When you do a year-long anything, I think you’re bound to hit a hiccup at least once. Month 9 (March, 2022) of my travel challenge was the biggest hiccup along the way. My friend Ashley and I were planning to travel to the Black Hills area in South Dakota. This trip got postponed not once, but twice during the year. We originally planned to go in March but unfortunately cancelled last minute because she needed to attend a funeral. We decided to postpone until June and ended up cancelling last minute again because I came down with a cold including a “raging ear infection” as my doctor put it. More to come about South Dakota because third time was indeed the charm, but all this to explain why the title of this post is Month 9/10. I did not make it twelve places during my challenge. And at first it was hard to quiet that voice in my head whispering that I’d failed. Over time it really because just another lesson gifted me by this challenge. Sometimes your plans or goals require readjustment. And that doesn’t mean they’re a failure.
So, April of 2022 landed me in Colorado, just one of five places that these days I tell people I WANT to travel back to. (Ironically, by the time this is released I will have gone back to Colorado for a long weekend. More on that eventually I’m sure). My best college friend, Amanda, had been living overseas for several years (her husband is from Germany) before moving back to the states. My plan was to spend two nights with her and her family in Boulder, CO and one night on my own in Denver. Aside from the extremely busy Colorado airport, the travel to Denver was seamless, even on my own. My journal notes that there was “a gal in the seat to my right who brought zero luggage. Not even a purse, just a phone. I assumed she’d had about enough of the Minnesota winter like I’d had and was just peeling out.” So I guess winter of 2021/2022 was a long one in MN! My preferred flight time is the 6-7 am flights so, being that it was still pretty early in the day, my first stop in Boulder was at The Coffee Stand to grab some caffeine and change from what I assume was at least a hoodie into a tank top. It was sunny and 75, so perfect, and I loved that I could see mountains even sitting in town at a coffee shop. While Amanda was at work I explored Boulder on my own. I spent most of the afternoon hiking various paths on the Flatiron Trail system. The last portion of my hike was along the Flatiron Loop marked “easy.” And while it wasn’t the most difficult hike of my life, the lengthy incline for the first portion of the loop was less than easy. When I’d seen enough beautiful views for one day I headed to Pearl Street, the touristy area of Boulder. My first stop was at West End Tavern where I enjoyed my first real meal of the day, a brisket sandwich, and ordered a Galactic Lemonade at the bartender’s recommendation. It made me think of the Minnesota Vikings because the drink color was light purple, and it was served with a bright yellow lemon wedge. After hiking in the sun all afternoon, that lemonade HIT THE SPOT too. I barely finished ordering when a mother/daughter duo stopped at my table to ask if I was from Minnesota because they recognized whatever was on my shirt. We chatted for a few minutes and shortly after they left the couple at the table next to me asked what my drink was. I remember thinking the folks in Colorado were Minnesota Nice! With a full belly, I continued to explore Pearl Street, stopping next into a bookstore that also sold wine. WHY does every bookstore not do this? SUCH a great idea and, I assume, effective sales technique. Bookstores were plentiful on Pearl Street, I continued to stroll, wandering in and out of stores before eventually sitting down to enjoy the music of a solo guy strumming a guitar near the center of the road. After getting significantly lost trying to find Amanda’s (she warned me this would happen) I eventually made it and spent the evening catching up with her (it’d been about 10 years since we’d actually seen each other) and her family and meeting her daughter for the first time.
I woke up Friday morning and had my first experience with a Nespresso machine. It made a delicious cup, which I enjoyed on Amanda’s balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains. She and her husband worked again that day, so my plan was to hop into a group tour that would take me deep into the Rocky Mountains. I ended up a skosh lost again, so was running late which I never like to do. But when I found my group, it was obvious that our tour guide Aaron (who was 15 minutes late) was going to be in zero hurry that day. So I kicked back in our small shuttle bus and enjoyed being a passenger princess as we made our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped in a small town called Lyons where we were told we could use the bathroom and grab a snack. Continuing on, we drove through Estes Park, the last town prior to the national park entrance, and caught a glimpse of the mansion that was used to film the movie The Shining. Horror movies are NOT my thing at all, I guess it was pretty cool though. At the park entrance, we learned about beautiful Ponderosa Pine Trees and that they smell a little different to everyone, but typically smell like something sweet. To me, they smelled like vanilla, and I’d happen to spot one again at the end of my travel challenge. We didn’t make it too far into the park before the group spotted some MOOSE. That’s right reader, I bet by now you’ve forgotten all about my moose hunting expedition in Isle Royale, Michigan. All that hype in month three and here I was, accidentally bumping into a moose in Colorado without even trying (one of many lessons I had been learning, sometimes great joys come when least expected). We had a picnic lunch near a waterfall, which I was more into climbing than eating next to. We stopped at various scenic overlooks and flatlands and ran into more wildlife along the way such as elk and mule deer. Our last stop in the national park was the most beautiful view I’d seen to that point in my life, Sprague Lake. With just a short walk we had a breathtaking view of the Continental Divide beyond the lake. It was heart stopping. When I got back to Boulder, Amanda and I had dinner reservations at the Lazy Dog. She had been raving about their brunch, which I thought was funny because I’d actually enjoyed their brunch once at a different location in Texas. Dinner was good, the conversation was better. We chatted for hours! That fill your cup kinda conversation. When we got back to her place, we chatted some more with her husband Ivo and watched an episode of Breaking Bad before calling it a night.
