I live and grew up in Michigan, but I’ve traveled all over the world. That said, honestly, Colorado is one of my favorite places to visit. When I was quite young, 5 to 8 years old, my next door neighbor invented a product that each of the “Big Three” automakers in America bought from him for a very large amount of money. He and his family moved to Morrison, Colorado. Our families kept in touch and they came to visit us when I was 24 years old. Before they left, they invited me to come back with them for a week or as long as I wanted really. They had a daughter that was my age and I had not seen her in years, plus they offered to let me stay in their 5000 square foot Guest home. So, I accepted their offer to visit Colorado for my first time.

They drove to Michigan from their home so I either had to ride with them or drive separately. Knowing how I am with exploring everything wherever I go, I chose to drive. So, I bought a brand new Jeep Wrangler Sahara thinking it would be the perfect vehicle to explore in, and of course it was. I literally could write a book about that first trip to Colorado but since this is a comment, I’ll have to cut it short. Everything you said in your post is so correct and then some. My 1 week visit turned into a 4 month vacation in which I visited EVERY city or popular destination Colorado has to offer. In the 4 months I was there, I only stayed at their Guest house for 10 days. The rest of the time, their daughter and me put 7,000 miles on that brand new Jeep and had absolutely unlimited fun 100% of the time. I understand that many people can not just take off like I did. However, if you have a chance to go visit Colorado for any amount of time, I can personally guarantee that the time and money spent will certainly NOT be wasted. That first trip was 15 years ago now and I’ve been back to Colorado 11 times. Of those 11 trips back to Colorado, only twice were trips to visit my old neighbors. Of course I always feel bad when I’m out there and I do not visit them. But Colorado has so very much to offer, that actually “planning” a trip there is quite hard to do. Anytime I visit a place and I can say that about the place I visited, I would say that is my way of saying “I Absolutely Love” that particular place. So, please do not pass up a chance to visit Colorado. I promise you will not regret it. Great post and thanks for bringing up so many great memories from Colorado, your home state.