Mountain Getaway

The view from our Airbnb

It was Spring Break last month, and we decided to get an Airbnb in the mountains for a change of scene. It was a lot of fun! I feel like our expectations were a lot more reasonable about what a vacation with a toddler during a pandemic would be like, and we ended up having a great time.

Some highlights:

*Going to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It was a super snowy day, but it was still an awesome experience. Avi LOVED feeding the baby giraffe lettuce and was obsessed with watching the river otters. I think she would have stayed there all day had the otters not gone to the indoor part of their exhibit, and she she still talks about the "awthers." This is also one of the first memories I've noticed she's held onto. She will make signs for giraffes eating and talk about lions sleeping and mention the otter in the bath.

*Going on a hike and seeing the river and canyon near Canon City and driving to the highest suspension bridge. We ate Indian food in the park and looked at lots of local murals.

*Our Airbnb was gorgeous. We had a huge wall of windows that overlooked the mountains and it was so nice to relax with Joel and enjoy a glass of wine or play a game while watching the sun set after Avi went to bed. The owners also had toddlers so there were lots of puzzles and duplo blocks for Avi to play with, and she seemed happy to explore a new house (except she missed home around bedtime).

*We loved going to Salida, CO. They had tons of cute stores and we enjoyed walking along the river and seeing the mountains.

It's definitely still a little strange traveling through the pandemic. The county we stayed in had removed mask mandates in restaurants and indoor spaces, so it was really strange to see such a wide variation in what people were doing compared to what's normal on the Front Range.

It was a lot more fun traveling with Avi compared to when she was 11-months-old. She's a lot more curious around the outside world and also just has more life skills like climbing down stairs safely. While it's definitely a lot slower paced than a trip Joel and I enjoyed before she was born, it was nice to be in a new space and also feel like it was safe to travel given that we were both vaccinated and the case rates were low.

It's nice to feel like I can look ahead and plan some trips like this, and we've actually decided to spend a month in California with my parents to take advantage of my having the summer off and Joel still working from home until Mid-July. I'm feeling really grateful we are able to have these adventures as a family.

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