patriotic

happy monday everyone! i thought i'd kick off our holiday road trip adventure with a recap from the 4th. we started the day off by watching the parade come through the main street of downtown breckenridge. 

my personal favorite of the parade was when the old west cowboys and saloon gals came through. they had a shoot out with classic six shooters and everything. we later found them at a bar patio hooping and hollering with their pistols as if they were in an old saloon. it was awesome!

[am smoothies]

[parade viewing]

[puppy naps]

once the parade finished, part of our group went back to the condo while the others (including myself) went to a pub to grab a few more brews. this was probably the best surprise to the guys as they could have the local beers they ordered canned onsite to take home. 

[14 32oz crowlers thanks to #breckbrewpub]

once we got back, unloaded all the beers, and had lunch, T and i went out for a hike with a few others from our group. as brian is the colorado resident in our group, he selected the trail we'd hike that day. 

located in the white river national forest, mccullough gulch trail runs (mostly) alongside a stream leading up to a waterfall and lake. seeing that the weather had cleared for the moment, we set out to hit the top of the waterfall. 

[up, up, up we go]

[bros]

[taking a breather/photo op]

aside from rolling clouds and the occasional steep angle of our trail, it was perfect. every time i thought i'd found a more stunning view, another would show it self and wow me all over again. 

[he's cute]<3 p="">

as we trekked through patches of rocks and trees, we couldn't quite see how far we'd gone until we reached the waterfall. and boy, was it breathtaking. 

then, as we were talking about taking the next leg up to the lake over the ridge, we started to get snowed on! i knew we were in the mountains, but didn't realize how high up we were until those chilly snowflakes hit us. so, we decided to head back down since we didn't know how long or how much precipitation we'd get since we had very little tree cover. 

moving further and further down the trail, the snow turned to small hail then to rain as it had finally warmed up enough. it was the coolest experience i think i've had on a hike, and was definitely one for the books. i mean, how often do you get snowed, hailed, and rained on in the summer with sun?

[group pic]

[post-hike bliss]

once we made our way back to the condo, we grabbed lunch, made a cocktail, and headed down to the hot tub to rest our sore muscles. but not before i made our 4th of july treat :)

a heavenly mixed berry pie topped with pie crust stars because a good pie should be festive right? once it had cooled, we adulted the best way we knew how by having dessert first before going to dinner. 

[burgers and margaritas]

then, we found a sweet little patio to take in the fireworks and savor our last night of friendcation.