Basalt, CO

While Mike was assigned to a project at Aspen, CO, he picked this great little mixed use neighborhood near Basalt named Willits. Everything we needed was within about two blocks of the hotel, including a really great walking trail. Litha and I got a chance to go on several walks, but I don't think either of us were particular fans of the elevation. It didn't take very long for her to get tired enough to walk in a heel without being asked.

It was really great to see how our plan was going to work out in practice. Mike got a chance to do homework after getting home from work without having to figure out how to eat reasonably and not resort to what is fast and easy. Litha and I got a chance to see him for more than a weekend a month or sometimes even less often.

We weren't there long enough to fully explore the area, especially since it was still early and several areas we wanted to see hadn't been cleared from avalanches yet. We explored Basalt, got to Snowmass Village, and poked around Aspen a bit. It wasn't very crowded and a ton of stuff was closed since it was off-season. We appreciated that, though. It made it easier to get around.

On one of our weekend days, we went to Iron Mountain Hot Springs. It was really crowded and there were a few bachelorette and bachelor groups that were a little rowdy. Of course, because I'm me... as soon as I got in I couldn't quit thinking about their filtration and how many human rear ends were sitting in each pool. I think I would have liked it a lot more if we had been able to go on a weekday. I think this means I'm getting old...

We enjoyed being in the area and hope to get back during a different season to see it again from a different perspective.