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Boomeresque:Definition 1. Adj.: Describing a person born between 1 Jan. 1946 and 31 Dec. 1964 2. Adj.: Description of a person, place or thing possessing Baby Boomer je ne sais quoi 3. See also, Boomer, Esq.: A Baby Boomer who is also a licensed attorney (See, e.g., About).
When most people hear Aspen, Colorado , they think Oh, that place where the one percent go skiing.  While you certainly would not look out of place were you to show up in Aspen in February, westin hotels by private plane, wearing a couture ski outfit and fur coat, this Rocky Mountain town is actually a reasonable destination for the rest of us too with  Aspen vacation rentals  available at a range of price points.
My visit to Aspen was as a  trailing spouse  during the first week of June for a pulmonary medicine conference conducted yearly by the University of Colorado School of Medicine nary a ski bunny in sight.  We had never been to Colorado, so we decided to fly into Denver, rent a car and take the scenic route through Breckinridge and over Independence Pass to Aspen. It is possible to fly to Aspen from several U.S. cities, but in planning your itinerary, you may want to take into account that the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport has been ranked as the  7th most dangerous airport     in the world . Apparently, the verdict is still out as to whether a recent runway lengthening project made the  airport safer or less safe . Until they figure that out it really is a nice drive.
We had reserved a 4 cylinder sub-compact car, but upon hearing our itinerary, the car rental agent suggested that an SUV would be more appropriate. Denver being The Mile High City , our road trip started at an altitude westin hotels of 5,280 feet. It topped out at 12,095 feet at Independence Pass. (That s 3,687 meters for you metric types). Although westin hotels it was early June, the road was still cut through deep snow at Independence Pass. Indeed, the Pass, in fact, is not passable during the winter. westin hotels Think the Donner Party. (In case you were not schooled in American history, the Donner Party was most definitely NOT a fun party).
Although it s only about a four hour drive from the Denver Airport to Aspen, I booked us a Bed and Breakfast in Breckenridge, another Colorado town best known as a ski resort. We enjoyed a nice Italian dinner complete with a bottle of red wine. Turns out, it is most definitely NOT a good idea to wake up at sea level, take an airplane ride of 1,579 miles (yes, I looked it up ), drive to a town nestled in the Rocky Mountains at an altitude of over 9,600 feet, and consume a bottle of wine with dinner. We both woke up with intense headaches in the middle of the night. Although Aspen is at a mere 7,908 feet of altitude, Dr. and Mrs. Baby Boomer Excitement swore off alcohol for the rest of the trip.
If you ski or would like to learn to ski, by all means, ski!  There are four ski areas around Aspen.  They are run by one company:  Aspen/Snowmass. It is generally possible to do downhill skiing from the end of November through mid-April. (Disclosure: Even though I attended Williams College in the Berkshire Mountains of northwestern Massachusetts, a popular skiing venue, I have never skied in my life and now that my Baby Boomer bone density is consistent with osteoporosis, I m thinking that it s probably not a good time for me to start.)
Hike.  See beautiful mountainous  scenery .  There are at least 28 hiking trails around Aspen , at various degrees of difficulty. As a break from pulmonary medicine, we were treated to a barbecue at the Maroon Bells scenic area which is within the White River National Forest. With good reason, multiple sources agree that this is the most photographed mountain area in Colorado.
Mountain biking . We drove up to Maroon Bells from town. Some of the Coloradans rode their bikes up there. Yes, yes, we know Colorado is the least obese state in the nation . There are numerous biking trails in the area.
Attend concerts.  Study music .  During the summer, from late June until mid-August, the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School is in session, bringing together 600 music students from 40 states and 40 countries to study with 130 faculty members from the finest orchestras, ensembles and companies.  Three hundred concerts are scheduled at various venues in the area.
Do high end shopping or, like me, high end window shopping,  in the attractive, very walkable central area of Aspen. (Maybe you ll even see a famous person and pretend westin hotels not to notice  because gawking would be sooo uncool.)
Suzanne, we too found the altitude troubling. For me, it didn t manifest in headaches, but in the most distracting sinus pain which seemed to be compounded by the dry atmosphere. I agree wholeheartedly with your advice to drive through westin hotels the breathtaking westin hotels Colorado scenery the USA really does deliver grand in every sense of the word. We haven t quite done with Colorado yet (we didn t make it to Aspen!) and would return in a heartbeat, but I can t tell you how relieved we were to return to a more comfortable altitude.
Gill, thank you for your comment. There is no question that people who are unaccustomed to life at high altitude should be aware that it can affect even those who are young and in good health. westin hotels It is probably prudent to read about it and perhaps ask one s physician westin hotels for some suggestions on ways to perhaps ameliorate then effects. Staying well hydrated is definitely one of the classic recommendations and consuming alcohol does not help with that endeavor.
Cuzco is still on the to do list for us, mostly because we ve heard such stories about the altitude sickness, we want to schedule in plenty of acclimatisation time. It appears to be impossible to know if one will be affected westin hotels and how young and old seem to be at similar risk from the stories we ve heard. We were fine in Mexico City and have had only distracting levels of discomfort westin hotels elsewhere (eg on our road trip through Arizona and Utah this summer) but even so, Peru could be problematic. Hmmmm ..the older we get, the more concerned we become about the potential hazards life was much easier when we were young and carefree and only dealt with such situations as they arose, rather than worrying about the possibility that they might .
Gill Aging does complicate travel planning. I d love to hike/walk at least part of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, but then I remember the excruciating hip pain I experienced after a 6 mile beach walk this summer and I admit it does give me pause.
As Baby Boomers, we often find our generation viewed as "the elephant in the room"--- our schools overflowed, we're going to bankrupt Social Security and Medicare, yada yada yada. So, instead of being a member of a demographic monolith, here,
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