Friend Time in Colorado

It had been over a year since I had visited Colorado and it was so nice to see some of my friends there!! I really miss them. The 4 years that I lived in Colorado were some of my favorites. I feel extremely fortunate in life to count many years as favorites (does that even count as 'favorites' then??).

Seeing my buddy Andy is a must when I'm in Denver. It's always nice to catch up with him. Andy, Lenny, and I went to a new tea cafe near where they both live. My pumpkin tea latte was deeeeelicious!

Wendy! We went for a walk and out to lunch on a gorgeous sunny day. She's the best candy buddy I've ever had :P  Not long after returning to Milan, I received a great Valentine's Day care package from her that was packed with goodies!

A bit hazy... but I adore the view of the mountains from Denver. It's really a great city.

I met up with Julie a few times and this day (shown below) took us to the Cherry Creek Mall and a nice, free view  : )

I tried to see everyone while I was in town, by hanging out at our favorite local dive bar for an evening and hoping people would stop by and hang out for a bit. It was so much fun to see so many faces that I've missed! This turned out to be a really nice night   : )

I miss you already, Denver!

A-Basin mountain time, Colorado

Wow. I really need to make this blog more of a priority... but with a full-time job, trying to fit in travels along with that, aaaand preparing to move back to the States (and find a JOB!)... I just haven't kept up.

I've been on two rather big travel trips since being home in the States over the winter holidays... so I want to finish up my winter holiday times and share my travels (including southern Italy in the Puglia region and, most just last week: traveling to Luxemourg, Strasbourg, and Amsterdam!).

OK ---- Go! ---->

While in Colorado after the lovely New Year spent up in Estes Park, I got to go on another mountain trip with my brother, Lenny, to A-Basin! He went snowboarding for the morning, so I decided to practice the sport that I invented years ago: high altitude reading (hahaha).

I love a trip to the mountains! On this one, I took the chairlift part-way up the mountain, went into the lodge, put my slippers on, and read.   : )  Perrrrfection.

Lenny came and got me mid-way through the morning and I rode another chairlift all the way to the top of the mountain. What a glorious view!! We were overlooking the other side of the mountain (from where we had parked and gone up). I love taking in an amazing view.

Lenny!

I was the ONLY person riding the chairlift DOWN. Hahaha. In passing, one guy actually called out to me: "Enjoying the view, eh?!" Haha. It was a great morning -- although I wish I had packed/worn more than just jeans and my rain boots.

Also on my way down, I was able to watch Lenny in action -- that was cool. He stopped every now and then to wait up for me to pass on the chairlift, which was moving much slower than he was.

I had just decided the night before to get up early and go with Lenny on this jaunt -- afterwards, I realized that we should have at least called our brother, Sean, to see if he'd be free and want to meet up there too! ...Next time, Sean!

Estes Park, Colorado

For the New Year, I joined my brother, his wife, and her parents up in Estes Park. I love a trip to the mountains! It was really nice to be able to spend time relaxing and playing games in the lodge with the Stuarts.  : )  They often go up to the YMCA in Estes for Christmas. This national park is where Lenny and Lexey were supposed to get married when there was massive flooding in Fall of 2013, which canceled those plans. Their wedding was still fabulous -- and impressively re-planned within less than 24 hours!! I really enjoyed being able to see the wedding venue this time -- a beautiful outdoor chapel (and at this point, it was covered in a blanket of white). Koura (Lenny's dog) and the Stuart's cat, Vito, also joined for the time in the mountains!

Lenny, Lexey, Ken, and Koura outside for a walk in the sunny cold.

Koura LOVES this place!

The chapel  : )

Perrrrfection.  : )

KOURA!

When I'm not in Denver, I miss this nut a lot:

I love having a dog in the house and I've missed not having one while I've been abroad and living alone. Koura is a GREAT dog -- and buddy!

Koura and I also really like the new floor tiles in the bathroom!

First Stop Back in Denver - The LIBRARY!

