Oct 6 #2 - We Made It To The Mountains!

...and the almost mythical town of Boulder, Colorado

Beautiful Boulder, CO, our first glimpse of the mountains.

The highlight for me, before arriving in the mountains, was a particularly sublime couple of hours on Day 3 -- As we approached Chicago, IL we decided to set our route to avoid highways. Immediately we felt more relaxed and open, then we turned up the magic by putting on some perfect music (Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm) and drove slowly into the setting sun.

The low point of the trip was seeing the cattle feedlots in Nebraska and the first part of Colorado; hundreds of cows in small enclosures in the mud, and the calves in rows, locked in to make veal. Thankfully, both the high point and the low point brought me to presence and to prayer, one to savour the moment, one to navigate my emotions and thoughts skillfully and constructively. I have gratitude for all the animal rights activists working to bring awareness to the origins of most grocery store and restaurant meat and dairy.

Speaking of animal rights activists, Boulder, Colorado, a town we had both wanted to visit for years, did not disappoint. The first thing we noticed was all the vehicles outfitted a lot like ours, with mountain bikes and cargo carriers. Then the people on the streets, dressed like us, smiling at us like we belonged there. We walked to one of many amazing organic, vegetarian restaurants, past booths on the street for outdoor gear companies, and one intriguing storefront after another. One in particular jumped out, the “general store”, which seemed only to sell Hindu and Buddhist deities and yoga paraphernalia. After lunch I passed Trevor Hall on the street, a singer-songwriter who was a big inspiration to me in my late 20s. I nodded a joyous, awe-filled hello. Oh Boulder!