First Stop: Colorado.

It's been a while. My trip is more than half over at this point. Sorry about that. We all knew this would happen though, right? It's hard to spend time writing blog posts about things that you're doing when you're trying to actually just do them. Also any down time I have I spend sleeping or reading. So whatever.

Anyway, my time in Colorado. I stayed with Greta, who had to work because I didn't really consult with her about my visit, just told her when I was coming. Whoops. It was lovely to see her though, and check out her house and all that. I got to sleep in the first morning there and (eventually) made my way into Colorado Springs. I grabbed a coffee in town and headed over to this really wonderful place called Seeds Community Cafe for lunch. It was slightly challenging to find, because it's tucked away down a weird little covered alley between two buildings, but I am so glad that I went. First of all, the food was delicious! I got chicken lettuce wraps with a little kale side salad, and it was seriously all so darn tasty. The second reason it was cool is that payment is all completely voluntary and donation based. So I got to decide how much I wanted to pay for my meal (and it was tax deductible). The staff there was all super duper friendly and kind, and the decorations they had up were all posters and paintings and t-shirts about feeding the hungry and caring for the the earth and being sustainable. 

So basically it was awesome. Here are pictures of my meal and also of the mural on the wall outside. 

After that lunch, I made my way to a park with a fountain that kids are allowed to play in. I journaled a bit and enjoyed the sunshine and watched children run through the water jets and scream and play. It was great. I opened the cute little card Kendra gave me (pictured) before I left while I sat by the fountain. That morning I'd remembered that my RD from all three years I went to Gordon moved out the the Colorado Springs area a couple years ago. I contacted her (facebook is a pretty nifty resource, really) and found out she was around and available and we made plans to meet up. We went out for a drink, which was lovely (although a teeny bit odd, because I knew her at Gordon, where drinking wasn't allowed on campus, so that was the farthest thing from part of our relationship prior to this outing) and talked all about my trip and her upcoming road trip and how she and her family have been doing since leaving Gordon. It was really great to see her again. 

Wednesday morning, Greta's husband, Jase, was finally done with his two consecutive 24-hour shifts (firefighter problems) and the three of us went out to breakfast. Because I am silly, I never got a single picture of me and Greta, but oh well. That breakfast was the most I'd ever talked to Jase which is kind of funny. But overall it was a fantastic visit and a great way to start my road trip.