So here I am! Across the Continental Divide, and officially in The West!
Let's back-track, and start from the beginning:
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
On the 3rd, I arrived at the Denver airport an hour later than expected (I think, the time change confused me). I found the baggage check, and then went outside to the curb to wait for Jade to pick me up. I met Jade at National Youth Science Camp, in West Virginia, the summer after we both graduated from high school. That we three years ago, but we've kept in touch. He goes to the University of Colorado at Boulder.Once he had found me, and we had loaded my large (50.5 lb) bag into his car, we headed off into the "front country", the incredibly flat part of Colorado, with the VERY large Rocky Mountains in front of us. The mountains were SO TALL. Also, the front country doesn't have very many trees at all, and it is brown and dry. I thought that all of Colorado was in the Rocky Mountains.
In an hour, we arrived in Boulder, a very pedestrian-friendly city, spread out, with lots of bike lanes. We brought my carry-ons into his old house, which is part of the suburbs, and had some bread and cheese in the back yard. We were planning to bike around the UC campus when his sister, Julia, came home, and so we went to a very early dinner with her.I was very tired from getting up at 4am, and so that evening we watched a movie, and then went out to a local Boulder brewery.
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Let's back-track, and start from the beginning:
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
On the 3rd, I arrived at the Denver airport an hour later than expected (I think, the time change confused me). I found the baggage check, and then went outside to the curb to wait for Jade to pick me up. I met Jade at National Youth Science Camp, in West Virginia, the summer after we both graduated from high school. That we three years ago, but we've kept in touch. He goes to the University of Colorado at Boulder.Once he had found me, and we had loaded my large (50.5 lb) bag into his car, we headed off into the "front country", the incredibly flat part of Colorado, with the VERY large Rocky Mountains in front of us. The mountains were SO TALL. Also, the front country doesn't have very many trees at all, and it is brown and dry. I thought that all of Colorado was in the Rocky Mountains.
In an hour, we arrived in Boulder, a very pedestrian-friendly city, spread out, with lots of bike lanes. We brought my carry-ons into his old house, which is part of the suburbs, and had some bread and cheese in the back yard. We were planning to bike around the UC campus when his sister, Julia, came home, and so we went to a very early dinner with her.I was very tired from getting up at 4am, and so that evening we watched a movie, and then went out to a local Boulder brewery.
Friday, June 4th, 2010
On Friday we woke up late, and made a Denver omelette for breakfast/lunch. Then we set out for what Jade recalled as a fairly easy hike up to a natural arch on the Flatirons, the more 
forward mountains that you could see from Boulder (the ones with snow were behind, and you couldn't see them). Maybe you can tell from the picture why the mountains are called the Flatirons. You can see part of Boulder in the background. The hike ended up being much more difficult than we both expected, and I was very short of breath from the higher elevation, but we made it to the top! It was so beautiful, and already I am running out of words to describe Colorado, and it is only the first full day there!
At the top of the hike was Royal Arch, a natural archway. The bottom of the hike was through a grassy field full of pine trees and flowers, and it was so breathtaking!
Once we finally got back to Jade's place, we had another snack, and decided to head over to Salida, where his mom lived, for the evening. It took us a while to pack up and head out, but finally we were on the road again!
On the way we saw the Red Rock Amphitheater, and some amazing mountain passes. I also saw the largest field I have ever seen, South Park, and attempted to learn how to eat sunflower seeds.We arrived in Salida, and I met his mom, who is really nice! We were pretty tired, and so all we did that evening was watch some movies and go to bed, so that we could get a good start in the morning.
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
On Saturday we got up and finished breakfast at around noon, and decided to go see the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, in the next valley over from Salida. Once we got into the valley, we could see the dunes, but it took forever to get there! I can't even describe the beauty of the Sand Dunes, and even pictures don't totally do it justice, but here are some anyway. Although many of the pictures don't have people in them for scale, just take my word that they were VERY LARGE, like most things in Colorado. I have so many more beautiful pictures from that day!
