Colorado: The Journey & The Arrival

During my final 24 hours at home I learned that Danielle was in town.

Not from a call or a text, oh no. I saw it on her mother’s facebook page…

So, I got a hold of Princess D and got to say another farewell to a close friend.

(But only after her dad made us delicious diet Coke & Malibu melon mixed drinks. Hehe.)

The following day was off to the ATL, where my new roomie, Anna, would be picking me up/meeting for the first time. The flight was quick & once en route we headed straight to The Fox & Hound- a bar to meet up for a goodbye with some of her friends.

I learned two new dart games that night (and succeeded at 1 of them!).

Then we headed to her home where I met her family, crashed for the night, and then come morning time we were back into the fully loaded car.

Leaving at about 8 a.m. we made it all the way to Nashville, TN for lunch.

We ended up on Broadway Street there and ate some Mediterranean fare right next to the Hard Rock.

Back on the road our first stop and destination was Shawnee, Kansas. We were scheduled to stay with Anna’s Aunt that evening.

I knew we were getting close when I first saw this:

The St. Louis Arch-->

We made it in for the night, talked for a few hours with her Aunt and cousins over a glass of vino, and then recharged ourselves with some long due sleep.

First day driving total: 13.5hrs.

The second day was a shorter drive totaling at 9.5 hrs. We said an early farewell and set out for our final destination: Golden, CO.

The land was flat and I saw something very cool and very new to me.

Shadows.

Yes, shadows. You can totally think Peter Pan here.

But, have you ever seen a shadow like this?

I swear it’s breathtaking.

A top all of that rolling green, and all the cows- just a big black shadow from a white puff of cloud.

If you thought I got excited for cloud shadows, just wait till you hear about the Rockies ; D

This was my first distant view of them:

<-- Just squint, that's them out yonder!

This brings me to the final arrival to Golden. We arrived about 2:30/ 3:00 p.m. Mountain time. Got to my new four-plex home, unloaded the car, and set out for a hike.

Molly and her boyfriend, Zach, allowed for me to join them on a lovely hike that is just 2 minutes away from our home.

We didn’t see any rattlers ….this time.

I went to a dinner with Anna and Molly at their boss’ home- and it was amazing! I’ve never had such a grandly prepared meal of vegetarian fare! BBQ Portabellas, Seitan kabobs, sundried tomatoes & raviolis, orzo pasta with spinach, mixed greens salad. I mean…YUM!

(All of the dinner guests were either mechanical or chemical engineers so the dinner topics were very proficient.)

After dinner we all went back home, and then the liquor store (they don’t sell beer or wine in grocery stores here), and down the road to Clear Creek. The creek was bubbly, there were drunken tubers floating by, Molly brought her hula hoop and banjo, and there was a playground.

Yes, I am absolutely loving life here!