I woke up Saturday morning feeling refreshed. I declined breakfast (not a big breakfast eater here) but Ivo looked appalled. He talked about the traditions he and his family had in Germany including big breakfasts on the weekends and cakes on Sundays and by the time he was done talking I was all about trying one of these breakfast croissants with chocolate icing. I had no regrets. Saying goodbye to my gracious hosts/company, I headed into Denver to check out some things in the city before my early next day flight. I had rented a car for driving around Colorado, but only until that morning, planning to either walk or Uber in downtown Denver. The car rental process (Enterprise) went super smoothly. While I was waiting for my ride to my hotel, I asked one of the Enterprise employees if he had any recommendations of things to do in the city. He recommended the Meow Wolf art museum and was the third person to suggest it, so I added it to my list. As I was doing so, he went on (out of nowhere I might add), “but if you like drugs, don’t do any before going in there. You’ll be straight trippin’.” So, I added, no drugs to my list and was on my way. After swinging by my hotel (The Source), I headed to Meow Wolf. Not realizing I had to pre-purchase tickets, I wasn’t able to get in for about 1.5 hours. So I walked around the area, past the Denver Broncos stadium, whose mascot I had just met on my previous trip (Nashville), enjoying the sunny day, until my ticket time. Meow Wolf was unlike anything I’d ever seen. I’m not totally sure how to describe it actually, but in my journal I wrote it was a mixture of walking into a video game, Alice in Wonderland, and the Big Bang Theory all mashed together. At times it was overwhelmingly stimulating. At times it was beautiful. There was a game, scavenger hunt type thing you could play. I was lost just walking around though so I passed on that. After Meow Wolf I decided to continue on foot, but it wasn’t long before I came across one of those electronic scooters. I had always wanted to try one out (actually did attempt it once in Kansas, but failed), so I decided it was time. It’s a little tricky at first, but easy enough to get the hang of. The hardest part was the fact that I had to keep stopping to look at my phone for directions since I didn’t know the city. My next stop was Little Man Ice Cream Shop which was adorable and had fantastic ice cream. I had peanut butter smores. 10/10 recommend. I tried to continue my adventure on the scooter but ended up scooting in circles trying to get back to my hotel. Eventually I called it and Ubered the short distance back. I had some time to kill before the location I wanted to have dinner at opened so I headed up to the roof to soak in the hot tub. The view was again, amazing, mountains as far as I could see. I had been sitting out there for about an hour when I started reflecting on work (the Covid surge at my hospital was in the winter of 2021, so at this point I was very much in a state of burnout). I actually had the thought “what am I going to do about work?” when a man about my age, walked out. I’d learn his name was Tyler and that he was originally from Vermont before moving to Texas where he lived at the time we spoke. We made small talk for a minute, but quickly got into the real stuff. Tyler talked about his job as a paralegal, how he used to want to be a lawyer but that it was a “soul-sucking job” so he wasn’t so sure anymore. He was in Denver for one night, for a concert of a musician who had died of an opioid overdose, but whose producer decided to continue on with some kind of show in his honor. Between the concert talk and the job talk it led to me explaining that I work as a nurse, primarily in an addiction medicine program. His jaw dropped as he then explained he was in recovery from opioid addiction. Respectfully, the rest of his story is not mine to tell. But I’ll say that, despite the fact I had been about to leave, we talked for another hour and that he was the divine intervention I needed to continue on my work path at that time. I headed to dinner at Grizzly Rose, which I THOUGHT was a country themed bar/grill but was in fact a country themed dance hall. Being that it has JUST opened, there wasn’t a whole lot of dancing going on when I got there. I made a mental note to stop back if I was ever in the area again. If not to check out the dancing, to eat another slice of their bomb homemade pizza. When I got back to my hotel I stopped at the bar/restaurant there, sipped a wine slushie, and noted that their food also looked great. The rooftop hot tub was the main reason for my choosing The Source as my place to stay, so I headed back up there to watch the sunset. This time, there were two girls in it. We chatted a little bit, mostly I enjoyed the view and reflected on my trip to Colorado. I fell asleep to some comfort TV that night (Friends). In Colorado I was able to reconnect with an old friend, meet a new one who helped guide me along a path in that moment, and enjoy some time alone in nature. It truly was one of my favorite places to spend some time. And I can’t wait to find out what happens when I’m there next!
