Sean and I have been looking forward to visiting Colorado for a long time. Some of his childhood friends live in Denver and one of my closest friends, Linde (from the pony farm) lives near Fort Collins with her husband, Joe, a horse called Trooper, their two boxers, Fallon and Rouwen and an African Grey parrot named Morrocco.
As long as I have known Linde I have wanted to be just like her especially since she was a year older and got to do everything first. I wanted to study biology because she did, I wanted to speak Spanish because she could and I wanted to move to Colorado after she did. I can actually remember the moment I met Linde. I was eight years old and we crossed paths going to and from the tack room in the pony barn. I can still see her standing there in a white GoodHeart tee shirt, long blond hair and round glasses. After we decided to go on a ride together we were pretty much inseparable after that. Her pony was named Nicky and could "ride double" (have two riders on its back at one time) so that worked out perfectly for two horse-crazy girls. Even though we only lived down the road from each other we decided to become pen pals. I have years of letters that we wrote to each other and they are some of the most precious memories I have.
I hadn't been to Colorado in a long time and since my last visit Linde and Joe had acquired a house, garden and many fun pets. Needless to say the current visit was long overdue and I am so glad that things worked out and we could make it happen. I worked on a ranch in Colorado during the summer after graduation and loved it but I've slowly forgotten what it's like to live out here. Here's some words that are quintessential Colorado: organic, community farming, food co-op, compost, Chacos, Keens, Carhart, cowboy boots and hat, bikes, Fat Tire beer and New Belgian brewing company, hiking and mountains. A new word I've learned is "vermiculture" which means to compost with worms - and it's really popular here! A lot of people have their own vermicultures right under their sinks along with their compost!
Basically, Colorado is filled with a bunch of fun-seeking cowboys, hippies, outdoor enthusiasts and environmentally friendly fanatics. Linde describes herself as being somewhere in the middle of the cowgirls and eco-hippies. She and Joe garden, compost, knit sweaters, take pottery classes, go to yoga, eat local and organic (as much as possible), own a total of 6 bikes, live simply and pretty much love life. It has been really fun staying with them so I get the native Colorado experience which is fun, laid back and healthy. Obviously, Sean and I have stumbled into another interesting and entertaining subculture of the US.
Some of my highlights of hanging out in Colorado have been going to see Norah Jones at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre (unfortunately we got rained on a little bit but we got cozy and toughed it out), eating burgers at Big Al's, making salads at Mad Greens, visiting Linde's horse, going for a bike ride to a local bar for micro-brews and fried pickles, watching home movies of Linde and me at the pony barn, and just hanging out and catching up. I already don't want this visit to end!
What a great adventure you are having on this roadtrip! Enjoy it!