3746.2 Miles

These miles from Austin to Colorado and all around that glorious state were made possible by the following sponsors, their incredible hospitality, amazing generosity and never-ending kindness, as well as their basements, couches, blow up mattresses and guest rooms:

Laura of Abilene;

Nancy and Rick of Colorado Springs;

Fraser, Liz and Nathan of Centennial;

Jon, Anneke, Jack, Hannah and Mary Grace of Summit County;

Amy, Mike and Bri of Lakewood;

Carolyn and Matt of Denver;

Becky of Gunnison;

Angie and Aaron of Louisville;

Veronica and Holly of Loveland;

and Jessica of Denver.

An honorable mention goes out to the following:

Mike, Amber, Bella, Rebekah, Pam and Nate in Colorado Springs;

Jennie in Boulder;

Marlyn in Aurora;

Jon and Donna's Party in Denver; 

Celebration Church in Denver; 

The Wheelers in Arvada; 

Julia's Bachelorette Party in Denver; 

Julie's Basement in Louisville;

Julie in Boulder and Louisville; 

The '80s Prom Party in Washington Park; 

Julia's Wedding Shower in the Highlands; 

Andrea and Keith in Denver; 

Hilary in Salida; 

Becky's Friends in Gunnison;

Dillon Community Church; 

Julia's at her New House in Denver; 

Jenny in Louisville;

Larry & Brad at Denver Seminary; 

Elizabeth in Denver at City Park;

Veronica in Fort Collins; 

Group Publishing in Loveland; 

Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park;

All of Julia and Sean's amazing friends & family 

celebrating for their fabulous wedding; 

and First Presbyterian Church of Boulder 

and all the great people there.

I miss y'all!

Stream of Facebook Consciousness

I drove from Colorado Springs to Austin today. It was a long drive. I left at 4:08 a.m. Mountain Time and arrived just before 8 p.m. Central Time. 871 miles. Lots of caffeine. Lots of sugar. I'll be awake until Thursday. My Corolla and I had a good trip. And now I'm home.

"Dear Colorado, I miss you already. New Mexico just isn't the same. 

And I'm scared of West Texas. The End."

"OK, Texas, it's you and me, for the rest of today. 

We can do this. Concentrate. No construction. Good weather. 

Lots of coffee. And probably a Sconic drink. Let's go. Game on!"

"Heather Werle would like to break up with West Texas. 

It's boring."

"Heather Werle is ending her relationship with West Texas 

and getting back together with the Hill Country. 

She'll be in Austin by tonight!"

(Not that you can see this...but it was the first sign I saw for Austin.)

The Scenic Route

I drove around Colorado today. Yup. That pretty much sums it up. I started in Denver this morning and headed up to Summit County. I had some stuff to pick up before heading back to Austin. Typically, this includes the long tunnel by Loveland Ski Resort. However, seeing as it's been gorgeous and sunny lately, I took the scenic route, around the mountain and over Loveland Pass.

My next stop was Colorado Springs. Seems easy enough. 70East. 470. 25South. Easy enough...but boring. So instead, I headed toward Breckenridge, went through Fairplay and over the mountains in Woodland Park, arriving in Colorado Springs just in time to drive past Garden of the Gods as the sun was starting to set. Gorgeous.

Here are a few pictures of the scenic route. It was so gorgeous, I had to pull over and take it all in, seeing as I'll be saying good-bye to this absolutely incredible state tomorrow...which is sad. Boo.

Lastly, these are the Ericksons.  I pray that one day I'm as hospitable and generous as these two kind people who have welcomed me into their Colorado Springs home once again. 

Boulder, Pete's, Sloan Lake & Jessica

Today felt normal. I woke up, went to church at First Pres Boulder, caught up with old friends after the 11 o'clock, ate Illegal Pete's for lunch, went on a l-o-n-g walk, took a nap, hung out with Jessica while doing chores and am spending an nice Sunday evening at home. Well, it's not my home, technically, but it's my 10th home on this road trip all over Colorado and the one that Jessica, a college roommate, owns in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver. It was a normal Sunday. I like normal. 

