Closing Time and Reflections About My Time in Boulder

My time in Boulder has finally come to a close. Tomorrow morning I am picking up my mom at the Denver airport and will show her around, which I am really excited to do. I have been looking forward to showing anyone around Boulder that is new to it.

This weekend I spent a lot of time with my roommate, Yun, which was nice because we haven’t really gotten to know each other. After I went to the Saturday farmers’ market for the last time, Yun and I drove to Denver where they were having a Dragon Boat Festival. I did not really know much about dragon boat racing, but Yun actually used to do it in New York so she told me how it worked. There were also some food tents and lots of other vendors. That night Yun and I went to Pearl Street for a late dinner at Pasta Jay’s, which my boss had recommended. We split seafood cannelloni stuffed with shrimp and crab and baked in spicy red calm sauce – so amazing!!!

Sunday Yun and I went to Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant for brunch. The décor was really cool and the food was unique and delicious. For starters we shared cinnamon coffee cake and baked Brie. Then for the entrée I had lavender waffles with green tea whipped cream. Later that day I visited a new coffee shop downtown called Amante, which was very European and was even showing the Olympics on a TV. That night was my last CouchSurfing mixer – sad!

Yesterday I met Elisabeth for coffee at Amante and walked around Pearl Street for a little until I went to work. That night I went hiking in Chautauqua and the Boulder Concert Band was playing, so I listened to the end of their concert after my hike.

The rest of this post consists of random stuff I learned, observed, etc. from my time in Boulder.

• There are so many start-ups in Boulder and several companies don’t have offices, so they work from coffee shops (i.e. Atlas Purveyors, Ozo Coffee, The Cup). I learned at a CouchSurfing mixer once that there is such a thing as “coffee shop memberships.” I don’t know exactly how it works, but I would think you pay a certain amount a month to get a much coffee as you want or at a discount?
• There is such a thing at a BUI, or Biking Under the Influence. I was very surprised to learn that this was an actual thing. I always thought biking was a good alternative to driving because you won’t hurt anyone (except perhaps yourself) and you won’t get a ticket. Do BUIs exist in other places? If you know, please enlighten me!
• In Boulder, sometimes it looks like it will rain, but doesn’t and sometimes it will start raining when the sky is sunny. There were several times this summer when I was thinking of going for a walk or hike but decided not to because the sky looked like a storm was coming. Also, I’m used to checking the radar to see if rain is coming and it usually is right. However, in Boulder when the radar shows that something over Boulder or about to hit Boulder, often times it does not rain. Another thing about the rain here is that I will check in the morning if there is anything on the radar to the west of Boulder to see if it is supposed to rain later, but a few hours later something forms completely out of nowhere and a storm hits. This happened yesterday. Clearly I do not know anything about how the weather works out here.
• A little over a week ago I realized that my time out here might be the most nights spent sleeping in one city consecutively in a long time. So this past Saturday I had officially spent more nights in a row in Boulder than any other city for 2.5 years (53 nights). I don’t know the next time I will spend that much time in one city without spending at least one night somewhere else!
• For about the past week I have been getting these feelings of really not wanting to leave and would get really sad. They started very sporadically, but have become more often as my departure approaches. I have not had feelings like this except when I am about leave home to go back to school after a long break.
• And finally, I just really love my life here. Here are some things I enjoy about living here that I don’t have in other cities I spend time in:
• Walking on Pearl Street (the feeling of it does not compare at all to State Street in Madison)
• Meeting Elisabeth for coffee downtown and catching up on our lives
• Riding my bike on the bike path and the ease of being able to bike downtown. Before I moved here I did not realize that the apartment I chose was less than a minute to the Boulder Creek Bike Path and I am so thankful every day that it is.
• Spending time with the CouchSurfing people. They are all so fascinating and welcoming. They even have a group text set up so that you can text everyone in the group to go do something. The app is called "GroupMe." I joined the group about halfway through my stay.
• Having a job where I can say or think “I need to go into work for a few hours at some point today…” This is my job in Boulder, not my internship. I actually only ended up worked 47 hours in 6 weeks. Obviously this would not work in the long run…
• Being able to go read or talk on the phone with a friend by the creek. It is so peaceful and you seem secluded even though it is right off the bike path.
• Running into people I know downtown. Boulder is small enough and the people I know spend a lot of time downtown, so it happens often. Even though I have only lived here 2 months, it still surprises me that I know enough people to randomly see them.

The other day I was curious as to how much time I spent doing things every week, so I decided to make a chart! I decided to included it just for kicks :) 

The numbers on the left are hours. Looking back, I wish I had gone hiking more...

Hiking in the Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park

After my last post I walked around Pearl Street because the Open Arts Fest was going on. It really reminded me of Art Fair on the Square in Madison. It was neat to see different kinds of artwork, some of which was really amazing, but of course I didn’t buy anything since it was all out of my price range.

