Boulder has been absolutely incredible. Got to spend time with family and ran into a few friends. Watched a really awesome movie the other night called Marwencol, basically a documentary about a man who plays with dolls.

 A long way down to the bottom of Black Canyon

 not getting too close to the edge

 ...too close to the edge

 Mesa Verde views

Finally had some time to find the pictures from Black Canyon and a few extras from driving around some beautiful places.

Day 6: Boulder

After our hotspring dip on Sunday morning, we headed to Boulder to meet up with our families. We were stuck in stand still traffic for a while, but we made it all the same. Dropped by Tyler's aunt Laura's home which was beautiful, then grabbed a bite to eat before heading to the Boulder Theatre to see Tedeschi Trucks Band and Joseph Arthur play for eTown, Charlotte's uncle Nick and aunt Helen's radio program. If you've ever heard of eTown you should check it out, spreading a lot of good music and doing a lot of good for the earth, etown.org. The show was incredible, completely surreal that we were listening to such stellar tunes. Went to the afterparty for a bit before heading back to sleep in Melanie and George's greenhouse. They both are incredible artists and have their own blog, http://minigalleryo.blogspot.com Pictures of Boulder to come later. Went on a great bike ride around Boulder, saw some public art pieces that Melanie and George had done. It's been so nice to have a day without getting in the car and running off somewhere. Looking forward to dinner tonight and sleeping under a real roof again...

Day 5 and 6: Telluride, Black Canoyon, Glenwood Springs

 home

 Elk along the road

After our day at Mesa Verde, we spent the night in Telluride. Such a beautiful town, and the best part was that the campground was basically at the end of the main street, so we got to spend the night in town. There's some really cool restaurants and bars there, we tried to go to a concert but ended up getting some rest instead. Woke up the next morning and went on the free gondola ride in town, then headed towards Boulder. On the way we stopped in Grand Junction, the Uncompahgre park, and checked out Black Canyon in Gunnison. We ended up spending the night in a funny little town called Glenwood Springs, where we found a crazy little hostel. We had a fun night there, sharing the house with a lot of real characters, including a girl who ate raw hot dogs and had a ferret on a leash. All the same, we really liked it there, and in the morning got a tip from a local to check out a natural hotspring along the river which was a great way to start the day. There are basically only pictures of Telluride...

Day 4: Mesa Verde

 Sage to keep our car smelling nice

 Boneyard

After rafting, we got in the car and made our way over to Mesa Verde, which is near the four corners. By the time we got there, the campsites were all closed, so we had to shell out some money to stay in the lodge, which is about a 45 minutes drive from the enterance of the park, which was really scary with no light but the moon as we wound around the side of a mountain with no barrier on the roads. Once we were up there, we looked out our window and saw a deer grazing under the moonlight and were really happy to be able to take a shower. Woke up the next morning and spent the day exploring the park and all of the amazing ruins there. The pueblo people built their homes in the side of the cliffs, and we toured one called Balcony House. You literally have to walk down a staircase on the side of a cliff, then climb up a series of ladders to get into the dwellings. There were some pretty strange landscape changes within the park because of past fires, which left skeletons of trees covering a lot of the land.

Day 3: Pilar

Rafting in Pilar was fantastic, we met some funny people along the way and learned how to surf a raft in white water. Saw some Anasazi Indian petroglyphs, and there's natural garnet in the riverbed dirt. The sunset the night before was beautiful, and the moon was so bright we could barely sleep. We hiked pretty far up that morning as well, amazing views.

Days 1 & 2

 Tyler on the edge of the Rio Grande, 650 ft down

 "They don't throw any dander"-Mary

 Taos Pueblo church

 Rio Grande

First two days in New Mexico have been amazing, badlands, and woods are incredible. Day one started in Albuquerque, then headed to Santa Fe. We took the Turquise Trail to get there, and stopped in a funny town called Cerillos, which was litereally a ghost town. We had a beer there at a bar where there were more cats than people. The first night we stayed in the woods outside of Santa Fe, had some wine and brie for dinner, forgot our blanket and were freezing all night. Day two, went from Santa Fe up to Taos, took the "High Road" there, were made for some amazing views. Stayed the night in Pilar, along the Rio Grande, we were the only ones there. The stars were incredible, as was the sangria and pb&j sandwiches. Woke up this morning and went for a hike in the mountains near our campsite, we're going rafting on the river, then heading to Mesa Verde. Still can't believe we're here