Road Trip with Mom

Mom flew into Denver Friday July 29th and we went road trippin' around Colorado for a week!  It was super fun!  She's so great, we can argue one minute and bust up laughing the next!

We spent a couple days in Golden and Denver.  We went to the Molly Brown Museum, the Cathedral Basicila of the Immaculate Conception, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Buffalo Bill days in Golden, and toured the Coors Factory.  The Molly Brown Museum was my favoriteee!  She lead such a progressive life and fought for things she believed in and things that were right.  The women's suffragist movement is one of my absolute favorite things to study, and she worked hard in the campaign for women's rights, including running for political office before she could even vote.  She has definitely become one of my role models.  :)

After our few days in Denver and Golden, we went to Colorado Springs.  We toured the Air Force Academy and the Garden of the Gods!  We even lucked out and stayed in the General's Suite at the Air Force Academy!  Mom and I had 6 rooms, including a full kitchen, study, living room, and full bar in the room!  It was so awesome, and we were sad that we could only stay one night due to the arrival of a more "distinguished" guest.

After our days in the Springs, we went back up to Fort Collins to hang around for a day and wait for my last doctor's visit before hittin' the road back to NC.  I got to show Mom my favorite coffee shops in Fort Collins, and I showed her all around Old Town.  We went to the train tracks where I crashed my bike.  It was so weird for me to be back there cause I don't remember the accident AT ALL.  And I was trying to find the memory, somewhere in the back of my mind, but I came up empty.  I'll probably never remember it, and it's probably a good thing.

On the morning of Wednesday, August 3rd we began our trip back home to North Carolina!  The neurologist said everything was pretty much back to normal in my brain and small memory lapses were normal for a little while.  We left Fort Collins and drove to Colby, Kansas.  Thursday we drove 12 hours from Colby, KS to Metropolis, Indiana (home of Superman!)  And Friday we drove another 12 hours from Metropolis, IN to Greenville, NC!  Yay!  We were both so exhausted that we scrounged up something for dinner and went to sleep.  I've been sleeping in hotels for 8 nights at this point, and I was SO thankful to have my own bed again!  I slept so solid that I don't even think I moved all night long!

It's truly good to be home.  :)

the importance of helmets

2 weeks ago, on Thursday 7/21 I got in a bike accident.  I'm very fortunate to have had my friend Meg with me at the time.  Meg and I had apparently gone to see "Midnight in Paris" at this cute little indie movie theater that evening.  It had been raining (as it does every day in FoCo) but it stopped so we decided to ride our bikes.  I vaguely remember the movie-but I know it had Owen Wilson in it.  After the movie I wanted to show Meg this new bar that opened, then I was going to ride over to another friend's house.  Meg said we both thought the movie was fantastic and that we were on such a high after seeing it.  We were riding our bikes through Old Town (downtown Fort Collins) and she said I got my tire stuck in some train tracks and crashed, head first.  I really don't remember anything, and the preceding recap of the afternoon is based on what Meg told me and what I was able to figure out from texts I had sent. 

Meg said it took me about a minute to kind of "wake up", she flagged down a passing car, and they called 911.  I apparently got strapped to a backboard, rode in the ambulance, and spent several hours in the ER getting CAT scans and X-rays.  I literally don't remember any of it, and I probably won't ever.  My first memories are from about 10 hours after the accident, waking up in a hospital room and Meg having just enough time to tell me I got in a bike accident before falling back asleep. 

I suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a concussion, a broken left thumb, and several scrapes and bruises...literally from head to toe.  I was not wearing a helmet, which was SO STUPID.  Those of you who have known me since middle school know this is not the first time I've tried to kill myself on a bicycle.  I crashed, head first, when I was 11 and suffered a couple broken bones then as well.  And wasn't wearing a helmet then either. 

If you all remember anything from this note, please remember to WEAR YOUR HELMET.  It's not worth it, and you never plan on getting hurt, so might as well be prepared.  And try to set an example for the younger generations as well, please. 