Every summer Boulder hosts the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and since it was on my list to see one of the plays I went (by myself) to see The Twelfth Night, which is one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare. It took place in an outdoor theater on campus, so I was able to ride my bike there. Before the play I saw groups of people finishing up picnics on the lawn in front of the theater. It was a great production and even though I was in the third to last row I had a great view. When it was done I raced to the CouchSurfing mixer at its new location at Rueben’s, a block off of Pearl Street. There were a lot more people, probably over 20, compared to last week when there were only five of us!

On Monday Elisabeth and I drove up to an area in the mountains called Brainard Lake. The actual lake called Brainard is pretty small and is surrounded by more beautiful lakes and hiking trials. First we went to the Long Lake Trailhead and went hiking past Long Lake to Lake Isabelle, which may have the best views I have seen in Colorado. We both love taking pictures and having pictures taken of ourselves, so she is a great person to go sightseeing with and we had a lot of fun making up poses. Next we drove to a different trailhead and hiked one mile to Mitchell Lake. It was a lot less exciting. About five or ten minutes after leaving Mitchell Lake it started to rain then hail. While Elisabeth had a poncho that covered her backpack, I only had a rain jacket, so my backpack with my camera was getting wet. I decided to be not a very good friend and with Elisabeth’s consent I ditched her and “ran” about ¾ of a mile back to the car. A good workout, but my left lower calf and ankle area have kind of been bothering me since then…

Tuesday was the last day at my internship, but I worked a little on stuff Boulder today and might next Tuesday. That night I drove to Denver (during rush hour, so normally a 30-35 minute drive took double the amount of time) to see the U2 tribute band, Under a Blood Red Sky, whose performance in Boulder I caught the end of a couple weeks ago. I met Elisabeth there since she is a huge U2 fan and actually saw them live in Paris a few years ago! The venue was really cool – it was on a bridge over a creek in downtown Denver. The people there were very different compared to the concert in Boulder. Everyone was in their mid-twenties to late forties and well dressed, like business casual or nicer.

Yesterday I went to Rocky Mountain National Park. I was planning on going with a group of people, but they all ended up having to work. But that wasn’t going to stop me from going! If you haven’t noticed, I am a very independent person and don’t mind doing things by myself sometimes. I’m so glad I went because it was totally worth it! I drove all of Trail Ridge Road, which is very scenic and has lots of places to stop and take pictures. It took me three hours to drive it one way and two hours on the return. At one of the vista points as I was pulling into a parking space I saw the car next to me was purchased at the same dealership in Madison as mine. They were leaving, but when they saw the back of my car with the dealership name they pulled back into the parking space and asked me if I was from Madison and what I was doing there. We had a very brief conversation, but they were so nice! My first wildlife spotting was two elk that were in the road three cars in front of me. At the end of Trail Ridge Road (the western park of the park) I saw a moose and a few miles near that one were two more moose, one of which was a still pretty young! I don’t think I had ever seen moose before so it was really exciting! When I was leaving the park, right after the fee station, I saw two more elk that were probably 40 yards from the road. There were lots of people taking pictures, but they did not seem to care at all.

On Monday Andrew had showed me how to slow the shutter speed on my camera to take cool pictures of moving water. I wanted to try it out at Boulder Falls, the waterfall I went to with Elisabeth last week, so on my way back to Boulder I stopped there. Here are some of the pictures I took (the first two are of Boulder Creek, when I was learning how to do it):

This morning I took a self-guided walking tour of the University of Colorado campus, since I practically live on campus and had only seen part of it. All the building are so beautiful and there is so much green space. The campus itself doesn’t really have any major streets going through it, which I like.

I don’t really have anything planned until my mom gets here Wednesday morning, so I am looking forward to spending the next five days just enjoying Boulder!

Marking Things Off My "Boulder Bucket List" As My Time Winds Down

As my departure nears, I get sadder and sadder. I will surely miss the friends I have made here and will most definitely be going through mountain withdrawals. In one of my first posts from Colorado I mentioned I have a “Boulder Bucket List.” It has been a good way to come up with ideas of things to do, but lately I have been feeling pressure to get everything done. Luckily, I do think I can get everything done, but I know that if I don’t I will be returning!

Last Monday evening, Elisabeth, Alex, and I were supposed to go to an outdoor concert and have a picnic (something on my bucket list). However, it was cancelled due to the rain, so we just had a movie night at my apartment.

After discovering that Andrew and I both golf, we decided to play 9 holes Tuesday evening at the city course in Boulder. I played amazingly well and got a 50 despite usually only playing 18-36 holes per year. Andrew played in high school, but hasn’t really played much since then and finished with a 47 (we were tied for like 4 holes though!). Fun fact: Andrew has been struck by lightning 3 times (not directly of course) and one time was during a golf tournament in high school!

On Wednesday Elisabeth and I took a day trip into the mountains. Just outside of Boulder we visited a waterfall, which was really pretty. We stopped in Nederland where they have a carousel and embraced our inner child and went for a ride. We were going to go hiking at Mud Lake, but didn’t see a sign/the turn and kept driving. I saw a sign for Gold Hill and decided to go there and show Elisabeth the town. She thought it was so cool and was glad we made a detour to go there. Luckily on our way back we did find Mud Lake. The trails were short and easy but the views were fantastic. It got so cold (mid to upper 60s) that I had to put on a sweatshirt!

