Tag Archives: friends

Memoir/Writing, Miles/Travels

Colorado Adventures

I moved to Colorado last November, but in the midst of some amazing travels, I haven’t really taken the time to enjoy my new surroundings.  So, I decided I needed a few Colorado adventures.  I found a few great things Colorado has to offer like team sports, camping, and hiking.  My sportsball league played every Thursday evening (when it wasn’t down pouring) and alternated sports each week.  My favorite games were volleyball and ultimate (we also played dodgeball, kickball, and wiffleball – this was a very serious league).  After our last game that didn’t happen because of rain, we went to a Pub to celebrate our season.  The following week Hannah, my friend from yoga teacher training, came to visit.  We camped at Echo Lake at the bottom of Mount Evans road (which was closed at the time) and hiked to Lincoln Lake, a 10-mile hike round-trip through tall pines, green meadows, and a burn area from many years ago. Beautiful scenery, great company, and only a little rain.  It was a great time.

After meeting my new friend Sara in Aruba, we decided that we should inspire each other to train for a race, a tri, but for now a race.  So, we signed up to do the Pagosa Offroad Duathlon as a team for the Dirty Du course.  Pagosa Springs, CO, is an awesome little mountain town with a couple of breweries, some great restaurants, and sulfur-smelling hot springs.  I used to go there when I lived in Farmington, NM, so it was nice to be back in the area and to see some friends from there.  In case you’re wondering, we did not win.  Sara and I only trained for two weeks, however, my friends Brandy and Shane took first in the duo race – even beating all the guys. Yes, they are awesome.

The adventures continued with more local bike rides with friends and fun in Golden, CO.  We also went to an Avett Brothers concert at Red Rocks, which was phenomenal.  Red Rocks alone is amazing, and then adding the Avett Brothers and good friends made it even better.  I do love being in the “Great Outdoors” of Colorado.

Moving is difficult.  I’ve done it several times for work, for school, for life.  Each time leaving my friends, my support, and going somewhere new.  For me, it takes about six months of loneliness to find those first few people with whom I really connect and that’s with the effort of putting myself in situations and places that are unfamiliar and new.  And still, it takes about a year to find my people. The people that we call our own change, moving in and out of our lives for various reasons, but they always leave an impact.  We choose what that impact will be on our lives.  I choose to learn, to grow, knowing that some experiences are more difficult than others.  It makes me more appreciative of the present: of the people and the experiences that I have the opportunity to embrace now because at some point, it will again change.

Memoir/Writing, Miles/Travels, Yoga

Meandering through Colorado

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I recently needed to make a trip back to the Farmington, NM, area for work and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to also visit friends and places from my previous home.  I started from Golden on Sunday morning and made my way west on I-70 to Palisade, CO.  The drive held views of snow-capped mountains and amazingly green hillsides (thanks to May and its showers; does that mean there will be flowers in June?).  I met up with friends in Palisade just in time to get a drink at the Peach Street Distillery before heading to the Palisade Bluegrass Festival for the last act.

We hopped on cruiser bikes to ride to Riverbend Park and watch Elephant Revival close the festival.  I got a couple videos of this Boulder-based band singing acapella and playing their last song.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the sun shining warm and clouds providing a little respite from the heat.

While Sunday was incredibly relaxing, Monday was full of activity.  After taking a 75 minute hot yoga class to warm up, we went on a 10-mile bike ride of Horse Thief Trail in 91F weather.  It’s one of my favorite mountain bike trails in the Fruita-Grand Junction-Palisade area because of the amazing views and flowing single track.  After a sushi break and showers, we hiked up Mt. Garfield – a 4-mile out-and-back with 2000 feet of elevation gain – just in time to catch the sunset and more incredible views.

The adventures in the valley ended and I drove south to the Durango/Farmington area.  It was an incredible time of catching up with friends, seeing what has changed since I moved, and riding trails that taught me to mountain bike.  I had the ever-famous GPAM (ginger-pineapple martini) at Distil while hanging out with my crazy-fun friends from Williams, I ate green chili for multiple meals, and relished the rain-cured trails of the high desert.  I heard stories of new paths, new baby bumps, and new little walkers.  Then I packed up (and helped a friend pack a bit before their move) and drove through Pagosa Springs and on 285 back to Golden.

For me, while traveling is incredibly rewarding, it is also tiring and sometimes lonely.  I relish the sweet time with all these friends of old and thank God that I have such incredible people in my life.  It is a good reminder that memories shared are better treasured. and also that I am incredibly blessed.