July 26th was the first night I was able to stay in my own house, by myself.  I stayed that Thursday night in the hospital, and I spent the following 4 nights with Meg.  She is such an angel and helped take care of me so much.  I slept 18-20 hours a day those first 4 days or so, and Monday I was able to stay awake for 6 hours straight!  My previous record had been about 45 minutes.  Since the accident Meg has been helping me piece my life back together.  I'm still having trouble remembering things, focusing, and making decisions.  I have to move really slow, mostly cause my thought processes are slow as well.  It's frustrating.  I just want to be able to do things I used to do, but I know it's going to take time and things are going to get better.  It's especially upsetting for me when I can't remember what I just told someone, or I get told that I'm repeating myself and don't remember doing so.  But again, as my brain heals, hopefully that will get better.  I have an appointment with the neurologist next week and hopefully they'll be able to provide me with some timelines and realistic goals. 

Facebook has been especially helpful as I'm able to look back on old memories and try to remember certain events.  I didn't know how I got to Colorado or how long I'd been here, I didn't remember CJ visiting, and I'm still struggling with numbers.  I know I'm supposed to be 22, but I don't remember it.  And I know it's supposed to be 2011 (after the doctor told me it actually wasn't 2010) but I don't believe that in my gut.  

July 26th was also when I had a real appetite for the first time, and actually managed to make it to a potluck dinner with a couple friends.  And today I drove a couple blocks to a coffee shop to get some internet!  I haven't looked at my bike yet, but I understand it needs some repairs...It'll be a while before I start biking again anyways though.   

Miss everyone, and please continue to keep me in your prayers!  It does not go unnoticed and I appreciate it more than you know.  Love you guys!!

Bugs and Road Trips

The bugs in my room are really starting to get to me.  I'm honestly not sure my nerves can take it anymore.  They are scaring me so bad it's getting to an unhealthy level.  Before bed I perform a “nightly spider check.” In the last week I have found moths (which swirl around my headlamp when I’m trying to read before falling asleep), a millipede thing (which took the liberty of trying to sleep with me before I caught him), a big spider (which got away at first!  But I found him about 30 minutes later), earwigs, and giant black ants.  Oh, and a black widow about 2 weeks ago.  :P  And the last 2 nights I have found the BIGGEST spiders I have ever seen indoors, in my room!!  OHMYGOSH.  it makes me so jumpy all the time and I constantly feel like things are crawling on me (which…they probably are).  30 more days.  That’s how much longer I have to live with it.  30 more days. 

I know I haven’t updated this thing in a while.  Sorry…I’ve been busy adventuring!!  I visited my friend Thomas in Colorado Springs, Liz and Andi in Buena Vista, Heidi down in Leadville, went climbing back in the Springs, came back to FoCo for a meeting with a professor, went back to Leadville and Buena Vista, and came back home to take the GRE.  And now…I’m stuck here because of my car problems.  Haha, it’s been a busy 2 weeks! 

When I was in Buena Vista 2 weekends ago we went to FIBark, the oldest whitewater festival down in Salida, CO.  It was pretty cool!  Lots of boats, vendors, music, food…and the coolest part was the Hooligan Race where people used crazy boats to get down the river.  This one raft was even on fire!!  Not sure I’d have to guts to raft that one…Oh!  And the night that I spent in BV, I slept in my car!  :D  I actually slept really well and now, in the words of Hannah, my car “is officially mine.”

Leadville is AWESOME.  I really love it there.  It’s at almost 10, 200 feet and I actually really like the challenge of the elevation.  The first few days I spend visiting Heidi up there were freezing!!  I had to buy warmer clothes-but it turned into the coolest thrift store adventure!  I bought some sweet boots for $9 that I’m almost obsessed with!  I seriously can’t wait for it to be cold enough to wear them every day.  And Heidi got Patagonia Capeline base layers for only $4.  We basically spent a couple days just hanging around that little down and base camp (she interns for Outward Bound). 

