Someone at the University of Kansas did a study not too long ago to see if Kansas is, in fact, as flat as a pancake. Turns out it's not -- it's flatter.
It's also really, really wide. More than a day's worth of driving wide. We spent the first night of our journey from St. Louis to Boulder in a hotel in Salina, KS, where we advanced our Hotel Gourmet skills to a new level. Behold: hot soup, sans microwave.
Boulder rocks. Pun intended. The rock climbing there is some of the best in the country, and the yoga will kick your flabby ass, but the most incredible part of the city is what surrounds it - the foothills of the Rockies are right there. Boulder feels like it could be home, assuming you're like us: young, open minded, physically active, and into racing broken tricycles around a bar for free shots.
We stayed with Roger's friend Erik, who took us hiking up the flatirons the afternoon we arrived. It was... it was...
... we're struggling to finish this paragraph. How many ways can we say "wow, our life is so much more interesting and fulfilling than yours?" And how many of you will still like us if we say that? You see our dilemma.
But really, the hike was a bonding experience for our intrepid posse (who got lost on the way down and ended up jumping off snow covered boulders in search of a trail that wasn't there). The view from the summit is breathtaking - the panorama in front of you goes clear past Denver 60 miles away, while the mountains stretch out of sight in the opposite direction.
(Not our photo, but the flatirons nonetheless.)
That night we went tricycle racing at some bar that was covered in the creepy remains of a movie studio's prop room. Roger and Erik formed team Masshole, and would have won if the damn trike wasn't such a piece of crap. As it was they did well, in that they were well and truly drunk by the end.
We attempted to go bouldering on April 1st. But Nature has a sense of humor, and sent us a blizzard. Honestly, not a bad marker for the one month anniversary of our departure from Boston, which was also in a blizzard.
So we went instead on April 2nd. The Red Rocks are "the best bouldering in Boulder end quote, so we had to visit, even if it was only for ten minutes. We were sick of the snow, and we were racing the sun south to Moab.
My father's parents live in the Denver area (Littleton - yes the town of Columbine School). Every time I go to visit I am in awe of the beautiful juxtaposition between the plains and the jutting Rockies. It's gorgeous out there. And woot for bouldering!
ReplyDelete