Aspen and Jazzfest

So in between the Helton's visiting, I made plans to go to Jazzfest down in Aspen and meet up with probably my best friend from high school Shane Purcel.  Shane invited me to stay with him and his family for the night at their place and I gladly accepted.  It was like back in high school.  They have a time share at the Grand Hyatt Aspen and it was amazing.  Shane and I caught up on what's been going on (he lives in Denver so we have hung out quite a bit since I moved to Colorado) and then took off for Jazzfest.

We partied at Jazzfest and then had a late night dinner with his parents at Jimmy's and walked around downtown Aspen.  There is an air of high class in this place unlike where i live.  But, it also was a ski town so everyone is having fun and partying.  So you still have the same as me but people are wearing more expensive clothes:)  We called it a night and went back to the hotel.

The next day, Shane and I planned on 4 wheeling through Aspen.  We settled on a track and took his Rubicon over with the goal of Taylor Pass in sight.  First, we picked up some supplies...water, sandwiches, chips...this will be important later.  We hit the road and began our trip.  I cannot tell you how amazing the views were, especially with the Aspens changing colors.  It was my first time seeing Maroon Bells but I could not stop taking pictures.  Here are a few.

We continued our drive to the top of Taylor Pass and took a break for a few pics there

As we began our descent, it was a round trip so we continued taking a new road down.  On the way, we stopped for the best turkey sandwich ever.  Literally, I have no clue if we just drank too much, but this was the best damn turkey sandwich I have ever had.  Life changing.  I cannot remember the name of the shop in Aspen I bought it at, but I know where it is and will be going back.

So as we finished lunch, the landscape changed...on the way up we had some nice Aspen woods and hard rock to climb.  On the way down, we had lots of pine trees and mud.  It was awesome, Shane hit every mud puddle possible.  One of the best off road adventures I have ever been on.  Here is the second half

We came down through the Aspen ski resort and Ajax.  On the way down, I snapped this pic of a ski fence...I tried finding a story about it on the internet but couldn't so if you know, please share.

After that, we wrapped up our adventure and I had to get back to meet Shan and his family.

Thank you to the Purcels and to Shane for everything that weekend in Aspen.  I absolutely love the place.  Also, thank you for dinner at Jimmy's and my Aspen T-Shirt!  The meal was amazing  and it is a great shirt and I have already worn it a few times.