Touching Down in Denver.

First off, I want to start this post with a humongous thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I was a little bit worried I was going to be homesick not spending it with my family and friends but you all made me feel incredibly loved. So truly, thank you.

Over this past week, I've seen one of the world's highest suspension bridges standing at 956 feet above the Arkansas River, come across Bighorn Sheep along the side of the road in the mountains of Southern Colorado, and even played flag football again for the first time in over four months. If you're wondering, I scored a touchdown and made a few blocks; just like riding a bicycle.

I'll begin where my week did, in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is home to a unique National Natural Landmark, my first one I've seen so far, called Garden of the Gods. The bright red rocks towered above as I wound among them, looking up and beyond, I could see them in every shape and size imaginable. With nicknames like Cathedral Spires, Kissing Camels and Steamboat Rock, it's not hard to see how they were identified, each one unique to the last. An offshoot of the main walking trail lead me to a natural seat formed in the side of one of them. I sat and admired the view of the distant Manitou Springs, snowcapped mountains even farther and faded, noticing the details of the thin, tall, red rocks down below. My favorite were the Siamese Twins, appropriately named because the two towers formed an H shape. They shot up and connected in the middle creating a hole and a perfect window the the world beyond. Following the scenic byway, it took me through the rest of the public park, red rocks popping up among the trees here and there reminding you where you are, and let out by historic downtown Manitou Springs. Pit-stopping for a bit, I walked around the town and explored. The colorful buildings stand out in front of the small boulders along the road and the vibe in the town is retro and very charming, surprisingly not at all touristy like I thought it might be. There's an old skeeball arcade complete with every kiddie coin operated ride you can think of, a toy shop, an apothecary, and art galleries. There really are springs along main street, by the way. Signs here and there direct you to them. Some are water fountains in the wall decorated with old tiles while others are free standing fountains in the middle of the sidewalk. I dumped out my bottle of water, tried a few, and was surprised to find that they all tasted a little different and they all had bubbles in them, like they were trying to be seltzer. Unlike seltzer, however, I wasn't really a fan. The water tasted a bit too mineral-like, if that makes sense. Heading back up the other side of the Garden of the Gods on my way back to my hosts in Colorado Springs, I stopped for a few more pictures and admired how different the shapes of these rocks were. It's interesting how some of them, from different angles, can look so different.

I woke up on my birthday happy as can be, hard not to after an evening relaxing and playing board games. The buzz of my phone next to me waking me at 6 am, I had to turn it to do not disturb mode after a while; I'm two hours behind, people. Not complaining though, I loved waking up to lots of birthday messages, it was a wonderful feeling. Excited to start my day, I grabbed the cards my parents left for me to open and headed to the kitchen to find my amazing hosts making me a big breakfast. When they asked me what some of my favorite presents I've gotten were, I said breakfast food without hesitation. I then proceeded to explain why and when that has been my present and they laughed. They thought I was just humoring them because they were making me breakfast; little did they know. After all, why would anybody ever eat anything besides breakfast food? Amber and I decided to take the pups on a morning hike to red rocks park down by Garden of the Gods. It's similar, but smaller and more dog, and skater, friendly with a beautiful lake in the center. We talked and laughed about everything from life, to the hike, to cameras, to her move from Wisconsin to Colorado. All the while Merlin pulling me along, getting himself wrapped around a lot of trees, and Lillith. What a perfect way to start my birthday; with new friends and two adorable pups at my feet.

Deciding to treat myself for the day, I headed to Denver a little early and got a manicure and pedicure. I needed that, no regrets there. I've stayed with my friend Erica that I know from New York while I've been here which has been an absolute treat. She moved here a month before I took my trip, also sort of out of the blue. It's refreshing to see how well she's situated into life here in Denver over that short amount of time. She celebrated with me Tuesday and made my birthday week an occasion I won't soon forget. We've done everything from visiting a dispensary to camping so far west we were almost in Utah. Technically, the plan was always to go to camping, Rocky Mountain National Park was originally on the agenda, but when the blizzard rolled in Thursday morning we decided to try and escape it. Escape it, we did. We drove through beautiful scenery that slowly faded from snow to bright green, red rocks underneath it all, part of the time driving along the bottom of a expansive gorge, and ended up near Fruita, Colorado; exit two. On the side of a cliff, we chose our spot, set up our campsite and relaxed. Staring out over the river down below we were both intrigued by the intricate designs in the canyon walls, the way the colors and the rocks were layered almost looked like it was melting, like ice cream dripping down a cone. The river looked still, although the reflections were not clear so I knew it wasn't and the clouds changed from big and fluffy, to a giant mushroom cloud of warm colors, to grey and streaky. The golden hour of sunlight filled every edge and crack with a warm tint and the colors became more vibrant as the day went on. The whole scene was magical and it was the perfect place to camp and get away for a night.

