10 friends and 2 days in Colorado
This weekend, my college friend and fellow Coloradan John and I had the privilege of hosting 8 of our friends from Seattle. Yes, that’s right. 8.
They arrived late Friday night, so after picking them up at the airport, we went straight back to our very large and very beautiful AirBnb and called it a night.
Day 1
I let John brake the news to the group about what time we were leaving in the morning. A trip to Colorado isn’t complete without a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, so on Saturday we woke up bright and early (5am) and were off to stretch our legs. Our destination was Emerald Lake and we had a jolly time on our approach.
There’s nothing like being surrounded by carefree hearts to lift your spirits. The last couple weeks has been pretty difficult, being weighed down by several medical incidences of people close to me. My heart has been heavy and my attitude toward God has been less than positive. I would characterize everyone in this group as having child-like joy, and being around light-hearted friends helped remind me of how fun life can be. There is definitely value in feeling the weight of the brokenness of this world, but continuing to sit in that darkness is not healthy for the soul.
We were blessed with a beautiful day and as expected, our sea-level dwelling friends could feel the effect of the altitude on their poor little lungs. We continued adventuring through the park, driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,700 ft elevation.
Soaking up the views at the top and grabbing some coffee, we headed back to a lower altitude to catch our breath. Heading back to Estes Park, we were planning on grabbing some lunch at one of the restaurants on the main street, but were caught off guard with the wine festival that was going on. We found a shopping village that had a couple of food options so we stopped in and grabbed a post-hike second lunch.
Everyone was pretty tired so we went back to the AirBnb to recuperate. I decided to stop by my company summer party and spent an hour chatting with some of my coworkers.
John was excited about taking the group to the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House so that’s what we did for dinner.
Our schedule, stomachs and hearts were full. Tomorrow will be another adventure!
Day 2
We began the morning by going to Snooze on Pearl Street for brunch. While waiting for our table to become available, we walked around Pearl Street and did a little shopping.
After a very satisfying meal and a little bit more walking around Pearl Street, we started our adventure into the mountains. We drove out to Boulder Falls and cooled our feet in the water.
We continued on to Nederland and stopped at John’s favorite doughnut shop. It was a train car converted into a cafe. After fueling up on doughnuts and coffee, we continued our drive around the mountains toward Flagstaff. We stopped at Lost Gulch and was not disappointed by the view of the mountains and the town of Boulder.
We made one last stop coming down from Flagstaff Mountain at the Boulder overlook viewpoint. We were tired from a long day so we closed out the evening by eating a hearts out at the Bohemian Biergarten.
Day 3
On our last day together, we took it slow in the morning and made brunch for ourselves. Having everyone sitting around the living room chatting and eating reminded me how much of a family these friends have become over the years.
Leaving the AirBnb right at checkout, we headed down the street to Horizons - where John lives. We parked our cars and walked across the street to the CU Boulder campus. John took us on a tour around the coolest parts of campus, including the physics building, which happens to be the highest point on campus We had an incredible view of campus and the flatirons in the distance.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat at Rayback Collective, we said goodbye to Boulder and headed into the heart of Denver.
Compared to Seattle, Denver is much cleaner and much less populated, so it was no surprise that my friends were shocked at the cleanliness and quietness of the city. Wandering around LoDo on a workday was a strange feeling, especially since we walked right by my office. We wandered along the river in Commons Park. We spent an hour or so competing with each other about how many times we could skip rocks against the current of the river, switching between basking in the warm Colorado sun and taking cover in the shade of the bridge, and people-watching when our minds began to wander. Soon it was time to grab dinner and get the crew to the airport.
We took the free mall-ride to Larimer street and walked the festive block until we found a restaurant we all wanted to go to. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.
Since moving away from my friends and family, I’ve developed an appreciation for the traffic at airports. Weird, I know. But being stuck in traffic is a reminder that there are people ahead of me welcoming loved ones home and saying painful goodbyes to their friends and family. I’m okay with sitting in this traffic because hellos and goodbyes never seem to be long enough. There’s always so much to say and not enough time to say them. I always had a hard time asking friends to pick me up or drop me off at the airport in fear of burdening them, but there’s something sweet about spending those final minutes with your friends and family rather than with strangers in the lonely capsule of the train or bus. Yes, your friends have to make the inconvenient drive and sit through unnecessary traffic but more than not, they want to be the first or last to see you on your trip. Sometimes it’s okay to let your friends to love you.
To David Taft-Farren, Zach Howe, Raymond Luu, Ian Bruce, Christian Kang, Joanne Kang, Wesley Kang, Audrey Kang:
Thank you so much for visiting John and I in good-ol’ Colorado. We are honored to have such loyal and loving friends. We will miss you. Until next time!
