September 14 - Boulder, CO

I woke early this morning, got on the road before the sun came up and arrived in Boulder around noon. The drive in from the east was stark, yet pretty, with open fields of golden hues and mountains far off in the distance, especially with the sun just coming up.

Stolen image you may recognize from iPhone 5 wallpaper. 

I drove and drove hoping to find a place to get breakfast, a cup of coffee, a bathroom, for crying out loud, there's nothing but fields and farms and cows, some buffalo, and birds that dart out in front of you from the grass just off the side of the road, and a handful of other cars.

And really, it is beautiful. I wonder what it is like in the spring. Just make sure you gas up, pee, and grab a beverage and snack before you go.

Once I got into Boulder, my first stop was Naropa University and the very first thing I did was...yeah, find a bathroom. I knew this was a small school, but wow is it really tiny. Still, it has a program I am really interested in pursuing, so I chatted up some folks, walked around to see the campus, and that was that. Done in less than an hour. Great vibe, didn't get any more information than I started with, but had some interesting conversations with some students. Now had I been able to plan better, they would have arranged a tour of the 3 campuses (don't kid yourself, it's really one campus with 3 clusters of buildings around town), allowed me to sit in on a class, and meet with a professor within my chosen discipline.

Since the campus is right in the downtown area, I decided to walk around and check it out. It was really clean and very laid back. I did have to laugh though. As I was walking around, I started to notice that I, girl visiting from Florida, was the one in shorts, t-shirt and sandals, as the locals were dressed in their long pants, long sleeve shirts, boots, and jackets. I don't know if they were so much cold, as just happy to be able to wear more fashionable clothes. Even we Floridians enjoy the two weeks out of the year when we get to "dress up".

I checked out a local eatery called Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place which has a 100% Gluten Free and Paleo kitchen. I LOVE this place. This is not that place you take your GF friends and it happens to taste good. It's that place you go because it is awesome and happens to also be GF. They also have a microbrewery and create Potions.

The place was opened by triplet sisters who also have a GF and paleo cookbook out called Eat, Drink, Shine. Please sisters, come to Cape Coral, Fl. Please.

After a few hours of looking around the shops and people watching, I heading out of town to the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. It was a beautiful drive through the Colorado Mountains.

I arrived late, but the drive up to the trail head at night had great views of both the mountains and the city down below. I will sleep in the car tonight, and set out backpacking first thing in the morning.