Unfortunately the weather has not been that cool in Boulder and the last few days have been so hot that I haven’t spent much time outside. Friday morning I walked around the Mapleton Historic District, which is a few blocks north of Pearl Street, to look at the houses (another thing to mark of my bucket list). For lunch I went to Illegal Pete’s, a cheap Mexican place on Pearl Street. After work I met Elisabeth for coffee at Trident Booksellers and Café. That night I met some people from the Boulder CouchSurfing group downtown, who wanted to do a bar crawl. As I mentioned in my last post, there aren’t many place someone under 21 can get into downtown. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one under 21 since Alex was with us and everyone else in the group tried to accommodate us. First we went to Old Chicago, then Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery, where surprisingly you don’t have to be 21 to get in! After walking down Pearl looking for another place Alex and I could get in and determining there wasn’t one the two of us decided to not hold everyone else back, so we left.

Yesterday morning I went to the farmers’ market, then decided to read in front of my fan the rest of the day since it was too hot to do anything outside. That night I met Elisabeth for an outdoor movie in a parking lot behind the Boulder Contemporary Museum of Art. Earlier in the day she had met some French people who were also going to the movie so we sat with them. I’m not used to being with people in America who speak a different language! But French sounds so beautiful that I didn’t care. The movie was Back to the Future, which somehow I had not seen before. The audience really got into it and would cheer at major parts. This was something else on my buck list – I have really been on a roll!

This upcoming week I have a few day trips planned, which I am really excited about!

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. 

Simple Pleasures I Have Found Living in Boulder and Other Things I Have Been Up To

There are many simple pleasures I have discovered that I love about my life out here in Boulder. One is riding my bike to the farmers’ market every Saturday morning. I attach my wicker basket to the front of my bike and pedal, slightly uphill, along the bike path for about 8 minutes. I buy whatever I need, put it in my basket and enjoy the ride downhill home.

Another simple pleasure is being able to bike downtown to Pearl Street. It’s so nice to be able to hop on my bike and 10 minutes later be around lots of people, street performers, coffee shops, and restaurants. This past Sunday I felt like searching for used (aka cheap) books. I spent a few hours at Trident Booksellers and Café browsing and reading, then moved on to Boulder Bookstore, which has a lot bigger selection of books and browsed there for awhile. I just love being able to have no obligations and spend my day without having to keep track of time.

On Saturday Elisabeth came over and we made crepes, which we took on a picnic to downtown Denver where they were showing Forrest Gump (for free) in a small park. I found it quite amusing to be making crepes with a French person! After watching her flip the crepes in the air, I thought I would try and amazingly I was able to do it! Alex, whom I met at the Couch Crash and just moved to Boulder from Ohio, joined us for the movie.

Sunday afternoon I walked to 29^th Street Mall, which is a few blocks from my apartment. It is a really nice area and they have a lot of chain stores, such as Anthropologie and White House Black Market, as well as a movie theater. It reminded me of Greenway Station in Middleton, WI, but smaller. They also have a Nordstrom Rack, which may be my new weakness…

Yesterday for the 4^th of July, Alex, Brandon, and I spent a few hours at the creek. Since it was a holiday there were hundreds of people, but we found a spot on some rocks next to a waterfall and had a great time talking and watching people on tubes. We then stopped at the farmers’ market, which was my first time going on a Wednesday. It had about a dozen less vendors than the one on Saturday and less people. For dinner, my roommate invited us to have Korean BBQ with some of her friends. It was a great experience, as I had never had Korean BBQ before. After, we went to Broomfield to watch fireworks. We found a place to park in a vacant lot where there were a lot of other cars, and about two minutes after we got there they started. I was quite impressed with the show, which lasted over 30 minutes. Boulder had cancelled their fireworks shortly after the Flagstaff Fire started. They were supposed to be set off at the stadium, which is a block from my apartment, so it would have been really cool to see them. 

Right now I am at Espresso Roma on the Hill, which is the last coffee shop in Boulder to visit as part of my “Boulder Bucket List.” My favorite part about this one: cheap drinks! However, one of the baristas sounds like she is drunk or high. I rode my bike here and walked in quite sweaty since the last part of the ride is up a hill. I’m not sure I will be biking to the Hill anymore…

Observations:

1. The majority of people here have Macs. Up until a few days ago I think I had only seen one PC.

2. There aren’t many Black people. This was pointed out to me by someone a week and a half ago, who told me that when he sees one he feels compelled to give him or her a high-five. I was expecting Boulder to be more diverse…

3. There are a lot of Latinos. When I was at the creek for 4^th of July they were the majority!

4. I hardly drive my car. I suppose I take it out once a day and the only reasons I drive it somewhere else in Boulder are to either run errands or go to my gym (which is in what is considered North Boulder, but really only like 10 minutes from downtown).