Shenanigans of the Last Week and a Half

This past week and a half since I last wrote has been so busy with work and still exploring Boulder, but I do love being busy! On Friday, July 6 Elisabeth and I went to a concert at Chautauqua titled Disney in Concert.  The orchestra played songs from Disney movies such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, and Pirates of the Caribbean. At the same time they showed images or clips from the movies and some songs featured vocalists. Before the concert we went to Abo’s Pizza on the Hill, which sells the biggest pizza slices I had ever seen.

Saturday morning I hiked Red Rocks, which is just a few blocks east of downtown on Pearl Street. It was a very short loop, but really beautiful and I even saw some deer.

Monday night I met Alex on Pearl Street and we walked around looking for a place to eat and decided on a cheap Nepal restaurant called Sherpa’s, which had fantastic chai. We were able to sit outside and the temperature in Boulder at night is alway perfect.

Wednesday evening I walked along the creek path to the intersection of Arapahoe Avenue and Foothills Parkway, which I had read was a popular place for prairie dogs. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many there were and that they were pretty active. Later I sat along the creek for a little while to read, which I am hoping to do more often since it was so peaceful.

For dinner Thursday I met a family friend, Bob, who was here on business, for dinner at the West End Tavern on Pearl Street. While the menu is pretty small, the food was great! I had a seared tuna BLT (minus the bacon), but they are known for BBQ which Bob order and really liked.

On Friday Alex and I took a day trip to Fort Collins. We first stopped at a coffee shop in Lyons called The Stone Cup, which was the last coffee shop on my bucket list. Our first stop in Fort Collins was Epsilon Sigma Alpha’s International Headquarters, which is the sorority I belong to. Even though the only thing I could take a picture of was the sign outside the office complex, it was a really cool feeling to be there. Then we went to the New Belgium Brewery, since I had promised my uncle I would buy him a shirt from there. When we arrived, we decided to ask if we could take a (free) tour even though both of us are underage. They said of course, so we took the hour and a half tour, which was much cooler than the Boulder Beer tour. They were actually making and bottling beer (Boulder Beer wasn’t when I visited) so it was more fascinating. Also while we were at New Belgium we attempted to play this Belgium game, called “rolly bowly,” but it is nearly impossible to get the thing you roll to land in a little circle. Next we checked out the downtown area, which we were not impressed by. The only store we went into was a soda and candy shop. I had never seen so many different kinds of soda!

That night I was reading on our little deck when I heard music and recognized the songs they were playing to be covers of U2 songs. I did a Google search and found that a U2 tribute band was playing for free at a hotel a block from my apartment. I decided I wanted to go even if I had to by myself, since I love U2 and live music. I heard two or three songs before Andrew met me then they played two more songs. We then decided to go meet some other people from CouchSurfing downtown at West End Tavern. We got there a little before 10pm and at 10:05pm they made me leave because I’m not 21. Since there are not any other places I can really get into after 10pm, Andrew and I decided to hike up Red Rocks. A few minutes after starting, we abandoned that idea since it was extremely hard to see and there was the possibly of coming across wildlife and not seeing them until it was too late. So we decided to walk along the mostly paved creek path instead.

Yesterday, my roommate Yun, her friend Flora, and I walked to 29^th Street Mall where they claimed to be having a “Paris Market,” but I did not think it was very Parisian. While walking there, I told them that I was meeting a friend for a concert later and that they should come and that she was bringing some people who are students working at NCAR, which Yun and Flora are. Yun said that she was supposed to be meeting a girl whose cousin works at NCAR. We then discovered that we were both talking about Elisabeth. So that night we surprised Elisabeth by telling her that we live together! The concert also took place at 29^th Street Mall and they music this week was Motown and I actually recognized most of the songs. After, we went back to our apartment and watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s since I told Elisabeth she must watch it.

I only have two and a half weeks left now, which is really sad! However, I have already decided I am visiting next summer when I am 21 because there is a whole other side of Boulder to experience that requires you to be 21.