Colorado

Monday 10/30:
I woke up early and split from Katie and Hilary around 8am to get on the road to Crested Butte, Colorado. It was a fantastic drive down little highways into the Rocky Mountains. What a difference! The dry, dusty desert of Utah is so different from these rugged, cold mountains!

I was visiting a friend, Alex, from middle school. I haven't seen him for 9 years, since I visited him when he lived in Boulder. It's so fun to see these people after all this time, we're able to relate a bit more and it has been so great to see people's towns. I drove into Crested Butte, which is literally at the end of the road. The road is like a cal-de-sac with the ends being these huge, 13,000 ft. mountains. The town is ADORABLE, cute little restaurants and shops. It's a dream town.

Once I got there, Alex had a plan for us! I arrived around 2, and immediately got into his truck and drove up these forest roads towards the mountains. We were just going to do a "quick, easy" hike...up to 12,000 feet. I have never been that high up, ever! We hiked up "Baldy Mountain" , which is not a trail! It's basically scrambling up the side of this mountain and then back down. I was huffing and puffing like crazy, but such a perfect view of the other mountains and town down below. We scrambled down before the impending snow storm hit.

We drove a bit further down the road and hiked up to this abandoned mine and truck, then hiked to their ski-hut in the middle of nowhere! He and his friends are huge backcountry skiers, so we talked a lot about the different mountains and logistics of tele-skiing. I'm still lost when it comes to avalanches, etc. I don't have to worry about that at home, haha. We had a picnic in this rock meadow that someone had built a little circle of benches and a table in the middle. It was so cool. We watched the snow blow in and it was magical! Hearing the snow start is so peaceful.

We headed towards the house after watching the snow and rode our bikes into town for a beer and dinner. It's the cutest little town, I would definitely live there if I was a skier.

Tuesday 10/31:
I woke up, Alex made huge breakfast burritos, then I hit the road. Crested Butte was supposed to get 8 inches of snow over night, I was a littttttle worried (to say the least) about driving over Monarch Pass at 12,000 feet. Luckily, CB didn't get any snow, so I was feeling confident about getting over the pass. I started driving over it, it was blowing snow, 22 degrees, ice and snow on the road. I was a mess. But I made it! And had a

beautiful drive afterwards to Denver. I love taking these back roads through little towns, you get to see totally different parts of the state than you normally would be flying by.

I am in Denver until Thursday, staying in an Air BnB with college roommate, Lillian. Lillian and I were randomly matched at Appalachian State and became great friends. We haven't seen each other for a long time, so it's so wonderful to pick up right where we left off. Lillian took me over to her friends' house for wine and cheese and handing out Halloween candy. It was really fun and low-key.

Wednesday 11/1:
It's November! It seems SO crazy to be almost finished with my trip. I'm feeling a mix of nerves and excitement. I am so ready to be at home, but so ready to continue the trip. I know what's ahead when I get home, finding a job, and getting back to real life. Which is both good and bad! I'm super excited to bring what I've been learning to my work, we'll see how it all works in!

Today, I am getting the third and (hopefully) final oil change! That means...almost 15,000 miles? That's crazy. I picked up some sandwiches and brought them to my cousin, Sean, at his high school in Aurora. Sean-y is a first-year English teacher and it was so wonderful to see him in his own classroom. We caught up, enjoyed lunch, and then he went back to teach!

Lillian and I met up after work and we went to Uno Mas for Mexican food. We met up with my friends Evan and Ellen! The ones I met in Moab! I wanted Lillian to meet them, we all hit it off, and had such a great night together. I wish we all lived a bit closer so that we could hang out more often!