Being so far west so soon had it perks. Colorado National Monument was out there and on the way back we took a slight detour and drove along Rim Rock Drive. The drive winds around the edge of Monument Canyon, each new turn revealing an even more expansive view of sedimentary rock, tunnels, sculpted red rock monoliths, and crisp blue skies. Stepping out onto a few of the plateaus and looking down, I could see the tabletops jutting out of the waving canyon floor below, covered in green up until their red formations began climbing upward. First explored by John Otto, many thought the canyon was inaccessible and just something to admire from afar. Being the first custodian of the National Monument, he planned to build a road to encourage tourism. His original road, the Serpent Trail, completed in 1921, is still used as a prominent hike through the canyons today but at the time only made the east half of the monument accessible. It wasn't until the twenty three mile drive was completed in 1950 that the rest of the monument was available to all. I met someone this week who told me he didn't understand why there were National Monuments. I was shocked, he clearly hasn't been to places like this. The hazy morning made for the perfect view, the formations in the distance fading backward into the morning light, giving it the dimension I had hoped for and have found hard to really capture in a photograph.

On the four hour drive back, I thought about how I still hadn't really seen Denver at this point. I really liked what I had seen so far and I didn't want to leave without seeing more. Brooke, a friend from high school who lives here now with her boyfriend, Sean, showed me around a bit as well. They took me to Evergreen, a small town in the mountains and the reason they chose to move to Denver in the first place. They also showed me Red Rocks Amphitheater, the only one like it in the world. I highly recommend this be on your list should you ever visit Denver, maybe even see a show if you can. The huge boulders perfectly wrap around the curved benches facing a large red stage with a gorgeous backdrop. Mountains, green hills, and Denver on the horizon, I closed my eyes and could almost hear how it must sound during concerts. I got a very brief preview when the orchestra for the college graduation practicing on stage played a little tune. Imagine graduating there; so awesome. Here I thought graduating at Radio City Music hall was a huge deal. Some of the best of the best have performed at Red Rocks, the Grateful Dead hold the record for twenty five shows and the Beatles, fun fact, have actually played there twice, once in 1964 and again for a reunion show in 2004. Standing where greatness once played, it was all I could do to imagine what it must be like to see a show there, I bet the acoustics are outstanding.

Saturday morning I sprung out of bed almost even more excited than I did on my birthday. I was playing football in t-minus three hours. I clearly woke up way too early, but whatever, I was excited. Ari, a good friend from New York and football who lives here now, took me to his usual Saturday pickup game. I almost forgot how much I enjoy it; running routes, finding the open holes and picking the defense's strategy apart. It helped that the other team left the middle open all day, I could have practically set up camp in the space they left me; big mistake on their part. The altitude here in Colorado is definitely something I have to get use to. I was exhausted after one drive up the field, it's no joke. I was almost mad at myself for sounding so winded, football is one of those things I could do all day and be fine, but that altitude, yikes. I imagine it takes a while to get use to when you first move here.

After spending the rest of the day with Ari catching up and seeing his wife, Jordan, and their adorable brand new baby girl, Mia, I took his advice and headed to an area called RiNO. River North Art District is the coolest area, I think. Central Market is there, a big, open market with vendors and tables selling fresh fish, meat and coffee for you to take to go or food for you to sit and eat there. I had a cup of the clam chowder before exploring more outdoors and it was amazing, best decision I could have made. The surrounding area reminded me a lot of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, without all the hipsters, thank goodness. The abundant amount of street art consumed every empty brick on every wall, each one more colorful and detailed than the last. I walked through alleys and back streets, found colorful reflections from the graffiti in the puddles on the ground from the now completely melted snow, and made a full circle back to Central Market to buy goodies for dinner with Erica. After a long day of football and her long day of work, I knew a great dinner was in order.

Spending my last day here yesterday biking around with her friends and hopping to different breweries, a very "Colorado" thing to do, was a perfect Sunday Funday. I ended it a bit early to stroll to downtown and see Union Station before the sun set and I wouldn't be able to see the last little bit of Denver I could. For a Sunday night, people were certainly out and about. I strolled the streets, walked along the side of the Rockies stadium, conveniently also located downtown, noticing the purple flags proudly flying off every pole they could find. Small, white lights were strung through the alleys, along awnings, and in between beautiful homes creating sparkling tunnels. Union station, the hub of Denver travel, was grand on the inside with huge windows lining the top, a bustling restaurant and bar in the center, shops surrounding it, and a hotel attached as well. Size wise, I would say it's just slightly smaller than 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. An old train pulled up just as I was checking out the tracks behind the building. The white bars and wires curve above the tracks and create an interesting juxtaposition of modern and antique next to the old station. I took one of the few walking bridges of similar design that take you up and over the tracks towards the creek and back towards the Highlands. Cherry creek runs through downtown Denver alongside the perfectly landscaped park. Different pedestrian bridges line the creek, the ferris wheel and roller coaster of the Six Flags that calls itself home right there in the skyline popping up behind them. I walked the Highlands bridge back to Erica's neighborhood, its matching modern design to that of the train station and lines overhead adding amazing perspective to my shots. Discovering more twinkling lights and the longest line I have ever seen for an ice cream parlor, I was satisfied that I had seen as much as I possibly could. I couldn't help but stop on my way home and admire the skyline from afar. I love it, the view from the rooftop patio at the bar where Erica works is definitely one of the best, but I enjoyed even more walking through LoHi, looking down streets and seeing the colorful city highlighted by the peach sunset.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Denver. It was weird being here with so many people I know, having done the majority of this journey by myself, but I loved every minute of it. It made being here and experiencing this new and fun city even more special.

On to new places.

- G.

The Photo:
Denver from the Highlands Bridge.
Denver, Colorado.
5/21/17.