Colorado...

When I told a few of the girls at work that I would be moving to Alaska in a few months they were full of questions: when would I be leaving? where exactly was I going? what would I be teaching? ...all of the standard questions one expects when announcing that you're moving about 3,000 miles away. My trusty adventure encourager, K8 (who has adventured to many new places herself), asked me the most thought provoking of all questions: what would I miss most about Colorado? And it made me think so much that I just had to write about it. 

I've lived in Colorado my whole life and I am proud of that. I had one of those tacky NATIVE stickers plastered to my car until it nearly disintegrated and I can sing Colorado Girls at the top of my lungs while chilling in I-70 end-of-a-ski-weekend traffic without feeling even a tiny bit embarrassed.

The first thought to cross my mind was, in true Colorado style, THE MOUNTAINS! Holy Moses on a Matzoh, the mountains! Forget all of you ocean lovers- the mountains are where it's at. Hiking, camping, fishing, rafting, skiing, snowboarding, spelunking, backpacking,  collecting 14-ers-in-the-summer amazing-ness! I-70 traffic aside, nothing can ever top the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. No winter is complete without hitting the slopes, snowshoeing in for a fun weekend of yurting or grabbing a wonderful cup of hot coffee in a tiny mountain town... and summers are even better! If you're not in the mountains hiking, camping or backpacking every weekend during the hot Colorado summer then you better be heading up to Red Rocks for summer concerts at the very least. 

Then I thought to myself: Self, what about Denver? and I couldn't help but think of the wonderful city I call home. A big city with such an amazing vibe that you never feel like you're in a major metropolitan hub. From fantastic brunches at Snooze to hole in the wall tea shops and Italian restaurants there is no better place to put down some roots and grab a tasty bite to eat. I'll miss being able to just jump on the train right outside of work and head downtown for a drink with friends, Japanese class at the World Trade Center, or a show at The Ellie with old theatre friends. Zombie Crawl in October, 5280 week and Kegs & Eggs will always be on my list of favorite Colorado things, right up there with The Blue Bear.   

Moving away is going to be tough, but I can't wait to start a brand new, totally awesome adventure. It's impossible to pin point what exactly I will miss about Colorado just like it is impossible to articulate what exactly makes me so excited about moving to Alaska. I guess you'll just have to stay tuned to see what I really do miss and what really awesome things I discover.