June 24st, 2016
Day Four of Twenty-Three // My Friend’s Apartment in Boulder, CO
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I’ve tried to blog and write about everything, I really did. It is just so hard to stare any one thing for too long when there is so much happening right in front of me. So I’m going to sit down and right this before I fall asleep. I probably won’t proof read this either, so you’ll have to excuse the errors that will ensue.
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When I woke up yesterday, I was at rest stop somewhere in the middle of Kansas. We had to pull over and sleep because the 12 of 16 hour drive got to be too much. We took a power nap and hoped on the road the next morning to make it to our first stop in Denver. It was crazy; the terrain went from flat prairie lands to rugged, evergreen-covered clustered peaks. We stopped in the city around noon and wandered around the streets in search of a good place to eat. We strolled around 16th Street alongside hundreds of other businessmen, traveling hippies, and skaters all walking alongside each other and taking in the same beautiful cityscape/landscape that surrounded us.
We ended up at this place called Henry’s Tavern that looked especially attractive because of its high-top char window seating (and $5 IPA Wednesday drink special). I wanted a Blue Moon, but luckily they ran out so I decided to try some Tangerine IPA that I couldn’t pronounce the name of. It was delicious and paired flawlessly with the margarita pizza and grilled chicken club that Lily and I shared. I walked away slightly buzzed, $20 broker, and a whole lot happier. After doing a bit of shopping, (wink wink) we decided to head to Boulder, CO where we would stay at my really dope friend Morgan’s apartment near the campus of CU.
First, we decided to head up to Boulder Mountain Park to catch the views that a quick drive would entail. The roads were cutting back left and right, but to see all the green trees and clouding skies drifting next to us on a rainy afternoon was so serene. I remember I just kept thinking to myself that I wanted to bottle up the smell of rain in the mountains and preserve it indefinitely. Finally, we reached the top and trailed to this overlook that ended up having hollows in the side of the rock that we climbed down into to prop our feet up with the view. It was so beautiful to see the sun illuminate the blue sky and the reflect so brightly from the snow-capped mountains.
After a couple days of countless miles and late nights, we decided to hit the hay early and take advantage of the bed and air conditioning while we still had it. Originally, we had just planned to spend one day in Boulder, but after falling in love with this place so easily, Morgan was super sweet and let us crash there an extra day. We all went to Pearl Street in Downtown Boulder for lunch, which was hands down the cutest road ever. We hoped from skate stores to vintage retailers to crystal showcases to soap shoppes, and saw the most interesting, unique selection of things you could imagine. I wanted so badly to by this breathtaking amethyst geode, but I knew I couldn’t have it if I wanted to eat again the rest of the trip. We grabbed grilled chicken Pitas and red pepper hummus at a quaint, little Greek restaurant and topped it off with a single scoop of banana Nutella gelato from Fior de Latte. This coffee/gelato house had the most minimalistic, playful aesthetic with a mission to give you “the best gelato you have ever had.” Well Fior de Latte, mission accomplished.
After a bit of running around, we headed back to Morgan’s to rest up for a sunset hike we were planning on taking later that evening. My nap ended up being way longer than I had anticipated, so Lily suggested we grabbed dinner and took it up on the mountain with us for dinner at sunset. Of course, how could you pass that up? Driving around in Boulder for something that was easy and wouldn’t break the bank, Panda Express stumbled across us and our taste buds were ready to smash on some orange chicken. Two boxes of to-go and a gallon of gas later, we found ourselves at the “Cathedral” trailhead. Hauled the food and the speakers to a rocky overhang that gazed out into the valleys, meadows, and snow-covered Rockies. Alt-J seemed extremely appropriate for the moment and I had never listened to the most recent album all the way through, so the Bluetooth speakers were connected and streamed it into the crispy, chilled air. Even the fortune cookies wanted us to have all the best by the way the fortunes turned out to be scary accurate and uplifting.
Never has Chinese tasted so good.
We hiked to one more place for the night to welcome the dusk. A filter of deep purples and light blues washed over the entire landscape as the sun sunk beneath the mountainous horizon. This place was a little more fixated in the woodsy part of the trail, which was more than enjoyable for me. I have an insane amount of love and fascination for evergreen trees. Their color is so raw and wholesome. They are so resilient and unwavering, as they go through each dawn, each day, each storm, each season and yet, still adapt to each and every element. I look at them and I see wisdom. I see strength. I see gentle. I see interconnectedness. I see life. I can’t help but think to myself that this is the first tattoo I want. I wanted to be as rooted and as lifted as these magnificent beings, and to keep this moment with this life with me forever is a pretty damn good motivation to have to inked on me permanently.
Night came and the mountains whispered with its flooding winds through the leaves and bristled branches. The city night lights of Denver and Boulder greeted us on the way down. We pulled over to another overlook and let the town glisten and twinkle in shades of orange and yellow beneath us. The speaker died, but the music of the crickets chirping and singing in the tall grass of the meadows around us. It was a peace that lured me right into a lighthearted, sleepy bliss.
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Now I’m back at the apartment and packed up for a week in the canyons. Tonight is my last night in a bed with a shower, so you best believe I took full advantage of that while I can. It’s 2:44 AM here and my body is still trying to adjust to the time change. All I know right now is that these sheets are comfy and I am content.
I am so, so, so content.
Sitting on that mountain, eating my cream cheese ragoon and fried rice, I realized that everything that’s been bad hasn’t ever been really all that bad. Every time I’ve been down lately or haven’t been able to shake something off my mind, it has seemed like such a set-back. I could never get why it was happening and I would just get so frustrated because I felt this overwhelming need to get rid of whatever it was that was hurting me because I knew I wasn’t supposed to feel this way. But that’s totally not the case.
If I hadn’t met sour, I’d have never known sweet. Without the bad, how can we distinguish the good? It is all so equally important in the grand cycle of it all—to know that not everything is going to come naturally or easy, but because of being put in those situations, you are forced to learn and adapt from it. You make a new comfort zone. This whole year has been a series of me throwing myself into new situations without having the slightest clue what the outcome is going to be. Sometimes the risk is high and the stakes are there, but you just gotta say “hell yeah” and do it. Just do it. (Thanks, Nike.)
I am already exhausted and starving. I can see myself starting to develop the natural look of matted locks, freckled skin, and dark circles. I am the poorest I have ever been.
But gahdamn I am happy.
It’s disgusting how in love with life I am. The very close of day three and the wee hours of day four rolling upon me, and I’m laying here trying not to drift off to sleep before I finish writing this. We are planning to wake up in a few hours and drive to Glen Canyon, AZ where we will be traveling the canyons of southern Utah for the next six days. Seeing as through I probably won’t even have reliable showers or amenities, I doubt I’ll be anywhere with WiFi to post anything new. However, I just wanted to check in and write at least a little account of what I’ve witnessed the past two days to hold on to and remind me exactly why I am leaving my heart in the mountains to come retrieve after Louisville. Till we meet again, Boulder.
** If you want to keep up with our trip pictures, Lily and I made a joint account so we can voluntarily spam. Check it for all the good photos: https://www.instagram.com/pursuitofhappiness_lr/?hl=en **
Kentucky Gypsy 