So here we go! I started this trip waking up an hour later than intended. Whoopsies! My friends (Amit, Karen, Josh, and Camden) kept me up late friday night with a going away party and homemade chicken korma! Golly was that delicious, no idea what you did Amit but you are truly a talented chef.

Saturday morning I slowly got out of my sleeping bag, brushed my teeth, put in my eyeballs, and began my journey to Denver, CO. 6 hours later, I made it to lunch at Coyote Bluff Cafe in Amarillo, TX. Yes, I drove 6 hours from Dallas, TX and I was still in Texas, what the heck. After a surprising juicy and tasty bacon cheeseburger, it was time to hop back in the car to finish the 2nd half of this 12 hour drive. Certainly not the greatest idea to have a heavy lunch and then sit in a car for 6 hours but somehow I survived and touched down in Littleton, CO. Unpacked my car, said hello to the owners of this rental, and proceeded to almost miss the bed passing out.

Sunday came around and my body decided to wake up at 6am so I went ahead and did the only smart thing I could think of! Lay in bed until 7am while watching YouTube videos. Finally, with a stomach growling at my decision, I got out of bed and traversed my way into my car and onto Littleton Cafe for breakfast. Honestly, decently surprised at the quality and tast of the food they served. Having a sunnyside-up egg on avocado toast and a side of biscuits and gravy got me ready for my next stop... THE GYM! Well, not the gym gym, but the climbing gym Movement Englewood. I was pretty excited to check this place out since I had heard so many good things about it. I was not disappointed! The gym was massive, bigger than any of the Movement's in Dallas (that's for sure!) and bouldered for about an hour. Man, that elevation is no joke! I was winded by the end of the session and went home, showered, and got ready for lunch! Brendon came over to Dallas and spent some time together, showing me around Denver and some parks in the city. After about 3 hours of walking around, it was time for us to head back to our respective homes and for me to actually go get groceries, so I don't spend everything eating out.

Oy vey, this week has kind of been a blur to say the least! Monday, started up, and my 6am alarm rudely awoke me just so I could hit snooze for a solid 15 more minutes of peace. After the alarm went off for the second time, I was seriously debating going for another 15. But alas! I found the strength to get out of bed, throw my glasses on, and sit down at my laptop for my first day of work in Denver. Things went smoothly, a rough 5 hour work day, such brutal hours to work. after work, I cooked some food, cleaned things around the studio, and proceeded to pass out.

Tuesday was a bit of a repeat, but I did get to go to the climbing gym again after work! This time, I found someone on the facebook group to Top Rope with. That's where you wear a harness and decide it's a brilliant idea to climb 60 feet up a wall, hopefully you really trust your partner and your equipment! We were able to climb for about 2 hours before calling it a day with our arms pumped and fingers unable to grip anything. Deciding it was time for dinner, we went to a local Chinese restaurant Wok Spicy in Englewood. Surprisingly delicious, they had incredible Sichuan Chili Wontons and a really great tasting Pork Belly Bao bun. We also ordered their Pork Belly Dry Wok which was good and had a nice spice level to it.

Wednesday was a rainy day, it was hard getting out of bed, and especially out of the house. I ended up heading out to Copper Door Cafe to try for some fresh air. Worked a full 8 hours surprisingly, and on my way home it stopped raining! I was debating if I should go out and use my drone, maybe take some photos and videos since I haven't explored much. And after a great debate, we decided to walk up to Jackass Hill Park. No, I did not make that up, it's a beautiful name for a park... It was perfect weather for some photography and to test out the drone, very little wind, the clouds were incredible, and the sun rays shining through were brilliant! I took some videos, photos, and then headed off to the gym to workout. By the end of my workout, it was time to pass out... And thus came Thursday!

Thursday and Friday not much occured. Some climbing, a little bit of working, and laundry! Oh yeah, my super minimal amount of clothing decided to run dry. By that... I mean I ran out of underwear and didn't realize. I mean, you can wear underwear 2-3 ways before it starts to get real nasty. But, I don't know if I want to put that to the test unless I really have to!

