Monday was our last full day in Colorado! After checking out Breckenridge on Saturday, and Vail on Sunday, our Monday plan was to go to Leadville. We had rented e-bikes to check out the Mineral Belt Trail a couple of weeks before our trip. I was pumped! I’ve heard a lot about this town because of the Leadville Trail 100 Run.

It was raining and foggy in Vail when we left and raining and foggy in Leadville when we arrived an hour later. I was overjoyed to be wearing a sweatshirt (newly purchased at the Vail candy shop – it says “I’m done peopling”) and drinking a hot chai on the first day of July! Yes, please! It’s just such an absolute treat to not feel miserable because of a super high dew point.

Our bike reservation was at 10:00 but it was still raining so we asked if we could move it back a bit to noon. While we waited for the weather to get better, we walked around and checked out shops. Val even got a coveted spot to shop at Melanzana. It was interesting to see what all the hoopla was about.

We picked up our e-bikes around noon and headed to the trail. I was so glad to have the assist. It was amazing to be going uphill and not get out of breath or feel like I was working at all!

it was still cloudy at the start of our ride. We rode up and saw a few mining structures, then the clouds started to part and the sun was shining for the end of our ride, which was mostly downhill. The ride was a little over 13 miles and took about 2 hours with all our stops. I really enjoyed it and would love for my dad to get to try it one day!

Did you know Leadville is the highest elevation city in the US?

Landing that jump did not feel good

We were super hungry after our ride and went in search of lunch. There used to be an all vegan restaurant (our original plan) but now they have nothing vegan at all (what a flip!), so we got Mexican food. Then we checked out a few more shops and headed a different way back to Vail than we came in, stopping to look at a pretty overpass and red rocks.

We were beat and had a chill evening – chatting, painting (a grand total of one rock, ha), and grilling. Then we called it an early night to get everything packed up and write out postcards. I was glad I threw an extra duffel bag in – we ended up using it to make packing go quicker.

On Tuesday we hung out with Val and Steve for about 45 minutes then hit the road at 8:30 to get back to their place by 11:00 (to drop off their Jeep) then to ride to the airport to fly out at 1:25. It was a long day and we got back home at 6:00.

In Georgetown, on the way back to Denver

We loved seeing all these mountain cities with Val and Steve, and are so grateful they invited us, hosted us, and showed us around. Each town had its own unique vibe, and there is so much to do out there. We were interested in white water rafting, more hiking, (me) actually running… in the future! We felt really worn out going into this trip and really worn out each day. It seems like we need to rest before we go to Colorado, as well as after. Cons of being a flatlander! Worth it though.

I felt sad leaving, but also remembered we’d see Val and Steve in less than four weeks, when they’re out here for a trip to Iowa! And I told them we’d have to plan our next get together then, so we don’t feel sad a the end of that trip.