophia Overlook and catch the sunset. Bridal Veil Falls and Cornet Falls are worthwhile mentions from our trip last year. No matter how you choose to spend your time in Telluride, as long as you're outside, you can do no wrong! I truly hope that everyone has the chance at some point in their lifetime to visit Telluride. I've been to a lot of places all over the US (41/50 states visited!) and few compare to this mountain town. Where have you been that stands out to you like Telluride does to us? Share in the comments - we can't wait to add them to our list.
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I'm in love with road travel and have a lot of it under my belt. For three summers during my college years, I traveled across the country (by car and Ryder truck) to set up and run home repair mission trips with Group Cares. I can't think of a better experience for college students and because of that, I can say I've been to 41/50 states! All those summers on the road and yet the drive between Cortez, CO and Telluride along the San Juan Skyway and State Highway 145 might be my favorite. A steady climb to 8,750 along green meadows and the Dolores River, the drive alone is worth writing home about but along the way you might also stumble along some hidden treasures like we did: hot springs. Now I'm not going to share all our secrets. I recently read an article by Outside magazine posing the question, “Should we all be sharing the locations of the beautiful photos we share on social media, or should we withhold the locations in an effort to protect these fragile places and keep the outdoors a place of exploration and discovery?” It stuck with me. Social media, specifically Instagram, has connected us to a lot of incredible places. In fact, when we first moved to Flagstaff, Instagram was our go-to to find new places and things to do. The reason for my secrecy behind this local, unmarked watering hole is 1) to help preserve this seldom maintained pool and prevent the hordes of people just doing it "for the 'gram" and 2) because for the people that really want to find this place, take care of it and appreciate it, with a little research (Google) it's not all that hard to find after all. *Steps down from soapbox* Anyways, back to the hot springs. As a girl from the prairie, a place I love but with little geographic interest, this was my first hot springs experience. Our first attempt at finding them was a fail - there's actually two pools, one of which is unfortunately in decay, trashed and not much of a "hot" spring anymore but across the way we were lucky to spot the second pool which appears recently built and/or maintained and was literal heaven (once you get past the sulfur). We spent somewhere close to an hour soaking and enjoying the sounds of the river nearby and were lucky enough to have had the place to ourselves that entire time. If our Montana road trip later this summer goes as planned, we're hoping to visit two other hot springs in the next couple months. What are your favorite secret spots? You don't have to disclose the actual location of course ;)
Last July, on our way back from the lavender festival, we stopped off for a picnic lunch at the Petrified Forest National Park. Since then we've been itching to go back and when better than with my parents in tow? We opted for a lesser known, largely unmarked trail at the recommendation of a coworker (thanks Justin!) and agreed, after having not run into another soul on the trail, that it was a sound choice. The Blue Forest trail starts out following an old road with vistas of the colorful teepees and Blue Mesa surrounded by glaring white sandstone. We took our time moseying along the old road keeping our eyes peeled for any evidence of petrified wood. Little did we know, we'd soon find ourselves surrounded by remnants of the old tropical forest this desert once was. Despite the midday rays, we completed most of the 1.2 mile one way trip but turned around after we couldn't determine which knife ridge to follow. I'd recommend this trail for adventurous souls that want to get away from the "crowd" and by "crowd" I mean the few hundred people in the park that day. In my opinion, one of the most appealing things about this park is that even on a beautiful Saturday in March, you can find your own corner of the park to enjoy in solitude.
After a crazy few weeks spending time with our families down south, we finally had the chance to explore something closer to home when my parents came to visit last week. It's always so fun to have them in town and I'm incredibly proud to have such adventurous and supportive parents. Every time they visit, we have the best time exploring new places and usually baking a yummy dessert or two. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my spring break! One of the adventures we decided on was something we had again avoided prior to having our Forester: Fossil Creek. Read any guide or post about it online and you'll pretty much scare yourself out of attempting the drive. I saw the 14 mile winding gravel road described as "torturous" in more places than one. Don't let this scare you off too much though! While the drive isn't for the faint of heart (thanks to Johnny for driving!) isn't not as horrendous as most online resources claim. And even if it was, boy is it worth it. After the long drive, a short mile walk, peppered with smaller waterfalls, will lead you to the finale, Fossil Springs. There you will find plenty of people, a few brave cliff jumpers, and cool, inviting turquoise waters. We chose to go when my parents were here partly because it was outside the permit season. As of April 1, you will need to buy a parking permit through Recreation.Gov website prior to making the trek. I was the only one that day brave enough to get in the water but the cliff jumpers, blue waters, and large falls provide plenty of entertainment for those who would prefer to stay dry. Fossil Creek is a place we would readily return to, despite the foreboding drive in. Thanks for braving this unknown adventure with us mom and dad!
One of the perks of having a higher clearance vehicle (we bought a brand new Forester - check out Instagram if you missed it!), and a deciding factor in our car search process, is all the places in northern Arizona we can now (safely) access! Our Honda Accord has brought us so many great memories and carried us to the most incredible places but we've definitely pushed it to its limits (maybe even past!) more than once or twice. It was time to say goodbye and hello to hikes and vistas only available to those with SUVs. Grand Falls, or "Chocolate Falls," was one of those places we longed to visit but avoided in our Honda. The majority of directions to this seasonal spectacle suggest a 4x4 or at least an SUV. To our surprise, the seldom maintained Indian Road 6910 was nothing more than slightly washboarded and totally passable in any old passenger car. So glad we were finally able to check out another one of northern Arizona's natural wonders!
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