Saturday! Finally, Week 1 is done! or well, it will be once nighttime rolls in. With my alarm going off real early for the first weekend trip in Colorado, we struggled (more so rolled out of bed and flopped onto the floor) to get up and prepared for the 45ish minute drive to Boulder, CO. My friend (well at least that is what I suppose she is, she could be a robot) Jenny scheduled in a hike at Chatauqua Park and then continuing onto Mount Sanitas. Phew, that elevation, yeah, it really gets to you. I was super unprepared for this. it was 3-5 miles at each park respectively and the number of times I had to stop just to try and catch my breath. Jeeez, it was supposed to be a nice, easy hike... I can say after this, that was not necessarily the case. But... We (I) survived! and I rewarded myself with a super greasy cheeseburger and coke at the Hungry Toad. Towards the end of my feast, Sarah, Brendon, and I called and made a plan for the afternoon to meetup! So, I made my way to a brewery in Nederlands, CO. BY THE WAY! Nederlands, not even the mountains there... JUST THE TOWN ITSELF is at 8000 feet of elevation. like, why would you decide that is where you want to settle and develop a town?! Well, maybe a drink or two at the Knotted Root Brewery could bring enlightenment for me. After their Thick Hawaiian Goo and a mixture of their Thick Hawaiian Goo + Oh'Kee, I was 1 - feeling the elevation and 2 - starting to get tipsy. Thus, I bought a 4 pack of their Hawaiian Goo and began the trek to Idaho Springs, CO. Finally meeting up with Brendon and Sarah at Beau Jo's Idaho Springs, surprisingly super delicious pizza and wings! Pleasantly surprised, I devoured the food put forth for me and talked about the trip next weekend. I definitely thought about conditions and weather... totally. After walking around the town for a bit, we went our separate ways and meandered back to our respective homes. Uhm, yeah... so that is Week 1 done! Hopefully we (I) survive the next :D Alrighty! Week 2! WAHEEW, I'm still alive. And today is Sunday, so it has to be a great day! Weather is beautiful, sunny, not too hot out, and it's time to explore Denver a bit more! Driving to the city and working from a cafe called Aviano Coffee. Pretty nice cafe, good coffee and tea as well. I spent a few hours practicing HTML and CSS (That's what I am using for this website and blog). Trying to figure out a layout where I can add photos for the readers (I believe that means you, the person reading this) to gaze upon. After a bit of time spent at the cafe, I decided to check a dating app, I really dislike dating apps, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Somehow luck was on my side this time! After a few goofy messages, I mentioned that I was planning on going to the climbing gym later that day and offered for her to join me. Not really expecting a girl to come climbing the same day with a stranger, I was quite surprised when she said yes. At this point, she has to be a fake account or possibly just going to ditch last minute with an excuse. Oh, I was wrong about that. She actually showed up! Not really expecting this, I was certainly flustered but did my best to maintain some semblance of control over myself. After climbing, we ended up going to a Boba Tea shop (The Sen Tea House) that she recommended, walked around Cherry Creek State Park for sunset, and then grabbed dinner at Shanghai Kitchen. The Ma Po Tofu was surprisingly delicious and filling, I was unable to finish my meal but will make for a great lunch the next day!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty generic days, work, climb, eat, and then sleep. Monday's climbing session with Kim destroyed my arms. She began on a "warmup" climb being a 5.10c (usually I will climb up with 3-4 5.9c or easier climbs) and then immediately hopped on a 5.11b which is pretty much at our limit. We got about 4-5 climbs done before our fingers couldn't move, arms were pumped beyond use, and sweat was rolling down into my eyeballs. So that was a brutal, fun, and fast session! Tuesday I climbed with Matt and Sophie! Matt, a munchkin, and Sophie, a fellow jew! We talked way more than we climbed but still successfully warmed up, properly this time, and were able to do plenty more 5.11b+ climbs.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty boring, working and climbing days. It was time to drive across to Brendon and Sarah for our trip this coming weekend but I needed to make a few stops along the way... 1st stop was to Mike's Camera in Denver. Picking up 2 ND filters and polarizing filters for my lenses. Then, heading up to Broomfield for 2 extra camera batteries that was later discovered to be unnecessary but here we are. Already 1.5hrs into driving, it was time to set my gps to Silverthorne, finally. Only a 2hr drive left! While gaining elevation along the drive, the temperature was steadily dropping. Eventually, snow began falling as I sped closer to Brendon and Sarah. Finally arriving and unpacking, We went for dinner at Summit Thai, ordered a delicious Khao Soi, and proceeded to pass out soon after.

Friday! Now we are talking, the day was spent in the kitchen. Helping Sarah and Brendon cook fresh pasta, garlic knots, and tomato sauce. The pasta and garlic knots were absolutely delicious, the tomato sauce was not my favorite, but hey! Not every experiment can go perfectly. We then played a game of Catan, Sarah destroying Brendon and I, and called it a night. We wanted to be on the road by 7:30am!

Waking up at 6:00am and hitting snooze about 4 times, we began packing for success! My one massive backpack that Josh and Karen gifted me fit my camera equipment, toiletries, drone, a change of clothes, and my book (The Hobbit). This backpack really does it all! Throwing my sleeping bag into the car, we hopped in and began the journey! Grabbing breakfast, Bacon Egg and Cheese on an everything bagel, at Clint's Bakery in Breckenridge. Can't forget the Lemon Poppyseed Bread or the Mexican Hot Chocolate! So delicious and tummies full, we rolled ourselves back into the car and headed to Monarch Pass, traversing the continental divide. Surprisingly, there was a beautiful dark green Lotus Evora GT that I snapped a few photos of. After freezing for a bit outside the car, it was time to continue on! We made lunch at the Bay of Chickens in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Unfortunately, there were no chickens! How misleading of a title. Very dissapointed in not finding chickens, we had to settle with our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Snapped a few photos and videos and ran to the warmth in the car. Another 2 hours of driving and we finally made it to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park! Driving around there are very few hikes, mainly just a quick walk to a viewing point and then back to the car. We did a few of those and then headed for dinner at Simmer's BBQ in Montrose, CO. We ordered fried jalapeño chips, a pulled pork sandwich, Mac & Cheese, and for dessert we took Banana Pudding back to the park. We headed down to Sunset Point hoping the clouds would clear up a bit for a sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds were unwilling to cooperate, so we headed back to the campsite and began putting up our tents. We played a game of Rummikub, tested my self control with the dessert, and passed out.