Looking West

Downtown Denver

A thousand words, a thousand smiles & a thousand laughs...

Free Food: It just tastes better.

After making friends with the coffee shop guy at the The Red Trolley in Denver and explaining that I'm on the unemployment diet when he tried to sell me a breakfast sandwich, he offered it for free. And free food just tastes better. Yum.

If you're ever in the Highlands area of Denver, check out the Red Trolley on 32nd street. It's great! And not just because of the free food...

Gem Lake

I first discovered the hike up to this lake with Giancarla in May 2001. We had both graduated college over the weekend and decided in about a 2-minute conversation that driving to Colorado the next day was a good idea. We were wrong. It was a great idea. On our adventure, we headed up to go hiking in Estes Park (where else do you go hiking, according to us midwesterners?) thinking that Rocky Mountain National Park would be the perfect choice. It was perfect. But we had to pay for perfect. Being totally broke recent grads and still unemployed, we asked the guy at the gas station where we should go to hike that would be free. He gave us directions to a trailhead behind the Stanley Hotel and down the road from MacGregor Ranch. It sounded perfect. And that it was.

We wandered up the mountain to discover a precious lake at the top. You could see out over all of Estes Park at points, and by the time you made it to the big bowl that held the past season's snow melt, you were hidden away in the mountains, far from everyone and everything. We probably talked about the jobs that we would get and the fabulous places we'd live. And we most certainly felt hardcore, outdoorsy and adventurous.

Just over a year later, I found myself moving to Colorado from Seattle. Giancarla was still back in Chicago, but so much had changed since that Memorial Day conversation. I was starting Denver Seminary and going to call this glorious state home for a few years. So, of course, during my time in school and years following, I sometimes found myself back at this same trailhead that lead you into Rocky Mountain National Park...without paying because there was no ranger station.

I took Steve and Elisa there, two high school newspaper friends who visited. Joel Mitchell and I hiked together. He stopped in Denver on a road trip from Princeton to Seattle. We had interned together in Seattle and were both in seminary. There were many afternoons spent there alone - when I most wanted to get away but didn't have that much time. Annaliese joined me once when she first moved to Boulder, too. Kirstin and I headed up to Gem Lake after we had both moved away from Colorado - her to Portland and me to Austin - when we flew back to see Tara & Jess get married in Estes Park.

Today, after visiting Group Publishing and having lunch with former coworkers, I drove up 34 through the canyon, turned right at the Safeway, went around the corner by the Stanley and past MacGregor Ranch to the same trailhead. I passed it the first time by accident and had to turn around. The little, gravel pull off that was a make-shift lot for hikers had been replaced by a paved road and nice parking area. But it was still the same wonderful, Colorado hike - not too long and not too short, perfect for a beautiful afternoon in the mountains.

Oops! Wrong choice in shoes...oh well!

Wilder Park

There was this park in between my house and elementary school when I was growing up. It housed the worlds tallest polls down which to slide, the widest slide ever and the most incredible collection of monkey bars. The tire swing went faster than anyone else in the whole wide world, and we could climb higher than the trees.

This one guy whose name I can't remember - he broke his leg going down the polls with his gloves on when he slid to fast and collided into the ground abruptly. And Erin, she puked on the tire swing. I fell the monkey bars countless times, and I think Erica broke her arm in the forth grade. You see, the park was so huge and mighty and wonderful that it was even dangerous.

Best. Park. Ever.

Seriously. You think that your park could compare. And no. You'd lose.

Wilder Park was a kingdom of wonder and adventure. It was saved for field day and other occasions. Like my birthday party. It was special.

One of the things that made this magical corner of Elmhurst so wonderful was that it was an old fashioned, wooden structure built over wood chips. You don't see a lot of parks like that anymore. Everyone's afraid of splinters and skinned knees. Splinters and skinned knees made you tough. They were part of the risk. You don't see parks with large, metal slides. You might burn your bum on a hot summer day. But climbing up them without getting hurt and sliding back down without allowing an inch of skin make contact with the silver sheet of death...well, that was the whole point. Parks like that made you tough. Parks like that are legendary.

