For the past 2 weeks, I've seen cornfields and mountains, rivers and lakes, dogs and cows. If you cannot figure out what I'm alluding to, allow me to translate: I traveled to Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado.
This journey was remarkable. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Summer of 2009, but I craved more adventure and spontaneity; therefore, 3 of my co-workers and I decided to execute a road trip across the country.
Two of my co-workers decided to stop in Iowa to visit another co-worker, Anna- that was a blast. There is more to Iowa than Corn- I can assure you. We toured the Iowa State Capitol, ate in some of the most trendy neighborhoods I've ever seen, shopped at Jordan Creek Mall, and swam in a Lake. Afterwards, Alice and I traveled to Western Iowa to visit a friend from school--Chelsea. She had a lot of land, so we 4-wheeled and star gazed near a bonfire in her backyard; the stars have never looked so beautiful! We also traveled 20 miles west to Omaha, Nebraska. To my surprise, Omaha was filed with great restaurants and shopping! We actually stopped at a Sushi bar called "Blue Grille;" it was neat. The following morning we traveled back to Minneapolis to rest up in time for our second road trip to Colorado with 2 other co-workers, Dylan and Alyse!
To keep ourselves entertained on the 13 hour drive, Alyse came up with a game called "The License Plate" game. She printed off blank maps of the U.S. and as contestants, we had to identify vehicles with license plates from other states. The person with the most states or the first to get an outlier state like (ALASKA) wins the game. I was winning up until everyone in the car was somehow able to find an Alaska license plate. UGH! I still think it was a conspiracy. Anyway---
Colorado was breath-taking. The first day, we went up to Horsetooth Resevoir, which is nestled in the Foothills. We swam, hiked, and collected a myriad of rocks. Later that afternoon, we headed to Old Town and ate lunch with childhood friends; I was ecstatic for my MN friends to meet my CO friends! Following our adventures in Old Town, we met with ATO's from CSU and went to a drive-in! Alyse and I feel asleep during the second movie, but the experience was still worthwhile.
After Fort Collins, we traveled to Boulder to stay with Alice's family for a night. During the day, we toured the CU Boulder campus and strolled along the trendy Pearl Street shopping district. Boulder was so fascinating; it was unlike any other city I've ever seen. As Alyse's aunt says "Boulder is not a place. It is a state of mind." I concur. The streets were perfectly trimmed. The mountains towered over the city in every direction and the city had an eclectic mixture of people; laid back professionals, grungy hipsters, entertainers (like the box man), average college students, and DOGS every where. Last but not least, EVERYONE was so fit! We saw people biking, running, and walking their dogs EVERYWHERE-it was unreal! We even saw several people BIKING up the steep mountain trails.
On Thursday, we drove through the mountains to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We figured if we were in Colorado to hike, we might as well hike up a real Mountain. After stopping in Estes first, we got advice from an apathetic Park Ranger on where to hike. We chose Deer Mountain (Deer Mountain Junction). The hike was 3 hours, which took us about 2.5 hours to hike up and and 1.5 hours to hike down. Nevertheless, the hike was overwhelming. Words cannot truly convey my inner thoughts and emotions as we made it to the top of the summit (beautiful would be an understatement). Anyway, that evening, we drove out of the mountains to Denver to stay with Alyse's family.
DENVER=fabulous. After we unpacked, we drove around Denver. Unfortunately, it seemed like an average city; however, we soon realized there was a lot more to Denver than we ever could have imagined. On Friday, we woke up and headed to the University of Denver. I toured the Law School and spoke with an admissions counselor while the other toured campus and checked out the Greek houses. Afterwards, we went to the Denver Zoo! It was exhausting. The Zoo is full of lush paths and indoor exhibits. We were there for over 2 hours and still didn't see every exhibit.
that evening, Alyse's family took us out for delicious Pizza. After dinner, Alyse's uncle gave us a tour of all of Denver. He even stopped on busy streets, made us hop out of the car and explore some of the most historical buildings in the city. It was awesome! The tour lasted for well over an hour, but I enjoyed Jim's passion and enthusiasm; I hope he opens his own tour guide business one day.
The following day (Saturday), we headed back to Minneapolis. The drive was long, but we occupied our time with great conversation and activities, some of which were trivial; however, as we arrived in Minneapolis, the skies appeared dark and dangerous. We knew it wasn't a good sign. ha. We quickly learned that we had arrived just in time for Tornado weather!!! Ha, oh how I missed the Midwest...
