I love to travel during the fall season because the weather is so beautiful in most places. This year my family and I decided to do a road trip to Vail and Aspen from Dallas to see the fall foliage. My husband and I had planned to go last year but due to the pandemic, we didn’t get a chance to. It has been a few years since we’ve been to Colorado. The last time we went, it was just the two of us. For this trip, we have our two year old with us, so our schedule revolved more around her schedule. Here are a few highlights from our road trip from Dallas to Vail and Aspen, Colorado.
Great Sand National Park
This is the second time I’ve gone to this park. It is still as beautiful as the first time I went. Some places just gives you that feeling of being transported in time and this is one of those places for me.
Vail, Colorado
I was really interested in visiting Vail because of all the photos I’ve seen of it. It just looked like such a cute little town and as it turns out, it really was! Vail is the cutest little town that has that European feel to it. We stayed at a condo that was within 5 minute walking distance to the town of Vail and it was awesome being able to get up and walk to the nearby coffee shop to grab a coffee and then go on a morning hike. The town of Lionshead Village was also within walking distance from our condo, approximately a 10 minute walk. Both towns were so cute and filled with restaurants and shops. We wanted to go on the Gondola ride to the top of Vail Mountain but did not realize that it was only open during the weekends from Friday to Sunday. That would definitely be on my list the next time we visit this charming city.
Independence Pass
Maroon Bells, Colorado
Maroon Bells was one of the places that I was really excited to see. However, on the morning that we went, it had began to rain. When we arrived at the parking lot of Maroon Bells, the rain turned to snow! Since we were already there, we decided to go ahead and take the short hike into the scenic area for some quick photos. Thank goodness we were able to purchase a few ponchos and umbrellas at a nearby gift shop. It was freezing as we walked up to the Maroon Bells lake. We hurried and took some quick photos and darted back to our car where it was nice and warm. I was really disappointed with not being able to see the Maroon Bells in all it’s glory but it just makes me want to make another trip to see it again at another time. Hopefully next time we come, we’ll have better luck with the weather.
Aspen, Colorado
Aspen was also a beautiful city. It definitely had a different vibe from Vail and felt a lot bigger. But I enjoyed it just as much. This city offered tons of shops and restaurants. There were also a lot of biking and walking trails. We were able to explore only a few of them. Again, the weather got a little rainy on the last few days of our trip here. I would definitely come back for another visit to this beautiful city.
I would say our fall trip this year was definitely a fun one. Despite the rain putting a little damper on some of our plans, we still made the most of it. I’m just glad we got some really good sunny days in and were able to see the fall foliage along the mountains. It was definitely a gorgeous sight and I will definitely be returning to this beautiful state.
