Southwest Loop — Part 1 — Minnesota to Colorado

In April a bunch of my friends rented a house in Phoenix (thank you, airbnb!) for a long weekend. Instead of flying down with everyone else Jeff and I decided to take some extra time to drive down there so we could adventure through Colorado, Moab, Arches, Zion, the Grand Canyon, etc. It was the Best. Freaking. Decision Ever. and I know those adventures will stick with us forever. 

We left Minneapolis on a snowy April day, which ended up being the perfect send-off (read: THANK GOD WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE). The first day, through Iowa and Nebraska, were just as exciting as you'd imagine. We drove as fast and as far as we could to make it to Colorado (and elevation. of any kind.) as quickly as possible, sleeping in the car somewhere in Nebraska. As we got closer and closer to Colorado, and to the mountains, I started freaking out. Living in the Pacific Northwest for a couple years made me love the mountains so much (especially that dreamy volcano. Looking at you, Rainier!) and being surrounded by them again felt like home. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I caught a crazy cold, but I wasn't going to let the delirium get in the way of our mountain adventures. We'd been trapped in the car for a day and a half and I was ready definitely ready to run around, so we looked up a disc golf course in the mountains and spent the next few hours chasing our discs up and down the mountain, breathing the mountain air, and getting lost in the giant trees.