The Boulder the Better

So I am very excited I get to go to Boulder next week! Several years ago when I worked for another company I got to spend several weeks in the 7-11's of Denver and Colorado Springs. You are immediately jealous of me for my lavish trip. But for me, it was ideal. It was August, and it was my first experience with the heat of the West. As I sat in my rental car I could feel the skin burning on my arms in the 100 degree heat. Even with the windows closed and the A/C on, the rays that bore through the windows was intense and unrelenting. Still not sounding ideal? I would hop out of my car every few miles at each 7-11 and immediately jump into the freezer section. The varying temperatures came as a slight shock to my system, but I luckily never became ill.

Stoplight after stoplight; corner 7-11 after corner 7-11. But as soon as my work reorganizing beverage shelves to highlight my product was done for the day, the time was mine. I spent countless hours and gallons of gas driving into the mountains just outside of Denver every evening. Within half an hour you can be mostly out of the city and into the beautiful nature world, and I would get lost meandering old mountain roads and lost in buffalo's eyes. No, seriously--they actually had buffalo farms and that was my first experience with them. One night I tried to catch the sunset from a mountaintop, one night I would have a meal downtown. The weekend was spent with day trips to Boulder and Breckenridge, the most ideal mountain resort town I could imagine. Children played in the mountain streams as an arts festival played music in the background. Even in August, the peaks of the Rocky mountains held white caps.

I tried to find the Coors factory but got lost and gave up. I wasn't desperate enough for Coors to keep looking.

One thing I had not expected of Colorado are the trees. I thought that the West meant open land, and I would be able to see for miles in the vast open territory. But what was great about Colorado were the trees. It was halfway between home and the barren land I thought it might be.

The second week was spent in Colorado Springs, which was much flatter and more open. Directly south of Denver about 3 hours, it's the home of the Air Force Academy, and slightly more boring. It was much more suburban there, and not quite as visually stunning as the cities closer to the majestic and higher peaks.

I anxiously look forward to my trip next week to Boulder. I remember it as being quite a hippie town, and very green. I am hoping that the internet tells me the truth and alpine wildflowers will be in peak bloom in the higher regions. I have at least 3/4 of a day on each side of my business aspect, so I will rent a car hopefully and drive an hour northwest to Rocky Mountain National Park to do a quick day hike. I hope that the altitude will not keep me from seeing some impressive views. An ideal picture I plan on bringing back is a mountain reflected in a still lake. Wish me luck! Oh yeah, and luck on learning something at this training and bettering myself!