Artistic Traveler

It has been mentioned how absolutely beautiful the state of Colorado is, right? I still remember driving through it back in 2005 when I took a cross-country road trip with my then boyfriend. Back home in Atlanta, at best you might see a deer walking on the side of the road (a formidable opponent indeed). Here, however, it’s not only deer that are out and about, but apparently bears sometimes decide to wander down by the interstate! That was 2005, and while two return trips haven’t yielded anymore bear along the side of the road – thankfully! – I’m still so grateful for the opportunity to visit and experience this wonderful state.

See? I told you it was beautiful! The best way to tackle this is to go day by day, so enjoy the photos and don’t forget that you can click to see more. :)

DAY 1: Skipping our flying in at midnight Colorado time (long, long flight). Besides, at best we made attempts to chat while subsequently passing out. I don’t even know that I paid attention to myself talking – that out of it! Our full first day involved our friend, Laura, taking us to our guest house where we would be staying for the duration of the trip. It was super cute! The owner said it was an old Victorian home that was used by many creatives back in the day. She was super nice, had a very friendly dog, and we couldn’t have asked for a better stay. Cheaper than a hotel and it came with a mini fridge and microwave to boot! Of course, we needed to stock said mini fridge, so Laura brought us over to the Boulder Farmer’s Market. What an impressive showing! Not only all of the farmers, but all the support from the community of Boulder. The cherries were exceptionally delicious, and we also tried samples from various other vendors. I was quite content with the rest of our lazy “adjust the body clocks while acclimating to being a mile high” day as we wandered around boulder, purchased teas, and fed our tummys frozen yogurt, cupcakes, beer, and sandwiches (at various shops, of course!).

Back at Laura’s house, we sat on the porch and chatted with her roommates, enjoying the cool air from the storm that was attempting to roll in. We grilled out and had more beer – it’s what mountain women do, thank you very much! – before gearing up to walk around the twin lakes practically in Laura’s backyard. The lakes are meant to interconnect all of the various neighborhoods in the area. What a fabulous idea! We were even treated to a rainbow as we watched the setting sun over the lakes. Perfect way to end the evening before heading back over to our guest house.

DAY 2: REN FEST. Um… I suppose I should write more than that… ;)

The Colorado Renaissance Festival is an impressive display of costumes, shops, food, and shows. It’s got to be three times the size of the one in Georgia. We watched a hypnotist, dined on fine foods such as french fries and bbq, and tried on masks and had a fun time! Even Cy – a little stuffed bird who travels the world with couchsurfers – got in on the action, proudly waiting his turn to joust the “good” knight. Ryan and I knew better, though… the “good” knight was in black and red. The “bad” knight was in black and gold. Seriously, they thought UGA would beat Tech? Not with us around… Oh wait, Ye Olde England knew nothing of football (not like I do either, ha). Basically view the photos for more Ren Fest fun. You really just had to be there to understand all the awesome. :)

DAY 3: For the most part, it was another lazy day. More wandering Boulder, meeting up with a friend from when I was four (yes, four), playing with her little boy, Dylan, and ultimately winding up taking a rather long hike up a mountain. In my dress and flip flops. Residents in the area said we’re hardcore tourists for taking on such a difficult path without proper gear. Heh. Honestly, though, the hike was well worth it. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking. You could see the curvature of the earth. I know you can see it from sea level if you stare at it long enough, but this was plain as day. A big arc. Boulder and Denver sprawled out below us. Suddenly I was thankful for boot camp… If you want to know Colorado’s beauty, though, sometimes you have to take the longer, more difficult path.

Oh, just don’t assume that everything in the dark on said path is a human. We rescued a girl from Columbia along the way down the side of the mountain (literal cliff) and made our way back to the parking lot so she wouldn’t be alone. After one woman walked by us and told us about a homeless man who had kidnapped and tied up some hikers – gee thanks for the pick me up! – I was a bit skeptical of sounds on the trail. After all, it’s pitch black. A rustle in the grass stopped me in my tracks. “Ryan?” I call out. Perhaps it was just his book bag. Not wanting to step on a snake, however, I let my eyes stare into the grass. Suddenly the moon caught the HUGE antlers of a buck. I was maybe a couple feet from the deer’s face? Now I like deer. We’re cool. But a deer that isn’t afraid of humans and has antlers that could easily damage me in the dark of the night? I’m not messing with that! Now imagine the look of a human who came along later who we had to ask “Are you human or a deer?” No really, lady, we need to know. Impalement is not on my list of things to do while on vacation…

DAY 4: This would seem like a lazy last day, but honestly it was one of the best! We purchased some tubes and went sailing down Boulder Creek (more like rapid central, ow) and basked in the sun while feeding squirrels some cherries. Cute little buggar, that squirrel… Cy also joined us on our journey, repeatedly going over one rapid so we could get the perfect shot. He was tied on to me, I swear! From tubing, Laura took us to a Barnes and Noble to hang out with J for a while. A while was going to be a few hours – or at least that’s what it seemed we all thought. However, after arriving around 3pm, it was clear that a few hours had turned into seven. That’s right, someone at B&N had to tell us to get out we’d been there so long. Everything was discussed and there was never a true lull in conversation… I haven’t had that happen in such a long, long time. Many thanks to J, we truly enjoyed the chat~ It didn’t even end there, though. We finally had to take it to Applebee’s because nowhere else is open to get dinner at after 10pm, and even then we stayed until 12:30am eating and chatting. To be perfectly honest, I think we shut down the Applebee’s… We were sad we couldn’t see Dan, J’s husband, and their furry child, Esper, but Ryan made sure Dan knew we had been there: Tiger Bark. We remembered it as our gift from last year and so Ryan purchased another big block for the guy, aww. :)

That was our trip – incredible time. So many thanks to Laura for helping us out last minute and giving us the idea to find a guest home versus a skeezy hotel, and we were so fortunate to have the chance to talk to J as well! Thank you, ladies, for making our vacation feel like a vacation, relaxing and rejuvenating the senses. Oh, by the way… While I’m sure people in Georgia were enjoying fireworks, here’s what we enjoyed thanks to severe storms rolling through on the evening of July 4th:

Got that right we had a fire! It was freaking 40º outside! Oh Colorado… your weather can be so ornery, going from super hot during the day to mind-numbingly chilly at night. Yet how I love you so! Le sigh. :)