So Bubs and I were in Aspen, CO to celebrate our 20-year anniversary. We had visited Denver/Boulder several times in the past (Boulder was on our list of places to live), but we’d never been to Aspen. Of course, I was trying to clock in another trip on Southwest, so without a second thought, I booked to DEN figuring we would just drive to Aspen. Well, the trip started off rather rocky. As soon as we arrived, we headed to Fox Rental Car. For some reason, when I was booking our plans, rental car rates were through the roof. Like $800 for four days. I checked EVERYwhere, including my goto Costco Travel codes and nothing. Finally, a few days later, I looked again and I was able to get Fox through Priceline for $300. Fine. Booked.
Well, turns out, there’s a reason Fox is the cheapest. There was a monster line of people, with the wait being an hour plus to the registration desk and then another 25 min waiting for them to pull the car around. Un-fucking-believable. And even more unbelievable, not a damn soul lost his/her cool. Between Bubs and me, I am the calmer one in situations like this, so I did the waiting in line and talking to the rep. But still. It was so damn inefficient and chaotic, I could have sworn we were on a bloopers show. Whatev. Got the car, and oddly, I was the only one taking pics of the car. I mean, if you read the Yelp reviews, Fox charges an extra $150 deposit and many people have complained about not getting it back. Especially with rental car companies, I always take videos/pics of the car before and after. I need proof of the condition just in case. People looked at me like I was cray cray, but heck, when dealing with swindlers, you can never be too cautious about CYA.
Off we went. John researched a little pierogies stop. Seriously, I had forgotten all about those delicious morsels filled with potatos and cheese. John had to remind me that those frozen buggers were a staple in my grad school diet. Jesus, those days where the days when my diet consisted of sub sandwiches, beans/rice, hummus/pita, and these carb-loading fuckers. Damn, my young metabolism was fast. I piled all kinds of fatty foods into my piehole to no consequence whatsoever. All that brain activity just burned everything up. Haha.
Anyway, the drive to Aspen was looong. Not too bad as a passegner considering that I sleep well in moving vehicles. It’s the oddest thing: I have insomnia and cannot sleep in a normal setting but once I’m in a moving vehicle, I totally zonk out. As if I’m drugged. For real. And that level of delirium/drowsiness was even stronger on this trip. I could NOT keep the eyes open to save my fucking life! So surely, I missed all kinds of gorgeous scenery. Actually, it reminded me of our honeymoon in SF in 2003. John had rented a convertible and we were driving down Route 1 along the coast… I mean, the most beautiful drive, right? And shit, I could not stay awake. Fucking lame-ass body.
As we got closer to Aspen, the roads started going higher in elevation (Denver was already 5200 feet) and getting more windy. So of course, I get car sick with the headache and nauseas. I pop a Dramamine (later than recommended) and by the time we reach Independence Pass on the Continental Divide (13,000 ft), I might as well be drunk. We get out of the car, start walking the path to the scenic point, and holy fuck, maybe just 100 meters in, and I am feeling all this pressure in my upper chest. WTF is happening? Light-headed, dizzy, and gasping for air. Fuck it. Let’s get back on the road. We gotta get to lower elevation. That was pretty much the story of this trip.
Once we got to Aspen, it was beautiful and we definitely ventured out into the city, into nearby Snowmass Village, as well as to the famous Maroon Bells. But man, we had all these plans to rent bikes and hike around… nope. All thwarted. We did some exploring but goddamn, we were tired! And that hotel bed was amazing! Limelight Hotel. Awesome. With a bed even more comfy than the Westin bed. For reals. I wrote down the brand of sheets and all. We slept a shit ton. And normally, the younger version of me would be all pissed about that. But shit, as 40 y/os who have seen it all, fuck it. We’re tired and the bed is comfy. Just give in.
Of course, we still tried hard to take advantage of the amenities. Daily breakfast was included and fucking delicious: hot foods, cold foods, fruit, sweets, savories… everything. The pool and hot tubs were amazing… impeccably maintained without the usual annoying over-chlorinated odor. One of the days, we took out the hotel’s Audi Q7, which is available to guests for a 2-hr test drive. That was fun, esp considering our Fox rental car was a POS Ford Focus with zippo power going up the mountains. I know, the Fox guy tried to warn me and upsell me, but dude, I’m already dropping $300 on your shitty business. No way.
Another day, we rode the Aspen bus (so clean and pleasant and also FREE) to Maroon Bells, a famous set of peaks set in a u-shaped basin formed by glaciers. Super cool. We had planned to hike the easy trail around the lake, but it was closed due to moose activity, so kinda a bummer but it was also pretty great spotting two meese brothers. Not as up close as in WY, but still solid.
What else. I learned that Aspen is the most expensive town in the USA. Holy fuck. Anytime I travel anywhere, I pull up Zillow just to scout out real estate prices. Aspen had so many properties like consistently in the $10-15M range. Mindblowing. I mean, it’s def a cool old mining town, but I mean, the big city is so fricking far away… like 3 hrs! If it’s gonna be the most expensive town, it had better have good big city access and amenities. And the landscape was beautiful but I mean, it wasn’t Banff gorgeous or Grand Teton majestic… I guess we were also in the shoulder season. Maybe fall with the changing leaves would be more impressive on the global scale. Or maybe if we were winter sports people… Oh and holy crap, so white. I think the whole time there, I saw one black person and maybe four Asians, including myself. What??
Food was tasty but not blow-your-socks off good. I know, I sound like a lame pu-pu platter. I’ve just traveled so much that it takes a lot to impress me, right? Haha, what a fucking snob! Our anniversary dinner was at some fancy restaurant run by the chef of Nobu. As John’s sister commented earlier, a mountain town with no Asians is probably not the best place to eat sushi… and well, touche. To make matters worse, bc I had an alcoholic bev at the French bistro for Happy Hour beforehand, I think the altitude sickness got triggered again by dinnertime. And unfortunately, we had to rush out of the sushi place bc I seriously thought I was going to barf. I know, I swear to God, we are being taped on the Truman Show. Only us.
Our journey back home was another laborious ordeal. For the entire 3-hr drive back to DEN, it poured rain. We were just feeling so tired that we decided to go home early and try for the earlier flight. Well, Southwest was gonna charge us another $300 pp to hop on the earlier flight so that was a no go. Instead, we hung out at the airport Westin and then walked around the airport… for like 5 hrs. At this point, we were still having labored breathing. So the moral of the story for us? We aren’t rated for high elevation. And it’s time to hit the gym to strengthen our cardio. I mean, the books all say altitude sickness can affect all kinds of people, from young to old from athletes to non-fit people so maybe it’s not a reflection of our physical fitness. But regardless, we’re scared straight. Peru and the Inca Trail is off the bucket list until we can train up our bodies. In the meantime, it feels damn good to be back home breathing all this abundant oxygen again!![FAG id=7472]