Then I went on the most random climbing adventure with this guy from Colorado Springs.  He’s my friend Thomas’s neighbor, and Thomas left our phone numbers on his car.  Well, Josh texted me a couple days later and I met him in the Springs to go climbing. I’d met him for about 30 seconds before that day-so it wasn’t weird or anything.  Haha.  He drove me to this crag that’s on private property but the homeowners that live there have made lots of trails and generously opened their land to the public.  We were meeting a couple of his friends up there, including the guy, Ben, who’s bolting this area and writing the guidebook.  Josh told me it was gonna be a bit of a difficult approach but I shrugged it off.  Mistake.  That was the most intense approach for me EVER.  Whoaaa-straight uphill the entire time, at close to 7000 feet in elevation.  I’m lucky Josh was so patient with me, cause goodness knows, I was struggling.  When we finally made it to the crag, about 45 minutes later (maybe longer?), I had to take one serious break.  I was so light headed, I thought I was going to throw up.  Even halfway through my first climb up, I had to stop cause I almost lost it.  I have not acclimated to the elevation yet, and it’s no joke.  So yeah, all of these people I was with were EXCELLENT climbers.  Ben was projecting a 14b, these sixteen year old twins we were with were working on 12s and 13s, and Josh was working on a 12 too.  I hopped on it for a few tries (and got halfway up!) then gave up.  Everyone was super down to earth though!  We then went to Ben’s for dinner and he grilled hot dogs for everyone while we drank and chilled. 

Last weekend I went and visited Heidi again and we had the BEST adventure!!  We got up early Friday morning to go climbing at Monitor Rock, but everything we wanted was taken…so we kept driving up to Independence Pass.  Ah, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  At just over 12,000 feet it marks the continental divide.  There was snow everywhere!!  And it was wonderfully sunny and just totally perfect.  I could have spent all day there, just watching the mountains.  Heidi and I kept driving towards Aspen to this crag called Ptarmigan Rock where we climbed at Powerline Rock.  We had decided earlier in the day that we were only going to sport lead, since it was just the two of us, there would be no pressure to perform to a certain level.  We lead 4 sport routes each, including a 5.6, 5.7, and two 5.8 climbs.  This is a HUGE accomplishment for both of us. I could have previously counted on one hand the number of routes I had led, and I just doubled that count.  :) We camped basically at the base of the crag, in what felt like Narnia!  There were patches of snow around us, big green trees, and a trickling stream from the snowmelt above us.  We had some delicious granola for dinner and of course, a couple PBRs.  The next morning we led one more sport 5.7 and continued on up the road to Apsen.  Aspen is suuuuch a ritzy town!  Goodness, I felt like I was walking down 5^th Avenue in NYC.  Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Burberry.  It’s unfortunate I was broke while walking through heaven.  Heidi and I did stop at the Aspen Brewing Company for a couple beers though, and more thrift store shopping.  We made it back to Leadville in time for dinner at Outward Bound base and copious amounts of alcohol were consumed in the remainder of the night.  There is seriously a commercial sized refrigerator dedicated to beer there.  I didn’t even bring any alcohol on base and still ended up getting really drunk.  The night ended with about 8 of us watching “True Romance” and passing around a bottle of Jameson Irish Whisky.  I was supposed to go climbing Sunday morning with some of the other OB interns while Heidi went to work, but I had a little too much the night before and wasn’t feeling so hot.  I’m honestly surprised I managed to make it the 3.5 hour drive back to Fort Collins without getting sick.  :P  Oops…but the weekend was still worth it, and it was extremely significant to both Heidi and I for 2 reasons: 1-it was the most sport climbing either one of us had ever done and we didn’t fall the entire weekend!  2-it was the first time either of us had ever been on a camping/climbing trip with just another girl!!  We both have always had so many awesome guys in our lives, that I guess we never managed to make it out with just the girls!  It was really good though.  :) I felt more independent camping with just another girl, and there was so much less pressure while we were climbing!  It was just a different kind of supportive environment. 

coffee shops

I feel like I live in coffee shops.

