at mills lake in estes park.
at red rocks. for some reason this picture reminds me of sting's "fields of gold" (maybe because i saw sting at red rocks recently?)i have just had one of the most memorable weeks of my life, and the memories i made were with a wonderful but new friend. she and i went to roanoke college together, but never had actually become close, most likely because i valued pink, pearls, and parties over school at times... and she was a much more devoted student than i. actually, we had one chance encounter in paris, where she was descending on the escalator in the musee d'orsay while i was ascending, and at the last second we recognized each other and gave each other a nice big american 'hello'... as my friend herself said, "it was fate that we met again".
so we met here in beautiful summertime colorado, and she came ready for an adventure. we tried our best to keep ourselves entertained, we went out to boulder several times for shopping, bar hopping, hiking, and biking, as well as a little science at the research center there. in denver, we continued our educational endeavors at the "body works" exhibit at the denver museum of science. we made it to estes park as well, where we enjoyed a breathtaking hike from bear lake, by alberta falls, and up to mills lake. ideally, we would have made it to black lake, but that will have to be next time, since it was a good 2.5 miles off from where we turned back... in denver, we made it to red rocks for a photography hike, did drinks lodo and larimer, dined at bistro vendome, and took a rickshaw tour of downtown. on her last night here, we met my dearest friend from roanoke and her husband for dinner at izykaya den on south pearl, followed by ice cream and live bluegrass at the pajama baking company. it truly was a perfect visit.
best of all, my friend's visit opened my eyes to the many adventures that i can have here in denver on my own, such as runs at red rocks, or at least one super hike out in the mountains every week. i also would like to make it to boulder more regularly to bike ride along the foothills and mesas, visit the farmer's market, or simply paint or meditate along the boulder creek. colorado is such a beautiful place, i feel so blessed to be here. as i said to all my friends, all the good people come out here to colorado, it is a mecca for adventurous and good souls.
on the trail at estes. it was a truely perfect day.
view along the bike trail in boulder
