Coffee, Beer, and Tea

We scored ourselves some cheap tickets to Colorado, so long as we were willing to fly out on Halloween and fly back on Election Day. We were. As a bonus, half of our family was in the great state of Colorado over this same time period. So we loaded up on caffeine, made note of the local breweries, and counted down the hours to our free Celestial Seasonings tour.

Every flight is improved with delicious Dunn Bros. coffee.
Side note: Our pilot was dressed as a blind man for Halloween. That is, I hope it was for Halloween?!

Ahhh, mountains! I've missed you since eighth grade!

First stop, Avery Brewing in Boulder with our intrepid host Alison. Great beer, and a great start to the week.

Oh yeah! Sleepytime, here we come! 

I am very sad to learn that I am on the Honey Vanilla Chamomile tour, only because we get to keep our tour tea packet and I can't think of three flavors I would like less to combine.

Morning Thunder is more my style. Nice bison.

I hate to say that the hairnets were a highlight, but I can't deny it. Look at those smiles!

Our typical tea tour experience, at least for an early afternoon weekday appointment. I imagine the weekend crowds are more boisterous.

Sleepytime Bear!

The tasting room with unlimited sampling.

Constructed entirely of tea bags and actually quite impressive. Not as memorable as the infamous mint room, but you can't capture the essence of the mint room with a photo.

Another side note: This is my most enduring memory of Colorado. Unlimited varieties of earth-toned Subarus - generally, but not always, with progressive bumper stickers - everywhere you go. If I only had the mountains in the background, a dog in the passenger seat, and a beer in hand, this photo would be complete.

To continue with our free tour day, we stopped by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, housed in a very famous I.M. Pei-designed modernist structure.

I should note that this was Halloween and even scientists (especially scientists) have a sense of humor. Someone definitely had fun with the humidity chamber.

The grounds, in miniature.

Our final stop in Boulder had to be the Pearl Street Mall. Again, this being Halloween, many people were in costume. Then again, this being Boulder, many people just showed up for Wednesday.

Drinks and appetizers at Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery to end the day.

I'm still trying to decide if this was delicious, or not. But it definitely hit the spot.

Halloween flash mob to end the evening. Good job, Colorado! You exceeded all of our expectations by the end of day one of our week-long vacation!