January 2025: On to Boulder, Colorado

(Flatirons overlooking Boulder, Colorado)

January 26th had arrived and with it, our departure from Omaha, Nebraska. We had spent the last four weeks relaxing and resetting in anticipation of a busy year ahead. Now, it was time to head west and begin some serious exploration and adventure. With our Subaru Outback once again filled to capacity, we began our eight-hour trek towards the Rocky Mountains.

(The trip from Omaha, NE to Boulder, CO would take us between 8-9 hours)

The drive itself was fairly easy as it was essentially a straight shot to the west. A majority of our drive was through rural Nebraska; beautiful in its simplicity but lacking a whole lot of visual stimuli. As we drove into Colorado and began approaching the front range of the mountains, the flat lands of the Midwest became rolling hills and the one thing that had eluded us in Omaha became ever more prevalent: SNOW! Thick blankets of the white powder covered the sides of the highways and medians and before we knew it, the snowcapped mountains had risen up before us. The raw, majestic power and beauty of the salt-and-peppered mountains left me quite literally, speechless. We had arrived.

(View of the front range from town)

Driving through a snowy downtown Boulder, Colorado was very much like driving through the New England towns I had grown up in. The plows had done their best but a dirty, slushy mixture covered the roadways. Since our destination wasn't in Boulder proper, we only spent about ten minutes navigating the main roads before we were exiting town and entering the front range of the mountains. 

(Rear view of our cabin)

Our destination was a small cabin on the side of a mountain, literally a stone's throw away from the entrance to Roosevelt National Forest. The driveway was unplowed and had about a foot of snow cover which seemed dicey at the time since there was a sheer drop off to the right side. The Airbnb host had warned us that vehicles without snow-chains, 4WD, or decent AWD capabilities wouldn't be able to make it up to the cabin. I had confidently informed him that we had a Subaru Outback with AWD and it shouldn't be a problem. It would certainly be embarrassing if we were to get stuck at this point. Luckily, the Subaru performed admirably, and we were able to make it through the snow and to our mountain cabin. 

(View from our cabin doors)

The cabin itself was small with a lot of DIY touches, but it was cozy and very, very cute. It had a large deck in the backyard that overlooked mountains on the opposing side of the canyon, views out of the mountains and towards Boulder in the front yard, and was surrounded by pine trees. I don't personally find this to be a drawback, but the only source of heat for the entire cabin was a wood-burning stove in the living room. This was to be our home and base of operations for the next two weeks as we hiked the surrounding mountains and explored the nearby towns that made up this spectacular portion of Colorado.

(The wood-burning stove, our only source of heat for the next two weeks!)