I don’t have internet at my house and I really NEED internet.  It’s hard to figure out where things are around town if I don’t have a way to look them up!  To combat this issue, I’ve been spending a lot of time in coffee shops just to get some free internet.  I’ve been looking up jobs, housing (I have to find a new place by August 1^st), studying maps of the area (mostly to locate more coffee shops), updating the blog and Facebook, ya know, the important things in life.  Well, today I’m in Panera, which I stumbled upon in my early morning search for the Post Office.  Does every Post Office in the US not have the most convoluted way of entering and exiting??  I drove around the block 3 times before finding the CORRECT way in.  I think there were more one-way exits then entrances…anyways, a few of you have post cards on the way!  ;)  And if anyone else wants one, send me your address!

Yesterday my new friend Allie took me to a neat little coffee shop that’s a church on Sundays, and a volunteer run coffee shop on weekdays!  We spent close to 4 hours in there, getting work done.  And yesterday was my first bike adventure!  I rode my bike to Chipotle to meet Allie for lunch, but it wasn’t all that simple.  After studying my Fort Collins map for a solid 10 minutes, I decided to embark on my adventure.  It was a total of 2 turns and 5 blocks on wide residential streets.  Getting to the intersection where I knew Chipotle was supposed to be wasn’t the issue; it was finding it after I got to the street intersection.  I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to have my bike on the sidewalk, so I got as close as I could to the curb and looked around, like an idiot, for this Chipotle place.  As far as I could tell, it wasn’t there.  But I was on the corner everyone told me it was supposed to be on!  Ugh.  So, after debating for several minutes, I asked some nearby pedestrians and they literally pointed across the street, to the only place that had trees covering the only sign I was looking for.  Hahaha, oh well, I was glad I made it!

And last night my roommate Austin, Allie, and another friend Steve, and I decided to try and get some free Wendy’s after climbing at the gym.  This proved to be the most hilarious event ever!  So apparently Austin is reallyyyy good at getting a lot of things for free and finding coupons, and this Wendy’s experiment was no exception.  He had several coupons for free doublestack burgers, and a couple buy-one-get-one free Frosty's.  So, we tried to get 4 free doublestacks and 4 Frostys (2 free) from the first Wendy’s restaurant of the night.  Well, I guess I didn’t mention that the coupons were a solid 6 months expired, and the manager wouldn’t let us use them.  :( So we were off to try another Wendy’s location!  We decided not to push our luck this time, so we just ordered the doublestacks at the drive through.  The guy took the coupons, no questions asked.  Success!!  We each had a burger in our hands.  He was a chill guy, so we tried to go through the drive though again and ask for the Frosty’s.  Steve and Austin switched places (to disguise driver identity) and Allie ordered the Frosty’s.  Well…I guess they had caught onto us by this point.  The same guy that took the coupons 5 minutes prior asked us over the intercom if the coupons were expired (which they were) and we heard someone yell in the background “no more coupons!!”  Hahaha, dang it!  So we were off to try the third Wendy’s restaurant of the night!  So this time I tried to order the Frosty’s.  I tried to sound really sweet and innocent, and i guess it worked!  We paid for 2 Frosty’s and got 2 free!  In the words of Austin, “4 doublestack burgers and 4 Frosty’s total:  $2.13.  Taking advantage of Wendy’s:  priceless.” 

And to make this even more ironic…the Panera I stumbled upon this morning is right next to the  Wendy’s where we got the Frosty’s last night!  hahaha.

home away from home

I just made my first meal in Fort Collins!  Pasta with olive oil…not exactly fancy, but better than cereal and milk.  I think the next 6 weeks are going to be simple eating, and cheap.  Driving out here cost about $350 in gas, plus all the driving once I got here and the beers/meals out.  I’m now in "money saving mode", which means no shopping (sad) and lots of biking.  The biking part should be easy though; everyone bikes!!  I feel like there might be more bikes than cars.  Bike racks are everywhere, and all the roads are bike friendly!  It’s also beautifully flat (unlike Raleigh) and cool weather so far.  The roommates don’t seem so bad, and a couple of them are actually really awesome people.  3 of the roommates are engaged, and the other is in a relationship. Haha, at any given moment we have 9 people in this tinyyy house, but I think it’s gonna be okay.  I actually find it pretty humorous that they are all in relationships…and then there is me, just hanging out with the couples.

