After a long nine hour flight to Denver from London we were blessed with gorgeous Colorado sun as we raced home to Boulder.
Our nephew in his new Chelsea soccer jersey, working up an appetite for burgers on the grill. With a backyard like this we wondered, um, why did we move away from the States?!
The purpose of the visit back to Colorado was to celebrate the marriage of Nate's college friend. The wedding was at the top of a chairlift in Crested Butte, so we had to get on the road early to make the late afternoon wedding. The five hour drive through Colorado country was amazing. We've done numerous roadtrips all over the UK and continental Europe and every square inch seems to be marked and manicured. Colorado and its huge expanses of unsettled space made it easy to imagine covered wagons and frontier life. We had to go through the Cottonwood Pass over the continental divide to get to Crested Butte. The continental divide is a hydraulic divide where to the west the river systems empty into the Pacific and to the east the river systems empty in to Atlantic.
With barely a half hour to spare we made it to Crested Butte Mountain. There, along with a wild coyote, we witnessed this!
After they kissed and made it official we went back down the mountain where Shana + Brian had a wedding reception dinner with BBQ chicken, pulled pork, and mashed potatoes. Best wedding spread ever.
The next morning we headed back to Nate's parents home in Boulder, taking a different route. After Mexican breakfast burritos and a quick walk through the Crested Butte Farmer's Market to collect Rocky Mountain honey and local sweet cherries we drove through a gorgeous aspen forest.
Recent summer thundershowers meant everything was green and in bloom.
After multiple stops for small hikes and waterfall viewings we made it back to Boulder. The next day Nate took me up a series of dirt roads to a special hike. We would be missing my favorite holiday, the 4th of July, as we were returning to Europe, so Nate took me here:
The hike included the crossing of this waterfall...
these gorgeous Columbines...
and, no Colorado hike is complete without the grunting of bears and their shaking of trees as they scratch their backs. Yikes! I was freaked. Sorry, no pictures of bears - If I stuck around to capture them on film I'm certain I wouldn't be posting right now. Especially when packing these Colorado Cowboy Cookies. Bears love cookies.
COLORADO COWBOY COOKIES
- 1 c whole wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 c butter
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 c rolled oats
- 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 c butterscotch chips
- 3/4 c chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Combine drys. Beat butter and brown sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg and extract. Combine. Fold in drys. Fold in oats, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and walnuts. Refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours and no more than 24 hours. If your not a fan of butterscotch chips (gasp!), leave them out and double the amount of chocolate chips. I didn't realize my husband was not a fan of 'scotch chips until I found little piles of cookie covered 'scotch chips all around the kitchen.
Serve with milk or coffee. Cowboy coffee if possible.
Cowboy coffee uses no special devices (filters, etc.) and with all the ranch land in Colorado, cowboys still very much exist!
We love Colorado as well. My husband took a trip years back, and we love it. We always want to go back one day.
Congratulation to your friend's wedding. And have a nice vacation in Colorado.
Posted by: elra | Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 03:35 PM
Been there only once, I wish I can go there again:) Pic looks lovely adn I' tempted with the cookies recipe :)
Posted by: ann | Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 07:31 PM
It looks that you had a great time exploring!
Lovely written & beautiful pictures!
Posted by: Sophie | Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 09:15 PM
Pictures are breathtaking!! And cowboy cookies look yummy! ;)
Posted by: mycookinghut | Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 11:08 PM
What a beautiful place to have a wedding! My husband loves Colorado, but I have never been. It does sound like my kind of place though. The cookies sound great!
I know what you mean about bbqs and summertime making you wonder why you left. We try really hard to appreciate the Brazilian BBQ and it is nice for a change, but we equally crave burgers and all the fun salads from a BBQ at home.
Posted by: Lori | Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 03:58 PM
Lori - We have found a few American BBQ joints in London, some quite good, but not the real thing. We so appreciate our opportunity to live abroad and the really cool experiences we've had. Would do it again if we had to do it all over, but I can't help it - I'm homesick! Colorado is a fabulous place - we've decided The Rockies or West when we move back!
Posted by: gastroanthropologist | Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 06:30 PM
As much as my husband and I would love to travel 'round the world, there is such beauty still to be found here at home! I have never been to Colorado but have always wanted to go. Your photos are better than any travel guide at making me wish for such a trip even more!
The wedding vista is gorgeous and your nephew looks so smart in his soccer jersey. 8-) And of course, these cowboy cookies sound delicious; they have a little bit of everything that I love in cookies!
Posted by: Tangled Noodle | Monday, July 13, 2009 at 03:11 PM
Cowboy cookies. What an appropriate name. :) The natural landscape of CO looks amazing.
Posted by: The Duo Dishes | Monday, July 13, 2009 at 06:14 PM
Wow, I don't know if its my connection or what but I swear I responded to this post, I love Colorado - I've had the pleasure of driving cross country 3times and my favorite part was always driving through Colorado, something about the beauty and having no idea what could be round the next bend.
The cookies look delicious and the perfect treat for hiking. Thank goodness you did not decide to follow that bear!
Posted by: OysterCulture | Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 12:03 AM
Looks like an amazing trip, and what a beautiful setting for a wedding. I don't blame you for not taking bear pictures; those cookies look very tempting, and I'm not even a bear!
Posted by: Jenni | Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Beautiful shots, Colorado has so many gorgeous spots.
Your cookies look chunky and delicious! A bit of all things yummy in a cookie...I love the addition of butterscotch chips. I always forget about those.
Thanks for the reminder =)
Posted by: lisa (dandysugar) | Friday, July 17, 2009 at 11:17 PM
Colorado is my dream place to live, love it there! not to mention those cookies look so fabulous! i want one right now please.
Posted by: Sprouted Kitchen | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Wow - Colorado looks stunning. I've only been to Boulder once, that was for a Thanksgiving weekend, visiting with one of my best friends (who now lives in Ireland). I loved the place, though I wish I could have gotten to see more of the surrounding areas while I was there. I also missed out on the cowboy coffee, so that's another reason to return!
Posted by: Daily Spud | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 11:31 PM