Day 2 kicked off bright and early with a 5am wake up call. Am I tired after going to bed late after a travel and busy day? Yes. Is it going to be worth it? Also yes.
We’re off to do probably the #1 thing I’m most excited for this weekend – YOGA ON THE ROCKS!!
The Infamous Red Rocks Amphitheater meets group yoga class, and it just so happens this weekend is the last weekend of the season! Talk about perfect timing.
The sun rose earlier than what our weather apps said, so we didn’t quite get to view the sunrise from the rocks, but the view was nothing short of amazing.
We had a one hour yoga class that was great and kicked off our day on a high note. Even though the rows you’re in are wide and sturdy, it feels like you’re at an incline so there’s an added challenge to the flow when trying to maintain your balance. With the elevation, it was a little windy when we first arrived. A few minutes into our yoga class, though, the sun was bright and the hearts were beating, and the jackets came off. It was truly such a peaceful hour.
Post class we took in more of the view and, since they started offering brunch this year, we indulged in that post class. Breakfast with a great view? Say less. A veggie frittata and sausage breakfast platter later, we were satisfied and ready to continue our day.
You know the best thing to do after sweating outside doing yoga and walking up and down stairs? Tubing down a cold river!
This tubing adventure claimed to be white water rapid tubing, but unfortunately the water levels were low today so while there were some rapid parts, there were also many moments of being stuck on rocks. It was lazy river meets occasional rapids, with also a surplus of rocks in some areas.
No less than three times did I get stuck in a whirlpool situation where, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get out of the section I was in to continue down the river. Poor bystanders tried to help me out by pushing me towards the right direction, but much to my embarrassment, my tube brought me back to them time and time again.
Your tickets include 2 floats down the river since it only takes about an hour and most people want to go twice. We agreed that while we did have a good time, getting stuck so often was way less fun and not worth enduring a second time. Therefore, we opted to head out. I would love to do this river when the levels are higher and you can truly float care free.
We had time to spare, so we got to relax a bit in the bed of our truck to dry off and soak up some more sun. It was just enough of a relax to rejuvenate me from my early morning decline and keep me going the rest of the day. Next up : drinks!
Conveniently around the corner from tubing is the Coors Light Brewery! This came recommended to us from a few people so we figured it was too close to avoid. The actual brewery tour is an hour and a half, so we decided not to do the tour and just hang out in the lounge/tap room. Despite my assumptions that the vibe would be brewery-esque, it was more just a social area. Hightop tables all around and a single bar that you could get your 3 included sample beers at (one at a time of course).
Madison doesn’t really like beer, so it was really just me tasting.
I chose the:
- Coors Banquet (I’ve never heard of this version)
- Coors Light Below Zero (standard Coors Light but stored below zero degrees, making it the coldest beer I’ve probably ever had)
- Blue Moon (apparently Coors Light created and makes Blue Moon, which was news to me!
A quick trip back to our Airbnb to refresh and change our clothes and now it’s dinner time! Something we quickly learned is the need for reservations. The place we had in mind for dinner was at a 2 hour wait or the chance to sit at the bar if a seat opened up. There weren’t two seats next to each other, but one couple seemed like they’d be finishing soon. We figured it couldn’t hurt to wait a little bit in hopes they’d soon leave and we’d have their seats.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before another woman sat in the open seat while her, presumably, daughter and husband waited behind her. It seemed they were doing the same thing we were, except we waited where the hostess told us and they walked completely past her.
A few minutes later we decided to leave altogether, because we didn’t want to continue waiting especially after the seats we were waiting for were essentially claimed. Apparently, it’s very hard to find somewhere to eat for dinner that isn’t packed or needing reservations. We drove around for a bit and ended at the Dairy Block. Madison hung out in this area yesterday before I arrived, so we thought maybe we’d find something there.
It only took about 25 minutes of walking before we found a rooftop bar/restaurant that wasn’t completely full. I guess they amp up later in the night, so we lucked out! We had a Unicorn Farts Glitter Sour beer, which sadly had no glitter, then I ordered a chicken sandwich and Madison got a cuban.
We wrapped up just in time to make it to our last event of the night – Bright Nights.
A few years ago my NYNP trip was Raleigh, NC, and my sister and I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival, which is put on by the same company as Bright Nights. It’s essentially a company that sets up huge displays made up of paper mache type materials. The NC one was amazing, and we literally spent hours there. My expectations were high, and I hyped up the event to Madison when she saw they were putting it on in our area.
I should’ve learned by now to just let the first time be the best and only time.
While the displays at this event were beautiful and still awesome, it wasn’t as interactive as the one I went to. I was also stoked to show Madison the gift shop area (cause Izzy and I spent about an hour at ours looking at everything) just to find out they didn’t have the gift shop this year. 🙁
Big let down unfortunately, but on the bright side (pun intended), Madison loved it and was glad we went. So if you ask me, that’s all the matters. Note to self, though: probably don’t do it again.
We only stayed about 45 minutes, which meant we’d actually be able to go back to our Airbnb at a decent time and probably get to bed somewhat early. We’re both exhausted and these last two days have been jam packed!
If you don’t know, Snoop Dogg has an ice cream brand, and it’s recently come to my attention that he has a Peanut Butter Jelly Time flavor. We got into a whole discussion about PB & J flavored things, which prompted me mentioning this to her, and on our way back to the Airbnb we stopped to get a pint to try!
Honestly, it was fire. The grape was very grape-y, but the peanut butter tied it together when you got it. I think the mixture could be more swirled together since the top was more of a half and half kind of look, but the farther you got down the more swirled it was. Then you’d find pockets of grape jelly swirl! I was expecting it to be pretty good, and expectations were met. I might just have to buy one when I’m back at home to keep around. It was like an uncrustable sandwich you pulled out of the freezer and let thaw just enough to be squishy and no longer hard, but still frozen enough to beat a straight out of the box uncrustable.
Now we’re settling down for the night, and will hopefully be snoozing away soon. While tomorrow isn’t as early of a start as today was, it’s still an early start and I need some beauty sleep!
See you tomorrow <3
Sounds awesome Brit! If you were at Coors, you were in Golden,CO.