Colorado

I'm a West Coast girl.  I was born on the West Coast, have lived in all three states lining the coast and never ventured very far inland.  Up until this month I'd only been to 6 states.  Don't get me wrong, I love to travel.  I'd love to travel more it's just not something that has been much of an option. 

 

But this month I had the opportunity to go to Colorado with my oldest son for a shooting competition.  YES please!!  I wasn't sure what to expect from the state of Colorado.  The first thing I noticed was how dry the air was.  The second thing I noticed was how the elevation affected my ability to get enough oxygen.  I live at sea level so being up at about 6500 feet the air was noticeably thinner.  It was not unbearable and after two days my lungs acclimated.

 

But Colorado is so beautiful!  It's a lot more brown than Washington.  The vegetation is very different.  Even the clouds were different.  Oh and many of the roads were a light shade of pink (caused from the type of rock and dirt in that area) which was pretty cool.

 

I loved Pike's Peak.  Having a sizable mountain to look at gave me some perspective, made me feel grounded in this new land.  I know that probably sounds weird but just being in a landlocked state was really throwing off my inner compass which relies on the presence of the Pacific Ocean to get bearings.

 

We took in the sights at The Garden Of The Gods.  It was pretty amazing.  The sky was big.  The rock was red.  And Pike's Peak stood majestic in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

Later that same day, Austin got to do some beginner scuba diving instruction with his Uncle Travis.  Travis is a licensed instructor and was very good at explaining to Austin just what he needed to do.  It lit a fire in Austin and hopefully diving is something he can pursue further.

This was the one selfie I snapped on our entire trip and I had to edit it to get my HAND out of the picture!  Whatever....nobody ever accused me of being hip and with it.