My first stop once reaching Denver is usually one of two things: a trip to the public library to pick up my books on hold OR a meal at Benny's for Mexican food! My Denver trip around the New Year turned out to be the library first. I usually go through my list of To-Read books and put as many as I can on hold at the library one week before going home (that's how long they'll let them sit on the shelf before moving them on again). I love going in and having a huge pile of new books waiting for me. -- Especially since living abroad and not having the ease of access to new English books like I do when I'm in the States.

My almost-annual library book picture with Koura! THIS means I'm HOME.    : D

Koura was pretty worn out from our major road trip and lost interest in my library books pretty quickly.

I make daily trips to the library. One of the days I sat for a while and read through some of the newer picture books that I've seen good reviews on:

ROAD TRIP -- Florida to Coloradooo

From our time in Florida for Christmas, Lenny and I then drove allll the way back to Denver with his dog, Koura! It was quite the road trip. Lenny was "all business" as I said along the way -- making it the 30 hours of drive time in just TWO DAYS. It was a fun trip with lots of laughs, music, and listening to the entire first season of the Serial podcast on NPR. We also drove through the middle of the major ice storm in Texas. (Yikes! Turns out that there were hurricanes very nearby to where we stayed overnight. Thankfully, our trip was smooth and safe.)

Mmmmhmmmmmm. We stopped for an amazingly delicious and BIG barbecue lunch!

Ice covered everything in Texas!

All trees were coated in ice.

Even the gas pumps were coated in ice!

Frozen receipt on the gas station's machine:

Our last night of driving... getting there, getting there!

it's a small world sometimes...

It really is a small world sometimes... and this showed a number of times while I was recently in Spain.

The Librarian working at the American School of Madrid, whom I met with last week to learn about a resource... she moved from Denver, Colorado when she moved abroad (me too!).

She also went to the University of Denver for her Masters in Library and Information Science (me too!).

A high school science teacher that taught at the same school as I did in Vietnam (we began together and both left after our two year contract was completed)... now works at the American School of Madrid. I grabbed a ride to school with her in the morning and we were able to catch up a bit.

A teacher from my current school called me early Monday morning to see if I could cover his after school club, as he was not able to make it to school at the last-minute... I told him that I would have but was in Madrid... he then said that he knows someone there...

...turns out the guy he knows used to work at our school in Milan ...and has now been teaching at the American School of Madrid for a number of years ...he put the two of us in touch and I met up with him and some of his friends that evening in the city!

Finally... during my visit at the American School of Madrid, I was having lunch with some of the teachers. Turns out that the guy sitting next to me grew up just north of the city of Denver... having gone to elementary school where I began my teaching career!!!! He went to Leroy Drive Elementary in Northglenn, Colorado. No way!

Crazy, small world sometimes. Wow.   : )

Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gary Clark Jr. at RED ROCKS

My birthday present from Lenny was a ticket to see Tedeschi Trucks Band and (opening) Gary Clark Jr. at Red Rocks! Lenny, Lexey, my parents, and Lexey's parents all went - it was a great group, a great concert, and a great night! Sean was also going to come with us but the opening of his food truck ended up being the next day and he wasn't able to make it.

It sprinkled a bit when we first arrived but the evening cleared up... it was nice and cool at the amphitheater ...and included a double rainbow to make the amazing location even more amazing.

A view of the city of Denver in the distance...

Gary Clark Jr. playing...

Tedeschi Trucks Band (consisting of 11 people!!)

Quick video clip of one song and the stunning location (the sound within this natural amphitheater is incredible)...

flowers and fun up in Leadville, CO

There were many beautiful flowers in bloom around Leadville. Below are some of my favorite photos from the day!

wild.

Ha! ...Twirling on Sean's deck swing...

Pedro wanted to get acquainted with my camera...

hippie house...

Chicken Hill BBQ - Sean's FOOD TRUCK!

Sean and his friend, Brad, have built their own food truck and it should be opening... TODAY! They have named it Chicken Hill BBQ, after the name of the area where they live in town. ...If you're ever up in Leadville, CO, I definitely think you'll want to eat here! Delicious will most likely be ensuing.

Ha!

The food truck is located next to the historic Silver Dollar Saloon... I love the silver and red... so fancy.  : )