Back in 2012 I took nearly 10 weeks off from work to travel to various destinations around the US and the world. It wasn’t taken all at once, but spread out over the entire year, ending with a month in India for a friends wedding. The first trip was to Aspen to visit my friend Jesse and her boyfriend (now husband) Ty, who lived and worked there, teaching ski lessons and coaching race teams. Jesse and I have known each other since freshman year in high school and she now spends half the year living on the San Juan Islands and the other half in Aspen, skiing. It’s a rough life, for sure.

I only got to spend about 4 days with her, 2 of which we skied, but the other 2 we wandered around the town.

We’re such weirdos.

Snowball fight!!

It’s such a charming town, and you’d never know by looking at it, how incredibly expensive it is!

We also drove around the countryside where I took photos of fences and barns and horses.

On my last day, we took the gondola up to the top of Aspen Mountain to admire the views. I skied at Snomass and Aspen Highlands, but you can walk right onto the gondola from the center of town at Aspen Mountain, making it an easy area to explore on a non-ski day.

Next time I come back, I really want to ski this bowl.

So that’s it for Aspen! It was a short trip but a ton of fun and I hope to go back for more skiing! Later this week I’ll write about my next trip of 2012, Monterey CA!