The house I’m in for the next few weeks is small, but do-able.  It’s cheap rent, so I’m getting what I pay for and I’m totally okay with it (for now).  I’ve been here since Friday afternoon when Ben and I drove from Buena Vista (about 3.5 hours).  I tell ya what, I was NOT feeling it when I first got here.  I cried the entire hour before getting into town, then I cried for the next couple hours being here.  It definitely was the breakdown that I knew had been coming on since leaving Raleigh, and now I had  just slowed down enough to really think about things.  I really wanted to turn around while driving into town and go somewhere, anywhere, but here.  I had been having so much fun the last 6 days traveling around and vacationing and I didn’t want to face reality yet.  I didn’t want to stay put for any amount of time, and I knew I had to.  I also cried because I was nervous and wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.  I was about to live in a town where I didn’t know anyone, where anything was located, or what to do with myself.  My room is in the basement, and it was full of cobwebs and spider webs when we got here.  I was uneasy, to say the least.  I do not like spiders.  I just stood around, kinda in shock, while Ben started cleaning it up for me.  He got a piece of paper and a pen and started making me a list of things I was going to need.  It was so weird, my mind felt kinda frozen and I was so emotionally overwhelmed.  I just wandered around for a little while like a lost puppy.  Even walking around Lowe’s and Target, I didn’t know what I was doing.  I honestly do not know what I would have done if Ben wasn’t with me.  I might have actually turned around and gone somewhere else.  We went to the library for a couple local maps and event calanders, and I requested Panera Bread for dinner so I could get some comfort food (mmm…broccoli cheddar soup).  

Then we went downtown, and I had my first beer in Fort Collins!  An Eclipse Brown Ale.  It was an interesting bar…the people in there seemed like a mix between what you would find at the Ugly Monkey and Mitch’s Tavern.  Downtown Fort Collins is also an interesting place.  There are a lot of weird people, and everyone seems to be either 13, or 30.  I kept looking for normal people, and honestly, we had a hard time finding them.  Between the freaks, straight-up hookers, “bums,” rednecks, and people old enough to be my parents, I couldn’t figure it out!  It was really odd.  

 Saturday morning Thomas came up from Colorado Springs to hang with us for the day.  We went to Odell Brewing Company for a brewery tour.  Goodness, NC folks, you are missing out on some FANTASTIC brews.  We ordered one bottle of Hiveranno which was like a blend of a couple leftover IPAs (I think), had special propagated wild yeast added to it and was bottle conditioned.  Our first sip and all of us were blown away and left speechless.  Then the guy that gave us the tour came by with a sample of Woodcut No. 5 for us to try and again, we were left totally speechless.  Seriously, those were the best beers I’ve probably ever had in my life.  And everything about the brewery was really awesome.  They try to be an environmentally friendly place and just installed some sky light tube shaped things so they can get natural light.  They also are one of a few breweries that clarify their beers by centrifuging them, which concentrates the flavors in all the right ways.  When the weather drops below 41 degrees, the refrigeration units turn off and start pulling air from outside INTO the units.  How cool is that?!?  The three of us pretty much spent the entire day drinking around town and eating out.   

We also went to Coopersmith’s, a local brewpub and ended up bar hopping downtown the rest of the night.  Again, what is with all the strange people around here??  I’m searching for the hipster scene (similar to Raleigh folks) that I’m so comfortable in, and I can’t find it!  Ben, Thomas, and I are certain there is another part of Fort Collins we’re missing or something.  The people we kept seeing were rednecks who drove obnoxious trucks, high schoolers that dressed like they were in the 90’s, “cougars,” and in general, no one cool?  Again, another odd night.  We did, however, get free beer and pizza at one restaurant!  The manager just decided to give us dinner for free!  It also happened to be some of the best pizza I’ve ever had and I will be going back to BeauJoe’s. 

