AAHH Colorado -by B. Shetler

Each year my husband and I spend a week in August tucked into the woods in a campground just above Aspen. I love it here. How the light shines through the trees as the sun rises in the morning, moments of stillness, the surrounding peaks that mercifully remind me of my relative insignificance, the occasional afternoon thunderstorm dramatically rolling in and then just as quickly back out. We go during the music festival with formal concerts, opera, dress rehearsals, theater, along with hiking, biking, four wheel forays into the back country and a few carefully curated Aspen dining experiences. Accommodations in town are breathtakingly expensive, but with the $15/day Forest Service senior discounted camping fee the cost is quite manageable.

I feel very privileged to live in Colorado where these kinds of experiences are so easily available.