Once we got to the bottom, a thunderstorm rolled in while Jade was flying his stunt kite (which I figured out how to fly, too, after dive-bombing him several times!)! Don't worry, we soon packed up and after showering off to get less sandy (even more so than spending a day at the beach), we got back in the car.
And this is what we saw while driving back. We had to stop to take it all in:
forward mountains that you could see from Boulder (the ones with snow were behind, and you couldn't see them). Maybe you can tell from the picture why the mountains are called the Flatirons. You can see part of Boulder in the background. The hike ended up being much more difficult than we both expected, and I was very short of breath from the higher elevation, but we made it to the top! It was so beautiful, and already I am running out of words to describe Colorado, and it is only the first full day there!At the top of the hike was Royal Arch, a natural archway. The bottom of the hike was through a grassy field full of pine trees and flowers, and it was so breathtaking!
Once we finally got back to Jade's place, we had another snack, and decided to head over to Salida, where his mom lived, for the evening. It took us a while to pack up and head out, but finally we were on the road again!
On the way we saw the Red Rock Amphitheater, and some amazing mountain passes. I also saw the largest field I have ever seen, South Park, and attempted to learn how to eat sunflower seeds.We arrived in Salida, and I met his mom, who is really nice! We were pretty tired, and so all we did that evening was watch some movies and go to bed, so that we could get a good start in the morning.
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
On Saturday we got up and finished breakfast at around noon, and decided to go see the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, in the next valley over from Salida. Once we got into the valley, we could see the dunes, but it took forever to get there! I can't even describe the beauty of the Sand Dunes, and even pictures don't totally do it justice, but here are some anyway. Although many of the pictures don't have people in them for scale, just take my word that they were VERY LARGE, like most things in Colorado. I have so many more beautiful pictures from that day!
Once we got to the bottom, a thunderstorm rolled in while Jade was flying his stunt kite (which I figured out how to fly, too, after dive-bombing him several times!)! Don't worry, we soon packed up and after showering off to get less sandy (even more so than spending a day at the beach), we got back in the car.
And this is what we saw while driving back. We had to stop to take it all in:
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Today Jade drove me over Independence pass (12,095 feet), to Aspen, Colorado. On the way We stopped to take a short hike to a beautiful stream. The water was very loud, because the snow was melting off the mountains and flooding the streams. We also found an old miner's cabin that had aspen growing up though the logs, which was very beautiful. Most of the drive there looked like a variation of this:
There was LOTS of snow at the top of the pass - around 7 or 8 feet in some places. At the top we stopped and had a brief snowball fight (in JUNE!) before hurrying on to get me to the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on time! We got there around 4:30 or 5, and I found and moved into "the bunkhouse", a sort of dorm-like building with a living room and very large kitchen. I met some of the other interns, and after Jade helped me bring all my stuff up, we said good bye, with plans of seeing each other later in the summer form more adventures!
That night, with many of the other interns, I went out to Bad Billy's. We chatted and got to know each other. Everyone is very nice and friendly, and it is great to be surrounded by people so much like me!
Well, I think that's all I'll write for now. Much has happened since, but I need my sleep for tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed reading! I'll write soon about the first week of training!
Today Jade drove me over Independence pass (12,095 feet), to Aspen, Colorado. On the way We stopped to take a short hike to a beautiful stream. The water was very loud, because the snow was melting off the mountains and flooding the streams. We also found an old miner's cabin that had aspen growing up though the logs, which was very beautiful. Most of the drive there looked like a variation of this:
There was LOTS of snow at the top of the pass - around 7 or 8 feet in some places. At the top we stopped and had a brief snowball fight (in JUNE!) before hurrying on to get me to the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on time! We got there around 4:30 or 5, and I found and moved into "the bunkhouse", a sort of dorm-like building with a living room and very large kitchen. I met some of the other interns, and after Jade helped me bring all my stuff up, we said good bye, with plans of seeing each other later in the summer form more adventures!
That night, with many of the other interns, I went out to Bad Billy's. We chatted and got to know each other. Everyone is very nice and friendly, and it is great to be surrounded by people so much like me!
Well, I think that's all I'll write for now. Much has happened since, but I need my sleep for tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed reading! I'll write soon about the first week of training!
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