This afternoon, in Denver, after catching up and laughing with my two favorite grad school professors and before driving to hang out with Veronica for the night in Fort Collins, I went on a walk with Elizabeth around City Park. I've been to City Park before. Only a few times, but still, I've been there. But I've never noticed the playground before. I've never noticed this wonderful piece of adventure built in the middle of Denver. It was a true, old fashioned, wooden park. It called our names. We answered and went over to the swings. My favorite. 


It was a good day.

Crested Butte

Dear Mountains,

You look so beautiful covered with snow under the bright, blue skies. I love you. The End.

It's not summer camp anymore...

I've ventured to Gunnison 11 summers since 1991. It's the cozy mountain town that Western State College calls home. Every year, it's included one afternoon in Crested Butte. And every year, it's been as a middle school camper or being somewhat responsible for middle school campers.


But this trip is different. I'm not responsible for anyone else this time. I'm not constantly counting heads. I'm not answering questions about what we'll do next, how to fix a headache and who said what to who that was such a big deal. I'm not worried that Michael will get lost or the 9th grade girls will meet local junior and senior high school boys. And there will be no "afternoon activity" lists including Wal-Mart or shaving cream fights.


You see, Gunnison, Colorado, is not only home to Western State College but also The Great Escape - my most favorite middle school camp ever. You can learn more about that here. I've also blogged about it. You can see pictures from 2007 and 2008, read stories about Mrs. PacMan, see why I love it so much and laugh at tales of 8th-grade girls trying to set me up with someone who was "cute for an old guy."


And I love camp. I really do. But this weekend is different. It's weird. I'm not wandering around spending four hours looking at every trinket they sell on main street in Gunnison. We're not eating ice cream in Crested Butte because it's sunny and gorgeous outside, but cold enough for there to be snow on the ground. We're not looking for coffee to stay up late for night games.


Instead, we're drinking a good, local beer in a pizza place just below the gorgeous ski mountain that is eagerly collecting snow for the season to begin. Becky, the friend I'm visiting who calls Gunnison home, is preparing a pathophysiology lecture for her class at WSC tomorrow morning, and I'm playing with picture projects, blogging and reading a good book.


It's different than my normal Gunnison and Crested Butte adventures. And it's wonderful.


Here's to vacation...cheers!

Becky & Her Office

Mears Hall...oh, so many broken windows...

Taylor Hall...and the lawn where so many shaving cream fights, Ultimate Frisbee games and middle school dances have taken place.

Mount Crested Butte

Good Afternoon, Crested Butte!

The mountains hiding behind the ski town that I thought were so gorgeous!

Becky

We lived in Boulder at the same time. Becky left in 2005 to wander all over the world, sometimes living in a tent, and ended up in Gunnison as a teacher at Western State College. I left the 20-square-miles-surrounded-by-reality and immigrated to Texas in 2006. She's probably the most welcoming and approachable person I've ever met, and I am blessed to call her my friend and her house my 8th home on this Colorado adventure.

Good Morning, Lake Dillon!

On my way to Salida to see Hilary and Gunnison to hang out with Becky, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture as I was passing by Lake Dillon, just before Frisco.

Not in Texas anymore...

"I did it!"

Hannah & her puzzle

Yes, my day, again, was spent with Mary Grace & Hannah, so it seemed appropriate to post a picture of one of the fun things that we did. Playing with toys, snack time, naps, cartoons, story books and sippy cups...preschoolers and toddlers have the life!

Happy Girl

Dolly? Check!

PJ's all day? Check!

Boppy (pacifier)? Check!

Goldfish Crackers? Check!

Sippy cup with milk? Check!

Not being strapped into the high chair? Check!

A little blurry...but still super cute :)

If you ski or snowboard, you'll understand how wonderful this is...

Keystone...making snow on River Run

Breck...with the snow coming!

The Lunch Room

I haven't been in an elementary school lunch room in about a decade. And even then, after I laughed so hard that chocolate milk came out my nose in the first grade and this mean girl made fun of me, I avoided the scary, basement lunchroom and lunch monitors at Hawthorne Grade School as much as possible. 


