Last week we headed to Denver, CO for 5 days of “research”! We know that our time in CA is coming to an end, and we wanted to find a place to settle down in once we return from the UK (more on this in a later post!). We have heard so many great things about Denver that we decided to scope it out on our time off! And our final verdict?
We loved it!!
Denver is such a cute city! I’ve really missed having a downtown area and Denver is full of great shopping/eating/entertainment right downtown. We have been researching the entire US in search of a place that would give us everything we want. Our requirements were: someplace that experienced all four seasons (the sunny CA weather gets a little old after awhile), but without the extremes of the east coast and deep south. The place had to have a great variety of outdoor activities that can be enjoyed all year long, great hospitals, and most importantly allow us to buy a nice house and maintain a fun lifestyle on only one paycheck (well maybe slightly more since I will always work…just not full-time!). Denver was check, check, check, and check!
Once we landed we quickly grabbed our rental car and headed out to meet my father-in-law for a quick lunch (he just happened to be in Denver for business and we had time for a chat before he had to head to the airport!). Then we checked into the hotel and headed out to see everything we could! Honestly my first impression of Denver wasn’t the greatest! We accidently ended up in the northern areas that are more…..ghetto. I couldn’t understand what all the hype was about! Luckily we made our way out of that area and found what we were looking for!
One thing we were nervous about was the cold Colorado winter, but luckily a large winter storm blew in while we were there so we could experience it first hand! It wasn’t too bad! It does get very cold (especially at night!), but if you dress right it is definitely tolerable! The snow/ice also makes everything look so magical! The harsh weather only lasts for a few days to a week before warmer weather returns and everything melts. We can definitely handle that!
Note: I stole this from online…my picture of this view just wouldn’t turn out nice!
On our last full day in Denver we stumbled upon a brand new development and fell in love with the area and a specific builders designs. After looking through all the models and talking to the representative a few times we have decided that this is the area we want to build in! We found the floorplan we love and it is right in our price range! Yay! It was so tempting to start signing papers right then and there but we know we have to wait until after our travel plans are complete. We are really hoping that there are still lots left in the development!! It will take 6-8 months to build so if we are lucky we can start building while we are still in the UK right before we come home, then we will find a cheap apartment there to hold us over till the house is finished! Lots of prayers are going to be needed! It is so refreshing to finally know where we want to settle down after traveling, it has really been stressful!
All too soon it was time to leave to head back to CA! We are hoping to go have one more trip to Denver before we head to the UK so we can do more research on the hospitals and meet with the builders one more time! If we are lucky they will let us place a deposit on one of the lots without having to build for 6 months. They have done it before so maybe we will get lucky!
Passports & Prams 