All of us got up at 4am to get Ben to the Denver airport around 5:30am Sunday.  When we walked out to the car at 4:30, the sun was rising and it was fairly bright outside!  At 4:30am???  The sun was totally up by 5:30am, and the sunrise over Denver was gorgeous.  All of us were beyond exhausted, but the sunrise was still nice to watch.  Dropping Ben off was kinda sad for me.  :( He’d been my travel buddy and my security blanket this entire time, but you gotta break the ties sometimes and step outside your comfort zone.  Thomas and I then drove all around Denver at 6am looking for some kind of park to take a nap in that wouldn’t be sketchy, but we were unsuccessful.  We did stumble upon the Denver Zoo though!  We didn’t pay to go in, so I got a picture outside of it and bought a couple pencils at the gift shop instead.  Still battling totally exhaustion, we decided to try some breakfast and lots of coffee.  After breakfast we found the Denver City Park downtown!  It was such a nice park and the perfect one to take a nap in…except for the 2000+ people running a 5k through it.  Hahaha.  So Thomas watched and cheered the runners on for a while, and I laughed at them trying to avoid the geese crossing in front of them while running.  It was absolutely HILARIOUS.   Cause the geese didn’t know why all these people were running towards them either!  Around 10am it finally quieted down enough to take a nap on the grass!  Yay!  

 Haha, and then we went to the Denver Art Museum, but again, didn’t pay to go in so we just got coffee at the gift shop, and I got a picture in the broom/dust pan sculpture out front! I was really excited to go to the Denver Library too, but it wasn’t open when we walked by!  :( We just spent the day lazily wandering around Denver and discovering all kinds of neat things.  I really like Denver.   

Eventually, we made it back to Fort Collins…only to take another nap.  Thomas left around 6pm to go back to Colorado Springs and I was officially on my own in Fort Collins.  But right as Thomas was leaving one of my roommates and his fiancé walked up and invited me to the climbing gym with them!  Yay!  That was so awesome.  The gym is biiiiig, and it includes cardio and weight equipment, plus climbing stuff too!  I also made a friend there!  First friend in FoCo!  Now I can’t wait to join that gym and find a job! 

now THIS is Colorado

We're in Buena Vista now!!  It was about 2 hours west of Colorado Springs, and it's at almost 8,000 feet.  Probably the highest I've ever been, that I can remember at least.  The drive here was definitely been the most scenic drive of the trip yet!  Big, beautiful, snow capped mountains in full view almost the entire time.  There was also this really flat, straight part of the road just as we were really getting into the mountains.  Ben called  it "A little slice of Kansas in the middle of Colorado."  As soon as we got in town we met up with Logan!  He's working for Noah's Ark again this year, and he's down here with his sister Andi and Liz for the summer.  It's so exciting to meet up with friends, out here in Colorado!
Logan, Ben, and I had about 3 hours to kill yesterday so we went rock climbing!  All the crags around here seem to be 5 minutes apart and no more than a 5 minute hike in.  It's awesome!  We did a 5.9+ slab route, and Logan led it.  It was such a scenic climb! We tried to climb a few more things around the area, but what we wanted was taken, and the other route had a really sketchy, loose bolt-so we skipped that one.  The Arkansas River runs right through BV, and Logan pointed out a few paddlers on the river to us.  We were hoping to get a ride on the river today, but there was a death on the river yesterday (not with Noah's, but still very unfortunate) and Logan had to take a couple shifts for people who were uncomfortable guiding given the recent events.  But I know I'll be back before the end of the summer and hopefully get to go then! 
Ben and I set up our tent in a free campsite (yay!) last night.  That is exactly how camping should be!  FREE!  It has got to be one of the coolest campsites I've ever had.  The views are breathtaking around here.  I rolled out of the tent this morning to sunshine, cool air, and clear views of 14,00 foot mountains all around us.  And fell asleep last night to the rushing sounds of the Arkansas River.  Gah, I don't want to leave. 