Today, I visited the lunch room at Dillon Valley Elementary. It's where Jack is in kindergarten. It was pretty adorable, the lunch monitors were not at all mean and scary and no milk came out of anyone's nose.

Hannah, Jack & Haley

The short cart

Orange Smiles

Jack's Class

NavPres Book Review: An Undivided Heart

I like to read, and I like to write even more...so several weeks ago, I signed up for NavPress' book review program. They send me a book. I write a review on my blog. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

An Undivided Heart: Experiencing the Intimacy of Jesus' Touch by Rita J. Platt (NavPress) is an 8-week Bible study series that challenges women to be honest with themselves and where their heart is focused - and with others if done in community! - when it comes to issues surrounding God's love for you, your love for God, surrendering, worship, what it means to be satisfied and joyful, trusting the Lord and living from your true identity. 

It's an authetnic look at where you are at and how you connect with the God that passionately loves you more than you can even begin to fathom. Each chapter provides and introduction that gets you thinking about the topic, questions to start you reflecting on the situation, Scripture to ponder and more questions that bring the topic home to your own situation. Space to jot notes and pray is provided, allowing a participant to respond to what’s written and suggested. Personal stories and examples make the text accessible and meaningful, adding to the value of this study.

The book reminds us that when our foundation of our life is a relationship with Christ, we are freed to live courageously, loved and loving others. How’s your heart?

Boulder

I used to call this 20-square miles surrounded by reality my home. Yes, Boulder. love Boulder. It's the strangest, weirdest place I've ever lived. And I love Boulder. It's not my home anymore, and I can't really see myself ever living there again. While it lasted, though, I loved it.

Julie and I spent a sunny Saturday morning in Boulder, wandering around Pearl Street, the Creek Path and through the Farmer's Market with no agenda.

Only in Boulder would there be a spontaneous bike ride protest

Buried in Color

Boulder Creek

It wouldn't be Julie & Heather without a self-portrait. Sadly, this was the best one out of the bunch.

Farmers' Market: Mmmm...samples...

I matched the curtains.

Madonna. Michael Jackson. Debbie Gibson.

I found myself painting the kitchen in Jessica's new house chocolate brown.

Jessica was a college roommate at the University of Missouri during my senior year and moved to Denver shortly after I left. She just bought a house, and tonight, I went over to see it. She invited me to a party - an '80s Prom Party. She had a fabulous blue dress complete with the top covered in sequence and a ol' bow on the backside.

Seeing as I only found out about it at the last minute, I was content going in "normal" clothes. She said that'd be fine and we headed out for the night.

But upon arriving, I was told "that one pink dress" that no one else was wearing was still available, was shuffled into a back room and was handed a dress that was at least two sizes too big and large, plastic earrings with instructions to put my hair in a side pony tail. The icing on the cake was the blue ribbon.

Celebrating Julia

Julia and I met in 1997 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Our friendship started in her car - she had one, and I didn't. She was my ride to work with a middle school ministry on Tuesday nights. She picked me up to go to church on Sunday mornings. And she was always there when I needed to go to Wal-Mart. Since then, we've hung out all over in Colorado, Seattle, Vancouver and Vegas. We both called Colorado home at the same time. She's been here since '99, and my four-year stint has been since then. Being here for all the wedding festivities this weekend and then for the big event in two weeks is one of the highlights of my month-long road trip. Here's to Julia!

Washington Park

I've clocked hundreds of miles walking, running and processing life on these trails. Julia, Carolyn and others have accompanied me around the lakes, through the rain, crunching the leaves and enjoying Colorado sun. It was one of my favorite places to workout while I called Denver home and has continued to be one of my most favorite places in the whole wide world to go for an afternoon run. Wash Park...oh, how I've missed you!

On this gloriously sunny and beautiful afternoon, I ventured out with my camera after a fabulous run. Apparently, I'm really into taking pictures of leaves these days.

The old boathouse

Autumn Kisses

Ballerina Hannah Jane

I went with my friends to watch their 3-year-old daughter's dance class. It was like herding cats backwards and reminded me a little of middle school ministry. Except that middle school ministry is like herding cats backwards, and these precious girls are much cuter.

Downtown Breckenridge

Yes, it snowed today.