My first plane ride… I’ll admit I don’t remember all the details now, but enough of it still sticks in my head. I know who I was with, the destination, and a lot of the events that took place after. I couldn’t tell you the airline, and if I asked my mum she probably couldn’t tell you either. It’s okay though, we do the best with what we can. As I remember it was a summer vacation kind of trip. My mum and my aunt were along with me, and we only got a one way ticket.

There was some sort of family drama. What family doesn’t have some level of drama? But whatever the reasoning or events that brought it all to a head, the result was my first plane journey. It was to Colorado, either Colorado Springs directly or Denver. I know the final destination was Colorado Springs. Not an overly long flight from MSP, just about two hours. That’s probably good for a first time flyer.

Security I don’t remember at all but that was back in the days when it was more lax, and the only flight I ever took before things drastically changed. The one thing I remember about this journey? Is me freaking out over the most ridiculous thing. As a first time traveler there are a lot of reasonable things you could be worried about. What happens if we have an emergency landing? What if we loose cabin pressure and my oxygen mask doesn’t work? What if I get travel sick? But no, I was worried about what would happen to the drinks when we started to land.

Yes, that’s right. I was worried the drinks were going to spill as we landed. I have never worried about that since mind you, and I’ve watched my husband spill a hot cup of coffee right into his lap on a flight. Why my soda spilling as we descended worried a nine year old? I have no clue. But I think my mum talked to the flight attendant at some point and reassured me it’d be fine. Come to find out later they take away drinks before they start to descend, and you put your tray tables up. Beyond that the most uneventful first flight ever.

As I said the destination was Colorado. A place I’ve now frequented several times for various reasons. First that trip to pick up my cousins and take the 16 hour drive back to Minnesota with us. Don’t worry, we did some fun touristy things before we left. I remember a zoo, and going to Pikes Peak, the Royal Gorge right when a thunder storm was rolling in. My aunt yelling at my mum because she wanted to watch it there. And the most exciting fact of getting my very first super soaker there. Hey, those things mattered as a nine year old.

I digress, the next time I went was from a long road trip I took with my friends and my now sisters (blended family situation years after) on a youth group trip and that was a lot of fun. Ironically, we ended up in Colorado Springs again. This time it was during a margarita festival that none of us could participate in, and a guy at a coffee shop who had a striking resemblance to my dad. We also when white water rafting that time. I’m glad I did it then as a teenager when I had not really developed any fears of anything. It was super fun, wet, and cold, even in the summer. If you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend it. We did Pikes Peak again but this time we were able to go to the top because it wasn’t too snowy like the first time. Also a definite wind. I remember being in the lookout area with my sister and looking out.

We also recreated some LOTR scenes under a tree that looked like the one right from FOTR and my sister was a Nazgul, that was hilarious. Because we were silly like that, but it was good fun. That would be the last time I went to Colorado Springs for now.

The next time was to Loveland where a friend from karate had moved. That time I flew into Denver. Again a two hour flight, nothing too special. The airport is massive though. Also a little confusing as to how birds live in the airport. But I found my way around, and we had a great time.

If you’re a tea fanatic like myself you have to head to Golden, where they have the only tea plant in the US. It’s the home of Celestial Seasonings, the Sleep Time Tea guys. You can do a tour, which was a lot of fun. They talk about how they make herbal tea there, and its the only plant for Celestial Seasonings, so all the stuff comes there. They had tea tastings, and a gift shop with lots of different options. Celestial Seasonings is mostly herbal tea, but they do have a couple caffeinated black tea selections.

After that we went to Estes Park, the home of the Stanley Hotel, and a lot of really fun shops. The first time I was there it was winter, and then second time summer. Yes, I visited this friend a couple times. In the winter the little shops were really fun and they have a pretty big Christmas ornament shop. I will admit I got a ridiculous ornament from a cartoon I like, which I think has now since been lost.. In the summer they had a big market and festival going on in which we learned how to and then made flower crowns. That was super fun! I’m pretty sure that was the Midsummer Scandinavian Festival, which we stumbled upon on complete accident.

That was a handful of years ago now and I haven’t been back since. Colorado is so beautiful with all the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River, and just all the other wildlife and nature there. A definite place to check out, with many different cities to see and things to do.

I know this all stemmed from that first flight, but its crazy to think how many times I have gone back since that time, so long ago. I certainly had no idea if I’d ever be back. That 16 hour car ride certainly made it feel like a world away…With that I’ll leave you until next time, Happy Travels!

Jess