The colors and adventures of fall

It has been a hugely busy fall so far, and there are plenty of recent adventures to be shared. Here are some photos and snippets of this lovely autumn in Colorado, Washington, and Illinois:

Ben Tyler Trail

Owen and I hiked part of this trail in early October. This is one of his family's favorite multi-generation Colorado trails, and it was a gorgeous day to check it out! We missed most of the fall Aspens in their full glory, but it was beautiful to see the Aspen groves in a late state, with some bare trees, some still with mostly full leaves, and others in between. The rainbow of gold in the leaves on the trees and in those covering the trail like natural confetti was just lovely, particularly with the diffused early autumn light. 

Our perfect trail - his middle name and my last name. Coincidence?? ;)

Hello, you beautiful thing.

Maroon Bells, Aspen, CO

The following weekend, my roommate, Owen, and I drove out to Aspen for a visit. O had been there before on a couple of occasions, but in our three years in Colorado, my roomie and I hadn't yet been. What a beautiful place! Maroon Bells is everything it's cracked up to be, and Aspen is a picturesque Colorado mountain town. We had a great time exploring this new place and enjoying the fall there. I was even able to catch up with one of my very good friends from when I taught in France. She's been in CO for as long as I have, but neither of us have cars, so we hadn't been able to get together. It was fantastic to finally see her and catch up!

Downtown Aspen

Roomie adventures!

Pretty much the best picture of us in nature of all time (so far).

Weekend at home

The weekend after Aspen, Owen and I flew to the Pacific Northwest to visit my family. Owen has met my parents before, but this time he was able to meet my sister, brother-in-law, and my adorable niece. I LOVED being home and remembered just how much I miss the PNW, and Owen enjoyed seeing my hometown and meeting more of my family. I'm already really looking forward to going home again to spend Christmas with my family. I can't get enough of that sweet little niece of mine! 

Snuggling with Soren!

Girls' weekend in Chicago, IL

Before this year, I'd never been to Chicago in my life, and then I wind up going twice in six months! Haha. Chicago is a fan-freaking-tastic town and I was so happy to make the trip to catch up with my good friend from grad school and celebrate a milestone birthday with her and another friend. The weather was perfect and I saw a lot of new things and parts of town on this trip. My favorite thing was the architectural boat tour that we took. Chicago is definitely one of my US favorites!

Saying hey to my favorite, The Bean!

So much amazing artwork at the Art Institute of Chicago. Fantastic museum!

Girls' weekend in Colorado Springs, CO (and Denver)

Last weekend, two of my roommates from my senior year of college flew in from WA and CA for a visit with me and our fourth roommate (who lives in Colorado Springs with her hubby and baby boys). While two or three of us had been able to get together sporadically since college, this was the first time that all four of us had been together since Roomie J's wedding reception in the fall of 2011! Needless to say, we had an absolute blast and it was like time had been paused and we easily picked up right where we left off. These are three amazing women; I'm proud to know them and I love them like sisters. We're all already looking forward to our next reunion (definitely in fewer than five years, though! ;) ). Great company, good food, perfect fall weather, and lots of laughter. Couldn't ask for more with these three!

Exploring the gorgeous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

All the details in this hotel were simply stunning. So classy!

Denver's Union Station

Colorado brews at my fav brewery (Denver Beer Co.)

All smiles while exploring Garden of the Gods park.

Fun picnic at Garden of the Gods

Love these ladies!!

These next couple of weeks will bring more adventures: another year of the Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Festival in Denver, my 28th birthday, Thanksgiving break and Colorado road trips with Owen, and catching up with more friends. 

ALSO - Owen and I recently bought tickets to FRANCE for this coming spring!!! He's never been before and it will have been about a year and a half since I was last there, so it's high time for a visit to the 'homeland'. We got killer deals on our tickets (as in, both of us, RT Denver-Paris for 10 days for a total of $1,000! No joke, that's total for two tickets. Amazing!) and we're so excited. The next few months will see me dive deep into Rick Steves Europe travel planning mode, that's for sure! La France, on y va! :)