Wander Back: Colorado

I am currently sitting in the Denver Airport waiting for a flight to finally go home. My time in Colorado got great extended due to Covid and I had to nix the rest of the journey home. 

The Good

My train arrived into Denver a couple hours late, but I think that’s par for the course for the really long trains. Overall the journey was excellent with great views and great food (especially the desserts). From the train, I biked over to Nathan’s apartment to drop off my bike and a bag as I wouldn’t need it during this leg of the journey. We said a quick hello and then Caitlin picked me up from there and we headed north to Fort Collins. 

I hadn’t seen Caitlin since shortly after college, so it was long overdue to pay her a visit. We got to her place on the later side, so quickly greeted Jake (her husband), Max (dog), Clarissa (cat and former roommate from college), and Peaches (cat) and then got to bed. It was an early morning the next day as we wanted to get to Rocky Mountain National Park before the crowds. We didn’t fully beat them, but it wasn’t packed and we had good luck on most of the trails we hiked in terms of it not being too busy and able to get a parking spot. 

We started with a drive up Old Falls Road, which is a switchbacking dirt road up the side of a stunning valley. I’m glad Caitlin was driving and not me 😬. We stopped part way up to do a short out and back along one of their favorite trails and then continued up to Marmot Point where there was a short, but uphill, hike to an amazing vista point. As the name promised, there were also marmots! The view from the top was super impressive with 360° views down valleys and out to the surrounding mountains. 

After Marmot Point, Old Falls Road dumped us out at the alpine visitors center and Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved road in the continental US at about 12,000’. We did another short hike up to a view point and then poked around the visitor center. They had a good exhibit on the local tundra ecosystem. I was also able to pick up a few more post cards there (National Parks generally have great post cards). 

We then went along Trail Ridge Road and got in a few more view points and hikes. The main hike for the day was a few miles along the site Trail. It didn’t descend/ascend a ton, but with the altitude, it was still a serious effort. Towards the end of the out portion of the hike, we found an excellent rock outcrop to have a picnic lunch on. Because the tundra plants are so fragile, we had to hop along the various rocks to get there.  The views were amazing and after we’d been there a while, the marmots started appearing. 

After about 10 miles of biking at altitude and the early start to the day, we were all pooped. We drove back to Fort Collins and took a short rest and then headed out to a local brewery along with Jake’s brother Jesse. The beers were super interesting, so I got a small flight to try a few. We then went to a bigger German-inspired brewery a few blocks away, which had a great beer garden area and lots of dogs around. We headed home to cook dinner and hang out and all went to bed on the early side as we were tired. 

The next morning, Caitlin and I went out to breakfast at a great place downtown that specializes in cinnamon rolls. There was quite a wait, so we went to a local coffee shop and hung out there for a while first sitting on a bench and sipping our coffees. We eventually got seated and the wait was worth it. I got a cinnamon roll and some sausage and Caitlin got cinnamon roll French toast. It was a great cinnamon roll (and I’ve had a lot of cinnamon rolls this summer). 

After breakfast, Caitlin drove me back to Denver, to my cousin Ethan’s house. Him, Jenni (his fiancé) and I hung out on the couch in their kitchen (a brilliant place for a couch) catching up and determining how exactly we’re related. Ethan also took me over to his furniture making workshop and Jenni’s flower shop so I could get the full tour.  We went out to sushi for dinner at a cool marketplace near their house. 

The next morning was pretty quiet. I enjoyed hanging out with their dogs in the backyard sipping coffee. Jenni kindly gave me a ride to the tech center where I met my cousin Bobby for lunch near his office. I hadn’t seen Bobby in a shameful number of years, so it was really nice catching up with him over lunch. He also kindly gave me a ride downtown back to Nathan’s apartment. We got to listen to his music on the ride, he’s really good!

Dana also met up with us at Nathan’s apartment. My voice was disappearing, but otherwise felt fine, so I took a Covid test just to be sure. Turns out I had Covid 😭. I hung out on the apartment’s deck for a while figuring out what to do next. 

The Bad

I ended up cancelling all the rest of my trains home. This meant I wouldn’t get to see AG in Chicago, which was a real bummer. I know I’ll get down to NYC this fall, so skipping that visit was less devastating. I found a hotel with a kitchen which I was able to book on points. With logistics more settled, Nathan and Dana and I walked into town (fully masked) to go get burritos (I still felt fine at this point). Dana kindly got me a burrito for now and a later burrito for at the hotel while I waited outside.  We wandered back to a park where we could keep lots of distance. Dana had to head out at this point, but Nathan and I hung out in the park for a while chatting and eating.  As it got dark, Nathan kindly gave me and my stuff a ride to the hotel (with all the windows down). 

I checked into the hotel and got settled. The kitchen was pretty decently sized and there was a couch along with the bed - not too bad. The next morning Ethan brought me a stockpile of groceries, a thermometer, and cough drops. He also brought Bubba to his shop so we could try to send him freight back east. 

I spent the next couple days resting, mostly watching TV, and getting checked on by various friends and family. I got a call from Alison at one point - her best friend Kate’s house in Vail wasn’t being used and Kate said I could quarantine there! I lined up a rental car from the Enterprise around the corner for the next day and went back to resting. 

The next day as I was preparing to check out and head to Vail, I got a call from Enterprise. They had no cars. The internet was a lie. This started a scramble to find something else in walking distance. Creigh helped me out and we were able to find a pickup truck a mile and a half away. A bit further and definitely not the type of car I would have preferred, but it’d do. I walked over there and got the truck, picked up a pile of Covid tests from Walgreens, and got my things from the hotel and hit the road. 

The drive through the mountains was beautiful, though a bit stressful as I’m not used to driving much, let alone a big pickup and there were some serious hills to go over. I got to the house mid-afternoon and got resting. 

I spent the next week in Vail. Largely just resting, watching TV, sitting on the deck and trying to get better. After day 6 of Covid I was starting to feel better and got out for some walks around the neighborhood. There are some really nice houses on the mountain. I attempted to go on more of a hike once, but made it about fifty feet up the mountain before I decided that was a bad idea. 

I’m now feeling mostly better and am looking forward to getting home. I dropped Bubba off at a local bike shop to get packed and shipped home. 

Next up in my adventures is the Recurse Center where I’m doing a twelve week batch to become an even better programmer and go down all the rabbit holes. I’m going to start with compilers and see where that leads me. Recurse is still virtual, so at least to start, I’ll be spending the fall in LC.