Operation: Get Visitors

A few years ago, Chris and I decided that we needed to actively try to get more people to visit us.  We were living in San Francisco, the perfect location for our tourism-loving family and friends. 

So we started mentioning it to all of our friends and family whenever we spoke to them, and for a period of about 8-10 months, we averaged about a visitor (couple/family) per month!  We had the best time seeing everyone, and loved showing them around a cool city.

Recently, we started thinking about this again.  We now live somewhere new.  A place that has magical landscaping and offers a very different experience than a visit to San Francisco.  So we figured, why not try again? We finally have a house that we can actually properly host visitors now, and we want to take advantage of that.

{ the sunrise that greeted me on my way to work earlier this week }

So all of this talk of visitors has reminded me that I still don't know my way around Colorado all that well. Even the areas surrounding my house and work.  What better reason to reignite the Dora the Explorer in me, than to be able to better entertain visitors while playing tour guide?  

{ where else can you hike a rock staircase into the mountain and end up with views like this? }

As we enter our 2nd Fall (that's Autumn, for you Brits) here in Colorado I decided to create my top ten list of things to explore here in Colorado.

They are (in no particular order, I'm not playing favorites!)...
  1. Visit the Royal Gorge (I am told I have visited here when I was really little, but I don't remember it. Only the photos I've seen of me feeding deer crackers that were stuck between my toes.  No really, I'm sure my parents knew they wouldn't bite me... I'm sure it was perfectly safe. ;)
  2. Test out our new-to-us ($10 used!) kayak on a lake we haven't been to yet.
  3. Go for a walk at the Garden of the Gods (the photos look seriously beautiful).
  4. Check out the changing of the leaves on the famous Aspen trees in Estes Park (assuming the road reopens from the flood in time to do so).
  5. Observe the elk rut in Estes Park (if possible. see above) that happens every Fall.
  6. Find a good viewpoint to take visitors to.
  7. Explore and try out more hiking trails.
  8. Find our favorite restaurants in Denver (I love this kind of research!).
  9. Visit some of the museums in Denver.
  10. Check out the local theater in Denver.
So... who's coming to visit?!