Aspen Part Deux

Here are some more pics from our last trip to Aspen:













The red barn among the Aspen grove...



And you can barely see it, but there is snow!!

The hills are alive...

with the sound of music.......we saw a field...stopped...and skipped!





Don't worry...250 more pictures to go!

Have you hugged a tree today???

This past weekend we travled down to Aspen to see the leaves changing...it was so beautiful! Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend...



It was snowing up at Independence Pass!!! (elevation: 12,000+) I was so excited!



The top of Aspen Mountain...





Maroon Bells...











These are just a few of my favorites...but I'm pretty sure Maroon Bells on a sunday morning is the most beautiful place I've ever seen! We just went up to Aspen for one night, but took over 300 pictures...so we'll put more up this week!

Sweet treats...

As most of you know I am attending culinary school out here in Boulder at the Culinary School of the Rockies...it's for pastry arts and its only 5 weeks long, but very intensive! I'm in school all day (8-4 or 5 or 5:30), hearing lectures and then baking all day long! It's fun but extremely challenging. I'm doing alright, and I'm halfway through...here are some pictures of desserts we've made, as a class, or just me, or with my partner...it's a french pastry school...

A fruit tart...



Another fruit tart...



Frangipane tart, rustic fruit tart, and a mini fruit tart...
(I only have half because my partner took home the other half and I forgot my camera in class that day!)



Cream puffs and cream puff swans...



More cream puffs...



Puff pastry day...croissants, danishes...



For those chocolate lovers...we've had two days of working with chocolate (which is hard and kind of a pain)...

Chai truffles



Earl Grey Truffles...



Playing around with chocolate...



Just a few things we've done in class... more to come!

Fall is Here!!

Today we took a drive up to Leadville and Twin Lakes, Colorado to see the changing of the leaves! It is a big deal out here when the aspen trees turn to a golden color, and incredibly beautiful!



We took a short day trip up there and had lunch and even saw some fresh snow on the mountain tops! Since Leadville is at 10,200 ft elevation, it was quite cool and windy up there...I think at one point we got down to 49 degrees!
We rode through here two weeks ago when we were down in Aspen and here is what it looked like...



Here is what it looks like now...



Notice the fresh snow on top of the mountain and the golden aspen leaves...







Mt Elbert...the tallest mountain in Colorado, at 14,000+ feet elevation...the snow on the top was not there when we drove through 2 weeks ago!



Mt Massive...right beside Mt Elbert and just a few hundred feet shorter...





I just had to go feel the water...it was cold!











It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday! And next weekend we're heading back to the place where the beer flows like wine...hopefully we'll see even more of a change in the leaves!

A weather update for Boulder: it hasn't snowed here yet, but it has been in the low 40s and it snowed in Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park (about an hour north of us) the other weekend about 2 feet! We can't wait to see some snow!!!

The Most Recent Trip...

We took a trip to a little place up in the mountains; where the beer flows like wine; where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capastrano; I'm talking about a little place called...ASPEN.

I called our friend John Vigler who lives up there and let him know we were coming to visit. We found a cheap hotel in Aspen (which wasn't that cheap) and arrived late Friday night. It was a quick, four hour drive from Boulder. We got to our hotel and I went to meet John and another friend Kyle McKenzie for a drink at a bar downtown. Allison retired early so she didn't join us, but we had a good time.

The next morning, we slept in a little bit so we got a late start. Aspen is famous for skiing, but mainly for the Maroon Bells. This place was amazing, and actually is the most photographed place in Colorado. John Vogler went with us and acted as tour guide for the day - which was awesome. Here are some pics from the Maroon Bells trail:



Maroon Bells with Maroon Lake beneath...







After our trip to the bells, we went fishing with John and Kyle as the guides. We didn't catch a thing, but we had a great time out there with them.





Kyle and John...







On Sunday, we took the scenic route home via Independence Pass. It took us a little longer to get home that way, but the views were great. All the different Aspen tree groves along the way were gorgeous to see.