Under the S

March 24, 2014 1 Comment

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Salida, Colorado

And then we finally found it: a fast flowing river, trails winding over rolling hills, snow capped mountains in the distance and a gorgeous historic town – finally a place we could imagine calling home.

Under the giant S, scrambling and rock hopping the hills were giving me flashbacks from the opening credits of MASH, brains like to spit out the most incongruous comparisons don’t they? Dylan ran, whilst I watched blue birds cavort in the evergreen trees. Later lying in the sun we felt so lucky to right here, right now, carefree and doing what we wanted me taking photos, Dylan living his dream a trail marathon race against some of the world’s best the next morning. I picked up a bright hand knitted and a secondhand cashmere scarf in psychedelic colours from a thrift shop. Then as setting sun bounced of the rapids we made a rafter self conscious watching his every move from the rocky river bank.

An early night, a race in the morning…

Eco building, Travel

A historic town

March 23, 2014 No Comments

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Leadville, Colorado

As so often happens when you arrive somewhere in the dark, it is transformed in sunlight. What appeared the night before as a shadowy ghost town was a beautiful historic mountain town, still deserted due to the hours, but slowly waking up. the snow drifts were piled to shoulder height by the plough, a sign of the harsh winter that was finally thawing out.

Leadville is the site of one of the great Ultramarathon Races in the epic novel Born to Run and it was a bit of a treat for Dylan to have a poke around, but unfortunately no time for him to hit the trails. Bellies stuffed full of $7 all you can eat pancakes at the hostel we were on the road to Salida. Where Dylan finally got his run in that afternoon, but due to my snap happy ways when encountering the quaint, that will have to wait for the next post.

Where’s a place that transports you back in time?

Travel

Through the mountains to Leadville

March 22, 2014 4 Comments

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Leadville, Colorado

Light faded, we were in the snow with 14teener mountains all around. In the lowlit mountains I felt like I was in a snow globe, nothing beyond the mountains that went on forever into eternity. Dreams of camping were laughable, finally we began to descend, but still at 10,000 feet we didn’t want to risk it, we stopped at a hostel in Leadville just as night closed like a fist around us. Cars we passed were buried to their windscreens in snow. The hostel was a funny old place, eccentric and warm. The bedrooms underground and windowless, toilets closed off with pink ruffled curtains and everywhere decorated with shamrocks for St Patrick’s Day. There was a large group of retirees preparing for a hike with wine and beer, they were kind too, chatting while we cooked and donating hommous and corn chips, the very luxuries we had gone without at our last grocery shop. Warm and safe we slept like rocks.

Travel

Boulder

March 21, 2014 2 Comments

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Boulder, Colorado

Way up on the mountain it was time for me to confront the bubbles of homesickness that had been activated by leaving the earthship crew. The loss of constant companionship and camaraderie had left a whole that was being filled with thoughts of friends and family back home. Boulder was nice, Dylan loved it, but for some reason the juxtaposition of wilderness and utter surburbanality jarred with me, perhaps because Dylan felt so at home there and I did not.

After a trip into the town, so different in the sun, we hiked into the mountains, took a wrong turn, and then trekked 25km back home. It was tiring, but therapeutic, we talked things out and made some decisions. Tomorrow a new day, I felt bad that I hadn’t looked at Boulder with softer eyes, people had been lovely to me, especially the wait staff at the brewery, but sometimes you just get in a funk right? But now I feel refreshed and conscious of how lucky I am to be experiencing these amazing places and much more aware of how I need people. There goes my lone wolf romanticisms. Perhaps I’ve spent too much time at altitude and I’m just feeling exhausted.

While I’m in a social mood, I’ll throw a question out to the web, I feel like making connections, if you haven’t commented before why not say hi? Have you found that special place you belong or are you still searching? Is it the people or the space that make it home?