I think today has been the most fun I've had since getting here.  Ben went riding this morning for 4+ hours, and I hung out in Bongo Billy's (cool little coffee shop.)  Then Liz and Andi came to visit me!!  We sat outside and chatted for a good while, then we went to this neat thrift store and shopped around.  Andi had to leave for work shortly after that, so Liz and I walked around town.  We got delicious subs for lunch!  But had to cut lunch short because of this guy creeping on us.  :(  He was taking a video of us!  It was so weird, we went inside to tell the owners, and then he pretty much ran away.  I feel totally safe in BV, that was just one scary moment.  The two of us kept strolling around town, enjoying the sunshine and perfect temperatures, and met up with Ben a little later on.  We drove to The Trailhead outdoor retail store and browsed a bit while Ben was taking a shower at the laundromat.  Haha, yeahhh, $3.50 for 10 minute shower!  I will be using that later, for sure.  In fact, I'm looking forward to it.  The Trailhead had so many books on CO crags and cool places to climb, but I couldn't decide on which book to get!  If I'm going to spend $40 on a climbing guide book, I want it to be the best one.  So I've got some asking around to do before buying one. 

Liz, Ben and I then hit up Punky's for some grub.  Only after sampling a few ice cream flavors did I decide on my standard Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  I shouldn't even ask to sample other flavors...I always get the same thing.  And I was able to eat the ice cream outside without it melting everywhere because it's not ridiculously hot out!!  Woot!  We continued strolling around town for most of the afternoon (don't be fooled though...it's not that big of a town, we just kept walking the same streets.)  And we walked a trail along the river.  It was so high today!!  The water is running at close to 3200 cfs, when the average is about 1700 cfs.  Whew, that's some big, fast water.  There were a couple people kayaking and at one point we saw an empty kayak flying through the rapids.  I think it was a good thing no one was in it, but about 10 minutes later I saw a sad looking man, with a spray skirt around him, walking barefoot down beside the river, probably looking for his boat.  We then went to the South Main part of BV and hung out on this outdoor living room thing (furniture was made of ceramic tile!) for a while, and walked around a bouldering park.  Liz and I pretty much spent the entire day hanging out outside, walking around and just looking around.  We also managed to get pretty sunburned, all 3 of us.  I forget the sun is more intense when you're 8000 feet closer to it.  

Seriously though, words just can't describe how incredibly beautiful it is out here, and I had SO much fun today, just doing nothing!!

 

The Springs

Colorado Springs is so different from everywhere we’ve been!  It’s much more like a desert than the more green parts of Denver and Golden.  It actually reminds me a lot of Moab, Utah!  We got in yesterday evening and met up with Thomas, Ben’s old roommate, who just moved out here.  Thomas made us some delicious pasta with veggies and meat, and gave us our first beer of the trip!  Farmhouse Provisional Saison Ale.  It’s brewed here in Colorado Springs.  I thought it was pretty good, though I don’t know exactly how to describe it.  I was just happy to have my first beer out in Colorado!  And the combo of a beer and my level of exhaustion made me one sleepy girl.  I rolled out my thermarest, climbed in my sleeping bag, and slept alllll night!  And we finally got to sleep in!  Thomas left early for work, Ben got up earlier than me to go on a bike ride, and I slowly woke up.  It’s so fantastic to get a full night’s sleep.  And getting to shower was also fantastic.  My skin is freaking out at this new climate it has to adjust to, and it’s not an easy transition.  The humidity here is SO LOW and everything is so dry.  I think Thomas said it was 1% humidity yesterday, and I couldn’t find the lotion I brought until this morning!  Ah, salvation!!  Finally, a little bit of relief from this dry air.  It’s also super easy to get dehydrated out here.  Water is just pulled out of you, all the time.  And my allergies are going crazy!!  I think it’s just adjusting to the humidity difference, but it just leaves me sniffly and sneezy all day long!  My lips are chapped all the time too…I didn’t know drier air could do all this to you.  I literally lived in a desert when I was in middle school, but I don’t remember dry air ever creating issues like this.

And breakfast in the morning was my favorite!!  Fruity Dyno-Bites.  It's the knock off fruity pebbles, and sooo tasty!