I'm in Boulder!

So I am in Boulder, CO for the summer! For years I have thought Boulder seemed like a cool place to live because it is portrayed at outdoorsy and into eating organic – both which I love – and now is as best a time as ever since I am young and don’t have a job! A few months ago I found an apartment on Craigslist, which I’m sharing with a few other girls, and an internship with a company called The White List.

I left Madison with two of my friends, Mary and Amarette, on Sunday and arrived in Boulder on Monday. Unfortunately they had to leave Wednesday night, but we did a lot in the time they were here. Driving through eastern Colorado on our way to Boulder, we saw a farm that had well over a thousand cows – more than any of us had seen in one place before, which is kind of surprising since we all grew up in Wisconsin.

After moving into my apartment and a trip to Target (I realized it was my first time grocery shopping for myself – I have always either lived at home or had a meal plan at school), we went to Pearl Street, which is a pedestrian only street spanning about four blocks. It primarily consists of restaurants and shops, some of which we stopped in. After dinner at an Italian place on Pearl Street, we drove around the city. We ended up on this one road that took us partway up a mountain and to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which was designed by the architect I.M. Pei. It had stunning views of the city of Boulder.

Tuesday we went to Moe’s for extremely delicious bagels, and then took a free tour of the tea company Celestial Seasonings, which manufactures all of its tea in Boulder. We were able to go inside the factory and see the different stages in making the tea. The smells were so strong and delicious and so varied. We went into a room where all the peppermint is kept and the smell was so potent that it started to make my eyes water!

Mary recently started doing this scavenger hunt game with hidden stamps all over the world. People hide boxes with a stamp and notepad and post clues to find the box on a website. We found one in the parking lot of Celestial Seasonings and another one that had Harry Potter themed clues. To find the later one we had to hike up a mountain, which offered great views of the NCAR. Next we drove up Flagstaff Mountain, which had lot of hairpin turns. There were many places to stop and take pictures of the stunning view of the city. At the summit we walked around a bit and took more pictures. After coming back down, we had a late lunch at The Sink, which is probably Boulder’s most famous restaurant (Robert Redford worked there while he attended college). We did some more driving around and stopped in front of Mork and Mindy’s house. We drove into Northern Boulder and saw some gorgeous houses.

Wednesday we got an early start (left my apartment at 6:45am) to drive to Colorado Springs. We all really wanted to go up Pike’s Peak, but I was a little hesitant to drive up it because my guidebook talked about shifting into lower gears and I didn’t know to do that. Luckily, there is a train that goes up it, so we booked tickets Monday night for it. The views from the train were so amazing and at the top it was unbelievable. You can definitely notice a difference in breathing! Luckily we brought sweatshirts because it was pretty cold, but while we were in shorts most people had on pants. Roundtrip, including our time at the top, took a little over 3 hours.

 

Next on our list was the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs. It was a pretty cool (free!) tour and we saw gyms, pools, and shooting ranges where Olympians train. Our guide said Michael Phelps was there training, but we didn’t see him. After a quick trip to Ikea I dropped Amarette and Mary off at the airport. Driving away I suddenly felt really alone for the first time. I really only know one person right now – my roommate, Maddie. Another roommate is only at the apartment on the weekends and the third is moving in soon.

Yesterday was the first day of my internship and this morning I had an interview for a job in Celestial Seasoning’s gift shop (cross your fingers I will get it – I find out next week).

Here are some things I have realized about Boulder so far:

•  There aren’t any “ghetto” or bad areas of Boulder, or any that I have come across yet.
•  You can get almost anywhere in Boulder in less than 15 minutes. Usually less than 10. I might be crazy though…
• There really are a lot of bikers. I haven’t gone biking yet partly because I’m still getting to know the city and I’m afraid I’ll get lost. Partly because it has been too hot!
• It is really hot here! Or at least it has been lately, but at least it’s a dry heat and not humid. I thought since it is in the mountains it would be a little cooler, but I guess not.
• So many people are from Wisconsin! I have seen numerous license plates and University of Wisconsin stickers (one was at my apartment complex!). Also, just today I met a girl that works at the Celestial Seasonings gift shop from near Fon Du Lac and the guy who showed me around my new gym was from Merrill and lived in Madison for a little bit.
•  You can always see the mountains, which I love! 

It's been pretty funny to see people's reaction when I tell them I just moved here on Monday and don't know anyone here! Tomorrow I’m hoping to bike to the farmer’s market and do some more hiking this weekend! If anyone wants to come visit me I’ll pick you up at the Denver airport and I have an air mattress you can sleep on!